Law 793: Scientific Evidence and Expert Witnesses

This skills-based course will serve as an introduction to preparing and conducting examinations of expert witnesses involving scientific evidence.  The course will introduce students to the unique challenges attendant to locating an expert witness, preparing them, and then direct examining them, as well as the unique challenges of working with scientific evidence via expert witness testimony.  It also introduces students to the difficulty in opposing expert witnesses, inclusive of preparing to cross-examine them and then actually cross-examining them.  This course will consist of classroom discussion on all facets of working with expert witnesses and will also require students to practice preparing expert witnesses, conducting direct examinations of experts, and cross-examining experts.

This course will meet over two weeks from February 9 to February 20.  It is pass/fail.

Course Sequence Prerequisites: Trial Advocacy is a co- or prerequisite.

Evaluation:  This is a one-hour pass/fail course.  Successful course completion will be based on classroom participation and participation in expert witness direct and cross examination exercises.

Course Classification:Experiential