Paralegal Career For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6

Taking a Case to Trial: The Litigation Process

IN THIS CHAPTER

Following the flow of a criminal case from indictment to final appeal

Litigating the civil matter from the demand letter to collection of a final judgment

Paralegals assist their supervising attorneys with cases from start to finish. This chapter gives you the nuts and bolts of how to help your supervising attorney bring your firm’s criminal and civil cases through the maze of litigation.

Constructing the Criminal Case

Criminal law paralegals may work in the public sector for either the prosecution or the public defender, or they may provide services for a private defense law firm that defends those who can afford to pay for their own lawyers. No matter which side of the fence you’re on, your career in criminal litigation will be extremely busy. You have to concentrate on staying on top of the constant flow of cases and making your supervising attorney look good. We focus on procedure in this chapter, but you can find out more about the nature of criminal law in Chapter 5.

Charging the defendant

Paralegals who work in a federal, state, or local prosecuting attorney’s office make sure that their supervising attorneys file the proper criminal charges against criminal defendants. The attorney begins the process ...