Spring 2023
5386 Trial Advocacy - DAW- 11091
Professor(s):
Steve Baldassano (ADJUNCT)
Erik Baumann (ADJUNCT)
Judge Peter Bray (ADJUNCT)
Jennifer Chung (ADJUNCT)
Willie Daw (ADJUNCT)
Scott Ellis (ADJUNCT)
Kiara Gradney (ADJUNCT)
Michelle Gray (ADJUNCT)
Judge Belinda Hill (ADJUNCT)
Penn Huston (ADJUNCT)
Daniel Kasprzak (ADJUNCT)
Ajay Ketkar (ADJUNCT)
Anshu Mitchell (ADJUNCT)
Judge Chris Morales (ADJUNCT)
Kenneth Phillips (ADJUNCT)
James Ray (ADJUNCT)
Judge Sam Sheldon (ADJUNCT)
Judge Vanessa Velasquez (ADJUNCT)
Celena Vinson (ADJUNCT)
Credits: 3
Course Areas: Blakely Advocacy Simulation
Time: 6:00p-9:00p M Location: 210
Course Outline: Trial Advocacy and Pretrial Litigation are the core of the Litigation Skills Program. Students completing these two courses graduate with the ability to pick up a case and carry it through from the initial interview to final judgment. The Trial Advocacy course is essential to understanding how disputes are often resolved in our legal system. Students acquire the skills necessary for trying cases by learning how to formulate a case theory, present an opening statement and closing argument, conduct direct and cross examinations of fact and expert witnesses, engage in jury selection, make and respond to evidentiary objections, and perform all other aspects of actually trying a case before a judge or jury. Each week's class consists of a large group session in which there is a discussion and demonstration of the advocacy skill being taught that week. Following the large group sessions, students are broken into small groups in which they meet with several adjunct professors and practice the advocacy skill assigned for that week. Students choose a small group focusing on either civil cases or criminal practice. The Trial Advocacy course ends with a mock trial, complete with a jury, held at the Harris County Civil and Criminal Courthouses.
Course Syllabus: Syllabus
Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. After student registration opens, there may be instruction mode changes to this course up through two weeks before the first day of classes for the term, but notice of such changes will be sent to then-registered students. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid-term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.
Quota=48
Prerequisites: Yes Evidence, it may be taken concurrently
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule:
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: No
Experiential Course Type: simulation
Bar Course: No
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Conditional Availability (not for required credits)
