Call: 760-342-0900
APPLY NOW
logo
mobile logo
 

Law Practice

28 May
0 Comments
Sticky

Attorney-Client Privilege And Client Confidentiality

Posted by cdtalaw
in Law Practice
Attorney-Client Privilege And Client Confidentiality

As law students prepare for graduation, certain questions that relate to legal ethics and professional responsibility become more prevalent in their minds. These practical considerations are of equal importance to any other aspect of a law firm’s practice. Like substantive legal rules, they require the strict adherence of all licensed attorneys. An important question relates to protecting client confidentiality. After all, most attorneys like to talk. On one hand, there is the attorney-client privilege which, of course, contains a facet of confidentiality. This is what law students learn about in professional responsibility class as they study the ethical rules, including RC...

Continue reading
27 May
0 Comments
Sticky

When A Lawyer Is Representing A Corporation, Who Exactly Is The Client?

Posted by cdtalaw
in Law Practice, Training
When A Lawyer Is Representing A Corporation, Who Exactly Is The Client?

A recurring question for lawyers who represent corporations and other entities is who exactly is the attorney representing? What is the scope of the attorney’s clientele in this situation? Does the attorney also represent others? Does the attorney represent shareholders? Affiliate and subsidiary corporations? Officers? Directors? In California, Rule of Professional Conduct 1.13 “Organization as Client” answers this question. A lawyer employed or retained by an organization represents the organization through its duly authorized constituents. A lawyer must conform his or her representation to the concept that the client is the organization itself, acting through its duly authorized directors, officers, employees, members,...

Continue reading
21 May
0 Comments
Sticky

Fixed Legal Fees And Making A Profit

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice, Soft Skills
Fixed Legal Fees And Making A Profit

Of course, like any other business that charges some cost for its services, fees are the lifeblood of a law practice. Legal fees depend on several variables: the time necessary to remedy the problem; the lawyer's ability, experience, and reputation; the novelty and difficulty of the case; the results; and associated costs. A lawyer's overhead expenses such as rent, utilities, office equipment, computers, also affect the fee charged. Profit is a lawyer’s income. In the case of a law practice, it is what remains after paying the aforementioned overhead costs of the practice. Research indicates that attorneys may expect to keep...

Continue reading
20 May
0 Comments
Sticky

Handling And Collecting Legal Fees

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice, Soft Skills
Handling And Collecting Legal Fees

Not only must lawyers do the hard work that is necessary to earn their fees, but they must also handle and collect them, which are processes that are both time-consuming and detail-laden. Lawyers must not only be attorneys, but they must also be accountants and bill collectors. Lawyers are subject to special ethical rules when handling client funds, which are funds in which the client still has an ownership interest. The rules require all client funds to be maintained in an interest-bearing trust account while they are in the lawyer’s possession. Safekeeping client funds in a trust account improves client-relations since clients...

Continue reading
19 May
0 Comments
Sticky

About The Different Types Of Attorney’s Fees

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice, Soft Skills
About The Different Types Of Attorney’s Fees

This is a quick summary of the common types of fee arrangements used by lawyers. Any fee must be reasonable, and the client must agree to it and all other provisions of the fee arrangement. Consultation: This is a fixed or hourly fee that clients are charged for their first meeting with an attorney where the needs and goals of the clients are discussed and the attorney ascertains whether he or she can satisfy and achieve them on the client’s behalf. Many attorneys, such as bankruptcy and personal injury attorneys offer free, first-time consultations. Contingency: This fee is based on...

Continue reading
18 May
0 Comments
Sticky

About Fee Agreements And Costs

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice, Soft Skills
About Fee Agreements And Costs

This week's blogs feature topics related to legal fees. In April 2020, the national average cost of attorney’s fees where an hourly rate is charged is $225 per hour. The minimum cost is $100, and the maximum is $1,000. The average range is from $100 to $300. The type of fee arrangement that an attorney utilizes is often based on the type of legal issues that a client presents for resolution. Attorneys must base their fees on a clearly communicated and memorialized fee agreement negotiated at the beginning of their representation with clients. Regardless of whatever a local state bar’s rules...

Continue reading
14 May
0 Comments
Sticky

The Typical Life Cycle Of A Client File

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice, Training
The Typical Life Cycle Of A Client File

While most of us live in a computerized, digital world, the legal industry revolves primarily around information, notes, and documentation. Attorneys obtain information, then classify and organize it. A client file is how attorneys organize the information related to a client. For every client that retains an attorney or law firm, there is a file. There may even be multiple files within files that contain documentation relevant to each matter concerning the client. The longer the client has been represented by the attorney or firm, the larger the file. Law firms must typically devote a large portion of their office space...

Continue reading
12 May
0 Comments
Sticky

Law Practice Tips: Disaster Recovery Planning

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice
Law Practice Tips: Disaster Recovery Planning

Every business has had to adapt to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine, including businesses that engage in the practice of law. Granted, most business owners, including attorneys, were not prepared for the effects of the coronavirus. But it was those attorneys who were prepared for the pandemic or anything like it, to any extent, that were able to more quickly adapt and keep their law practices operating. Although most attorneys possess the ability to think on their feet and react to a situation analytically in an expedient fashion, it is best to be prepared so that they...

Continue reading
07 May
0 Comments
Sticky

Ten Tips For Voir Dire

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice, Training, Trial Advocacy
Ten Tips For Voir Dire

Generally. voir dire involves the preliminary examination of a juror by counsel. Frankly, voir dire is the mechanism through which attorneys select, or perhaps more appropriately reject, certain jurors to sit and hear a case. It is also a phrase used for a variety of procedures related to jury trials. Here are ten tips for effective voir dire. Adopt the proper orientation. Questioning during voir dire should be “conversational” rather than like an interview. Tell jurors why they are there. Explain the process to jurors requesting, if not cordially demanding, their honesty and candor, while helping them acknowledge their biases. Get jurors...

Continue reading
21 April
0 Comments
Sticky

Learning The Soft Skills – The Three Phases Of Negotiation

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Law Practice, Negotiating, Soft Skills
Learning The Soft Skills – The Three Phases Of Negotiation

The Oxford Dictionary provides a good, basic definition of “negotiation,” simply defining it as a “discussion aimed at reaching an agreement.” Another more, specific definition is that negotiation is a “dialogue between two or more people or parties intended to reach a beneficial outcome over one or more issues where a conflict exists concerning at least one of these issues.” Scholars describe the process in different ways. They divide the negotiation process into various stages, including anywhere from three to five phases. The California Desert Trial Academy treats the “art” of negotiation as a soft skill. Soft skills are those skills...

Continue reading

CONTACT INFORMATION

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

Call: (760) 342-0900

Facebook

You Tube

Linkedin

Call: (760) 342-0900

Facebook

You Tube

Linkedin

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.

Font Resize
Accessibility by WAH