Author: cdtalaw

Regrouping For The Second Semester

Regrouping For The Second Semester

Law school is a marathon. Although you have a finite amount of time to earn your JD, the opportunities for mistakes during this time are vast. But the key is learning from these mistakes and not repeating them. It’s also essential to have the ability to regroup for the next brief, exam, paper, or semester so that you grow as a law student. If you have had an unsatisfactory first semester and want to regroup for the next, self-examination is the place to start. Be humble. You must be able to admit that you may be the problem and try to identify...

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Learn From Those Experienced

Learn From Those Experienced

The California Desert Trial Academy’s (CDTA) unique learning platform emphasizes that students learn the soft skills, utilize internships, and connect with mentors. This education develops the practical experience to help graduates immediately gain success working as attorney-advocates. While there’s no substitute for personal experience, the next best thing is learning from someone with more experience than you. It’s a simple notion but one that has been truly tested by time - learn from those who are experienced. The importance of learning from those around us cannot be overestimated. Making ourselves open to learning from others allows us to benefit from their...

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CDTA: On The Cutting Edge With Distance Learning

CDTA: On The Cutting Edge With Distance Learning

The California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) brings legal education home. We’re on the cutting edge of modern, progressive 21st Century legal education. The use of distance learning in legal education is rapidly increasing. While many law schools have been slow to incorporate distance learning into their curriculums, the CDTA has implemented new, innovative ways of teaching students how to be attorney advocates. Not everyone can change their normal routine to attend law school on a regular basis. This is especially true when you consider that traditional law schools require your attendance for most of the day. Distance learning helps those who cannot...

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Free Legal Research Resources

Free Legal Research Resources

The California Desert Trial Academy meets the needs of modern law students. Those who are looking for a different approach to legal education need not look any further than the CDTA. Our four-year Juris doctorate program allows working adults of the Coachella Valley the opportunity to obtain a legal education. Legal research is expensive, but there are various options available for free. In past years, these options were somewhat limiting. However, the field of legal research is in the middle of a long transition from traditional hard copy books to digital formats. Until you build your law library, there are more...

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CDTA Promotes Student Inclusion Not Exclusion

CDTA Promotes Student Inclusion Not Exclusion

CDTA accepted its first class of students in 2012, focusing on a more logical, practical approach to legal education in the 21st Century. This focus emphasizes the same extensive educational platform as traditional law schools while considering the traditional deficiencies of today’s law school graduates. At CDTA, not only do we educate students, but we also train and develop them to be exceptional trial advocates. A primary focus of the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) is the inclusion of all students in every phase and aspect of our learning platform and social environment. The competitiveness of law school can have a...

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Bar Exam Basics: What If I Failed?

Bar Exam Basics: What If I Failed?

Every law student is worth more than their ability to pass or fail the bar exam. Let’s get that straight. The bar exam does not define your self-worth. If you failed; it’s over and done. The next course of action after forgetting the past result is planning your preparation for passing the test the next time that you take it. If you dread the fact that you must take it again, then consider that you have the experience of just having experienced it. Remember what you did well and what was problematic. Use this knowledge as an outline to your...

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Running A Law Practice: The Business Plan

Running A Law Practice: The Business Plan

CDTA accepted its first class of students in 2012, focusing on a more logical, practical approach to legal education in the 21st Century. This focus emphasizes the same extensive educational platform as traditional law schools while considering the traditional deficiencies of today’s law school graduates. At CDTA, not only do we educate students, but we also train and develop them to be exceptional trial advocates. Formulating a business plan is the first critical step in planning your law practice. Where do you start? Creating a business plan involves answering questions about yourself that define you and clearly establish your goals. Define yourself...

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Planning To Run A Law Practice

Planning To Run A Law Practice

The California Desert Trial Academy educates, trains, and develops students with an emphasis on teaching them the practice of law, rather than just the knowledge of law. This includes teaching skills that enable graduates to start their own firm if they should choose this avenue of practicing law over working for a firm, government agency, or public interest organization. The first step in running your own law practice is to formulate a business plan. Knowledge of both hard and soft skills is critical to the practice of law. Anyone starting his or her own legal practice must have some minimal notion...

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About Conflicts Of Law

About Conflicts Of Law

There is a conflict of laws when a legal cause of action implicates the substantive law of more than one jurisdiction, and some determination must be made as to which law correctly applies. A good way to conceptualize “conflict of laws” is to think of its resolution, which is making a “choice of law” to resolve a legal issue. The outcome of this process may require a court in one jurisdiction to apply the law of a different jurisdiction. The conflict may be between federal and state laws, among state laws, or between the laws of different nations. Because the jurisdiction of federal...

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The Hard Skills

The Hard Skills

Hard skills are part of a job’s required skill set. These skills consist of the expertise necessary for an individual to successfully perform the job. They are job-specific and are acquired through formal education and training programs. Law students must learn hard skills to succeed as lawyers. In this context, this means learning the law, both substantive and procedural. Modern law firms, like most modern employers, also seek applicants who possess important soft skills. The soft skills include interpersonal skills that facilitate coordination, teamwork, and goal achievement in the workplace. These are skills that are more difficult to quantify, and which receive...

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