July 28th, 2009
The paralegal provides invaluable aid to the attorney in the legal process. Paralegals are the backbone of the trial team, coordinating thousands of details that must be accomplished from the beginning of the first client interview through the trial process and post-trial procedures. The paralegal is also important to the client as they utilize time efficiently and provide the client necessary legal assistant services at a much lower rate than that of the attorney. This enables the attorney to focus on the major aspects of the case, while the paralegal gathers and collates important and necessary data.
Paralegals should in most instances utilize critical thinking skills, business managerial skills, organizational skills, general communication skills, general office skills, computer skills, and research and writing skills.
From the beginning of the client interview, under the supervision of the attorney, the paralegal will begin gathering information to assist the attorney in analyzing the client’s specific legal issues through interviews with clients, witnesses and experts. The paralegal, under the attorney’s direction, will also identify and evaluate alternative legal solutions; formulate logical solutions to specific problems of the case; construct logical arguments in support of the client’s position; suggest potential solutions; determine which areas of law are relevant to the client’s particular issues; identify interrelationships among cases, statutes, regulations, and other legal authorities; apply recognized legal authority to a specific factual situation; analyze factual situations to determine when it is appropriate to apply exceptions to general legal rules; distinguish evidentiary facts from other material and/or controlling facts; and identify factual omissions and inconsistencies.
Using organizational skills the paralegal will sort information by category and prioritize assignments according to the client’s needs, manage information manually and through computerized databases.
It is the job of the paralegal to interact effectively with clients, witnesses, experts, counsel of record, courts and other legal and business professionals. They must adapt to situations as they arise and keep the attorney informed of all new developments in the case. They must be able to adapt to situations as they arise, and understand the need to ask questions and seek guidance form the attorney.
Legal research involves the application of critical thinking, organizational skills, and effective communication skills. The paralegal must be able to carry out legal research and analyze and categorize key facts in each legal situation. They must read, evaluate and analyze both printed and electronic sources of law and with supervision of the attorney apply that law to the facts of each case. They must not only properly cite sources, but must check the cited sources of other legal professionals to locate and formulate proper legal concepts.
One of the most important and difficult jobs of the paralegal is the drafting of legal documents. This involves understanding and application of principles of writing and rules of English grammar. The writing must be done in a way that conveys legal theory in a clear and concise manner and conforms with local, state and federal court rules. They must further locate, modify and/or customize standardized forms found in formbooks, pleadings files, form files, or on computer data banks according to the facts of each potential case.
The paralegal must have a well rounded knowledge of the legal system, the various court procedures and the law and how it applies to the various legal matters at issue for each client. They are a critical member of the legal support team and used effectively assist in providing the client with the appropriate legal representation at a more efficient price.
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June 2nd, 2009
The first step to begin a lawsuit in Texas is to finding a lawyer who is knowledgeable and experienced in the area of your legal concern.
In Texas, the filing of an original petition or a complaint officially starts a lawsuit. The complaint will state the facts of the case, spell out the legal issues as they relate to the facts and request the Court grant relief. The complaint is then filed with the court and served on the Defendant who will have a set period of time to respond.
After the complaint has been filed and the Defendant has entered his answer, the discovery phase of the lawsuit begins. During the discovery process, the counsel for each side will gather as much evidence as is reasonable to present their case to the judge or jury. Such discovery includes but is not limited to depositions (sworn testimony taken out of court); disclosure of witnesses, experts and other necessary information; interrogatories (written questions); requests for production of documents; requests for admissions; requests for business records, and electronically stored information (ESI), etc. Discovery may last from a few months to a year, and in some cases several years. Discovery rules can be very liberal, allowing a great deal of evidence to be revealed.
In Texas most courts require the parties to mediate a case before allowing it to go to trial. Mediation can be a useful process as it allows both sides to state their case to a neutral party who has experience in the issues being mediated and who will attempt to assist in the resolution of the case before the parties are forced to incur the expense of a trial. In many cases, the mediation process is a good gauge for a possible trial outcome. At a minimum, it allows each side to measure the strengths and weaknesses of the case.
The pre-trial conference takes place approximately one week prior to the case going to trial and presents yet another opportunity for counsel to settle the case or review the issues. During the pre-trial conference the counsel speak informally with the judge and agree to the undisputed issues. They share the evidence they intend to present during trial and the witnesses they plan to call to testify. The parties, along with the judge, are then able to plan the course of the trial.
After completion of the discovery, mediation and the pre-trial conference, should the parties be unable to settle the case, it will then be placed on the Court’s trial docket and proceeds to trial.
The trial most commonly proceeds in the following manner: Plaintiff’s attorney makes an opening statement detailing the facts of the case followed by the Defendant’s attorney detailing the defenses; Plaintiff’s witnesses and evidence are introduced, examined and cross-examined; Defendant’s witnesses and evidence are introduced, examined and cross-examined; Plaintiff and Defendant are allowed to introduce rebuttal evidence; and, finally, Plaintiff presents their closing argument, followed by the Defendant’s closing argument.
When a jury is hearing the case, a judge will instruct the jury as to the law that is to be applied to the issues. The jury will then retire to the jury room until a verdict is reached. Should the jury end in a deadlock, the judge will normally send the jury back to deliberate until a verdict is reached. If a verdict cannot be reached, the judge must declare a mistrial. If a verdict is returned, the judge will generally enter a judgment on the verdict.
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Posted in About The Nacol Law Firm PC, Civil Litigation | No Comments »
Serving clients throughout Texas, including Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Grayson, Kaufman, Rockwall and Tarrant counties and the communities of Addison, Allen, Arlington, Carrollton, Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, Garland, Grapevine, Highland Park, McKinney, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson, Rowlett and University Park, Murphy,Wylie, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Irving, along with surrounding DFW areas.
