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31 January
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Passing The Baby Bar The First Time

Posted by cdtalaw
in Baby Bar Exam, CDTA, Studying
Passing The Baby Bar The First Time

Students enrolled in the J.D. degree program at the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) who successfully complete their first year of law studies must pass the First-Year Law Students Examination (FYSLX), also known as the Baby Bar, required by Business and Professions Code 6060(h) and Rule VIII of the Rules Regulating Admission to Practice Law in California, as part of their requirements to qualify to take the California Bar Examination. At CDTA, your first year of law school is not only geared toward learning the first-year subjects, but it is particularly geared towards passing the Baby Bar. Our school boasts a...

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30 January
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Use Professor Office Hours To Your Advantage

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Studying
Use Professor Office Hours To Your Advantage

All students, especially law students, must take advantage of the one-on-one nature of meeting with professors during office hours. These student-teacher interactions are invaluable since they can often evolve beyond the course material into discussions relating to how the subject concepts are connected to other areas of legal study and relevant to the student’s professional goals. It’s the first day of class, and professors typically observe the ritual of telling students their office hours while telling them to stop in if they need assistance or just want to say hello. Sadly, many professors complain that they see very few students during...

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29 January
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Time Management & The Pomodoro Technique

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Soft Skills, Studying
Soft Skills: Time Management & The Pomodoro Technique

The California Desert Trial Academy’s (CDTA) unique educational platform focuses on students learning the soft skills in addition to the core substantive law. The soft skills that students at the CDTA can expect to learn are numerous. Training goes beyond bar-tested academic subjects and include skills training and values reinforcement. All the soft skills - critical thinking skills, logical, clear and concise writing skills, effective reading skills, and persuasive presentation skills – are important and beneficial to a student’s future success as a legal advocate. One such soft skill is time management. The Pomodoro Technique has been used effectively to...

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27 January
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A Quick Guide To Running A Law Practice: Client Relations

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice, Soft Skills
A Quick Guide To Running A Law Practice: Client Relations

The California Desert Trial Academy is a progressive law school tailored to meet the needs of those who may be limited to seeking a legal education on their own time rather than a set schedule. The CDTA emphasizes an academic experience that focuses on a practical approach to becoming not just a lawyer, but an attorney-advocate. Learning the skills to be an advocate gives students an expedient path to a successful and rewarding legal career. Managing a law firm in an inefficient manner can cause professional, personnel, and financial issues. These issues include the following: malpractice low profits lost revenues rampant...

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24 January
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CDTA: If You’re Looking For Something Completely Different

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Distance learning law school
CDTA: If You’re Looking For Something Completely Different

While traditional law schools emphasize learning the “law” from textbooks, treatises, hornbooks, and a library full of other legal, literary resources, the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) educates, trains, and develops students utilizing classroom, online, and human guidance resources to promote an educational platform equally focused on the hard skills, or substantive law, and the soft skills. If you’re looking for something completely different from traditional law school substantive learning programs, CDTA may be the choice that offers the difference you’re truly seeking. The California Desert Trial Academy opened in September 2012, offering a unique approach to legal education in the...

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22 January
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Law Under An Evening Sky

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Distance learning
Law Under An Evening Sky

Just a few decades ago, if working spouses or parents wanted to attend law school, their choices would be limited to attending a school with a traditional morning-afternoon schedule. Also, unless they lived in a large urban area or college town with a law school, commuting was not an option. Thus, many prospective students, especially those in smaller remote locations such as the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley, would have to quit their jobs and travel or temporarily move just to attend law school. But times have changed, and there are now options for prospective law students all over America,...

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21 January
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The Emotional Side Of Practicing Law

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, High Pressure, Law Practice
The Emotional Side Of Practicing Law

Aristotle posed that “the law is reason free from passion.” Of course, this is hardly close to anything that resembles the reality of the practice of law, nor life itself. While in its simplest terms, the law may be the words of a statute or an opinion of a judge, a law has far-reaching effects, and not just on plaintiffs and defendants. There is indeed an emotional side to practicing law. If anything, the law is never free of emotion. The law is the result of emotion – the emotional reactions of humans to a given situation. The practice of law...

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20 January
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The Tools Of Trial Advocacy: The Opening Statement

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Soft Skills, Trial Advocacy
The Tools Of Trial Advocacy: The Opening Statement

A good opening statement is an effective trial advocacy tool. It carries a theme and tells a story that grabs the attention of the jury. Although the purpose of an opening statement is not to argue the case, it is nonetheless an attorney advocate’s first opportunity to persuade the jury. Objectively, there are some tips a trial lawyer can use to formulate an effective opening statement. Subjectively, advocates must find and develop those unique aspects of their personality, whether a strong voice or effective speaking style, etc., that will help them present a good opening statement. Jurors often base their final...

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16 January
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The Soft Skills: Critical Thinking

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Curriculum, Soft Skills, Studying, Training
The Soft Skills: Critical Thinking

Critical thinking has been the subject of much debate and discussion since the time of ancient Greek philosophers, Socrates and Plato. Critical thinking in the context of the practice of law requires law students to learn to question and analyze what they see, hear, read, think, and feel with the understanding that first impressions are often wrong conclusions and often change after studious, meticulous analysis. Critical thinking is one of several soft skills that attorney-advocates must utilize to meet the needs of their clients. The California Desert Trial Academy’s (CDTA) unique learning platform emphasizes that students learn the soft skills in...

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15 January
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Understanding A Law’s Purpose

Posted by cdtalaw
in California law, CDTA, Hard Skills, Soft Skills, Substantive Law, Training
Understanding A Law’s Purpose

Because legislation is the product of a deliberative and informed process, it has discernible purposes and objectives. Lawyers and judges utilize tools to examine a statute’s purpose and establish the legislature’s intent for enacting the statute. Once the legislative intent has been established, it may be used to understand and interpret a statute’s meaning. Many statutes begin with a preamble or purpose clause, which may provide guidance in discerning the intent of the legislature where the statute may be ambiguous. Lawyers faced with choosing between different plausible interpretations may refer to the statute’s purpose to make a final decision. However, where...

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CONTACT INFORMATION

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