Beginners' Guide to the Internet for Lawyers
by Delia Venables

The course starts at the beginning and takes the Lawyer through the most important aspects of the Internet in a straightforward manner. It can be used to obtain 8 hours CPD.

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The Beginners' Guide to the Internet for Lawyers

Now in a August 2010 edition.

What it is
What legal material is available, both free and on a subscription basis
How to get connected
The benefits of email - and areas to be cautious
How to find legal materials on the web
What firms and chambers are doing already
A bit about selling and marketing from a web site

Accreditation

The materials (part reading matter and part online tutorials) can be used to qualify for CPD hours as follows:

Solicitors Regulation Authority - accredited for 8 CPD hours
Bar Standards Board - accredited for 8 hours

There is a straight forward test required for this course, submitted online. See below for more details.

Purchase details................. Comments from people who have done the courses

Course aims and contents

Reading Material

There is a substantial printed section provided to lay out the basic concepts of the internet and how it can be used. It contains quite a lot of detail about legal resources online.

Reading this printed material is designed to take 3 hours.

1. Introduction ....page 1
What is it really? Changing the way that Business and Law are conducted

2. Electronic Mail (email)....page 6
Advantages and disadvantages; issues of acceptable use; Control of Spam; Newsgroups and Mailing Lists

3. World Wide Web....page 11
Not just text, but also.... Some definitions; A portal - a place to start

4. Getting Connected....page 14
What You Need; Internet Service Providers - which to choose? providing Internet Access on a Network; Security Issues

5. Parliament, Government and the Courts and other important UK sites....page 16

6. What the Legal Publishers are Offering....page 20

7. British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII)... page 24
"Free the Law" is a great success

8. European Legal Resources.... page 27

9. Firms of Solicitors on the Web....page 29
Brochure sites; specialised sites; Selling legal services online

10. Barristers on the Web....page 33
Sites offering legal resources; brochure sites; new types of service provided

Set of Graded Tutorials for Online Learning

These tutorials are included as part of the course in printed form and are also provided online on a passworded area of my web site. They contain all the links to the material covered in the tutorials so that learning is easy (and enjoyable too).

Each tutorial contains a short section at the end on general interest sites so the practitioner will have something to talk about with non lawyers!

Each of these tutorials is designed to take 1 hour. I recommend that you only do one of these tourials in any one online session since otherwise it is easy for concentration to lapse and all the sites start to blur together!

Tutorial One. This covers the menus, buttons and tools which appear on the screen and also explains how the Uniform Resources Locators (URL's) are structured. For initial practice in using these techniques, we look at "Gateways" to the Internet.

Tutorial Two. A start with typing in URL's and choosing links. The Back button and the Forward button. Collecting "Favorites". Firms of Solicitors and Barristers already on the Internet and how they are marketing themselves. For general interest, we look at the Times, the Telegraph and the Lawyer and consider how news sources online differ from those in print.

Tutorial Three. Setting up the "Home Page" to which you will be taken every time you log in. More on Favorites and how to manage them. A first browse of some free legal resources on the Internet including the Government DirectGov site, the "BAILII" site, the Ministry of Justice and the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting. For general interest, we look at several local news sites and theatre sites.

Tutorial Four. All about email, with practical exercises on how to use it effectively; how to set up your return address, how to reply, how to send copies, how to send attachments, how to use the address book, and so on. Browsing the resources on the UK and Scottish Parliamentary sites. For general interest, we visit various sites for children.

Tutorial Five. Carrying out a search for a legal topic using a number of different tools including the key Search Engines but also describing how to avoid the general search engines by knowing where to start a search. A bit about Software upgrades. For general interest, we visit some political and campaigning sites.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of this course, you will have:

An awareness of what the Internet really is and how to get connected;
An awareness of how the internet is changing the way that Business and Law are conducted;
An appreciation of the range of legal material available on the Internet, both from legal publishers (on subscription) and available without charge;
An understanding of the benefits of email and some of the problems that may arise as well as some practical exercises in the use of email;
Had practice in searching for legal materials on-line and also knowing where NOT to look for legal resources;
An understanding of how other firms and chambers are already using the Internet and the advantages it offers.

Course Test

As indicated above, there is a straight forward test required for this course, submitted online. The questions are not on substantive issues of the law but are designed to check that you have read the materials provided, visited some of the main legal web sites described and understood the basic concepts of how lawyers can use, and benefit from, the internet.

The questions are provided online and the practitioner can see the questions whilst going through the materials (but should note that the questions change from time to time).

There are ten questions; the first half of the questions relate to the printed materials and the second half to the online tutorials. Most of the questions consist of two parts.

I am normally able to mark the tests, and send an email indicating whether or not you have passed, within 2 working days.

The pass rate is 70 percent and practitioners may submit one further set of questions if they fail the test the first time.

Purchase Details

The cost of Guide, including the on-line Tutorials, is £80 plus VAT.

If you send me an email saying what you would like, and including your postal address, I will be pleased to send you the printed part of the material and I will invoice you then - email to Delia Venables.

Intranet/Multiple Use Licence

There is also an Intranet/Multiple Use licence. This costs £180 plus VAT. Licences last for one year and allow up to 5 people to take the course and obtain the CPD. Additional people (beyond the 5) can take the course and obtain the CPD for a £10 plus VAT fee for each person.

Course Evaluation

There is an online form available for this purpose, which the practitioner can fill in after submitting the online test. Questions asked:

Has this course met its aims and intended learning outcomes?
Have you found the course interesting?
Did you find the printed material useful?
Did you find it easy to access the tutorials online?
Did you find it easy to submit the test answers?
Are there any points relating to accessibility which you would like to make?
Did you find the course good value for money?
Any other comments you would like to make.

Comments from people who have done the Beginners Guide and/or the First and Second Set of Advanced Internet Studies

The notes are very useful indeed - I do use the internet a fair bit but had no idea of the wealth of legal resources out there, which I shall tap.

I have found your courses to be an enjoyable and informative way to earn cpd points.

I have spent today working through my pack and am just letting you know how I'm getting on as requested. I am having such fun. Although I can work my way around the basics, I have had an extremely enlightening day. I will be submitting my answers shortly.

I found the Beginners Guide most informative and helpful.

I thought the course (First Set of Advanced Internet Studies) was very useful and informative.

I found the course most informative, enjoyable and very helpful. The many reference sites and links suggested (and visited) during the course work, have already started to assist my detailed preparation and the quality of the service which I can provide to my solicitors and their clients.

Thank you very much for your swift response. I will be using your pack to help do some legal research tomorrow so I have learnt a lot! I will be recommending your course to others.

The tutorials were very helpful especially the one on using email which has been a bit of a mystery to me until now.

I have encouraged the new tenants in Chambers (and some of the older ones) to consider this course as a very valuable tool for the future of the Bar as an independent profession.

I had not appreciated that there was so much information available out there, and the majority of it free of charge to assist us lawyers.

Had no idea that there was so much material available without cost. I shall go on to the more advanced courses.

I congratulate you on a clear, concise and precise (and arguably enjoyable) exposition of your topics.

I found the final tutorial on internet searching particularly useful.

You have managed to make the whole process intelligible to a techno-phobe like me. What a triumph.

I have found it to be extremely useful and intend to recommend the course to others in my chambers.

It's of great help to luddites such as myself!

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Beginners' Guide to the Internet for Lawyers by Delia Venables