BST 3060
Legal Ethics and Confidentiality
40 hours

Course Information

Course Description:

A study of the ethics and confidentiality requirements that bind legal administrative assistants in the work environment. 

Course Objectives:

1. Be able to distinguish between permissible and impermissible conduct.

a. Be able to identify what areas are considered unauthorized practice of law by employees of a law firm or freelance legal professionals.

2. Learn the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

a. Understand standards each attorney is expected to adhere to and apply in legal matters.

3. Be familiar with the differences in the duties and education required for paralegals, legal assistants, legal administrative assistants, and law clerks.

a. Apply decision-making skills to determine which duties students are qualified to perform.

4. Learn and apply the National Association of Legal Assistant’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility or the National Association of Legal Secretaries's Code of Ethics.

a. Understand the importance of confidentially and privileged communications.

b. Understand rules regarding the handling of client funds.

c. Apply decision-making skills in the area of ethics to real life ethical situations using the NALA/NALS’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility as a guideline.

5. Be familiar with the National Association of Legal Assistant’s Model Standard’s and Guidelines for Utilization of Legal Assistants.

a. Be able to follow similar guidelines of conduct for a legal administrative assistant position (NALS' standards).

b. Identify duties that legal administrative assistant are allowed to perform.

c. Identify duties that legal administrative assistants are not qualified and are not allowed to perform.

6. Understand the obligations that come with being a notary public.

a. Be familiar with documents that are required to prove identity.

b. Be familiar with the notary process and the documents that require it.

c. Make ethical decisions regarding the use of the notary public seal.

Prerequisites and Corequisites:

Prerequisites: Prior completion of all first and second trimester courses. COREQUISITES:  NONE.

Course Topics:

Legal Ethics and Confidentiality Online has been organized as follows:

·         Module 1 Getting Started

·         Module 2 Chapters 1-3

·         Module 3 Chapters 4-7

·         Module 4 Chapters 8-11 

Specific Course Requirements:

        This course is designed for the student to learn legal ethics and confidentiality. Students will learn their place in the legal office and what they have the authority to make decisions on themselves and what must be the attorney's call. This class will also explain attorney responsibilities so the assistant can help guide the attorney. 

 

Textbooks , Supplementary Materials , Hardware and Software Requirements

Required Textbooks:

Please visit the RODP Virtual Bookstore for information on the textbook for this course.
http://rodp.bkstr.com/

Supplementary Materials:

         Recommended Resource: none

Hardware Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include...

Software Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include...Student are required to purchase or download for the course, Real Player or Media Player, Microsoft Office Word and PowerPoint or viewers).

Instructor Information

Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.

Assessment and Grading

Testing Procedures:

       All course exams are timed and submitted online.

Grading Procedure:

       Students will study through readings, discussions, and learning activities.   Exams will contribute to the final course grade, while learning activities will assist the student with content mastery. Students will have opportunities for discussion of content with students and faculty via discussion forums. 

       4 Quizzes                                                                                                25%
       Discussion Board, Terminology Defined, Notary Paper, and case test                   50%
       Worker Characteristics  (participation, attitude, work detail, etc.)                      25%
       

       The grade is an average of the above listed components.

Grading Scale:

100-93---    A
  92-85---    B
  84-77---    C
  76-70---    D
  69-below---F

Assignments and Participation

Assignments and Projects:

 

Assignments Due Immediately

 

 

Introductory Assignment

To be completed within 48 hours of the first day of the semester
Assignment #1: Read the course syllabus and navigate through the course becoming familiar with where to find tests, assignments, e-mails, and instructions. 

Assignment #2: send the instructor an email using the email provided within the course. In the email please include:

    1. name
    2. address
    3. phone number
    4. alternate (home/other) email address
    5. Do you have the textbook? If not, when will you get it?

This assignment will let the instructor know that the student can log on, that the student has accessed the course, the student knows how to use e-mail, and whether or not the student has a textbook. If your address or phone number changes during the semester, please let the instructor know.

Assignment #3 - Discussion Board  -  The Discussion area allows for threaded discussions between all participants in the class.
a. Your third assignment is to use the Discussion Board and Introduce Yourself to the class.
b. Click on the discussion thread topic - Introduce yourself Then Compose Message and Introduce Yourself to the class members.
c. Read other students introductions and respond to at least two other students. 

As the trimester progresses, you may use the Discussion area to post questions regarding assignments or chat with other students. If the instructor is not available, another student might be able to assist in answering questions. It provides a method for meeting other students in the class.

The instructor may post announcements in the discussion thread topic from the instructor.  The Discussion area is also used for discussion questions for the course.

4 hours

 

All other assignments- see assignment sheet under course content.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class Participation:

        Students must communicate with other students in the discussion board and must actively participate in threaded discussion. Students are expected to communicate with the instructor as a learning resource; students must check the course bulletin board frequently for announcements and events.

Punctuality:

        Students are expected to:
        Check the course calendar for the due dates of assignments.

        Punctuality:  Being punctual and attending class in an online environment is just as important as being punctual and attending class in person.  Online absences will hurt your grade just as an absence for a physical class will hurt your grade. If a exam is missed it is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor so a make-up exam can be reset.  You have 7 calendar days to make up the exam.  If you do not make up the quiz or exam within the 7 calendar days you will receive a score of zero (0) for that quiz or exam 

Course Ground Rules

Participation is required at least two times a week. Participants are expected to communicate with other students, learn how to navigate in D2L, keep abreast of course announcements, and use the assigned college or university e-mail address as opposed to a personal e-mail address. Participants are expected to address technical problems locally. All people will observe course netiquette at all times--- no exceptions. Zero tolerance exists for failing to use netiquette.

Guidelines for Communications

Email:
  • Always include a subject line.
  • Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.
  • Use standard fonts.
  • Do not send large attachments without permission.
  • Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
  • Respect the privacy of other class members

Discussion Groups:
  • Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
  • Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
  • Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of others' ideas.
  • Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.
  • Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
  • Be positive and constructive in-group discussions.
  • Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.

Chat:
  • Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat session.
  • Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory statements.
  • Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.
  • Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled time.
  • Be constructive in your comments and suggestion

Web Resources:

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses. 

Students With Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Technical Support

Telephone Support:

If you are having problems logging into your course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the AskRODP Help Desk by calling

1-866-550-7637 (toll free)

or go to the AskRODP website at:

http://help.rodp.org