Paralegal

Career Management

In this module, you will create and refine your résumé and LinkedIn Profile. You will write cover letters and learn the value of customizing cover letters to specific job postings. You will have the opportunity to apply this knowledge as you conduct a job search and write a cover letter tailored to an ideal job post. Through research, you will create a list of top employers and target current industry opportunities. You will learn about current methods for applying to job postings using technology. You will also gain an understanding of the job interview process, typical interview questions and possible responses, and expectations of both the interviewer and interviewee. In addition, you will engage in practical application of the interview process through role-play. Topics such as negotiating salary, self-management, and on-the-job success for placements and post-graduate employment will be also covered.

Paralegal Field Placement (240)

In this practicum, you are required to complete field placement in a legal work setting to apply the theory and skills that you have learned throughout the Paralegal program, and to gain relevant work experience. Field placement builds on these skills with the concept of putting the theory and knowledge gained from the program into practice. You must successfully complete 240 hours of field placement in order to graduate from the Paralegal program.

Diversity and Indigenous Peoples in Canada

The first half of this course helps you further your knowledge and understanding of Indigenous cultural awareness. The course will provide a baseline knowledge of the colonial history of Canada, how it continues today, and the adverse outcomes for Indigenous people. You will explore the role of law and your potential to advance reconciliation when assisting Indigenous clients. The second part of the course looks at diversity and its strengths in the legal workplace. Among the topics covered are the strengths of diversity, its occasional challenges, how to manage diversity in the workplace, and the value of diversity training. Diversity in group dynamics is addressed, with an emphasis on the strengths of a heterogeneous group and the types of diversity found in it.

Legal Office Skills

This course is designed to provide orientation and instruction in general legal office procedures to give students the tools to make a good impression and be confident in their contributions in the legal environment. You will explore roles and responsibilities in a general legal setting and the legal ethics involved with working with clients. The course will enable you to develop time management and organizational skills necessary for success in the legal profession.

Client Relations and Interviewing Skills

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of working with clients and how to build that relationship. It will also teach legal professionals how to prepare for, structure, and conduct effective client interviews. The quality of client interviews is essential to ensure that professionals receive essential information to achieve better results for their clients.

Introduction to the Legal System

This course provides you with a fundamental understanding of the Canadian government and political system, the Canadian legal system and the organization of the Canadian court system. You will learn important legal terminology and principles such as jurisdiction. The course also provides you with an understanding of the different divisions of law, including private and public law, procedural and substantive law, and statutory and common law. You will explore public law and the application of the Constitution, and the Charter. You will also study key areas of private law, which fall within a paralegal’s scope of practice, such as property law, business law and consumer law.

Legal Computer Applications

This course provides you with the computer literacy skills needed to succeed in all aspects of legal work. Computer literacy, including proficient keying, document production, and checking for exactness are critical skills in all aspects of legal work. You will be introduced to Microsoft Office products for producing different types of documents, such as correspondence, memorandums, spreadsheets, presentations, and legal specific documents. You will experience step-by-step instructor-led demonstrations and self-directed demonstrations followed by practice activities to develop your computer literacy. You will also learn how to find legal resources online.

Legal Communication and Writing

In this course, you will enhance your communication skills. You will refine your listening, speaking, and writing skills, with a particular emphasis on written communication and grammar. You will learn the importance of effective legal writing in the legal profession with a view to gain an understanding of the different purposes of each routine legal document.This is a hands-on ‘drafting’ course with daily activities focused on developing your ability to draft the various types of correspondence commonly found in a legal practice. You will also be introduced to the common forms used to initiate proceedings at various venues withinthe paralegal scope of practice.

Legal Research and Writing

This course provides you with a fundamental understanding of legal research processes within the Canadian legal system. You will learn how to identify and access primary sources of law including statutes, regulations and case law. You will also learn how to access and use secondary sources of law, from the Internet and Quicklaw Advance. You will explore tertiary sources such as reports and medial articles. You will showcase skills in online and print source legal research, case briefing, and memo drafting. You will also develop the ability to identify legal issues from a set of facts and draft a legal memorandum based on both facts and applicable law.

Tort Law

Tort law is an area of private law that deals with certain types of wrongful conduct and the remedies available to those affected by that conduct. It covers a wide range of behaviours and is primarily concerned with providing a means of compensation. This course offers you a basic understanding of tort law and its supporting social policies. You will learn about the major categories of tort law, the fundamental elements of a cause in action in tort and learn how to determine damages and other remedies. You will also learn how to identify the potential defenses available in tort actions.

Contract Law

This course provides students with a basic understanding of the governing principles related to contract law. You will review relevant and up-to-date case law and conduct your own legal research to understand substantive contract law principles.You will learn the main features of a legally enforceable contract. You will also examine the rules and principles that assist in interpreting the terms of a contract, including exclusion and penalty clauses. You will also learn who can sue and who can be sued under a contract using contract law principles to guide their analysis.You will dive into contractual defects, breach of contract and the remedies available to parties seeking redress for said breaches.

Employment Law

This course gives you an understanding of fundamental employment law and principles. You will explore the applicable federal and provincial employment and employment-related statutes and the workplace function of each. You will examine the role of the Employment Standards Act of 2000 in acting as a safety net for non-unionized employees. The methods of enforcement of the statute and prosecuting violations of the ESA are connected to the knowledge obtained in the course about Provincial Offences. You will explore the role of the Ontario Labour Relations Board and review the Ministry of Labour's decisions on employment disputes and make decisions on labor disputes. You will also dive into related areas like human rights, equity, privacy in employment, and rehabilitation programs through OHSA and WSIB.

Small Claims Court

In this module, you will learn about the processes involved in preparing and presenting cases in Small Claims Court. You will work collaboratively with each other under your instructor's guidance to initiate legal proceedings before the court and learn how to draft legal documents during civil litigation. You are trained to represent clients in court, so you must know how to prepare civil litigation documents. The module covers topics such as Introduction to Small Claims Court, Paralegals, and their Clients, acting for the Plaintiff: Preliminary Considerations, Commencing the Action, Default Proceedings and Acting for the Defendant, Motions, Offers to Settle and Settlement Conferences, Trials and Assessment Hearings, Motions for New Trial and Appeals, and Enforcing Small Claims Court Judgments.

Provincial Offences/Motor Vehicle Offences

This course introduces you to fundamental concepts and procedures outlined by the Provincial Offences Act for quasi-criminal matters in the Ontario Court of Justice. You will explore various procedural streams, charging documents, offense classifications, and defenses. You will thoroughly examine the anatomy of a provincial offenses trial, covering sentencing and appeals. Throughout the course, you will familiarize yourself with court rules and practices for representing defendants facing regulatory offenses. In addition to delving into this broadly applicable statute, you will also scrutinize common offenses under essential provincial laws like the Highway Traffic Act, Liquor License Act, and Occupational Health and Safety Act, among others. You will possess the knowledge and tools to represent clients charged under municipal, provincial, or federal laws governed by the POA.

Criminal Law and Summary Conviction Procedure

The course introduces you to the criminal justice process, outlining every aspect of a summary conviction, including both substantive law and procedural law from preliminary matters to sentencing and appeals. Balancing the theoretical and practical application of criminal law, through the lens of a paralegal’s permitted scope of practice, you are introduced to the elements of an offence, common defences, search and arrest, court attendance, witness provisions, disclosure, pre-trial conferences and applications, remedies, trial strategies, sentencing procedures, appeals. You will examine key components and offences of the Criminal Code, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Criminal Law Rules, and the Paralegal Rules of Conduct.

Administrative Law

This course provides you with a basic understanding of the foundations of Administrative Law in Canada. Concepts canvassed in this course include private and public law, procedural and substantive law, and statutory and common law. You will learn the fundamental rules of natural justice and procedural fairness.You will learn the main procedural statute – the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, about the Judicial Review Procedure Act and many statutes and common law rules, related to Administrative Law. You will learn the process for reviewing the authority, form and function of administrative tribunals,and the relationship between the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Administrative Law.

Tribunal Practice and Procedures

This course provides you with a fundamental and practical understanding of administrative law and advocacy before government tribunals.This course enables you to apply the knowledge learned in administrative law. You will learn the basic steps that should be followed in many tribunals and the procedures involved in preparing for and participating in hearings before a tribunal, including issues that arise after the proceeding and challenging and enforcing orders. The course also provides you with a hands-on approach to selected tribunals that you are most likely to encounter, with additional tribunals being covered in separate courses. The tribunals that are focused on in this course include: Social Benefits Tribunal, Assessment Review Board, Ontario Labour Relations Board, Law Society Tribunal, Ontario Land Tribunal, Condominium Authority Tribunal, and Social Security Tribunal.

Residential Landlord and Tenant Law

The course focuses on residential tenancies and the administrative body, the Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) created for dealing with landlord/tenant disputes.You will examine the governing legislation, Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) to gain an understanding of the rights and obligations of parties, and the procedural components of enforcing those rights and obligations. At the end of this course, you should have the knowledge and tools necessary to assist in the representation of clients dealing with matters within the jurisdiction of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006.

Immigration and Refugee Law

The course introduces you to a general overview of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). Throughout the course, you will examine the substantive law and procedural law relating to the various matters heard at the IRB. Balancing the theoretical and practical application of immigration and refugee law, through the lens of a paralegal’s permitted scope of practice, you are introduced to the jurisdiction of each of the divisions at this specialized tribunal, including admissibility hearings, detention reviews, immigration appeals, refugee protection hearings and refugee appeals.

Insurance Law

This course provides you with a fundamental and practical understanding of Insurance Law, focusing on motor vehicle insurance and workplace safety and insurance. The course also provides you with a hands-on approach to selected tribunals that you will encounter in this area, such as the License Appeal Tribunal, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board/Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal.

Human Rights Law

This course provides you with a fundamental and practical understanding of Human Rights Law, focusing on understanding Ontario's Human Rights Code, and the Canadian Human Rights Act. The course also provides you with a hands-on approach to selected tribunals that you will encounter in this area, such as the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

Practice Management/Operating a Small Business

The rules and scope of work for paralegals are ever-evolving. You need to be aware of not only the rules, but also of the steps and legal requirements involved in starting, managing, and working in a paralegal practice.The course will help you develop a comprehensive understanding of the variousobligations and challenges associated with paralegal practice, including self-employment, business ownership, marketing, and management of paralegal practice. You will focus on the guiding principles of paralegal practice with a focus on the Paralegal Rules of Conduct and Paralegal Professional Conduct Guidelines.

Legal Accounting

This course is designed to provide the basics of legal accounting, including the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) requirements of paralegals. You will learn how legal accounting helps to manage most aspects of a firm’s business. You are taught basic legal office accounting procedures including the creation and operation of general and trust accounts. You will dive into concepts such as general accounting principles, journals and ledgers and financial transaction analysis, bank accounts used in a paralegal practice, reconciliations, financial statements, and GST/HST. You will gain an understanding of bylaws and other legal authorities, which govern financial record-keeping requirements.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR is an umbrella term for processes, other than judicial determination, in which an impartial person (an ADR practitioner) assists those in a dispute to resolve the issues between them. ADR is commonly used as an abbreviation for alternative dispute resolution but can also mean assisted or appropriate dispute resolution. The main types of ADR are negotiation,mediation, and arbitration. You will gather relevant information, prepare for, and conduct interviews. Examining the various ADR techniques for use in the scope of practice for paralegals, you will gain an overall perspective of the basic skills involved in resolving disputes using ADR techniques.

Advocacy

This course teaches you how to be an advocate on behalf of a client during a trial/hearing. In the first half of the course, you will study the principles and techniques of trial/hearing advocacy. The principles, techniques, and rules for trial advocacy apply similarly to civil trials, criminal trials, and administrative hearings. Scenarios used in the mock trials will be representative of any or all the venues within the permitted scope of practice of a paralegal. In the second half of the course, you will be given the opportunity to apply what you have learned and practice your newly obtained advocacy skills. You will demonstrate the art of persuasively putting forward the client’s case by developing a theory of the case. You will also need to develop a litigation strategy, which you will present at court during a mock trial. In addition, you will prepare the necessary pleadings and other court documents as required in the case scenario. Pleadings in this course are not graded.

Student Success Strategies

This course stresses the importance of developing non-technical skills to enhance personal, academic and career success. This includes understanding learning styles and honing practical study skills, such as memory, reading, note- and test-taking techniques. Personal exercises will focus on teamwork, decision making and problem solving skills, setting goals and maintaining a positive attitude techniques for managing change, stress and conflict will also be explored.