Trial Advocacy
Steven Beckett
Director, Trial Advocacy Program
The Spring Trial Advocacy program consists of case preparation in either a criminal or civil jury trial. For both Trial Advocacy trials and Trial Team, the spring semester courses consist of jury trial opportunities within the law school mock trial program, or at competitive trial team competitions. All sections include pre-trial preparation, planning, and a jury trial presentation. Student work in pairs to prepare and trial the cases.
The Spring semester of trial advocacy is an elective course — participation in the Spring session is not required to receive credit for the Fall session of Trial Advocacy. Fall Trial Advocacy is a mandatory pre-requisite for spring Trial Advocacy, however. The Spring Trial Advocacy class meets once per week during the first eight weeks of the semester on Wednesdays (civil cases) or Thursdays (criminal cases) at 5 p.m. in the Law School courtroom. These course meetings deal with issues of substantive law, scheduling and procedural issues. All other course meetings are in the nature of pre-trial hearings and are arranged with Professor Beckett (criminal cases) or Professor Ansel (civil cases). Each faculty member will supervise the pairs of students who are opposing each other for trial preparation and trial. Students should register for Section A, Wednesdays, of this course if they want a civil trial and for Section B, Thursdays, if they want a criminal trial. Students are assigned in pairs to a case file and take all pre-trial steps necessary to prepare the case for trial. They then conduct a jury trial on an assigned date in mid-March. The course requirements are met with the conclusion of the jury trial. This is a two hour ungraded (credit/no credit) course.
Students on the Trial Team should register for Section C. Trial team meeting times will be arranged with Professor Beckett, however normal practice times are Monday afternoons in the law school courtroom. The course requirements are met with the conclusion of the intercollegiate law school trial competitions. Trial Team is a two hour ungraded (credit/no credit) course.
Trial Advocacy Material
