A Message from the Dean What is a Legal Assistant? Program Overview What Makes Our Program Unique? Admissions

What Makes
Our Program Unique?

Several factors have contributed to a tremendous increase in the number of opportunities for trained paralegals. One reason is that practicing attorneys have realized that they may delegate certain tasks to competent paralegals at relatively low rates, rather than charging the client for the attorney's time at a higher billing rate. The increased demand for paralegals has motivated the establishment of scores of paralegal training programs, some better than others. Oak Brook's training program is unique in several respects.

1. Biblical Worldview

It has been said that one should not mix one's career with one's religion. This statement ignores an inescapable fact of life and society. Your world view-whether based on a personal philosophy of life or traditional doctrines of religion-dictates to a large extent how you go about your work. When that line of work involves the law, this integration of life philosophy and vocation is even more inescapable. This is because law inevitably includes questions of right and wrong, ethical dilemmas, and helping individuals solve challenging problems.

Based upon this truism, and more importantly upon our interpretation of Christ's teachings, we believe that individuals should not separate their faith from their vocation. Applying this principle to the legal profession, we believe that the goal of all attorneys should be to help individuals solve the difficult problems they face in life-whether those problems involve purely legal issues or personal matters as well.

Notwithstanding the public disdain for attorneys in our day, there are many individuals within the legal profession who truly wish to help clients work through the complexities of personal problems. To that end, this program is designed for individuals who share that commitment and faith and who are eager to use their skills to help attorneys fulfill this calling.

The goal of Oak Brook's paralegal training is to equip people with the necessary legal skills to serve their employer/attorney and to have the personal skills needed to counsel, encourage, instruct, and reconcile individuals as the opportunity arises. For this reason, a substantial portion of the curriculum is devoted to training students in Biblical principles of life. Mastery of these concepts and their practical application will be a tremendous asset to any paralegal who desires to assist an attorney in counseling his or her clients.

2. Valuable Skills Plus Substantive Knowledge

While most paalegal programs offer course material covering definitions, concepts, and elements of law, Oak Brook College has committed itself to a curriculum that integrates practical skills with substantive knowledge. Understanding and gaining familiarity with such useful tools as client interview sheets, checklists, and model pleadings will enable Oak Brook paralegals to offer valuable services to any attorney immediately upon completion of the training. The additional training that will occur in the law office can then be directed toward the specific procedures and specialties of that employer rather than having to focus on the basics of legal practice.

3. Distance Education and Modern Technology

The Internet and other modern technological phenomena are replacing the old paradigms of "correspondence schools" with new and innovative forms of distance learning. This program seeks to make learning a more independent and flexible process, allowing the student to advance in a career and other opportunities.

Through the Internet, students can communicate on a regular basis with their instructors, and with one another about their studies and progress. As new developments in technology come to pass, Oak Brook College of Law will be poised to take advantage of them.

Conclusion

These significant distinctions make Oak Brook College of Law and this training program an extraordinary institution. It therefore follows that this choice is certainly not for everyone. For those who have a desire to learn law from this perspective and who are willing to undergo the rigors of the training, this program offers valuable rewards.