Contracts Syllabus for 2014-2015
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Course

LGLA-1351-001 Contracts

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: LGLA 1307 or Department Chair consent

Course Description

This course presents fundamental concepts of contract law with emphasis on the paralegal’s role. Topics include formation, performance and enforcement of contracts under the common law and the Uniform Commercial Code. Additionally, this course presents basic concepts of business organizations with emphasis on the paralegal’s role. Topics include law of agency, sole proprietorships, forms of partnerships, corporations and other emerging business entities.

Student Resources Student Resources Website

Department Expectations

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Occupational License Disclaimer

Hours

(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)

Class Type

Online Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

Contract Law For Paralegals: Traditional and E-Contracts. 2^nd Edition by Kathleen Mercer Reed, Henry R. Cheeseman, and John J. Schlageter, III

ISBN 978-0-13-510945-8

Supplies

LexisNexis and Small – Medium 3 ring binder (Optional) for Paralegal Portfolio

Student Performance

• To learn the basic forms of contracts;
• To learn pertinent legal terminology;
• To apply such terminology to legal topics relevant to contract law;
• To understand the foundations of legal systems;
• To understand the foundations contract law and how to draft and interpret contracts; and
• To develop critical thinking for solving contract problems.

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Log in using the AC Connect Portal

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

E Mailing Your Instructor

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.eduand use your Google Email Account.  If you do not activate and use your AC Connect Google Email account, you will be lost in this course because you will not be able to receive email from your instructor.

There is two ways to email your instructor but I prefer emails to my work email for quicker response. If you do email my school email PLEASE Cc my work email prawlins@whittenburglaw.com. You must use your AC Connect Google Email account, and you will have to construct your email from within the course you are taking.  Go to the top left hand corner of the home page of the course and click “Send Email” to construct your e-mail from within the course.  Next, you will click on “All Instructor Users,” and make sure your email is being sent to Pace Rawlins (your instructor for this course) and Cc his work email at prawlins@whittenburglaw.com

Also, students are responsible for accessing e-mail messages sent to their AC Connect Google Email account; thus, students are responsible to check their AC Connect Google Email account on a daily basis. The instructor will only respond to e-mails sent from the student’s AC Connect Google Email account. These e-mails must identify the applicable class in the subject line; this information is automatically included in messages sent from within the course when you use your AC Connect Google Email account.

If you do not follow these instructions, your email is at risk of getting lost. However, I will except emails to my law firm email (listed above) if you have an emergency because I check that email the most often.

You will need to learn how to use email in this course by viewing two tutorial videos on how to access email as a student in the portal and on how to send email from Blackboard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Bb857-WJX9w

http://screencast.com/t/0jlcsuLrdj

Check your Email in this class daily! I may need to communicate important information regarding this class, so please check in daily.

Be sure you have completed the Blackboard Online Student Orientation. This orientation consists of videos that help you navigate Blackboard. You can access this orientation by going to the following address:

http://www.actx.edu/ctl/index.php?module=article&id=222

I. Students and teachers have obligations to each other.

II. What I expect from students:

You will treat everyone in the class with the respect due all human beings.

You will do the work outlined in the syllabus on time.

You will not plagiarize or otherwise steal the work of others.

You will accept the consequences – good and bad – of your actions.

III. What students can expect from me:

I will treat you with the respect due all human beings.

I will treat you as an individual.

I will not discriminate against you on the basis of your identity or your viewpoints.

I will manage the class in a professional manner.

I will respond to student email within 24 hours, including weekends and holidays.

I will pursue the maximum punishment for plagiarism, cheating, and other violations of academic integrity.

I will keep careful records of your performance and progress.

I will make myself available to you for help and am willing to discuss anything even tangentially related to this class, college, law school, or the legal profession.

I will respect the fact that you have lives and commitments outside college, but I do not consider those to be excuses for not being prepared.

If I am notified in advance, I will make every reasonable effort to accommodate particular situations that may arise in your life.

I will make every reasonable effort to accommodate sudden, unexpected, extraordinary situations that are impossible for you to notify me about in advance.

I will maintain confidentiality concerning your performance.

I will provide you with professional support and write recommendations for you, if appropriate.

I will be honest with you.

Your grade will reflect the quality of your work and nothing else.

Grading Criteria

Grading

Syllabus Quiz (1) – 5%

Quizzes (10) - 35%

Briefing the Case Writing Assignments (5) – 20 %

Portfolio Exercises (2) = 20%

Comprehensive Final Exam (1) - 20%

Quizzes:

•           There will be 1-2 Chapter Quizzes due each week. The first quiz tests your knowledge from reading the course syllabus. The rest of the quizzes test your knowledge on chapter readings. 

•           Each Quiz will be 10 Multiple Choice and True/False Questions from the corresponding syllabus or chapter.

•           You only have one attempt at each Quiz

•           You must complete the Quiz once you open it. You cannot start a Quiz, exit out and come back. Once you exit the Quiz, your grade will be submitted as is.

•           The quizzes are due every Sunday night by 11:45 p.m., according to the Calendar below.

•           There will be NO make-up quizzes given under any circumstances. If you do not complete the quiz by the due date, you will receive a ZERO.

•           If your computer crashes or you have technical difficulties, email me immediately, and I will decide on a case-by-case basis the appropriate solution. I highly recommend using Firefox as your browser. If you consistently have technical problems, I will insist you take the quizzes at one of AC’s computer labs.

•           EXTRA CREDIT: You are not required to do extra credit; however, if you read any of the extra non-mandatory chapter readings and complete the extra assignments associated with the readings I will add 1% to your final average for each assignment you complete. You can do up to 3 extra credit chapter readings with corresponding assignments. The Due date for completing this optional extra credit is the same as the Final Exam, which is Thursday, July 30 at 11:45 p.m.

Briefing the Case Writing Assignments (5):

• According to the syllabus you are required to read 10 chapters but will only be required to complete 5 of the Briefing the Case Writing Assignments that are located at the end of each chapter. While a short watered down version of the case is found in you book, you are required to use LexisNexis to look up the case to complete the assignment and will be required to turn in your work with a downloaded or printed copy from LexisNexis. You can choose the 5 chapters that interest you the most. Each Briefing the Case Assignment will be due at the same time the corresponding chapter quiz is due and you are required to submit each assignment via the corresponding assignment folder located in the Content in Blackboard. 

Paralegal Portfolio Exercises (2):

• You will do a total of 2 portfolio exercises. You submit each Portfolio Exercising via Blackboard in the content folder of our course. 

 

• (1) The First Paralegal Portfolio Exercise is located at the end of Chapter 4 on page 114. Read the instructions on page 114 and complete the assignment. This assignment will be due on July 5th at 11:45pm according to the calendar below. Actually reading and doing the short Skill-Building Exercises and Hands-on Drafting Exercises at the end of your chapter readings will help you with this assignment. This first Paralegal Portfolio Exercise will be 5% of your grade.   

 

• (2) In Second Paralegal Portfolio Exercise you will get the opportunity to actually draft an employment contract for a hypothetical law firm that you work for. The Firm’s client, Widgets, INC, needs an employment contract to negotiate terms for a recent potential hire to their company in the Marketing/PR division. I will post on Blackboard the hypothetical scenario with more information related to the employee’s salary, hours, vacation, benefits, etc. A sample employment contract is found in the appendix of your book, but I will also post a few templates and other useful information that can be used. A Rubric will be posted that will list my expectations and how I will grade this assignment. You will find the rubric, hypothetical and other information in the content folder. This assignment will be due the last week of the course on July 27th at 11:45pm according to the calendar below. This second Paralegal Portfolio Exercise will be worth 15% of your final grade. 

 Final Exam:

•           There will be a Comprehensive Final Exam.

•           There will be 5 Multiple Choice Questions from each quiz read (Chapters 1-8, 14 and 15) for a total of 50 questions.

•           You will have one attempt at the Final Exam.

•           You will have 2 ½ hours to complete the Final Exam once you open it.

•           You must complete the Final Exam once you open it. You cannot start the Final Exam, exit out and come back. Once you exit the Final Exam, your grade will be submitted as is.

Attendance

Since this is an online class, your attendance each week will be determined each week by the completion of your quizzes and assignments. You have 1-2 quizzes due each week, so you better get busy now and stay busy until the end of July. That is the nature of an online course. I will be monitoring your progress throughout and will answer any questions you have about the material. PLEASE ask me questions about the material.

Calendar

Additional Information

Final will be opened Mon. July 27 and stay open until Thur. July 30 (11:45 pm) on the posted date

Summer 8 Week Online 2015 - Important Dates June 8 First Day of Course July 20 Last Day to Withdraw July 3 Independence Day Holiday AC Closed July 30 Classes End and Final Due