Law 694:  Advanced Civil Trial Advocacy

In this course, you will learn how to develop and litigate a civil case from inception through trial. You will learn about and/or conduct each stage of the litigation process to include drafting pleadings, preparing and responding to discovery requests, drafting and arguing motions, developing expert witness testimony, challenging the admissibility of expert testimony, and conducting pretrial and settlement conferences. The class will culminate in a final mock trial in which you, along with a trial partner, will conduct a complete mock trial against two of your colleagues. In order to effectively represent clients at trial, the successful trial advocate will draw not only on his or her trial skills toolkit, but also on his or her knowledge of substantive law, civil procedure, evidence, and ethics. The goal of this course is for each student to leave as a fully formed litigator who is able to competently, confidently, and comfortably handle a civil litigation matter in real-life practice from inception through trial.  The course is taught by an experienced civil trial attorney who will incorporate lessons of professionalism, advocacy, and the rules of evidence attendant to civil trial practice.

Sequence and Prerequisites: Trial Advocacy (Law 694)  and Evidence (Law 682) must have been taken prior to this course.

Evaluation: This is a three-hour graded course.  Grades will be based on written assignment, in-class courtroom performance exercises, participation, and performance in the final mock trial.  While students will try their cases with a partner, each student will be graded individually.  Students will have an opportunity to meet their classmates during the first class meeting before partners are selected

 Course Classification:  Experiential