<p>I’m an early-mid career health practitioner. I’d like to learn more about law, but I don’t have the time/devotion to pursue an entire J.D.</p>
<p>What I’d like to learn is some things about law basics. I guess I don’t really know where to start, but I’d like to learn some of the elements that go into civil lawsuits, and government complaints. I just naturally have a basic interest in this (my dad was a head union representative and frequently was involved in legal investigations and challenges). Given the risk of litigation, I think it would also be helpful to my career. </p>
<p>I’d just like to learn the skills of how to put together (1) a reasonable “official” initial complaint or defense for a range of complaints (e.g. a human rights violation, a complaint to an employer for unsafe working conditions, etc.), and (2) who to go for this kind of complaint. In other words, I’d like to have the ability to start at stage “two” of a legal battle: i.e. to already know what I’d learn from an initial legal consultation.</p>
<p>Is there any type of “course” for this? (What is a) Paralegal? I’m very interested in gaining some elementary legal knowledge.</p>
<p>If you wanted, you could just audit some relevant legal classes. It doesn’t seem you really want/need a law degree. Look to see at your closest (and least expensive) law school what classes they offer, and if you can sit in on them. </p>
<p>A paralegal is basically a legal secretary. Not something that would helpful for you.</p>
<p>Auditing a class at your local law school may be an option–many schools have a class about health care law or medical malpractice or something. The state or county bar association where you live might also have courses or materials of interest to you (you might have to pay for them)…you could ask them if they have any CLE (continuing legal education) classes or handouts. To focus your request, it sounds like you might be interested in learning more about “civil procedure,” which are the steps taken and the paperwork required before, during, and after a non-criminal lawsuit. You could also try reading the Federal or [your state] Rules of Civil Procedure…easily available online, but they do include a lot of jargon.</p>
<p>If you have a public law school in your area (maybe even a private one) you could see if they’ll give you access to CALI, which is a collection of online tutorials and podcasts about the law [www.cali.org</a> - Welcome to CALI®: The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction](<a href=“http://www2.cali.org/]www.cali.org”>http://www2.cali.org/)</p>
<p>Finally, perhaps a local medical professionals’ association could sponsor a course with information like the stuff you mentioned–you could hire a local attorney to teach it.</p>
<p>The reviews on this book sound good. I’m going to read the sample pages right after posting this. I think something like this is a good place for me to start. </p>
<p>My question is, I’m Canadian, and this book describes the US legal system. I don’t need the “nitty-gritty” of law, just general concepts. So would this book still be adequate for my purposes?</p>
<p>I really don’t know anything about the Canadian legal system, so can’t say…your best bet might be to go to a good library in your area (a public one, or one at a local university or law school) and ask them to recommend a book.</p>