Through the use of lectures, demonstrations and videotape presentations, students learn the basic skills of trial advocacy. This class is enhanced by a two-hour session each week, where in a group of eight, each student performs a litigation exercise. The small section instructors include judges from the Court of Appeals and the Superior Court, the Executive Director of Federal Defenders of San Diego, and prominent attorneys in the fields of civil litigation as well as criminal prosecution and defense. In addition to these classes, we feature a session with a drama coach who teaches the art of advocacy through the use of theater techniques in the courtroom. At the end of the trimester, students use all the skills they have learned in the classroom to present a complete trial before a panel of jurors.
Students acquire appellate advocacy skills in various competitions.
Legal Advocacy, which requires a student to study and research a complex legal problem. After researching the problem thoroughly, the student writes an appellate brief and initially argues the brief before a panel of student judges. After a series of elimination rounds, a group of finalists is chosen. These students then argue their briefs before a bench comprised of law professors, judges and lawyers. Many students continue to develop their oral advocacy skills in intra-school and interschool moot court and trial competitions.