A strong foundation is the start of a great career. Taking this to heart, this award-winning author team has designed The Paralegal Professional: The Essentials, 2e to build the procedural knowledge and real-world skills needed for today’s paralegal. The essentials version places an emphasis on the profession and skills. A companion to the Paralegal Professional, 2e, it is known for its visual appeal, quality hands-on skills activities, and strong coverage of technology and ethics. Places and emphasis on the basic foundations including: developing critical thinking and procedural skills; learning about technology applications in the law office; and understanding how to handle ethical situations in the workplace. Strong coverage of technology hlps readers become comfortable using computers and common legal office software.  Paralegal professionals.

Henry R. Cheeseman is an award-winning author of several business law textbooks published by Prentice Hall Publishing, including the definitive, highly-regarded Business Law.  Other textbooks published by Professor Cheeseman by Prentice Hall Publishing are Contemporary Business and Online Commerce Law, The Legal Environment of Business and Online Commerce, Essential of Business and Online Commerce, and Introduction to Law.  He has earned six degrees, including a Juris Doctor degree from the UCLA School of Law, an LLM degree from Boston University, and an MBA degree from the University of Chicago. Professor Cheeseman is a Clinical Professor of Law and the Director of Legal Studies at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California. Students there voted him the best teacher of the year on many occasions, earning him the “Golden Apple” Teacher Award. Professor Cheeseman has also served at the Center for Excellence in Teaching at the University.  Professor Cheeseman recognizes the importance of the paralegal to the practice of law, and has co-authored this new and exciting edition of The Paralegal Professional.

Thomas F. Goldman is a Professor of Law and Management, Former Director of the Center for Legal Studies and of the Paralegal Studies Program at Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania. An accounting and eco­nomics graduate of Boston University and of Temple University School of Law, Professor Goldman has an active international law, technology law, and litigation practice. He has worked extensively with paralegals and received the award of the Legal Support Staff Guild. He was elected the Legal Secre­taries Association Boss of the Year for his contribution to cooperative educa­tion by encouraging the use of paralegals and legal assistants in law offices. He also received the Bucks County Community College Alumni Association Professional Achievement Award. He has been an educational consultant on technology to major corporations and a frequent speaker and lecturer on educa­tional, legal, and technology issues. Appointed to the American Association for Paralegal Education Board of Directors in October 2005, he served as the Chair of the Technology Task Force initiating the Train the Trainer program, he was elected President elect of the Association in 2006.

PART 1: THE PARALEGAL PROFESSION

1.      The Paralegal Profession

2.      Ethics, Regulation and Professional Responsibility

3.      The Paralegal Workplace

4.      Technology and the Paralegal

PART 2: PARALEGAL SKILLS AND PROCEDURE

5.      Sources of American Law

6.      The Court System and ADR

7.      Civil Litigation

8.      Administrative Law

9.      Interviewing and Investigation Skills

10.   Traditional, Computer, and Internet Legal Research

11.   Legal Writing and Critical Legal Thinking