Frederick Community College LA120-Legal Writing & Documents SPRING 2011
Class begins:	Class ends:	Last Day to Withdraw:

Jan. 24, 2011 May 13,2011 April 9, 2011

Instructor Information:
Name: Dr. Tracy R. Parker	Office: H229
E-mail: tparker@frederick.edu	Phone Number: 301-624-2819
Contact Hours: Tuesdays 10:00-11:15am Wednesdays 2:00-3:15pm (Thursdays/Fridays by appointment) Reply to student email within 24 to 36 hours	Campus Mail Box #: 290

Course Description:

Offers working knowledge of techniques of legal writing in the preparation of legal documents. Specifically for the legal assistant, course covers various types of legal documents including lease, contracts, wills, memoranda, pleadings, trial briefs, legal correspondence and legislative drafting.

Core Learning Outcomes:

By the completion of the course students will:

1. Draft a variety of legal documents in clear and concise language, and revise as directed

2. Properly cite legal references throughout all legal documents using The Bluebook

3. Analyze a client’s case based on applicable law

4. Predict outcomes in writing of client’s case based on legal analysis

5. Prepare a portfolio with writing samples and career correspondence

Instructional Methods:

Lecture

Group Discussion

Demonstration

Practice by Doing

How This Course Is Organized:

This course is online, but it is not a self-paced course. Assignments are posted on Mondays by 5pm. Each assignment week begins on Monday at 5pm and ends the following Monday at 4:30pm. You are responsible for checking your class located on Blackboard and your email regularly (at least a few times a week). If you have questions regarding the organization of the course, you are responsible for contacting the instructor.

Text(s) for Course:

Case Analysis and Fundamentals of Legal Writing, Statsky and Wernet, Jr., 4^th Ed.

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 19^th Ed.

Students be required to save documents prepared in class.

Progress Report:

By the end of the 4th week of the semester, you will have an opportunity to evaluate your progress in this course and decide if you need to make any adjustments (additional study, tutoring, conference with instructor) to assure your success in this course.

Evaluation Methods:

Tests / Papers / Projects	Point Value	Final Grade Scale
Legal Correspondence/E-mail Communication	20 points each	A = 90-100
Ten-Part Briefs	30 points each	B = 80-89
Memoranda at Law	100 points each	C = 70-79
Revised Memoranda	30 points	D = 69-60
		F = 59 or below
Pleadings Assignment	100 points
Pre and Post Assessments	100 points total (50 points each)

Student Services

A variety of services are available to assist students in succeeding at FCC. Students can learn more about these services by visiting the Student Services web page: http://www.frederick.edu/student_services/index.aspx.

Students with disabilities who are in need of accommodations or who have questions related to disabilities services should contact the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office at 301-846-2408. Students can learn more about these services by visiting the Services for Students with Disabilities web page: http://www.frederick.edu/student_services/disability.aspx.

Participation Policy:

You are required to login as directed and check the weekly assignment folders and your FCC email. This course requires students’ participation in all learning activities.

All course assignments are due on the dates specified. Course assignments includes all work covered in the assignment folders. The instructor will allow for a late submission if the exam missed deadline is due to a serious illness, emergency, religious holiday, or participation in an official college function. The student must provide supporting documentation for missing the deadline. A make-up assignment must be completed within the new deadline set by the instructor.

Email Policy:

With the exception of MOL students, all FCC students will receive and are expected to use their FCC email address for correspondence with faculty and staff at the college. Students can establish and access their FCC email accounts at https://myfcc.frederick.edu. Email is an instructional tool essential to student-instructor and student-student communication. In the Blackboard environment by default, your email address is available to all students in this course.

However, students are permitted to use email addresses of other students in this course only for the purpose and the duration of this course.

The instructor can be expected to respond to regular student email inquiries within the time frame of 24 to 36 hours.

Academic Integrity:

Work in this course is subject to the provisions of the FCC Code of Academic Integrity. Plagiarism in any form will not be tolerated. As a student, it is your job to practice academic honesty at ALL times. Make sure that all sources, particularly Internet sources, get proper credit for quotations, paraphrases, and ideas. More information about this and the Student Conduct Code are available at http://www.frederick.edu/student_services/studentpolicies.aspx

You must send your Academic Integrity Pledge to the instructor. The form is available at http://courses.frederick.edu/_utilities/regform.htm

TOPICAL OUTLINE

Tentative Outline

Weekly Assignments are posted on Blackboard in the Assignment Folders. If the assignment folders differ from this topical outline, you should follow the assignment folder.

Week	Subject	Content
1	Composite and Thumbnail Briefs Pre-Assessment (Timed Writing Assignment)	Chapters 2-5: Distinguishing Composite and Thumbnail Briefs; Formats; Citation; Identifying Parties, Objectives, Theories and History of Litigation Pre-Assessment
2	Composite and Thumbnail Briefs	Chapters 6-9: Identifying Key Facts, Issues, Holding and Reasoning; Distinguishing Dictum, Disposition and Commentary
3	Clarity in Legal Writing	Chapter 19: Terminology in Writing; Active Voice; Shorter Sentences; Simplify Language; Fog Index; Parallel Structure; Spelling/Grammar
4	Legal Correspondence	Chapter 17: Letter Writing; Format; Tone; Clarity; Types of Letters
5	Fact Comparison	Chapter 11: Fact Similarities, Differences and Gaps; Creating and Using Factual Charts; Crane Analysis
6	Rule of Law Comparison	Chapter 12: Comparing and Distinguishing Rules of Law; Statutory Analysis; Case Analysis; and Administrative Regulation Analysis; Creating and Using Rule of Law Charts
7	Primary and Secondary Authority; Citation Form	Chapter 14: The Use and Misuse of Primary and Secondary Authority Bluebook: Proper Citation
8	Memorandum of Law	Chapter 16: Format and Writing Memorandum of Law
9	Applying Fact Comparison and Rule of Law Comparison	Chapters 11 and 12: Use Memorandum Assignments to Review Fact Comparison and Rule of Law Comparison
10	Memorandum of Law	The Heart of the Analysis; IRAC; Issue analysis and counter analysis
11	Memorandum of Law Revising As Directed Citation	Content will be determined by graded memos
12	Memorandum of Law Revising As Directed Citation	Content will be determined by graded memos
13	Memorandum of Law Revising As Directed Citation	Content will be determined by graded memos
14	Pleadings	Following Procedure; Review of Litigation Process; Complaint and Answer; Use of Samples in Legal Writing; Researching Samples
15	Post Assessment (Timed Writing Assignment)	Post - Assessment

Break	Online Courses observe Spring and Fall Break	March 14-15, 2011 No Classed, College Open March 16-20, 2011 No Classes, College Closed
	Official Make-up Dates	May 16-17, 2011

NOTE: The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this outline as needed. You are to follow the weekly assignment folders. This outline is tentative.