This lawyering skills course gives students an orientation to and constant practice in most basic pretrial and trial advocacy skills areas. Topics include: taking and defending depositions, motion practice, trial evidence, including admission of trial exhibits in evidence and use of prior witness statements to refresh and impeach a witness, jury selection and voire dire, opening statements, examination of witnesses (direct and cross-examination), and closing arguments. Students will try a full jury case through to verdict with use of jurors and before a real judge in the Superior Court in Palo Alto at the end of the course. Students will also have a chance to watch the jurors deliberate and talk with them after their verdict.
The course takes place during eight weeks of the Autumn Quarter with two classes (one lecture and one workshop) per week on most weeks from 4:15-9:00 (these can occur on either M, T, W, or Th), plus one Saturday workshop and the final weekend of jury trials, Saturday and Sunday November 21 and 22. Each day's ending time will vary; most sessions will end before 9:00.
For a detailed schedule, contact Mary Ann Rundell at mrundell@law.stanford.edu.
The format for each topic begins with a lecture/discussion featuring video vignettes of various techniques and a live demonstration by an expert trial lawyer. Following the discussion portion of each topic are small group sessions during which each student practices the skills involved. Constructive feedback is given after each exercise by two of our faculty of very experienced Bay Area litigators and judges. Most exercises are also videotaped for further one-on-one critique by another faculty member. The course ends with full jury trials.
The central philosophy of the workshop is that skills are best acquired in an experiential manner by seeing and doing. Frequent short, well-defined exercises followed by immediate constructive feedback in a non-competitive, non-threatening atmosphere provide the core of the program.
The workshop directors are Tim Hallahan and Jeff Kobrick. They have taught similar programs at Harvard Law School, the University of San Francisco School of Law, Boalt Hall, the California Continuing Education of the Bar, and in private and public interest law firms around the country.
Special Instructions: If you haven't taken Evidence you must contact Mr. Hallahan before the course begins for some brief pre-course reading assignments. There are no papers or tests, but attendance at every session is required.
This class will meet on MTWTh 4:15 - 9:00 p.m. NOTE: that most sessions will end before 9:00 p.m.