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Fall 2024

5386 Trial Advocacy - DAW- 10715

Professor(s): Steve Baldassano (ADJUNCT)
Erik Baumann (ADJUNCT)
Judge Peter Bray (ADJUNCT)
Judge Chad Bridges (ADJUNCT)
Daragh John Carter (ADJUNCT)
Andrew Dao (ADJUNCT)
Willie Daw (ADJUNCT)
Scott Ellis (ADJUNCT)
Erin Epley (ADJUNCT)
Judge Tanya Garrison (ADJUNCT)
Michael Griffin (ADJUNCT)
Daniel Kasprzak (ADJUNCT)
Ajay Ketkar (ADJUNCT)
Judge Chris Morales (ADJUNCT)
Judge Stuti  Patel (ADJUNCT)
Kenneth Phillips (ADJUNCT)
Chandler Raine (ADJUNCT)
James  Ray (ADJUNCT)
Judge Dawn Rogers (ADJUNCT)
Janan Sharaf (ADJUNCT)
John  Venzke (ADJUNCT)
Judge Christine Weems (ADJUNCT)
Chauntelle White (ADJUNCT)
Tyler White (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. 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)