Author: cdtalaw

Taking Advantage Of Online Legal Resources During The Pandemic

Taking Advantage Of Online Resources During The Pandemic

There are a variety of online legal resources available to lawyers, law students, and legal scholars. As the pandemic, and the resulting quarantine, increase the opportunities for stay-at-home legal studies, now is an opportune time to take advantage of these mostly free resources. Many valuable free online legal resources are available on common, well-known legal websites. The American Bar Association along with state and local bar associations offer a vast amount of useful content. These resources include free educational webinars, ebooks, topical articles, and legal guides that are accessible at no cost to the user. Legal Research Tools While Lexis and Westlaw are...

Continue reading

There are Many Paths To A Meaningful Legal Career – Insurance And Risk Management

There are Many Paths To A Meaningful Legal Career – Insurance And Risk Management

There are many career paths for law school graduates, especially those that have developed into effective attorney-advocates. The types of employment opportunities available in fields other than law are diverse. These jobs may also depend on the applicant’s undergraduate education and previous work experience. The diverse curriculum provided by the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA), helps law students develop skills and qualifications which transfer to other fields, including the insurance and risk management industry. Legally trained individuals are frequently found in the offices of insurance companies. Legal training proves helpful in allowing the individual to effectively explain how the suggested coverage will specifically meet...

Continue reading

The Management Of Client Files In 2020

The Management Of Client Files In 2020

A critical administrative function for an office, including and perhaps especially one that engages in the practice of law, is the competent maintenance of client files. Before computers became an integral part of a law practice, layers were entirely reliant on the collection of client data in a physical form. Today, in the digital age, clients may electronically manage and preserve client information. Any client file contains some work product, client information, and other important paperwork that may include pleadings, correspondence, legal documents, and client records. This information must be maintained or preserved until the physical file is returned to the...

Continue reading

Envisioning Your Law Practice In Ten Years

Envisioning Your Law Practice In Ten Years

Asking yourself where your career will be in ten years is a difficult question. Asking yourself where your law practice will be ten years is, at least, equally as difficult, if not a more problematic question. Of course, some form of this question is commonly asked at employment interviews, but it becomes a more significant query when the intention is to have your own law practice. If you have no idea as to how to answer the above questions, relax, it is no cause for concern, most people, including law students and young lawyers, do not have a clue. Perhaps one...

Continue reading

Some Thoughts About Trial Strategy

Some Thoughts About Trial Strategy

Trial strategy is an attorney’s comprehensive plan that when executed will provide the best chance of success in a litigated matter. Attorneys may use certain tactics throughout a trial as tools for specific purposes designed to implement this strategy. Since every legal matter differs when considering the underlying facts of each matter, applicable law, the measure of damages, defenses, etc., so must every trial strategy differ. Approaches to trial strategy may be far-ranging. There are basic, straightforward ideas as well as concepts that delve into the psychological realm and utilize other advanced approaches. The basic concepts of trial strategy involve the simple...

Continue reading

COVID-19, The Summer Of 2020, And I’m A Law Student

COVID-19, The Summer Of 2020, And I’m A Law Student

The COVID-19 pandemic is having significant life-altering effects daily. As a result, the world in flux may cause fear and anxiety for many, especially those who are in the middle of their academic careers. Anyone who just completed their first year of law school and endured the spring of 2020 when the pandemic gained strength, most likely has an endless list of questions and concerns about what the future holds beyond the summer of 2020. Whether you are a student, professor, partner, associate, legal support staff member, or legal technical professional, the COVID-19 pandemic has had some effect on you. However,...

Continue reading

Greater Need For Patent Attorneys

Greater Need For Patent Attorneys

The Trademark and Patent Lawyers and Attorneys industry provides intellectual property due diligence, application, and litigation services to businesses and individuals. While the reduction in the number of applicants for law school over the past several years has been steady, the number of law school graduates qualified to sit for the patent bar exam has been declining even more rapidly. Presently, in 2020, there is clearly a greater need for patent attorneys in the United States. The number of applications to law schools dropped 35% from 108,522 in 2009 to 70,025 in 2015. However, applicants with a technical or science background who...

Continue reading

Attorneys, Advocates, And The CDTA Vision

Attorneys, Advocates, And The CDTA Vision

“Law school teaches law students the law, but it doesn’t teach law students to be lawyers” is an oft-used well-known criticism of traditional law schools. As these traditional law schools chiefly focused on substantive learning through class discussion based on students’ reading and briefing cases, any desire to gain knowledge of the everyday skills related to the routine practice of law was primarily left to students to pursue solely on their own. Any desire to learn those skills that allow an attorney to advocate and assert the rights of clients was primarily left to students to pursue solely on their...

Continue reading

Adaptive Learning For Law Students

Adaptive Learning For Law Students

Adaptive learning is a technique for providing students with more personalized learning to provide efficient, effective, and customized learning paths for each individual student. Adaptive learning works at all levels, including the graduate level, and law students may reap the benefits of this new learning mechanism. Adaptive learning systems utilize a data-driven approach to adjust the path and pace of a student’s studies to deliver personalized learning. Adaptive systems may support changes in the roles of faculty, enable innovative teaching practices, and incorporate a variety of content formats to support students based on their learning needs. Adaptive learning through training in the digital...

Continue reading

Studying Sample Answers May Save Time

Studying Sample Answers May Save Time

Many state bar associations post former bar exam essay questions and sample answers on their websites. These model answers are valuable for studying for both the bar and final exams. It is also easy to search online for sample law exam answers as most samples are available for free. Studying sample answers may save some precious time studying, allowing you to utilize it for other test preparation. Of course, this involves working with sample questions and makes the question and what it specifically asks also a very important component of this process. When working with sample answers and questions, it is...

Continue reading
Font Resize