Courses
Law Clerk (Co-op)-2024/2025
| Level 1 | ||||
| Take all of the following Mandatory Courses: | ||||
Group 1 | ||||
| LAWS-1077 | Legal Materials-Intro | 3 | ||
| Introduces students to the Canadian legal system. The course focuses on sources of Canadian law. Students are given the opportunity to become familiar with primary and secondary legal sources. The course will familiarize students with the process of finding legal materials to the extent necessary to follow instructions and to assist in legal research by locating and updating relevant legal materials. | ||||
| LAWS-1007 | Civil Procedure | 4 | ||
| This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of the rules of civil procedure and the necessary skills to assist in the processing of the various steps involved in a civil action, including drafting various documents required for civil litigation. Topics include commencing the action in the Superior Court of Justice, service of documents, pleadings, motions, discovery, listing for trial, orders and costs. | ||||
| LAWS-1036 | Torts & Contracts | 4 | ||
| An introduction to the law of torts, including intentional torts against persons, property or economic interests, and primarily the law of negligence. Included are the fundamentals of contract law including the requirements for the formation of a valid contract, different types of contracts and remedies for breaches of contract. | ||||
| DEVL-1051 | Professionalism & Client Relations | 3 | ||
| This course introduces students to professionalism in the legal field and adherence to the guidelines of the Law Society of Ontario as it relates to the role of a law clerk.Students explore appropriate professional boundaries with legal professionals, co-workers and clients; professional appearance and demeanor, and conflicts of interest. Requirements of confidentiality and the Law Society's Rules of Professional Conduct are introduced. Ongoing professional development is critical to ensuring continuing competence as a Law Clerk. Students will investigate professional development opportunities by outlining the roles of professional organizations and associations,articulating the value of continuing professional education, and identifying personal strengths and weaknesses. All students will complete a professional development plan to showcase their ongoing professional development strategy. | ||||
| COMP-1529 | Computer Applications 1 | 3 | ||
| This course introduces students to Microsoft® Word, Excel, and Outlook to prepare them to work efficiently and productively in the legal field. At the conclusion of this course students will be able to use Microsoft ® Word to create professional legal documents using correct formatting, spelling and grammar; Microsoft® Excel to create basic spreadsheets; and Microsoft® Outlook to assist with scheduling and organizing information. Students are introduced to the Law Society of Ontario's file and time management guidelines (the "Guidelines") and to Soluno® time, billing and accounting software and complete basic law firm accounting tasks that incorporate the Guidelines' principles and standards. To help students work towards achieving the industry standard for keyboarding, a minimum speed of 30 WPM is required for successful completion of this course. | ||||
| COOP-1020 | Co-operative Education Employment Prep | 1 | ||
| This workshop will provide an overview of the Co-operative Education consultants and students' roles and responsibilities as well as the Co-operative Education Policy. It will provide students with employment preparatory skills specifically related to co-operative education work assignments and will prepare students for their work term. | ||||
Group 2 | ||||
| TAKE WRIT-1089 OR WRIT-1034 | ||||
| WRIT-1089 | Reason & Writing 1 for Public Safety | 3 | ||
| This course will introduce public safety students to essential principles of reading, writing, and reasoning at the postsecondary level. Students will identify, summarize, analyze, and evaluate multiple short readings and write persuasive response essays to develop their vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and critical thinking. | ||||
| WRIT-1034 | Reason & Writing 1-EAP | 4 | ||
| This course will introduce students whose first language is not English to essential principles of reading, writing, and reasoning at the postsecondary level. Students will identify, summarize, analyze, and evaluate multiple short readings and write persuasive response essays to develop their vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and critical thinking. Special attention will also be paid to developing academic vocabulary, correcting common ESL errors, enhancing academic listening and note-taking skills, and improving oral fluency and confidence. | ||||
| Level 2 | ||||
| Take all of the following Mandatory Courses: | ||||
| LAWS-1078 | Real Estate-Intro | 3 | ||
| This course provides a general introduction to legal concepts, principles and policies together with basic law, procedure and practical skills relevant to the conveyancing of real property in the province of Ontario. | ||||
| COMM-3044 | Prof. Communications for Law Clerks | 3 | ||
| This course develops students' professional business and legal communication skills in both oral and written formats. As expected in the legal field, correct grammar, mechanics, and spelling are emphasized in all assignments. Students produce a variety of business documents and legal documents, from e-mails and letters to reports and resumes, using appropriate tone, format, and organization. Students apply verbal and non-verbal communication techniques through presentations and participation in typical legal settings (e.g. meetings, interviews). This course incorporates research, appropriate documentation, editing, critiques, and summaries to reinforce critical thinking skills. Students address various communication challenges in a diverse workplace and practice writing assignments in a simulated work environment. | ||||
| COMP-3108 | Computer Applications 2 | 3 | ||
| This course builds upon the legal accounting software skills introduced in COMP-1529 and introduces students to popular document and practice management systems found in modern law offices. The most common legal accounting bookkeeping tasks along with some advanced functions and report generation will be examined in detail. Students will receive instruction and training in the use of Soluno, Adobe Acrobat Pro and PrimaFact. Law Society of Ontario trust accounting requirements are also reviewed. Students will continue to develop their keyboarding proficiency to achieve a minimum speed of 40 WPM which is required for successful completion of this course. | ||||
| LAWS-1101 | Wills & Estates-Intro | 3 | ||
| LAWS-1102 | Business Law-Intro | 4 | ||
| This course introduces students to the foundational concepts of business law in Ontario. Students learn how to incorporate and organize a corporation pursuant to provincial laws and regulations. Students are introduced to various processes in order to maintain corporate records, draft resolutions, and complete required filings using precedents and software | ||||
| SOCI-1101 | Diversity & Indigenous People in Canada | 3 | ||
| In this course, students will critically identify and examine issues in diversity; specifically focussing on topics pertaining to inequity in various social settings related to race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and class, with a view to developing an appreciation for the multicultural society in which we live. A career in public safety requires a clear understanding of the impacted groups, strategies for community empowerment and effective communication. Students will also increase their knowledge and awareness of the issues impacting Indigenous Peoples of Canada including rights, self-determination, land issues, justice and social issues. | ||||
| PSYC-1120 | Nine to Five: Workplace Psychology | 3 | ||
| This course surveys major topics in organizational psychology (the psychology of people and work), with a focus on organizational behaviour. Students will examine important psychological processes that affect workers, managers, work organizations and work outcomes. Topics include individual, group, and organizational influences on employee motivation, effectiveness, job involvement and satisfaction, the fit between workers and their jobs/work environments, employee selection, evaluation and training/development. Through discussions, class activities and video clips, this course will explore leadership effectiveness, employee wellness, organizational conflict, culture and change, global business cultures, personal career management and business ethics. | ||||
| Level 3 | ||||
| Take all of the following Mandatory Courses: | ||||
| LAWS-3006 | Family Law | 4 | ||
| This course provides an introduction to foundational concepts, principles and policies together with substantive and procedural issues presented in family law in the Province of Ontario. | ||||
| LAWS-5006 | Civil Procedure-Adv | 3 | ||
| This course continues the study of civil procedure by applying the skills and knowledge required in the processing and completion of a personal injury file. This course also includes settlement, commencement of appeals, case management and mandatory mediation, simplified procedure, the commercial list, and Ontario motor vehicle accident claims. | ||||
| LAWS-1039 | Real Estate Title Searching | 4 | ||
| This course introduces practice-oriented real estate law and procedure essential to the registration of land and the conveyancing of real property in the land registration systems. The course concentrates on the land registration law, procedure, documentation, and technology involved in searching and registering titles in the Registry system, the Land Titles system and the electronic land registration environment (ELRS). The course addresses the role of title insurance in real estate title searching & conveyancing. The course also addresses the role of the law clerk in real property conveyancing, including ethical and due diligence duties and title & mortgage fraud risk identification. | ||||
| LAWS-1040 | Legal Research & Writing | 4 | ||
| The ability to identify, research, and ultimately solve a legal problem is an essential skill for persons working in the legal services industry. This course is designed to have law clerk students gain basic legal research and problem solving skills that can be applied to legal problems. Students will review traditional methods of legal research; however, the focus of the course is on the use of digital legal research methods and resources including Lexis Advance Quicklaw, CanLII, e-Laws, Justice Laws, legislative assembly websites and other Internet resources. Students learn how to read, interpret, find, update, apply, and cite legislation and cases. The course introduces the basic techniques of legal problem solving; legal research; plain language, client-centered, persuasive legal writing; and legal citation. | ||||
| LAWS-1010 | Creditors' Rights | 4 | ||
| A practical understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a law clerk in debt collection procedures is an important skill. The initiation of collection proceedings, obtaining judgment, and enforcing judgments and orders are examined on behalf of various classes of creditors. | ||||
| LAWS-5011 | Wills & Estates-Adv | 4 | ||
| Level 4 | ||||
| Gen Ed - Take a 3 credit General Education elective course. | ||||
| Take all of the following Mandatory Courses: | ||||
| LAWS-3052 | Landlord & Tenant Law | 3 | ||
| This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of the landlord/tenant relationship; introduce the student to legislation premises; to become familiar with the procedure involved in landlord/tenant disputes review applications, and teach the student skills necessary to work as law clerks in residential tenancy practices. | ||||
| LAWS-3043 | Real Estate Procedure-Adv | 4 | ||
| This course allows students to apply the substantive law principles learned in earlier courses to practical, real world situations. The course is primarily procedural in nature. Students will go through a step by step process whereby they will learn what a real estate law clerk does on a daily basis when working in a law office which is acting for clients on a typical real estate transaction, whether they are buying, selling or mortgaging property. The focus will be on single family residential resale transactions, but students will also be exposed to the steps taken in more involved transactions including condominiums, new homes and rental properties. Students will learn the procedural steps involved in a real estate transaction, from beginning to end, including client communication, drafting and reviewing typical documents, correspondence, forms and software currently being used by real estate law clerks. This course provides students with the tools necessary to competently assist real estate lawyers in an area of law where the duties and responsibilities of the law clerk have increased significantly in recent years. | ||||
| LAWS-5008 | Document Production & Management | 3 | ||
| In this course students develop expertise and competence in drafting and managing legal documents. Students will draft documents and learn and apply concepts related to the following areas of law: i) Civil Litigation - Small Claims Court, ii) Civil Litigation - Superior Court of Justice, and iii) Corporate Law. At the conclusion of the course students will be able to produce a variety of legal documents e.g. statements of claim, statements of defence, motion records, affidavits, affidavits of documents, articles of incorporation, corporate ledgers and corporate minute books using software such as Automated Civil Litigation ("ACL"), Fast Company®, and advanced features in Microsoft ® Word and Microsoft® Excel. Students will also learn about and gain experience with information and document management hardware (scanners) and software such as PrimaFact and Adobe Acrobat Pro. Terminology and principles surrounding electronic discovery as well as the features found in leading e-discovery software applications Concordance and CaseMap will also be introduced. | ||||
| INSR-1006 | Fundamentals of Insurance for Consumers | 3 | ||
| Consumers often manage risk by purchasing insurance; however, the insurance industry contains a wide variety of products, rules and types of contracts. In this course, students discuss various types of property, casualty and life insurance products and the purpose and history of these products. Students also debate current issues in the insurance industry and examine the social and economic impact on society. | ||||
| LAWS-5012 | Business Law-Adv | 4 | ||
| DEVL-5010 | Professionalism & Career Development | 2 | ||
| Gen Ed - Electives | ||||
| Take 3 General Education Credits - Normally taken in Level 4 | ||||
| Program Residency | ||||
| Students Must Complete a Minimum of 22 credits in this program at Fanshawe College to meet the Program Residency requirement and Graduate from this program | ||||