Official Course Description: MCCCD Approval: 06/22/04
OAS218 20046-20055	LEC	3 Credit(s)	3 Period(s)
Law Office Procedures
Law office procedures for general and specialty areas of law, including civil, estate planning and probate, business organizations, real estate, and litigation. Coverage of law office personnel, timekeeping, billing, filing, docket control, research, office equipment, legal forms, ethics, and professional associations. Prerequisites: LAS101 or permission of department chair or program director.

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MCCCD Official Course Competencies:
OAS218   20046-20055	Law Office Procedures

1.	Describe basic law office roles, duties, and concepts. (I- VII, XII-XVI)
2.	Explain various methods of timekeeping and concepts related to billable and non-billable time. (II)
3.	Perform basic fee and billing practices. (II-III)
4.	Describe uses for various filing systems in a law office. (IV)
5.	Explain concepts of docket control. (V)
6.	Explain basic law office procedures for specialty areas of law, including civil, estate planning and probate, business organizations, real estate, and litigation. (VI-XI)
7.	Identify and describe common legal research materials. (VI, VII)
8.	Perform basic legal research. (VI, VII)
9.	Apply basic principles of civil and litigation procedures, including federal and state rules of civil procedure and the preparation of a trial notebook. (VI-VII, XI-XII)
10.	Describe the importance of professional responsibility and conduct. (XIV-XV)
11.	Apply principles of law office procedures to systematizing the delivery of secretarial services in a law office. (I-XVI)
12.	Develop a law office system for the delivery of secretarial services in a given specialty of law. (I-XVI)

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MCCCD Official Course Outline:
OAS218   20046-20055	Law Office Procedures

I. General Law Office Procedures A. Law office employees 1. Types 2. Roles 3. Duties B. Law office procedure manuals 1. Types 2. Uses II. Timekeeping A. Methods and materials 1. Manual 2. Computerized B. Billable versus non-billable time C. Time management III. Fee and Billing Practices A. Types of fees 1. Hourly 2. Fixed 3. Contingency 4. Other B. Billing methods 1. Monthly 2. Quarterly 3. On completion 4. Other C. Billing rates 1. Attorneys 2. Legal assistants/paralegals 3. Law clerks D. Monitoring of accounts 1. Resolving unbilled time and costs 2. Collecting unpaid bills 3. Hand billing versus automatic billing IV. Filing A. Equipment 1. Types 2. Uses B. Systems 1. Types a. Centralized b. Decentralized c. Modified centralized d. Other 2. Uses C. Retrieval systems 1. Alpha-numeric 2. Opening and closing files 3. General filing procedures 4. Client card preparation 5. New matter memoranda preparation V. Docket Control A. Types of docketing systems and tools B. Legal malpractice C. Deadline computation VI. Rules of Civil Procedure A. Review of Rules of Civil Procedure 1. Federal 2. State B. Review of Uniform and Local Rules of Practice 1. Maricopa County 2. Other counties C. Review of Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure D. Use of court rules 1. Setting up docket control systems 2. Selecting forms 3. Setting up word processing procedures 4. Using process servers 5. Resolving office crises VII. Legal Research A. Reporters B. Digests C. Legal citations D. Computerized systems VIII. Estate Planning and Probate Procedures A. Forms 1. Estate planning 2. Probate 3. Tax B. Estate planning techniques C. Resources IX. Business Organization Procedures A. Advantages of types 1. Sole proprietorships 2. Partnerships 3. Corporations B. Disadvantages of types 1. Sole proprietorships 2. Partnerships 3. Corporations C. Forms X. Real Estate Procedures A. Deeds 1. Types 2. Uses B. Transferring real property C. Clearing title to real property D. Affidavits of value and exemptions E. Selected transactions 1. Quitclaim deeds 2. "Straw person" 3. Other XI. Litigation Procedures A. Discovery B. Interviewing witnesses C. Service of process D. Document control E. Information retrieval F. Personal injury cases XII. Trial Notebook A. Preparation B. Advantages XIII. Office Equipment and Supplies A. Types B. Purchasing C. Cost-saving techniques XIV. Ethics and Professional Associations A. Professional responsibility B. Arizona State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct C. National and local legal secretarial associations XV. Personnel Conflicts A. Types B. Resolution XVI. Employment Benefits A. Insurance B. Pension and profit-sharing plans C. Professional association dues D. Other

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