2 - Paralegal Employment Flashcards
private law firms
a law firm that generates its income mainly from the attorney (and paralegal) fees paid by clients
boutique law firms
a law firm that specializes in one main area of the law
general counsel
the chief attorney in a corporate law department (corporate counsel)
civil service
nonmilitary government employment, often obtained through merit and competitive exams
jurisdiction
1 - a geographic area over which a particular court, legislature, or administrative agency has authority; area can be the entire country, a state, a group of states, a county, a city, etc.
2 - power of a court to resolve a legal dispute
3 - power or authority that a person, government or other entity can exercise
paralegal specialist
a major civil service job classification for paralegals who work for the federal government and for some state and local governments
legal aid offices
an office of attorneys (and often paralegals) that provides free or low-cost legal services for persons who cannot afford standard legal fees (legal services office)
indigent
poor; without means to afford something such as a private attorney or filing fees
civil
1 - pertaining to the state or its citizens
2 - noncriminal
3 - nonmilitary
client trust account
a bank account controlled by an attorney that contains client funds that may not be used for general operating expenses or for any personal purpose of the attorney
uncontested
unchallenged; without opposition or dispute
pro bono
concerning or involving legal services that are provided for the public good (pro bono publico) without fee or compensation; sometimes also applied to services given at a reduced rate
special-interest group
an organization that seeks to influence policy in favor of a particular group or cause, often through lobbying
test case
litigation that seeks to create a new legal principle or right
prepaid legal services
a legal-insurance plan by which a person pays premiums to cover future legal services that might be needed (legal plan, group legal services)
crime
conduct the government classifies as a wrong that is serious enough to warrant a criminal proceeding and punishment if convicted
tort
a civil wrong (other than a breach of contract) that causes injury or other loss for which our legal system deems it just to provide a remedy such as damages; injury or loss can be to the person (personal tort), to moveable property (personal property tort), or to land and anything attached to the land (real property tort)
conversion
tort committed by an intentional interference with another’s personal property consisting of an exercise of dominion over the property
public defender
attorney appointed by a court and paid by the government to represent an indigent defendant in a criminal case
assigned counsel
an attorney (often in private practice) appointed by the court to represent an indigent person in a criminal or civil case; paid by the government and might be called public defender
outsourcing
paying an outside company or service to perform tasks usually performed by one’s own employees
e-discovery
discovery by a party in litigation of an opponent’s date generated by or stored in a computer or other digital device (e.g. data in emails, spreadsheets, memos, Web pages, video and other digital records) [electronic data discovery]
legal nurse consultant (LNC)
a nurse, usually an independent contractor, who examines and evaluates facts involving the delivery of health care on behalf of an attorney, health organization, or other entity
legal nurse
a nurse, usually an employee of an attorney, who examines an evaluates facts involving the delivery of healthcare on behalf of an attorney
job bank
service that lists available jobs; sometimes only available to members of an organization
blind ad
a want add that does not give the name and address of the prospective employer; contact is made through a third party (e.g. newspaper or agency)
staffing agency
an employment agency that places temporary workers, often directly paying the workers and handling all of the financial aspects of the placement
informational interviews
an interview whose primary purpose is to gain a better understanding of an area of law or kind of employment
chronological resume
resume that presents biographical date on education, training, and experience in a chronological sequence starting with the present and working backwards
functional resume
resume that covers skills and experience regardless of when they were developed or occurred
font
design or style of printed letters of the alphabet, punctuation marks or other characters
point
measure of the size of printed letters of the alphabet, punctuation marks or other characters (approx. 1/72 of an inch)
Portable Document Format (PDF)
file format consisting of an electronic image of a document that preserves the features and styles of a document (e.g. line spacing, photograph placement, and font size) that existed before it was converted into a digital document
metadata
data about data; data about a computer document that is hidden within the document itself (e.g. earlier versions of the document)
parallelism
using a consistent (i.e. parallel) grammatical structure when phrasing logically related ideas in a list
due diligence
reasonable efforts to find and verify factual information needed to carry out an obligation, to avoid harming someone, or to make an important decision (e.g. to determine true market value of a potential investment, or to decide whether a job prospect is worth pursuing)
blog
internet journal or diary on any topic of interest to the blogger (‘blawg’ is topic is mainly law)
cover letter
1 - letter indicating what is being sent in the same envelope or package and that often highlights its components or purpose
2 - a brief business letter that states your interest in a specific position and briefly explains why you would be an excellent choice
3 - a transmittal letter
intranet
private network of computers for the sharing of data, software, and services within the organization using features similar to the world wide web
contaminate
cause of conflict of interest to exist in a law office because of prior employment, prior volunteer work or other factors that could create the conflict
conflict of interest
divided loyalties that actually or potentially harm (or disadvantage) someone who is owed undivided loyalty
redacted
to edit or prepare a document for publication or release, often by deleting, altering or blocking out text you don’t want disclosed
