Answer #3

EQ: What is the best way to be a public agency paralegal?

Answer 3: Keeping up with changing laws

Evidence:

• You need to understand a law to be able to implement it
• New laws might contradict old ones
• If both you and the lawyer keep up with the laws, you might get a more complete understanding of it

Source:

• Purthur's class
• Roles, Responsibility, Ethics, and Required Skills.
• Litigation Corner: Time To Shine

Answers

Answers:

1) Education or training

2) Adjust your working style to the lawyer

3) Keeping up with changing laws

The Product

My product has been a closer relationship with my mom. I've never really gone to her for help for school, but I have been able to go to her for help finding articles for research and suggestions on what to focus on. She has also been able to help me with my presentations.

Independent Component 1

Log of hours

Literal:
I, Ariel Diaz, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work. I sat in on two of my mom's paralegal classes, Legal Analysis and Writing and Civil Procedures Pretrial.

Interpretive:
I spent a little over 30 hours sitting through legal classes. I learned about the documents and procedures that paralegals have to go through on a daily basis. A lot of what I learned backed up some of what I've found out through research, but ultimately I found the class more helpful because everything could be backed up with more explanations and examples immediately.

Applied:
My EQ is all about becoming a paralegal. A great way to get started is to take classes to get a degree or certification. Now that I have sat in on some classes, I understand both some aspects of the law better, and the process to getting a degree/certification for paralegals.

Service Learning

Where are you working for your service learning?
I am working at El Monte City Hall.

What is your contact?
 The El Monte City Attorney, Richard Padilla.

Summarize the services you have performed to complete the 10 hour requirement
 So far I have just been going through boxes of old files, looking for extra copies that can be thrown away.

Answer 1

Answer: If a person gets their paralegal certification, they will have more success in being hired.

Evidence/Sources:
1. NALA
NALA is one of the top US paralegal associations, and its main concern is providing a certification program for paralegals. They believe that certification shows that a paralegal is credible.

2. MT SAC Paralegal Courses
I spoke with my mom, who is working towards her degree in paralegal studies, and she told me that many of her class books say that a paralegal cannot be billed without certification. This means that instead of the fee coming from clients, as with an attorney, an uncertified paralegal would be payed out of pocket.

3. Paralegal.edu
James Scheffer is the Admissions Director for the Center for Advanced Legal Studies. He has written an article on the terms certified vs certification, and in it he says that "Attorneys are encouraged by their State Bar Associations to promote continuing education and excellence among their paralegals." This means that proof of training and education, such as certification, would help ensure that paralegals can meet the expectations.

ESLR Blog

1. Effective User of Technology
While doing my senior project, I learned how to navigate college databases and use excel in order to make a working bibliography.

2. Effective Learner 
I had never really used excel before, so I have learned how to work with it. I have also learned a lot about paralegals and am able to explain what they do to others.