Paralegal Students (Expectations)

Overview

Paralegal students are expected to be ready to engage in field training with respect to their professional development. Field training means learning the methods needed to file and respond to various civil, and administrative proceedings. The focus of field training is learning specific methodologies needed to engage in the provision of legal services.

Paralegal students who start out in placements are already expected to be able to demonstrate the following core placement skills

• Digest a fact situation given by the placement supervisor or a client and be able
  • to identify the legal issues at play,
  • research and locate the leading caselaw on the legal issues,
  • identify the most appropriate adjudicative body to resolve the issues at play
  • locate the rules of procedure for the appropriate adjudicative body
  • Identify the relevant statutes that influence the outcome of an adjudicated resolution.
  • Identify available remedies that are possible through the relevant adjudicative body.

What students can expect from a placement host:

• Instruction on the process of client management, including guidance on a standard client life cycle.
• Instruction on best practices for case preparation and presentation before an adjudicative body.
• Instruction on best practices for legal research and legal writing.
• Instruction on best practices for client and witness interview methodologies.
• An opportunity to observe live hearings.

The Student Interview

Learning is a two way street, the student interview is an opportunity for a placement host to determine if the student will be a good fit for their organization, it is also an important opportunity for the student to determine if the host will be a good fit for them.

In my experience resumes are not helpful in any way to tell the placement host anything about the potential student. In my assessment the best way to determine the suitability of a student for a given host is through basic placement tests.

Placement Testing

In a placement test a potential candidate is given a basic fact situation orally. The placement candidate is expected to take notes and document the fact situation given. The placement candidate is expected to ask questions about the fact situation that will assist the candidate in forming solutions. The placement candidate is expected to demonstrate a command of the core placement skills discussed above.

Demonstration of the core placement skills should ideally be presented in the form of a formal legal opinion letter. The placement host may also allow an oral response as an alternative to a written response, what matters most is the placement candidates ability to demonstrate the core placement skills.