Trial Advocacy Workshop
Fall term
M,T,W,Th,F 2:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Clinical Professor Ron Sullivan with Ms. J. Soffiyah Elijah and Ms. Michele A. Roberts
3 classroom credits LAW-47500A
Class will meet Tuesday, September 8 through Friday, October 2 (no classes during fly-out week). Class meets every weekday, 2pm-9pm.
The workshop, which will be held during the first three weeks of the fall term commencing Tuesday, September 8 to Friday, October 2 requires intensive study, preparation, and activity. It is a required component of ITA: Prosecution Perspectives, and ITA: Criminal Justice A. Students will spend about twenty-five to twenty-eight hours per week in classroom sessions that will be structured as follows:
1. Students will meet in sections of twenty-four for two hours a day, five days a week, with a teaching team consisting of a team leader, one or two teaching fellows or practicing attorneys, and a practicing judge. These sessions will involve short role-playing assignments for students in various aspects of trial advocacy, evaluations of performances, and occasional demonstrations by members of the teaching team.
2. Students in each section will meet for about two hours per day in groups of eight to twelve with one member of the teaching team to engage in intensive role-playing exercises. Part of the learning experience in this setting will involve student evaluation and critique of the performance of others.
3. Students will meet about three to five hours each week in sections of twenty-four or in larger groups for lectures and demonstrations by experienced practitioners and judges.
4. Students will have opportunities, individually or in groups, for detailed review or critique of videotapes of their own and each other's performances. One or more members of the teaching team will be available at scheduled hours to participate in this review.
5. Students will participate in two full trials as members of a team of students trying the case. Classroom time will include two to four hours of pretrial conferences and five to eight hours of trial performance and critique for each trial. Students will also be expected to serve as witnesses in two additional trials.
Registration for Trial Advocacy Workshop will occur during Multi-Section Course Registration.
Completion of a course in Evidence is a prerequisite or co-requisite for the Trial Advocacy Workshop.
Add/drop for the fall Trial Advocacy Workshop ends September 3, 2009. Students who wish to add or drop TAW after this date must receive permission of the instructors.