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Law Practice

25 March
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Amenities Of The Attorney-Client Relationship, Part One

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice, Soft Skills
Amenities Of The Attorney-Client Relationship, Part One

The following tips are related to certain amenities that attorneys must offer prospective, current, and former clients. Attorneys must present themselves to the public in a courteous, dignified, professional manner during the workday whether they are in court, in a meeting, or even casually at lunch. Prospective Clients *Always carry enough high-quality professional business cards. Be prepared to deliver a concise yet comprehensive answer to the question: “What kind of law do you practice?” *Be prepared to deliver brief, summaries of the law to the questions asked by prospective clients whether on the phone, at the courthouse, or at a dinner party. These...

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24 March
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Lawyers, Guns, And Money

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice, Soft Skills
Lawyers, Guns, And Money

Whether down on their luck, innocent bystanders, or just stuck between a rock and a hard place, people tend to turn to lawyers to help solve their problems. Attorneys expend a great amount of hard work serving their clients. They deserve to get paid like any other service provider. There will always be clients who, for whatever reason, whether because they are wary of lawyers or perhaps because they are just a little dishonest themselves, will look for any reason to justify (rationalize) not paying their legal bills in a timely way, or at all. Happy, satisfied clients tend to pay...

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23 March
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What Do Law Firm Titles Mean?

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice
What Do Law Firm Titles Mean?

In 2020, there’s more to learn about the structure and hierarchy of law firms than simply looking at the names in the firm’s title. The practice of law has evolved from the traditional partner/associate firm structure to one more reminiscent of larger business enterprises that closely resemble a multi-tiered corporation. Three-quarters of all attorneys work in law firms. Modern law firms typically have various levels of positions with different titles, duties, and pay levels. These include individuals who are not lawyers that serve managerial, administrative, and accounting functions, as well as support personnel such as paralegals and secretaries. A firm may include equity and non-equity partners,...

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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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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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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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21 February
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Expectations of Legal Interns, Part Two

Posted by cdtalaw
in Internships & Mentors, Law Practice, Training, Uncategorized
Expectations of Legal Interns, Part Two

The California Desert Trial Academy’s (CDTA) unique educational platform focuses on students learning the soft skills in addition to the core substantive law. It also includes seeking mentorships and internships to further enhance legal studies with practical real-world experience. Law students should have some advanced notice about an internship and the tasks to be undertaken but won’t know for certain until finally beginning the internship. Anything can, and will, happen. The purpose of an internship is to provide an insightful learning experience for young law students, in return for a little bit (a lot) of hard work. *Organize information If the amount...

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20 February
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Expectations of Legal Interns, Part One

Posted by cdtalaw
in Internships & Mentors, Law Practice, Training
Expectations of Legal Interns, Part One

It is an exciting event when law students become legal interns for the first time. The scope of the responsibilities associated with an internship may vary from one firm to the next based on the number of attorneys an intern serves. An intern’s specific tasks vary based on the area of law the firm practices. Whatever an intern’s duties and jobs, no matter how exciting or mundane, the attorneys, office manager, and staff, have expectations of an intern’s performance. But then, so does every intern have high expectations in an internship. *Observe, learn . . . do From the moment an intern...

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19 February
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The Emotional Side Of Practicing Law: Personal Injury Clients

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, High Pressure, Law Practice, Soft Skills
The Emotional Side Of Practicing Law: Personal Injury Clients

It certainly is no secret that being a defendant in a lawsuit is extraordinarily stressful. However, it is not so clearly perceived that being a plaintiff, especially in a lawsuit involving a personal injury, is equally unnerving and emotionally taxing, even for those with the most justified claims. While it may not be every case, personal injury attorneys must be conscious that they will be representing clients who are the victims and suffer the consequences of tragic, unexpected events. Every person is wound a little different from the next. It is difficult to predict how someone physically and emotionally reacts to...

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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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