Introduction to Paralegal Studies: A Practical Approach

Introduction to Paralegal Studies utilizes a storytelling approach that provides a context in which students can assimilate and organize new concepts. The student is taken from the introduction to the client to the final collection of the judgment in the chronology that would normally occur in litigation. The text explores practical considerations such as docketing timelines, office politics, setting up and organizing files, timekeeping, and asset assessment. Strategic decisions are also explored as they arise naturally in the discovery process, motion practice, trial, and judgment collection. The text contains a number of entertaining forums in which to practice legal terminology and integrate legal concepts, such as "A Trip To The Movies" which provides questions related to popular law-related movies.

This textbook uses a story-line format to illustrate both legal concepts and the daily tasks performed by paralegals. The authors, who are practicing lawyers, describe techniques for researching and initiating a case, preparing complaints and answers, conducting interviews, drafting motions and memoranda, and preparing to go to trial.

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Dr. Linda L. Edwards is an attorney and author, having written or co-written seven textbooks in the legal assistant field. She was an instructor in the Justice and Legal Studies Department at Phoenix College for 24 years until her retirement in January 2001. During her tenure as program director, she was responsible for creating dozens of new classes in both legal assisting and criminal justice.

J. Stanley Edwards has been an Arizona attorney since 1975, serving as a general practitioner for all but two of those years. He has co-authored five textbooks on paralegal studies with his wife, Dr. Linda Edwards. He is a judge pro tem in the civil division of the Maricopa County Superior Court and was a judge pro tem in what is now the Family Court. Additionally, he is a certified arbitrator in the District Court of Arizona.