Under the supervision of a lawyer, the Assistant's duties may include interviewing clients, file management, legal research, drafting pleadings, wills, probate, corporate documents and conveyancing. The program follows guidelines and recommendations from national, regional and local organizations such as the Canadian Bar Association, the Law Society of British Columbia, the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, the British Columbia Association of Legal Assistants, the Canadian Association of Legal Assistants, and the College's own advisory committee. This program prepares individuals for employment in a legal office, as well as other law-related offices, such as legal departments of private companies, Court registries, Land Title offices, real estate offices, trust companies, mortgage companies, banks, insurance companies, collection agencies, leasing and property management companies, law enforcement agencies, and the civil service of the federal, provincial and municipal governments. This course reviews the history of the Canadian legal system and its formation. Topics covered include the court system in Canada and in British Columbia, the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Students visit local courts to observe proceedings.
In this course, students are introduced to various topics in legal writing and research. Basic office correspondence and basic litigation correspondence are studied, as is the drafting of documents for civil litigation matters. Students are also introduced to simple legal research and are expected to perform basic legal research connected to a personal injury lawsuit. Students also receive training in some basic legal research tasks and are required to prepare a memorandum of law on a set topic. Tours of local law libraries form a part of the instruction.