In law school, the lawyers learn legal research beginning with the law books and that is how you will learn it too. Your hands-on experience with the law books is crucial to you being effective in your work as a paralegal: You must be competent to research in whatever resource your boss has available for your use, including law books, computer database, the Internet, CD-ROM, etc. Computerized legal research is taught in the second semester, Paralegal II, and is not accepted for assignments in Paralegal I.

Many of us may have library anxiety, and this is completely natural. We will address it and overcome it by providing you with carefully designed “Research Riddle” assignments that lead you step by step through the library in an orderly and building block fashion. For keeping on track with your coursework, you will need to schedule one library field trip per week during Sessions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and (optional) 10. These field trips are to access the legal information in the law books to complete the “Research Riddle” assignments that are required in Paralegal 1. The first few riddles will not be graded, although the solutions will be given, so you can get your bearings and check your work. Additionally, we cannot imagine completing a paralegal program without becoming familiar with the courthouse. The courthouse field trip will be completed during Session 9.

Here is the list of law books you will need to access:

• Corpus Juris Secundum (legal encyclopedia)*
• United States Code Annotated*
• Southwestern Reporter (2nd and 3rd series)
• West's Texas Digest
• Vernon's Texas Statutes and Codes Annotated
• Code of Federal Regulations
• Shepard's Texas Citations
• And at least one of the following for locating U.S. Supreme Court cases: U.S. Reports, Supreme Court Reporter, or the Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition

*Note: If your library does not contain the United States Code Annotated (preferred), you may substitute the United States Code Service. Also, if your library contains all the books listed except Corpus Juris Secundum, that is acceptable because there is only one exercise from that set, and it is non-graded.

All of the books are typically available in Texas law libraries, courthouse libraries, some university and college libraries, some public libraries and many Texas law firms to which you may have proper access. The general public is allowed to access a law library if it has been designated as a United States Government Depository or partial or selective depository, meaning that certain government publications will be sent to that library for public review. The location of approximately 1,350 libraries containing law collections can be retrieved a the following website: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/libraries.html

However, once you select a library from the list you should call the library to verify it contains the particular law books you will need because not all libraries choose to carry all collections.  Also, you should find out the library's particular days and hours of operation. Please consult the course schedule and be sure the library you select will be open on the dates you will need it, i.e., Sessions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and (optional) 10. Many libraries will have a website that can be helpful in supplying you with library schedules, policies, maps and other information that will be useful in planning the required field trips for your course.

Please be advised that as a rule the law books are considered to be reference books; thus, they are “non-circulating” and cannot be checked out. Adequate time must be planned into your schedule to visit the library and courthouse on site and you should plan on doing your assignments at the facility because you will not be allowed to take the law books home.

A great option is exploring your local county courthouse for the law books that may be available to you there. Many courthouses in Texas maintain their own law libraries, typically containing all the books you will need for this course. An added benefit of using the courthouse library is that you can “kill two birds with one stone” since you will be touring your local courthouse, also a part of this course.

IT IS THE STUDENT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO LOCATE THE LIBRARY FACILITY THAT HE OR SHE WILL USE BEFORE REGISTERING FOR THIS COURSE AND TO VERIFY THE LAW BOOKS AND LIBRARY SCHEDULE.

Participants will access the course through the UTSA's Blackboard login page located at Course Login.

Yes. During the first half of Paralegal 1 your teaching assistant will hold online office hours on Thursday evenings for discussing the library field trip and posting the solutions to the research riddles. You may have teaching assistants in Paralegal 2 and Paralegal 3. The online office hours will occur live and in “real time” i.e., all the participants will be online simultaneously for the live chat, thus facilitating a lively, spontaneous and immediate exchange of information. Students are not required to participate in the online office hours, although we strongly recommend that you do so. Not only is it fun and educational to chat with your classmates and teaching assistant about the coursework, you will also receive extra credit points toward your course grade for your participation.

Throughout the course you will have the opportunity to participate in a special message board functioning as a “virtual classroom”, which is a forum for discussion among the students and the instructor. However, the discussion boards are distinct from the online office hours because they do not occur in real time. Instead, your instructor will post a particular question to the discussion board and it will remain available for one week, during which time you will post your comments as well as respond to the postings of others. Because the elements of immediacy and spontaneity will be missing, you will feel the lag time between a posting and a response; however, this allows for the maximum consideration and absorption of the material.

Students are required to participate in the discussion board and each student will receive a quantity of points toward the course grade, as assigned by the instructor, based on the amount and quality of his or her postings and participation.

Yes. We suggest allocating your time weekly as follows:

In addition, we suggest logging in to your course every day, or at least every other day, to check for any announcements from your instructor as well as read the latest discussion postings by your classmates. Again, the key is getting all the assigned work done during the week allotted and there will be penalties for late coursework. We will provide a course calendar in the course syllabus containing all the assignments and particular due dates. You can print it or save it to your computer desktop.

Over the years, we have enrolled students from all walks of life including salespeople, restaurant staff, secretaries, nurses, engineers, computer programmers, military personnel, homemakers, administrative assistants, teachers, retired persons and more. We have seen these people with varied backgrounds, all with an interest in law, combine their existing histories with paralegals skills and move into successful careers in law firms, courts and governmental agencies, corporate legal departments and even freelance positions.

Although some students may already work in the legal field and are seeking to advance, the majority may be new to the profession and seeking a career change. For students already working in the legal field, we find that this program fills in the gaps by presenting the material in an orderly and comprehensive manner. For those just entering the profession, we find that it minimizes the learning curve and trains job candidates in the essential knowledge and procedures the attorneys will expect on the job. Interestingly, we have noticed that the highest grade in the course is often times made by a student who is new to the legal field, rather than one already employed there!

Additionally, the majority of our students are returning to the classroom for the first time in many years but there is no need to be nervous. Instead, be excited! Your study skills and momentum will return quickly once you dig in and apply yourself.

Online is an exciting learning environment. As an online student, you are in control of your time and the quality of your learning experience. Make sure that you act as a good manager for yourself. Here are some notes on the type of student that is successful in the online learning experience. Is this you?

• meets the necessary technical requirements and is comfortable with the equipment
• has the time and resources to dedicate to junior/senior undergraduate level course work
• is comfortable with the written word and use of e-mail as a communication form
• is self-disciplined, self-guided and committed to earning the certificate
• has the ability to prioritize responsibilities and work independently
• will ask for assistance when needed to build academic and social support systems
• has much to benefit from this delivery method vs. residence programs (examples: busy lifestyle, geographic isolation from campus, parenting requirements or restrictions, physical disability, corporate support to learn at work)

Paralegal professionals will work with attorneys, their clients and court personnel in an often fast-paced environment. People with high quality communication skills, strong reading ability and aptitude for writing, good grammar, computer literacy and organizational skills are best suited for a career in the paralegal field.

Upon successful completion of all three courses, you will receive the UTSA Online Paralegal Certificate [67KB] , issued by the Center for Professional Excellence at UTSA. It will contain a personal signature by its Director, the Associate Dean for Executive Education.

We thought we would let them speak for themselves, so please feel free to explore some of our many student testimonials.