Fundamentals of Law Office Management

Duration: Self-paced Instructor Guided  | 6 Months to complete Credits: 20 Clock Hours  Objective: This course is designed for persons who will work in a law office management position, either as an employee of a law firm or as an entrepreneur operating his or her own law/paralegal office.  The course provides grounding in lawyering skills in several areas: legal drafting, interaction with clients, and the management of a small law office. The legal drafting component emphasizes the drafting of transactional documents, e.g., various types of contracts, rather than litigation documents. The course includes practice exercises simulating work with clients and the other parties on business transactions. Topics covered in the office management component include structure of law firms; financial issues (including compensation, billing, fees, and trust accounts); business development (marketing and advertising); law practice tools; and personnel, office, and operational issues. You will learn about law offices, their fundamental characteristics, and the differences between different types of law firms. This course also discusses personnel relations, and how the legal team functions together. As a paralegal, you must have a foundation in ethics, the next subject of study in this course. Client relations are going to be a major part of your career, and you need to know the ethical boundaries which guide legal professionals. This course also examines legal fees,  timekeeping, billing, and financial management, managing clients' trust fund accounts, and reviews law office systems and technology. Finally, the course considers the important subjects of record-keeping, and law library organization and management. All in all, this course is a must for anyone interested in owning and operating their own legal office that will be open to the public.