Advanced Paralegal: Criminal Law

About this course

What you’ll learn

In this comprehensive online course, you’ll learn about the fundamentals of criminal law, including key concepts such as punishment, burden of proof, and criminal defenses. You will gain insight into common crimes and basic legal terminology, along with how to analyze a crime thoroughly through its elements. The course covers important topics like mens rea and actus rea, reasonable doubt, defenses such as insanity, intoxication, duress, and self-defense, as well as complex concepts like conspiracy, accountability, and criminal statutes applied to corporations. Offered in partnership with CLS by BARBRI, this course will help you understand the elements of major crimes, including homicide, rape, battery, assault, larceny, forgery, robbery, and arson, and how causation and other legal principles influence criminal responsibility.

Learning objectives

1. Analyze the foundational principles of criminal liability, including the concepts of punishment, mens rea, actus reus, and causation, to determine the culpability of individuals and corporations in diverse scenarios.
2. Differentiate between various burdens of proof and evidentiary presumptions (e.g., reasonable doubt, inferences, mandatory and conclusive presumptions) to evaluate the strength of a criminal case.
3. Apply the elements of specific defenses (e.g., insanity, self-defense, duress, intoxication, entrapment) to factual patterns, determining their potential success in negating criminal liability.
4. Examine the elements and nuances of major common law and statutory crimes against persons (e.g., homicide, rape, assault, battery, kidnapping) and property (e.g., larceny, robbery, burglary, arson, forgery) to classify criminal acts.
5. Assess the scope of criminal accountability, including attempt, conspiracy, and complicity for the acts of others, to predict potential charges and liabilities.
6. Formulate a legal argument or case brief, integrating knowledge of criminal law limitations and specific crime elements, to address a complex criminal law problem.

Continuing Education Information

This is an accelerated course. Students will be expected to spend an average of 8 hours per week reading and completing writing assignments. Please note that extensions will not be granted for this online course. 70% is the minimum passing score on all tests and assignments for this course. Students may consider working ahead in the curriculum if they have the time. Coursework in Criminal Law is equivalent to 45 clock hours of study.