Now in its Fifth Edition, Introduction to Law for Paralegals balances substantive law with work-based knowledge and skills. From the basics of the U.S. legal system to personal injury, contracts, and intellectual property, Neal R. Bevans brings it all into focus through clear writing, realistic examples, and engaging exercises. With features like Skills You Need in the Real World and Issues at a Glance, the transition from classroom to law firm will be smooth sailing. New to the Fifth Edition: New and updated cases Discussion of current technology and its use in legal practice New Web Surfing feature with websites for further reading Professors and students will benefit from: Essential paralegal skills and legal procedure, presented in conjunction with substantive areas of law Part I introduces students to the legal system, with coverage of ethics, evidence, working in the law office, trials, and appeals Part II covers substantive law, including torts, contracts, criminal law, administrative law, real property, wills and trusts, family law, intellectual property, and agency law Part III gives an overview of legal research and writing A succinct and direct writing style Exercises that develop paralegal skills, integrated throughout the text A design for learning on every page, including definitions of legal terms and phrases, inset boxes that illuminate concepts, examples, visual aids, chapter summaries, sample documents, case excerpts, and more End-of-chapter exercises and practice questions for test review help students master the material

Balancing practice and theory, Introduction to Law for Paralegals: A Critical Thinking Approach offers a well-rounded introduction to law and the American legal system. Currier, Eimermann, and Campbell’s thoughtfully revised seventh edition offers comprehensive coverage combined with interesting topics, timely cases, and effective pedagogy. Through hypotheticals, examples, and well-designed questions, the authors engage students in the process of critical thinking and analysis. New to the Seventh Edition: Updated with changes in the law, new NetNotes and Web Exercises, and additional Discussion Questions and Legal Reasoning Exercises New case excerpts on trademark issues and the constitutionality of the disparagement clause (Ch. 13); same-sex marriage, paternity, and custody disputes (Ch. 15); inducement to commit suicide (Ch. 16); and cell phone privacy (Ch. 17) Revised chapter on Ethics, including revisions to the ABA Rules of Professional Conduct, a discussion and comparison of rules of conduct and ethical rules, the addition of notary public law, and a new ethics alert regarding client confidentiality Discussion of defamation in the era of digital media and the Communication Decency Act of 1996, contemporary torts in the digital age, and reference to the “MeToo” movement in Chapter 11 on Torts New co-author, Marisa Campbell, brings her extensive experience in the paralegal field to the book Professors and students will benefit from: Clear and effective organization—the text is divided into three parts, reflecting the topics addressed in an introductory course: Part I, Paralegals and the American Legal System; Part II, Finding and Analyzing the Law; and Part III, Legal Ethics and Substantive Law A critical thinking approach that introduces students to the study of law, encouraging them to interact with the materials through discussion questions and legal reasoning exercises Text that is readable without talking down to students—the structure of chapters ensures that students understand and learn the material Comprehensive coverage of key legal concepts Effective and thoughtful pedagogy throughout, with chapter objectives, ethics alerts, marginal definitions, internet references, and review questions Helpful appendices, including Fundamentals of Good Writing and Basics of Citation Form

A thoughtful new edition of the leading Introduction to Law for Paralegals text Introduction to Law for Paralegals: A Critical Thinking Approach explores high-interest topics and cases within the framework of the authors' acclaimed critical thinking approach. Hypotheticals, examples, and incisive questions shed light on both the principle and application of the law. In a thoroughly updated new edition, this leading text in the field continues to provide innovation and excellence. New to the Eighth Edition: Updated with changes in the law, new NetNotes, and additional Discussion Questions and Legal Reasoning Exercises. Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure are now directly after the chapter on Torts so that instructors can better compare and contrast civil litigation and criminal law. Streamlined chapter introducing the Study of Law and the Paralegal Profession. Professors and students will benefit from: Comprehensive coverage of key legal concepts. Hypotheticals, questions, and exercises that engage students in critical thinking. A logical three-part organization: Part I, Paralegals and the American Legal System; Part II, Finding and Analyzing the Law and Part III, Legal Ethics and Substantive Law. Student-friendly skill development for basic statutory and case analysis. Text is readable without talking down to students. Structure of chapters ensures that students understand and learn the material. Ethics Alerts, marginal definitions, Internet references, and legal reasoning exercises. Appendices on writing style and citation, the U.S. Constitution, Ethical Codes, and additional Net Notes.

Introduction to Law for Paralegals covers not only the theory but also the practical aspects of every day legal practice. This text prepares students for the transition from classroom to courtroom, offering balanced coverage of procedural concepts along with an introduction to specific areas of the law. Features: devotion to practical applications, such as legal research, ethics, trials, and appellate issues as well as substantive legal issues, ranging from personal injury and contracts to intellectual property clear, engaging writing style emphasis on practical skill acquisition which is discussed in conjunction with substantive legal issues reader-friendly design, with marginal definitions of key terms and phrases, inset boxes that explore various concepts, and chapter features such as and"Skills You Need in the Real Worldand" and and"Issues at a Glanceand" that encapsulate important concepts. The text also includes numerous examples, figures, tables and hypotheticals to help students understand various legal issues and make effective use of different student learning styles excellent end-of-chapter activities, with chapter summaries, review questions, discussion questions, web references, ethics discussions,suggestions for further reading, sample documents, and and"personality quizzesand" that help students determine what area of the law is right for them shorter length and level of material makes this text the perfect choice for Associate's level paralegal courses New to the Second Edition: new developments and new case law more in-depth coverage of substantive law areas more coverage of computer technology in the law office

This book is exceptional in the sense that it provides an introduction to law in general rather than the law of one specific jurisdiction, and it presents a unique way of looking at legal education. It is crucial for lawyers to be aware of the different ways in which societal problems can be solved and to be able to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different legal solutions. In this respect, being a lawyer involves being able to reason like a lawyer, even more than having detailed knowledge of particular sets of rules. Introduction to Law reflects this view by focusing on the functions of rules and on ways of arguing the relative qualities of alternative legal solutions. Where ‘positive’ law is discussed, the emphasis is on the legal questions that must be addressed by a field of law and on the different solutions which have been adopted by, for instance, the common law and civil law tradition. The law of specific jurisdictions is discussed to illustrate possible answers to questions such as when the existence of a valid contract is assumed.