Each first-year course also offers opportunities to present legal and fact arguments in class discussion. The LRA curriculum includes case analysis, legal research, drafting of pleadings, and briefing and oral argument of pretrial legal issues, all core skills of the litigator. Lawyering 100, a first-year elective, also develops litigating skills. The course offers students a chance to negotiate and draft contracts and counsel clients. Other first year electives which relate to the litigation and dispute resolution process are Negotiation 100, Federal Litigation and Evidence 100.
Evidence covers the rules that govern the presentation of the fact picture in the courtroom.
The Trial Advocacy Workshop provides intensive training in courtroom presentation techniques using simulated civil and criminal cases and culminating in actual trials before judges and juries. Both Evidence and the Trial Advocacy Workshop are indispensable components of litigation training. Because many litigated cases ultimately reach negotiated outcomes, knowledge and skill in negotiation are important to an effective litigator. The Negotiation Workshop is another cornerstone course which helps broaden the litigator's options for successful dispute resolution. Much litigation, particularly in international matters, is now conducted in the form of international arbitration.