Supreme Court Litigation
Winter term, Block A
M,T,W,Th,F 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Mr. Thomas Goldstein and Mr. Kevin Russell with Ms. Amy Howe
1 classroom credit LAW-46650A
2 required clinical credits LAW-46650C
This winter-term course will immerse students in the intensive practice of law before the United States Supreme Court. This year, the course will again be taught in Washington, D.C. to facilitate greater interaction between students, instructors and the litigation process at the Supreme Court.
The course will consist of intensive work on actual cases before the Court, as well as a series of lectures and classroom discussions on Supreme Court practice -- including strategy, procedure, brief writing, and oral advocacy. Students will be assigned to small teams, each working closely with an instructor to write and file a petition for certiorari, brief in opposition to certiorari, merits brief, amicus brief and/or to prepare for oral argument in a pending case. In addition, students will attend arguments at the Supreme Court, participate in moot courts, and meet with leading members of the Supreme Court bar, former Supreme Court clerks, and members of the Supreme Court press corps. Transportation to and from Washington, as well as housing during the term, will be provided.
The work is both rewarding and extremely intensive, precluding students from undertaking any significant non-class-related activities during the winter term. Students will work long hours, including on the weekends. They will be provided transportation to and from Washington, D.C., as well as housing (which will require students to share apartments, likely two students per bedroom). Housing will not be provided for students' spouses or significant others. Students will be responsible for providing themselves meals and transportation within the city (housing will be located as close as possible to the metro system).
Class will be limited to 10 students, admitted at the discretion of the instructors. Applicants should submit a resume, an informal transcript, and an unedited writing sample (i.e., a writing sample not edited by anyone other than the author) of fifteen to twenty pages to Tom Goldstein (tgoldstein@akingump.com) by October 16, 2009.