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California Desert Trial Academy College Of Law

Four Tips To Help Lawyers Avoid Email Scams

Four Tips To Help Lawyers Avoid Email Scams

Millions of emails are sent from all parts of the world each day. These emails often promise riches from a Nigerian prince. Of course, these emails are scams with some being more clever and enticing than others. Even attorneys are not exempt from the many email scams that inundate the internet. A common scam involves the following: *An attorney being contacted by a prospective, but unknown, client seeking representation in a dispute with another party. *The prospective client signs the engagement agreement, emails the dispute’s underlying documents, and then confirms them by telephone. *Almost immediately, the matter settles, and the opposing party is quick...

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Key Numbers And Legal Research

Key Numbers And Legal Research

Legal research is generally regarded as an essential skill needed for the practice of law. The American Bar Association requires all accredited law schools to train their students in legal research along with substantive law and other practice skills. A cornerstone of legal research is the key number system, which is a classification system of U.S. law. For over 100 years, these topics and key numbers have allowed lawyers and law students the ability to focus directly on a particular legal issue and quickly find on-point case law. Legal research often involves the search for concepts or principles not easily retrieved...

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Five Tips For Overcoming Online Learning Challenges

Five Tips For Overcoming Online Learning Challenges

As the winter of 2020 approaches, the California Desert Trial Academy College of Law’s (CDTA) remains firmly in touch with the needs of its student body as they are affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Not all students are comfortable with online learning and the CDTA is committed to providing an option for these students by offering both online and in-person learning. Here are five tips to help students deal with the challenges of online learning. Form a virtual learning team Find and enlist other students to join you not necessarily to form a study group but to form a support group. Regularly communicate...

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Bar Exam Performance Tool Is Promising

Bar Exam Performance Tool Is Promising

A two-year study of an online learning program in California has shown promising results, thus increasing applicants’ chances of passing the examination. The program was designed to assist applicants to handle the challenges of preparing for the California Bar Exam. The State Bar offered the free program to October 2020 bar exam applicants. The program was developed by the California State Bar in tandem with a team of law and psychology researchers from distinguished universities. The team used surveys and focus groups of recent California Bar Exam participants to develop the program’s content to help improve the adaptive mindsets of examinees. The...

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Even More Time Management Tips For Online Students

Even More Time Management Tips For Online Students

A major challenge for students during the pandemic is time management. The coronavirus is altering how they live, study, and learn. Nothing is certain for the short-term, unpredictability has forced everyone to ad-lib just to get through the day. Online students must have the ability to be self-motivated, organized, and independent. Here are some basic time-management tips to make online learning more productive. Eliminate any distractions While a home environment provides convenience, comfort, and flexibility, it also presents the temptation to easily engage in activities that may be less productive. This tip is a correlate of having a dedicated workspace. It is...

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Important California Laws To Know – Child Abuse, Neglect, And Endangerment

Important California Laws To Know – Child Abuse, Neglect, And Endangerment

The following are some important California laws related to the abuse, neglect, and endangerment of children. Penal Code § 270 Child neglect This statute addresses the abandonment and neglect of children by stating the following: If a parent of a minor child willfully omits, without lawful excuse, to furnish necessary clothing, food, shelter or medical attendance, or other remedial care for his or her child, he or she is guilty of a misdemeanor…” Proof of abandonment or desertion of a child by such parent, or the omission by such parent to furnish necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical attendance or other remedial care for...

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The Coronavirus And The Force (Majeure)

The Coronavirus And The Force (Majeure)

Most contracts may not be the most interesting piece of “literature” that lawyers and law students may read in their leisure time. One clause commonly found in almost every contract, and perhaps more interesting than most other provisions of a contract, is a force majeure clause. Many legal scholars and attorneys anticipated that the coronavirus would be a circumstance that would result in the interpretation of force majeure clauses affecting the global economy. A force majeure (“superior force”) or “Act of God” clause in a contract relates to performance and whether such performance is suspended by causes outside the control of...

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Important California Laws To Know – Cyber-Harassment

Important California Laws To Know – Cyber-Harassment

Our series of blogs on important California laws to know continues with a look at some criminal offenses rife with the advent of the digital age. These laws are related to the wrongful use of electronic communication devices, such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. Penal Code § 647(j)(4) Cyber harassment  or “revenge porn” As the internet provided more ways for people to interact at many various levels, the California legislature enacted this code section in 2013 to address a growing problem: the intentional distribution of images that most people would consider intimate. Anyone found guilty of a criminal offense under California Penal...

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Important California Laws To Know – Elder Abuse And Neglect

Important California Laws To Know – Elder Abuse And Neglect

The California legislature recognizes that elders and dependent adults are more subject to abuse, neglect, or abandonment than other adults and that the state has a responsibility to protect these persons. Welfare and Institutions Code § 15600 et seq - The Elder Abuse Act Abuse of an elder or dependent adult means physical abuse, neglect, abandonment, isolation, abduction, or other treatment with resulting physical harm or pain or mental suffering. It may also consist of the deprivation by a care custodian of goods or services that are necessary to avoid physical harm or mental suffering. And finally, it may include financial abuse...

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20 Things A Lawyer’s Website Should Contain

20 Things A Lawyer’s Website Should Contain

The standards for website accessibility are still evolving. While there is currently no legal definition of an ADA-compliant law firm website, attorneys should still voluntarily accommodate people with disabilities on their firm website because it is simply the right thing to do. It’s also good for business. Here are the top 20 (plus one) things that all lawyers should consider to ensure that their law firm’s website is accessible: Identify the language on each page in the code of the website.  The text on the page can be resized to 200% without losing the ability to consume the content and function in...

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