Hi Friends--
Next along the lines of course intros for your third quarter is a personal favorite of mine. I'm the Teaching Assistant for the criminal law portion of the JD program, and the criminal procedure is just fun in and of itself. Combining both of these courses is a TON of information, though, so gear yourselves up for some hardcore learning!
If there is one key to criminal law (Lessons 1-7), it is remembering that criminal law is elemental. By "elemental," I mean that every criminal law definition has certain elements, and to commit a crime, the perpetrator must commit every one of those elements. If the perpetrator commits four out of five elements, there is still no crime!
Every crime has at least two of these elements, at its most basic--an actus reus and a mens rea, meaning a guilty act and a guilty mind. Many times the guilty act will have multiple elements to it. Make sure, though, that when it comes to studying the mens rea or guilty mind, that you memorize what type of mental state is required for each crime.
Keep those basics in mind, memorize hard, and always remember exceptions--and you will be well on your way for criminal law. Criminal procedure is a horse of a different color. Based almost entirely on the Constitution, you will be learning precedents from the Supreme Court on the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments primarily.
Reading the actual cases is a good idea, but don't take that overboard. Distill the cases down to the rules that they have become famous for. A good example of this is a case you probably already recognize--Miranda v. Arizona. You've heard the warnings before: "You have the right to remain silent" and so on. You will be learning the broader theories of law that led to this specific decision.
I hope that gets you started on this subject. Happy studying!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Course Intro: Business Organizations. (Posted by Gabe)
Dear Students--
From what I hear, you should be near the beginning of your third quarter of studies. I have been designated your third quarter mentor, and will do my best to assist you along the way. I must admit, when I saw the courses that I get to help you with, I got excited--these are wonderful courses, and I think you are going to have a great semester.
I'm going to start with the course that I would imagine has you the most worried. Now, I could be wrong on that front--I hope that you are looking forward to Business Orgs--but this was certainly the course in this semester that worried me when I went through the paralegal program. I was very surprised to find that I actually loved the course. Not only was it easy to follow and understand, but it's practical. I recently, and rather unexpectedly, became the CEO of a non-profit corporation, and this paralegal course got me started with the knowledge I need.
The key to Business Organizations is in remembering the different criteria for each organization. No matter how complex the organization--as simple as a sole proprietorship or as complex as a corporation--you can identify the structure by identifying the responses to these criteria.
These critera are found in your syllabus, and I would encourage you to start by memorizing them. Don't stop there, though! Take the information in your textbook that fills out these criteria, and create a "mind map" that outlines all of the issues that can arise from that type of organizational structure. I did just that, and it not only helped me through the paralegal, but got me through law school business orgs class, too!
The knowledge in this class is highly practical, but at times it can seem rather theoretical and obtuse. The best way that you can reduce the theoretical aspect is to think in terms of real-life situations. If you follow the stock market, for instance, you will be able to apply your knowledge of those corporations to the theory you are learning in this course.
A large part of the purpose of this blog is to facilitate class interaction and knowledge sharing, so now it is your turn. Take some time to think about what real-life situations you are going to use to help you learn the theory in this course.
And then tell us about it!
From what I hear, you should be near the beginning of your third quarter of studies. I have been designated your third quarter mentor, and will do my best to assist you along the way. I must admit, when I saw the courses that I get to help you with, I got excited--these are wonderful courses, and I think you are going to have a great semester.
I'm going to start with the course that I would imagine has you the most worried. Now, I could be wrong on that front--I hope that you are looking forward to Business Orgs--but this was certainly the course in this semester that worried me when I went through the paralegal program. I was very surprised to find that I actually loved the course. Not only was it easy to follow and understand, but it's practical. I recently, and rather unexpectedly, became the CEO of a non-profit corporation, and this paralegal course got me started with the knowledge I need.
The key to Business Organizations is in remembering the different criteria for each organization. No matter how complex the organization--as simple as a sole proprietorship or as complex as a corporation--you can identify the structure by identifying the responses to these criteria.
These critera are found in your syllabus, and I would encourage you to start by memorizing them. Don't stop there, though! Take the information in your textbook that fills out these criteria, and create a "mind map" that outlines all of the issues that can arise from that type of organizational structure. I did just that, and it not only helped me through the paralegal, but got me through law school business orgs class, too!
The knowledge in this class is highly practical, but at times it can seem rather theoretical and obtuse. The best way that you can reduce the theoretical aspect is to think in terms of real-life situations. If you follow the stock market, for instance, you will be able to apply your knowledge of those corporations to the theory you are learning in this course.
A large part of the purpose of this blog is to facilitate class interaction and knowledge sharing, so now it is your turn. Take some time to think about what real-life situations you are going to use to help you learn the theory in this course.
And then tell us about it!
Congratulations! (posted by Jenny)
Hello!
A huge congratulations to all of you for completing your 2nd quarter of the paralegal program! I hope you are enjoying your break from studies and giving yourself a well deserved pat on the back for all your hard work. Just think, you are halfway done with your law studies!! Now if that isn't cause for celebration, I don't know what is - no matter how much you may love studying law.:)
Enjoy the rest of your break & please visit my blog: http://www.xanga.com/jenfairlady
I have a special message there for you!
A huge congratulations to all of you for completing your 2nd quarter of the paralegal program! I hope you are enjoying your break from studies and giving yourself a well deserved pat on the back for all your hard work. Just think, you are halfway done with your law studies!! Now if that isn't cause for celebration, I don't know what is - no matter how much you may love studying law.:)
Enjoy the rest of your break & please visit my blog: http://www.xanga.com/jenfairlady
I have a special message there for you!
Friday, February 16, 2007
Quick Update. (Posted by Gabe)
Hi Friends--
I hope that many of you have found your way here based on the e-mail from Professor Gundlach. I also hope that this blog will be an excellent tool to allow you to ask questions and obtain feedback from those of us that are here to help you out.
If you are an OBCL Paralegal student, please feel free to leave questions as comments to this blog--and feel free to share thoughts with each other based on those questions! Another way to ask a question is to e-mail one of the mentors, using the e-mail addresses provided by Professor Gundlach. We'll post the answer to your question on the blog so that all the students can benefit from it.
Happy studying. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
I hope that many of you have found your way here based on the e-mail from Professor Gundlach. I also hope that this blog will be an excellent tool to allow you to ask questions and obtain feedback from those of us that are here to help you out.
If you are an OBCL Paralegal student, please feel free to leave questions as comments to this blog--and feel free to share thoughts with each other based on those questions! Another way to ask a question is to e-mail one of the mentors, using the e-mail addresses provided by Professor Gundlach. We'll post the answer to your question on the blog so that all the students can benefit from it.
Happy studying. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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