Advocacy Courses

This is our introduction to trial advocacy.

You spent the first year of law school analyzing published cases. The emphasis of much of your reading was the results of cases and the legal principles each case teaches. Importantly, while trial court judges can publish written opinions on discreet issues, most of your previous reading focused on appellate court opinions. Every appellate court opinion begins with a narrative of the facts. The facts are critical in developing the legal opinions pronounced by the opinion. The way the facts are recited often allows the reader to begin developing a just result in the case simply by the way the facts are presented.

But what does the first year of law school teach you about developing facts? We certainly spend a great deal of time analyzing facts, but how do you produce them? How do facts become evidence? Why do some facts seem to matter more than other facts? At a time in our society when it is hard to find common ground on what constitutes an objective fact, how do current attitudes (and social media) affect our profession where so much of the law depends upon the facts? This class is a guide to that process.

This class has a mandatory evening skills component (Monday or Wednesday evening). Students must register for both the lecture (376M) and either Monday or Wednesday evening skills portion (176N) of the class. Please note, the evening Skills portion of the class will not begin until week 5 or 6 of the semester and will run for eight weeks. Advocacy Survey is designed for all law students. While focusing primarily on trial skills, the course will also cover topics such as transactional practice, motion practice and alternative dispute resolution. By combining theory through the lecture sessions with technique training in skills sessions, students are able to practice what they learn. Students get hands-on practice in areas such as opening and closing statements, the use and relevance of technology in litigation, transferable skills for a transactional practice, and the basic skills necessary to try a case. The skill sessions will end with the trial of a case. Students will examine a case file from pretrial motions, transactional, ADR, arbitration, voir dire, and trial.

Designed for 3Ls only, this is a truly innovative and experimental class which pushes the limits of cutting-edge persuasion theories and techniques. New Millennium combines both lecture and practice sessions focusing on new non-verbal behavior techniques and other experimental approaches to advocacy, as well as traditional legal exercises. Students will learn to analyze how they can persuade jurors and also will spend an entire month studying advanced techniques of jury selection (voir dire).

This class provides an intensive immersion in theory through the use of readings from Aristotle to neuroscience, and provides exposure to theories in many different disciplines, both legal and non-legal. Students see what it takes to be persuasive. After all, if you don’t know the theory – the “why” behind the “what” – how will you know what works?

Through the use of such techniques as mirroring, anchoring, storytelling and personality profiling, students begin to see the methods that work for them and the methods that work on varying jurors. By coordinating with several local community sources, volunteer panels are gathered for student voir dire presentations, focus group exercises, and mock trials. Our volunteer jurors span all age groups and professions. Students see firsthand how different jurors, and different juries, are persuaded through different methods; a truly invaluable experience. Students also work with state and federal courts on guided research and empirical studies regarding recent judicial developments by interviewing judges, jurors and counsel.

This class is designed for the advanced advocacy student who has a strong interest in honing his or her persuasive abilities and techniques. With an extensive reading list combined with several group and individual projects, the student must be committed to learning and must be open to innovative and experimental theories and techniques. Advocacy, Practice and Theory for the New Millennium seeds ideas and develops techniques that students will carry with them in all their persuasive endeavors.

This course combines all the traditional knowledge and theory of a traditional evidence class but adds the layer of applying the rules in practice. Students practice arguing evidentiary motions, have weekly application exercises and explore issues of memory, false confessions, digital evidence and the future of evidence and technology. This course is for students who intend to practice civil or criminal litigation and want a deeper understanding of how judges interpret the rules and how lawyers use the rules to their advantage. 

Ever wanted to know the mechanics of how lawyers change the world? This class explores the history and design of movement lawyering: litigation that not just vindicates the rights of an individual client, but that operates to preserve, defend, or establish rights for all members of society.

This class is designed for the serious third-year student interested in improving advocacy skills through intensive training exercises and immersion into trial, arbitration and civil litigation skills. Students in this class try several cases during the course of the semester, working in small groups with their instructors and receiving highly individualized instruction. In a unique format, students learn by trying both solo trials and trials with partners.

The adjunct faculty in this class is comprised of local trial lawyers and judges.  Students participate in intensive exercises, learning how to perform each part of a trial. They are expected to work and learn from each other and to participate in the critique of each other. Each student is an active learning participant each class period, all class period. The class is comprised of a one-hour time block and a three-hour time block each week. The one-hour time block is used for lectures on theory, demonstrations of trial technique, one-on-one review of the students’ videotaped trials, and other small group work. The three-hour time block is used for exercises and skills practice to enhance the students’ courtroom presence. The adjunct attorneys assist students in direct examinations, cross-examinations, and opening and closing statements. Local judges instruct students in the analysis of cases and evidentiary issues. Along with traditional trial technique training, additional exercises are included such as working with actors to improve their physical presence in the courtroom, voice control, breathing exercises, and non-verbal communication.

This is a fast-paced, intensive course and is intended for students with the interest, commitment and energy necessary to participate in trial after trial during the term.

Lawyers and especially litigators are professional problem solvers. Negotiation is an integral part of crafting solutions. This class is a learn-by-doing experiential class helping students master the negotiation skills essential for a modern litigation practice. Expect an interdisciplinary approach to finding solutions, discovering your style, managing others, reaching resolution, and maintaining personal balance. 

This course will take a criminal case from its inception through trial, plea or dismissal. Students will perform skills weekly on different elements of the case such as intake evaluation, pretrial motions, plea negotiations, witness preparation and trial. Ethics will also be included. The course is recommended for those with an interest in a career in criminal law, especially those considering employment in either a prosecutor’s or public defender’s office.

The class will be a combination of remote and in person exercises.  No student will be required to appear in person, but students will be given the option of doing so on some of the class days.  The hope is to give students the chance to perform in ways that are currently being used in different jurisdictions around the country.    Obviously this is evolving and subject to change.  The plan is also to involve guest appearances by some former students who took this class and are now working in public defender or prosecutor’s offices.

A course focusing on real-life cases and key strategic decisions made immediately before and during trial to position you for success. Nationally renowned trial master, David Beck, will demonstrate, share secrets, and teach strategy.  This is an advanced course. Texas Civil Procedure and Advocacy classes are recommended prior courses.

Two top litigators teach practical skills and tips on everything from social media to managing massive discovery.  If it’s new in litigation they know it. We will be discussing the use of technology in all aspects of litigation, including virtual trials and hearings.

Students will learn how to prepare for, take and defend depositions of lay and expert witnesses. Students will learn how to prepare expert reports, prepare and present expert witnesses in hearings, depositions and trials. This is a skills based course where students will actually take depositions and conduct hearings with their experts. This is a short course and will move quickly and have strict attendance policies. Suggested prerequisites or concurrent: Evidence, Advocacy Survey, ADR courses.

The Alternative Dispute Resolution Survey course is designed to provide a broad-based introduction to negotiation, mediation, and arbitration, for students interested in either advocacy or transactional practices.  ADR methods are now more common than the courtroom for resolving civil disputes; more than 99% of civil cases are settled before trial, if cases are even filed at the courthouse. Many commercial agreements now contain mandatory mediation/arbitration provisions, and statutory and case law both favor ADR. This course will examine the policy and business reasons for the rise in ADR; explore the various ADR methods; discuss negotiating and why lawyers must learn successful negotiating skills; and provide students with an opportunity to experience these concepts through class exercises. The professor is a 30+year litigation attorney with substantial experience to both trial and ADR disputes, and she brings a practical, real-world approach to the lectures and exercises. There will be no exam, but a final written project is required. Grading will be based upon class participation, attendance, and the final paper.

This course will explore the rules and principles governing the proof of facts in the courtroom, with special focus upon the Federal Rules of Evidence. Planned topics include relevance, hearsay, the Confrontation Clause, character evidence, impeachment and rehabilitation of witnesses, the best evidence rule, lay and expert opinion, and objections practice.

From the unique and complex legal issues arising out of SB8 to the late Anna Nicole Smith’s quest for her husband’s fortune; from unprecedented congressional alteration of federal jurisdiction with regard to class actions, bankruptcy, large-scale accidents, and immigration law to the courts’ own mounting internal struggles with an ever-expanding caseload; and from the political idiosyncrasies of the Terri Schiavo case to the availability of domestic courts to litigate international human rights abuses, the study of federal courts has an importance and significance today unmatched in generations. As a field, Federal Courts is principally about judicial power, including the full constitutional extent of that power, the constitutional and sub-constitutional limits on that power, and how that power is exercised by the federal courts to protect the separation of powers and other fundamental constitutional ideals. Thus, rather than studying a particular body of law, our focus in on a particular actor — the federal judiciary in general, and the “Article III” courts, in particular. To that end, our topics will include, among others, the constitutional scope of the jurisdiction of the federal courts (and Congress’s power to constrain that jurisdiction); the legal authority for, and substantive limits on, non-Article III courts; military tribunals and the war on terrorism; the jurisdictional interplay between state and federal courts; the complicated and somewhat convoluted field of “federal common law”; the availability of (and scope of sovereign and official immunity from) suits challenging state and federal official action; judge-made doctrines based on federalism and principles of comity that otherwise limit the exercise of federal jurisdiction; and the procedural minefield that is federal habeas corpus for state prisoners. Whereas our study of each issue is, in many ways, primarily interested in the history and structure of the federal judicial system, these topics necessarily include within their sweep fundamental questions about the proper horizontal separation of powers between the political branches and the judiciary, the proper vertical separation of powers between federal and state courts, and the structural and individualized constitutional issues raised by any of the relevant actors’ attempts to alter the historical balance.

Negotiation is the pathway to agreement. Much of what lawyers do involves negotiation — the structured process of communicating toward an agreement. This is an “audience participation,” experiential learning course that blends law, social science, and ethics toward the development of practice skills. Topics covered will include both transaction and legal claim negotiations.  This class will immerse students in the reality of contemporary negotiations.

Texas Civil Procedure is an advanced litigation course focusing on the Texas Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure. The course covers pretrial, trial, and appellate procedure in Texas state courts. Unlike first-year Civil Procedure, which focuses on the federal rules and basic concepts, Texas Civil Procedure studies the distinctive Texas rules from an advanced perspective. If you are planning a litigation practice in Texas, this course is essential. The course also helps you prepare for the civil procedure portions of the Texas bar exam. Students may find it helpful to take the course during their second year, before their summer work experience and before they take advanced advocacy courses.