Hello Students!

Just a reminder!  TOMORROW (Tues. Oct. 19) you’ll take your LAW 1101 Intro to Paralegal Studies MIDTERM EXAM!!  We’ll meet 10am in our regular classroom to start, and you can leave whenever you’re finished.  You are welcome and encouraged to bring your copies of the court system maps and charts to reference during the exam (linked under “Class notes & materials”) but please don’t bring any notes, quizzes, textbook pages, or other materials because you may not use them.  🙁  Please also bring a writing instrument!  And definitely STUDY!  Here are some study suggestions.

Have a  pleasant evening, see you tomorrow!

Prof. C.

Hello Students!  Below are some free online events taking place this week for Penn State Law School, which is where Lance Smith, the defense lawyer who graduated from our program whom we met at the federal court a few weeks ago, earned his degree.  Even though law school is a few years away for you, you might find the information useful if you think you might want to attend!  If you do attend, let me know, I’m interested to know what you think of it.

Cheers, Prof. C.

• Penn State Law Info Session – Tuesday, 10/19, 12:30 p.m.
  Hear about our interdisciplinary-focused curriculum, clinics, externships, and more!  Register here
• Application Workshop – Wednesday, 10/20, 4:00 p.m.
  Get tips on perfecting your application from our Director of Admissions.
  Register here  
• Careers in the Law – Thursday, 10/21, 1:00 p.m.
  Penn State Law students will talk about their summer and post-graduation jobs, and how Penn State helped set them on their path.  Register here
• Funding your J.D. – Friday, 10/22, 1 p.m.
  Our Director for Financial Aid will walk you through loans, need-based aid, LRAP, and scholarships.  Register here

In-person class visits and tours are available too!  Register here.

Dear Students!

GREAT WORK today peer-reviewing cover letters, and on the quiz, and our midterm exam review!  Quiz grades are now posted in the “GradeBook” here, and the keys for today’s and all our quizzes are posted in the “Answer Keys” tab.  Please use them to study for the midterm exams!

THANK YOU to each of you who submitted draft resumes and cover letters.  I’ve now sent comments to each of you, so no need to let me know you want them, as I asked you in class.  If you submitted a draft resume and letter, and didn’t receive comments, let me know.  Otherwise, I will not be able to send any more comments before the deadline for final versions of the documents, which is now Monday, Oct. 18.  (See “Assignments” tab for details.)  When finalizing your documents, please feel free to review the samples in our textbook and that we reviewed in class, all posted under “Class notes & materials,” for ideas!

GOOD LUCK preparing for our midterm exams and your other midterm exams.  Have a great weekend, I look forward to seeing you Tuesday!

Cheers,

Prof. C.

Dear Students!

I hope you enjoyed your LAW- class-free day yesterday.  Thank you for completing 1101 Intro quiz #2 on Blackboard!  Most of you did quite well, your scores are available on Blackboard and in the GradeBook here on OL.

DON’T FORGET, tomorrow (Th. Oct. 14) by 8am, please email me your draft cover letters!  We’ll review and provide feedback on each other’s letters FIRST, so please arrive on time to benefit from your classmates’ suggestions.  I have posted some additional sample cover letters here in the “assignments” tab, and I posted the resumes we reviewed in Thursday’s class (yours and peer mentor Oliver’s) in “Class notes & materials” for Thurs. Oct. 7.  PLEASE email me your letter as an attached Word document, NOT a link to Google docs or any other “cloud.”  Your final cover letters and resumes, to be graded according to the rubrics in the assignment, are due Friday Oct. 15.

Tomorrow you’ll also take 1103 Civ Pro quiz #2 in class!  PLEASE bring your copies of the maps and charts of the court system to use during the quiz, and when we review for both midterm exams.  You do NOT need to bring your CPLR tomorrow, or any day until after the midterm exams!  Please also bring any questions or topics you’d like to review!

I am leaning toward giving next week’s midterm exams in class, on paper, during the regularly scheduled class time.  If that poses a significant hardship for anyone, let me know and we can discuss it.  Otherwise we’ll discuss this generally in class tomorrow, and I’ll be glad to consider your feedback.

Have a pleasant evening, see you tomorrow!

Prof. C.

Good morning Students!!

Just a reminder, today (Tue. Oct. 12), we will not meet in class nor on Zoom!  To be considered “present,” please (1) complete LAW 1101 quiz #2, available on Blackboard for you to complete during any one-hour period until 11:59pm, covering everything since quiz #2, particularly court systems (M&M ch. 6) and career opportunities/resumes & cover letters (M&M ch. 2); and (2) please read M&M ch. 2 pp. 38-43 including the sample cover letter, and review the sample cover letters posted in the “class notes & materials” tab under Tue. Oct. 5.  Then, by Th. Oct. 14 at 8am, you’ll prepare and submit a draft cover letter to my email, as explained in the resume & cover letter assignment.

Please see the quiz on Blackboard for how you can contact me today with any questions.

Good luck, have a great day, see you Thursday!

Prof. C.

Hello Students!

I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weekend and your week has started well!  I look forward to seeing you in our regular classroom tomorrow 10am (Tues. Oct. 5).  A few reminders:

• For 1101 Intro, please complete the “law office post” assignment, and read M&M ch. 2 pp. 38-43 (resumes & cover letters, on BB).
• Also for 1101 Intro, if you didn’t post your source for the “Law in Culture Review” assignment yet, please do so ASAP!
• For 1103 Civ Pro, please bring your paper copy of the CPLR & read C&W ch. 5 (causes of action & remedies, on BB).
• For extra points on the midterm exams scheduled for Oct. 19 and 21, feel free to write a post about our trip this past Friday (see my Sept. 30 post), or a response to a legal news article (see the assignment).

Enjoy the rest of Monday, see you tomorrow!

Prof. C.

Hello Students!

I hope you enjoyed today’s tour of the Manhattan courts, ESPECIALLY our experience at the US District Court for the Southern District of NY!  If you’d like to write a post about the experience, that would be fantastic!  You can earn two extra points on the upcoming midterm exam.  You’re welcome to write about anything at all: what you particularly enjoyed, or what you found especially interesting or surprising, or how the experience affected your view of the courts, or your career plans, or our visit to the African Burial Ground Monument, or anything else!  Just fyi, these are the names of the individuals we met: US Marshal Joe Zayas; Judge Debra Freeman (for whom I clerked), Judge Gabriel Gorenstein (presided over the proceeding), Lance Smith (defense counsel, City Tech Law & Paralegal Studies graduate), and Andrew Davis (Assistant U.S. Attorney, the prosecutor).  Choose “extra credit!” as the category for your post.

Don’t forget!  By end of today (Thurs. Sept. 30), please post your “Law in Culture review” source here on OL, see the assignment for required information.  For Tues. Oct. 5, for 1101 Intro, please read M&M ch. 2 pp. 38-43 (on BB) and write a post about a law office where you might like to work as described in this assignment.  For 1103 Civ Pro, please bring your copy of the CPLR and read C&W ch. 5 (on BB).

Enjoy the weekend, I look forward to seeing you in class Tuesday, Oct. 3, 10am!

Cheers,

Prof. C.

Hello Students!

I’m REALLY looking forward to our walking tour of Manhattan courts tomorrow!  (Thursday, Sept. 30)  Let’s meet 10:15am at the Triumph of the Human Spirit monument, across the street from the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 40 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013.  Here is a link to it on Google Maps.  Nearest subways are 4/5/6 to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall, J/Z to Chambers St., and N/R/W to City Hall.

PLEASE bring proof of vaccination like your card, or a photo of it, or the “Excelsior Pass” app (if you have it), etc.  It’s *possible* we’ll be able to enter the federal courthouse and if so, we may be required to show proof of vaccination!  We’d also need to have our bags scanned so please leave any sharp objects at home.

If you have any problems or questions tomorrow (Thurs.) please call me at 917.363.0063 – please don’t text or email because I may not see it promptly.

I look forward to touring with you!!

Cheers,

Prof. C.

Dear Students!

If you still have not received an email with your link for Cleared4, the new app to enter campus buildings, please send an email with your name, EMPLID and a message that you did not receive the link to: studentwellness@citytech.cuny.edu.

Please do this ASAP!!  The availability of Everbridge VAXPass has only been extended until 5 PM on Friday, October 1, 2021. 

See you in class!

Prof. C.

Dear Students,

I hope you are excited for our walking tour of the courts in Manhattan this Thursday, Sept. 30!  You have your choice of meeting places and times–EITHER:

• 10am SHARP at City Tech, entrance to New Academic Building OR
• 10:30am in Manhattan at the “Triumph of the Human Spirit” monument across the street from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals!  Location and info are here.

Bring your MetroCard!  Wear comfortable shoes!

I also look forward to seeing you 10am tomorrow in class!  (Tues. Sept. 28)  Please be sure to read M&M ch. 6 pp. 145-157 (on BB) and “About Federal Courts: Court Role & Structure” in prep for our discussion of the Federal Court System.

Have a lovely evening!

Prof. C.