Litigation
Skills Program FAQ
Check out
the information below to learn the answers to the most frequently asked
questions regarding the Litigation Skills Program. If you do not find
the answer to your question here, just e-mail us and we will do our best
to provide you with the information you need.
Answer:
Ideally, you should take Pretrial Litigation and then Basic Civil Trial
Advocacy, then Appellate Advocacy. However, the courses stand on their
own quite well and can be taken in any order.
Answer: You
should take a Basic Civil Trial Advocacy course. This course will expose
you to the excitement and (yes) stress of trying a lawsuit. You may well
discover that you thoroughly enjoy being in court and thinking on your
feet. Or you may find out now that you are more comfortable behind the
scenes. Either way, you will have done yourself a great service by taking
the course. Even if you decide you do not want to be a trial lawyer, you
will be prepared when you inevitably end up in court on some personal
or family matter.
Answer: No
matter what area of law you enter, you will have friends and family members
who come to you with legal problems that they will expect you to handle
for them. These most often are family law matters like divorce and/or
custody disputes, probation of a will or small contract matters. Eventually,
you will find that you cannot gracefully refuse to handle the matter and
will find yourself in court. If you have taken the Basic Civil Trial Advocacy
course, you will not be lost and will be able to comfortably handle the
matter.
Answer: Many
of the Trial Ad courses DO require that you have evidence prior to taking
the course. After all, the laws and rules of evidence govern most aspects
of litigation, trial and appellate work. However, evidence is not required
to take Pretrial Litigation or Attorney Communication & Persuasion
Techniques. Moreover, beginning in the Fall of 2000, the Litigation Skills
Program will be offering a special section of Basic Civil Trial Advocacy
for 2d year students who have not had evidence. This course will include
an evidence "short course" during the first hour of each classroom session.
The course will be taught from 5:30 – 9:30 one night per week. There are
also plans for a course in jury dynamics, selection and persuasion that
will not require evidence as a prerequisite.
Answer: Only
upon permission of the Director of the Litigation Skills Program. To receive
permission to take these courses together, the Director will consider
the scholastic standing of the student and other extrinsic evidence that
the student can manage both courses together.
Answer: The
Pretrial Litigation, Civil Trial Ad and Criminal Trial Ad courses generally
involve the students being deemed either a plaintiff/prosecutor or defense
attorney and working on one particular case throughout the semester. The
students will prepare and practice all skills associated with that case.
Each document prepared and each performance rendered will be critiqued
by the faculty and the student will generally be able to perform the exercise
again in order to seek improvement. Each performance is videotaped, so
the student can review his/her performance later. The Trial Ad courses
culminate in a full day long trial at the Harris County courthouse where
the student picks a jury and tries a case all the way through.
The Appellate
Advocacy and Legal Negotiations courses involve various factual situations
that the students prepare and practice the related writing, oral and negotiating
skills.
The Psychology
of Communications course is an interactive course during which the students
participate in exercises to increase their abilities to communicate effectively
and persuasively.
Answer: All
the Trial Ad courses are taught by the Program’s Director or local well-known
and highly skilled trial lawyers and judges who have completed either
a National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) Teacher Training course
or the Litigation Skills Program’s Teacher Training course.
Answer: The
enrollment cap for the Trial Ad courses is quite low (in most cases 14
students). The courses are in high demand and there is usually a waiting
list to get into the courses. By registering for these courses in the
Trial Ad office prior to regular registration, we can maintain a waiting
list and add students from that list to the classes when a student drops
the course prior to the beginning of the semester or during the first
week of the semester. In that way, there is not the risk of having an
open slot in a course when the semester is under way, and having angry
students who were told the class was filled at registration.
Answer: The
courses are taught by practicing trial lawyers and judges who generously
give of their precious time. They teach here when they have completed
their day. We would be unlikely to obtain such high quality talent if
we insisted that they interrupt their work day to assist us.
Answer: With
the exception of Attorney Communication & Persuasion Techniques, you
can expect the amount of time required outside of class to be higher than
the average law school course. However, the work is not reading a case
book. It involves preparing a case. In Pretrial Litigation, you will be
preparing pleadings that YOU determined were necessary for your case or
interviewing witnesses or preparing answers to your opposing counsel’s
discovery requests or preparing an outline of questions you plan to ask
a witness at a deposition. In the Trial Ad courses, you will be preparing
opening and closing statement, a jury panel voir dire, or a direct or
cross-examination of a witness. The amount of time involves will depend
upon what happens in the case.
Answer: In
order that each student has an equal opportunity to perform each exercise
and be critiqued. The small numbers ensure the student close contact with
their adjunct faculty and increase the students’ learning experience.
Answer: The
only course that has a written final exam is the Pretrial Litigation course.
That exam is a short answer, true/false and listing type exam that covers
areas of pretrial litigation that came up during the preparation of the
case that semester. The civil and criminal trial ad courses have a day-long
final trial at the Harris County courthouse
Answer: Because
the University of Houston Law School Administration requires it.
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