Customer Reviews

Civil Interviewing and Investigation for Paralegals

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This book is a one of a kind. Not only does it cover interviewing and investigating techniques and processes but it gives practical ways of practicing those skills. Who needs a private investigator when they can use this book. Of all the years I have worked in the legal profession I have never seen a desk reference book with this much useful data. I was able to identify and use materials from county,state, and federal offices without ever having to call for help. In addition the appendices offer commonly used state office phone numbers and addresses, useful documents, and a section on anatomy. For the personal injury insurance adjustor, litigator, or paralegal the anatomy is a rare find.

I found Civil Interviewing and Investigation for Paralegals by Cynthia Bandars Schroeder to be interesting, practical, and full of valuable charts, tables, forms and checklists. In addition to providing a step-by-step approach to interviewing and investigation starting with the basics and continuing through the more complex topics of non-verbal communication , emotional issues, and difficult clients, the author includes detailed lists of public, private, internet and print resources that everyone can use. The book is user-friendly and extremely well organized. Each chapter has a short summary at the end for quick reference and the information in the appendices will keep this book on top of the desk rather than on the bookshelf.

It takes a tremendous amount of time to train new paralegals. This book is an excellent training manual for the paralegal. Any paralegal that has read this book should be ready to hit the ground running and be a valuable asset to their firm. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in civil litigation.

This textbook is a good place to start for those in the early stages of paralegal study. In fact, were I creating a curriculum for a paralegal studies program, I might include this as a text for an introductory course. However, the text is now outdated (the version I have was published in 1999; there are no updates to my knowledge). The links included are primarily obsolete, replaced by search engines that are faster, more popular, and more exact. The book also tends to repeat itself too frequently, restating theories and techniques in more than one chapter. Additionally, the case studies at the end of each chapter generally lack adequate information to complete properly. A student attempting to answer the questions for the case studies would provide better responses if s/he had a basic grasp of business, real estate, worker's compensation, or criminal law. However, the introductory nature of the book does not suggest that the student would have achieved that status in his/her education. It appears that textbooks covering the interviewing and investigation aspect of a paralegal's career are few and far between (the only other textbook I've come across is Jodi McMaster's "Civil Interviewing and Investigating for Paralegals"). Despite this, I would not rely too heavily on this book were I a professor of law today. It is outdated and incomplete in scope; I would suggest attempting to take it's best parts and use them in conjunction with other texts, lectures, or teaching materials.

I needed this book for one of my classes. It was a good book, and an easy read. Lots of good information for someone in the legal field.

This is simply the best reference and classroom book on the market - hands down. Cynthia tought this college class for years based on her own material, basically because there simply wasn't a book on the market that met her high standards. Additionally, she has toured through out the US providing live seminars on the contents of this book to sellout crowds. (PS, don't worry about the disgruntled student that used this forum to slandar the author. That student is now flipping burgers for living and couldn't appreciate a high-standard instructor)