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Author: cdtalaw

12 March
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A Quick Guide To Running A Law Practice: Listening To Clients

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice
A Quick Guide To Running A Law Practice: Listening To Clients

It is interesting how humans tend to categorize, explain, and distinguish some of their most basic activities, like listening, even despite the risk of overcomplicating it. Yet, when researching the term “listening” on the web, it is confusing to find terms like active listening, reflective listening, and empathic listening, especially when they are used both interchangeably and distinctively. Regardless of the terminology or intellectual analysis applied to the term, attorneys must have superior listening skills, especially when interacting with clients. The listening process is also critical to the success of a negotiation or mediation since it shapes the listener’s response. In its...

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11 March
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A Quick Guide To Running A Law Practice: The Telephone – Friend Or Foe?

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice
A Quick Guide To Running A Law Practice: The Telephone – Friend Or Foe?

Like many jobs, the life of an attorney is time-consuming. There are seemingly never enough hours in the day to complete every task. One of the tasks that attorneys seem to succeed at doing poorly, according to many clients, is client communication. Despite the day never seemingly having enough hours, there are a few key ways that attorneys may improve their communication skills with clients. Aside from a personal meeting, no form of communication equals the ability of attorney and client to talk on the telephone. While emails are a good way to exchange basic information like the time of a...

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10 March
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Finding Your Comfort Zone In Public Speaking

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, High Pressure, Soft Skills, Trial Advocacy
Finding Your Comfort Zone In Public Speaking

At CDTA College of Law, all of your classes take place in our beautiful courtrooms/classrooms. From your first day of classes as a 1L, you will find yourself in a courtroom for every class. By the time you graduate, you will have a huge advantage over other law grads as you will feel exceptionally comfortable speaking in a courtroom. However, you may still benefit from some public speaking pointers specifically addressing courtroom speaking. Many attorneys have mixed feelings about public speaking, or, more specifically, speaking in a courtroom setting. It is not uncommon for attorneys to express that they have feelings...

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09 March
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A Quick Guide To Running A Law Practice: Staff Orientation

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice
A Quick Guide To Running A Law Practice: Staff Orientation

A law office, more specifically, a law practice greatly relies on people, which are one of its greatest assets. A priority of any business enterprise is the assimilation of new employees to their working environment, quickly and efficiently, so they may become fully engaged, devoted, productive, and invaluable employees. Formulating a new-employee orientation plan to be regularly used with each new hire, whether an attorney or staff member, will prove useful and provide a foundation upon which to build and perfect the process. It’s important to modify and refine this process until a firm’s goals for employee productivity and success...

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06 March
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A Primer On Critical Thinking

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Soft Skills
A Primer On Critical Thinking

The California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) provides instruction on the soft skills – those skills that go beyond the basic training of the substantive law that many traditional law schools are content to teach, and only teach. Why? Traditional law schools do not seriously consider these skills to be part of the “academic core” of their standard curriculum, although they are absolutely essential for anyone who wants to be an effective attorney-advocate with a successful and prosperous legal practice. The California Desert Trial Academy’s unique learning platform emphasizes that students learn the soft skills in addition to the core substantive law....

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03 March
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Tips On Outlining Essay Answers – Analysis & Conclusion

Posted by cdtalaw
in Baby Bar Exam, Bar Exam, CDTA, First year law students
The California Desert Trial Academy focuses on providing an academic experience that emphasizes a practical approach to becoming a lawyer. We believe this is the most efficient and expedient pathway to a successful and rewarding legal career. At CDTA, we train, educate, and develop students to be exceptional attorneys and trial advocates. It’s obvious that law students want to get the most points out of every essay question on a law exam. They also want to do it as expediently and efficiently as possible. Wasting time on a question reduces any time remaining to review, revise, and correct prior finished questions. Outlining an answer to an essay question is a good way to improve any law student’s test-taking proficiency. Without entirely discounting the conclusion, the analysis is the most important component of a law exam answer since here is where examinees “apply the law to the facts.” An important tip for improving an IRAC-styled answer from average to excellent is to develop the analysis by presenting well-structured arguments on behalf of both sides (i.e., plaintiff-defendant, if applicable) for each issue spotted. Ask the following questions: • “What would the Plaintiff argue?” • “What would the Defendant argue?” This removes an essay answer from the IRAC format since the analysis entails more than just the law’s application to the facts. Rather, the answer is now presented as arguing and analyzing both the plaintiff’s case and the defendant’s case. Next, make every reasonable argument possible and include any reasonable creative arguments. Then make a statement as to which side of the issue has a better argument citing specific facts from the question’s details. Arguments may be shaped using and combining the following strategic formats. • Argue that the facts should be interpreted one way or another • Argue that the law should be interpreted one way or the other • Cite policy reasons for why the case should resolve one way or another • Argue that question should apply the traditional rule instead of the model rule (or vice versa) • Argue that the common law rule should be applied instead of the statute (or vice versa) • Argue that the majority rule should be applied instead of the minority rule (or vice versa) • Argue that the holding in one case should be followed rather than the holding in a different case. Any arguments must consider what the course’s professor emphasized in class, whether contradictory rulings in two different cases or a focus on common law vs. statutory law, majority view vs. minority view, etc. Finally, make a statement as to which party is more likely to prevail with an explanation of the underlying reasoning. The conclusion answers the question, “Who has the better legal argument?” This conclusion is not as crucial as the analysis. A conclusion must not be too inconclusive, i.e. “It depends on the view of the court.” After all, an inconclusive “conclusion” is not a conclusion! Just the same, a conclusion should not be too decisive (i.e. “The plaintiff will definitely prevail” or “The Defendant has no legal argument.”). It is a good strategy to avoid extremely strong words or phrases unless they are factually appropriate. Good usable keywords for a conclusion are “probably” and “most likely.” The key to mastering law exam essay questions is practice. This will improve issue-spotting, analytical, and reasoning skills that should culminate with exceptional readiness for the bar exam. Like traditional law schools, CDTA’s curriculum is designed to teach students the substantive law of core subject areas. Unlike traditional law schools, CDTA emphasizes training and developing students to be capable and competent advocates in any courtroom. The California Desert Trial Academy is a 21st Century law school that moves students toward a successful legal career on the first day of class. We believe that practical experience in tandem with legal knowledge is the best road to a successful, rewarding, and prosperous legal career. Call us today at (760) 342-0900 or find out more online here.

The California Desert Trial Academy focuses on providing an academic experience that emphasizes a practical approach to becoming a lawyer. We believe this is the most efficient and expedient pathway to a successful and rewarding legal career. At CDTA, we train, educate, and develop students to be exceptional attorneys and trial advocates. It’s obvious that law students want to get the most points out of every essay question on a law exam. They also want to do it as expediently and efficiently as possible. Wasting time on a question reduces any time remaining to review, revise, and correct prior finished questions....

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02 March
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Tips On Outlining Essay Answers – IRAC, Issue-Spotting & Relevance

Posted by cdtalaw
in Baby Bar Exam, Bar Exam, CDTA, First year law students
Tips On Outlining Essay Answers – IRAC, Issue-Spotting & Relevance

Whenever the subject of answering legal essays arises, the IRAC technique inevitably rears its ugly head. Why ugly? Because the IRAC method, in its most basic form, is not the optimal way to answer law exam questions. The IRAC method tends toward students devising simplistic and formulaic answers. Nonetheless, for any law student who does not outline his or her answers, IRAC is a good starting point for learning the tools to answer law school exam questions. In fact, practicing and developing it can help students improve their treatment of the analysis section resulting in more sophisticated exam answers. The IRAC method...

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28 February
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Find Your Attorney Mentor

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Internships & Mentors, Law Practice, Training
Find Your Attorney Mentor

It is an invaluable resource to find a mentor early in a young lawyer’s career. When CDTA Founder and Dean John Patrick Dolan started the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA), he conceptualized an educational curriculum, not unlike that of a medical school residency program where doctors mentored residents and provided them with the opportunities to apply their new professional skills. As the CDTA approaches its tenth anniversary, the emphasis on each student finding his or her own attorney mentor is as strong as it was when the CDTA opened its doors in 2012. It’s a mantra in many blogs here on...

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26 February
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CDTA: Do It Online!

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Distance learning, Distance learning law school, Online Law School
CDTA: Do It Online!

There has been a significant increase in the use of various technologies in education generally and the instruction of law in the 21st Century. The California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) uses all modern forms of technology to help students, especially those who need to utilize the many facets of distance learning and online resources. Since the California Desert Trial Academy opened in September 2012, it has maintained its’ place on the cutting edge of technology and legal instruction. Distance Learning allows students to attend classes in real time, and interact with other students and professors, as they would if they were...

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24 February
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Family, Stress, & 1Ls

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, First year law students, High Pressure
Parents, Stress, & 1Ls

The family and friends of law students tend to not understand that a 1L in law school is nothing like an undergraduate in college. The stress faced by 1Ls in their first year is very much the product of this transition. Parents, husbands, wives, children and any significant others must understand that the increased stress of evolving from undergraduate to law student to lawyer will significantly affect a 1L. Law school has been known to create unmatched stress for many students. Sadly, for some, it has even caused them to discontinue their studies and forget their hopes of being a lawyer....

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CONTACT INFORMATION

California Desert Trial Academy College of Law
45-290 Fargo Street
Indio, CA 92201
(760) 342-0900

Call: (760) 342-0900

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Statement of Nondiscrimination

Consistent with sound educational policy, CDTA College of Law does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, ancestry, religious creed, national origin, disability, medical condition, age, marital status, political affiliation, gender identity, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

California State Bar Standard and Required Disclosure

The method of instruction at this law school for the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree program is principally in physical classroom facilities.

Students enrolled in the J.D. degree program at this law school who successfully complete the first year of law study must pass the First-Year Law Students Examination required by Business and Professions Code 6060(h) and Rule VIII of the Rules Regulating Admission to Practice Law in California as part of the requirements to qualify to take the California Bar Examination.

A student who passes the First-Year Law Students Examination within three (3) administrations of the examination after first becoming eligible to take it will receive credit for all legal studies completed to the time the examination is passed. A student who does not pass the examination within three (3) administrations of the examination after first becoming eligible to take it must be promptly disqualified from the law school’s J.D. degree program. If the dismissed student subsequently passes the examination, the student is eligible for re-enrollment in this law school’s J.D. degree program, but will receive credit for only one year of legal study.

Study at, or graduation from, this law school may not qualify a student to take the bar examination or to satisfy the requirements for admission to practice in jurisdictions other than California. A student intending to seek admission to practice law in a jurisdiction other than California should contact the admitting authority in that jurisdiction for information regarding the legal education requirements in that jurisdiction for admission to the practice of law.

Copyright CDTA California Desert Trial Academy College of Law. All rights reserved. The Desert’s first and only Law School. Proudly serving all of Southern California; accepting applications from Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties.

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