MyCAA-APPROVED CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROGRAM
LAW OFFICE TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST
Legal assistants with a focus on technology play one of the most important roles in the legal industry. Advances in technology are revolutionizing today’s legal landscape at a faster pace than ever before.
CERTIFICATION: MOS
PROGRAM COSTS: Varies
COURSE CONTACT HOURS: 375
PROGRAM DURATION: 6 Months
EXTERNSHIP AVAILABLE: Yes
COURSES AVAILABLE THROUGH
Tyler Junior College TJC-L-TECH
Download TJC Course Outline
Texas A&M TAMIU-L-TECH
Download TAMIU Course Outline
The Law Office Technology Specialist
Legal assistants with a focus on technology play one of the most important roles in the legal industry. Advances in technology are revolutionizing today’s legal landscape at a faster pace than ever before. Along with it, the role of the legal professional continues to evolve. The automation of various legal processes has forced lawyers, paralegals, legal secretaries and other legal professionals to become proficient with a constantly growing array of word processing, database, telecommunications, spreadsheet, presentation and legal research software. For better or worse, new technology impacts every aspect of the legal field, making the law office more efficient, but also more complex from traditional law firms and corporate practices to courtroom operations and document management.
The Law Office Technology Specialist Program
This program offers an in-depth view of the role of legal assistants play within the American legal system, specifically with respect to technology in the law office. Examining the myriad of skills legal assistants use everyday alongside the typical legal working environment, students will explore technology that helps to advance the goals of large law firms and individual attorneys.
This course provides an introduction to computer hardware and software fundamentals necessary to the successful operation of a law office, including an overview of traditional legal software, specialty law office and case management software, and litigation support software. From electronic research to eDiscovery and electronic database discovery (EDD), official eFiling and case management software, students will explore all of the different technological advances that have become standard in the legal industry. Students will also explore various methods for learning and keeping current with software updates as well as the various ethical issues that arise with the use of technology in a legal capacity.
Certification Opportunities
After completing this course, you should be able to:
- Produce a checklist of technology needs for a law office
- Prepare a plan for setting up technology systems for a new law firm
- Research legal issues using the Internet
- Describe security and ethical issues related to the use of the Internet in a law office
- Use word processing software to prepare documents for a law office
- Use electronic spreadsheet software to prepare documents for a law office
- Use a database to store, sort and present client and/or case information
- Create a basic office management system using law office management software
- Create a case notebook using case management software
- Prepare a response to a discovery request
- Create an electronic presentation to use at trial
- Investigate the advantages and disadvantages of a paperless office
- Analyze the impact of federal and court rules on electronic discovery
- Review court rules on the use of technology
- Use Microsoft Office
Technical Requirements
WINDOWS USERS
- Windows 7, XP or Vista
- 56K modem or higher
- Soundcard & Speakers
- Firefox, Chrome or Microsoft Internet Explorer
MAC OS USERS
- Mac OS X or higher (in classic mode)
- 56K modem or higher
- Soundcard & Speakers
- Apple Safari
SUPPORTED BROWSERS
System will support the two latest releases of each browser. When using older versions of a browser, users risk running into problems with the course software.
- Windows Users: Firefox, Chrome, Explorer
- Mac OS Users: Safari, Chrome, Firefox
SCREEN RESOLUTION
We recommend setting your screen resolution to 1024 x 768 pixels.
SUGGESTED PLUGINS
- Flash Player
- Real Player
- Adobe Reader
- Java
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