The Legal Proofreading course was developed with the assistance of a large law firm that wanted an online, self-pacing course for training its paralegal and legal staff. The Legal Proofreading course’s focus is on being able to identify usage errors (grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure) as well as errors unique to legal documents, such as citations and consistent use of defined names. The course begins with a review of legal proofreading principles and techniques. The Legal Proofreading course then goes through a review of English usage, ending with a lesson on legal definitions and another on checking citations.
The online legal proofreading lessons contain clear explanations, many examples, and practice activities. The course includes pre- and post-tests for the course and each lesson that are scored immediately. Copies of the pre-tests and post-tests go to your instructor, who ensures you’re not having difficulty and coaches in the legal proofreading skills as necessary. You go at your own pace and submit legal proofreading assignments when you are ready. The legal proofreading course instructor evaluates the activities and examinations, comments on skills you have learned and skills that still need polish, coaches you through learning the skills, and certifies your competence. You receive a graduation certificate at the end of the Legal Proofreading course.
Course Time: You will go through the course at your own pace, so you could complete it within a few weeks. However, you have up to two months to complete the course so you can fit the study time into your schedule. All lessons must be finished within the two-month period.
Tuition: $175
Legal Proofreading Course Content
Course pre-test
- Lesson 1: Legal proofreading principles
- Lesson 2: Legal proofreading techniques
- Legal proofreading diagnostic test
- Lesson 3: Omissions, additions, typos
- Lesson 4: Number accuracy
- Lesson 5: Transposition errors
- Lesson 6: Abbreviations
- Lesson 7: Word division
- Lesson 8: Number expression
- Lesson 9: Capitalization
- Lesson 10: Commas
- Lesson 11: Other punctuation
- Lesson 12: Special punctuation
- Lesson 13: Spelling
- Lesson 14: Confusing words
- Lesson 15: Subject/verb agreement
- Lesson 16: Pronoun agreement
- Lesson 17: Using defined terms consistently
- Lesson 18: Checking citations
