Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution

Concentration in Advocacy And Dispute Resolution

Second- and third-year students have the option of participating in a curricular Concentration in Advocacy and Dispute Resolution. Building on the College's strong lawyering skills curriculum and its nationally-acclaimed clinical programs, this course of study provides an opportunity for students to orient their second- and third-year educational experience toward preparation for a career in advocacy and dispute resolution.  

Students in the Concentration are required to take the following courses:  

Second Year:  

•  Evidence

•  Trial Practice  

Third Year:  

One of the following:  

•  Advocacy Clinic

•  Mediation Clinic & Alternative Dispute Resolution

•  Prosecutorial Externship

•  Public Defender Externship  

Students in the Concentration are also required to take any combination of the following courses, equaling at least twelve hours, during their 2nd and 3rd years:

•  Adjudicatory Criminal Procedure

•  Advanced Trial Practice

•  Complex Litigation

•  Conflicts of Law

•  Federal Courts

•  Interviewing & Counseling

•  Interviewing, Counseling & Negotiation

•  Investigatory Criminal Procedure

•  Jurisprudence

•  Negotiation & Dispute Resolution

•  Pretrial Litigation

•  Remedies

•  Issues in the Law*

Students electing a Concentration in Advocacy and Dispute Resolution may not take any of the above courses on a Satisfactory/No Credit basis.  

Note: Students should note the obvious overlap in course content among the following courses: Interviewing & Counseling; Negotiation and Dispute Resolution; and Interviewing, Counseling & Negotiation. Assuming all three courses continue to be offered, students completing Interviewing and Counseling and/or Negotiation and Dispute Resolution could not also take the Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiation course, and vice versa.  

* Issues in the Law is included to permit the development and inclusion of additional litigation-related courses. An Issues in the Law course must be approved by the Dean or the Dean's designee as satisfying the requirements of the concentration. An example of an "Issues" course can be found here.

Course Descriptions

813 Evidence (4) Rules regulating the introduction and exclusion of oral, written, and demonstrative evidence at trials and other proceedings, including relevance, competence, impeachment, hearsay, privilege, expert testimony, authentication, and judicial notice.

920 Trial Practice (3) Litigation through simulation, trial problems and preparation: basic trial strategy, professional responsibility; fact investigation and witness preparation; discovery and presentation of evidence; selection and instruction of juries; opening and closing arugments. Written work: pleadings, motions, interrogatories, or memoranda. Correq: 813 for students electing concentration in advocacy. Prereq: 813 for all other students. 815 Advocacy and Professional Responsibility. Examination of the professional responsibility obligations of the advocate, with special attention given to obligations of client confidentiality and competent full representation as balanced off with competing prohibitions against misrepresentation, obligations incumbent upon lawyers to treat opponents fairly, and obligations as officers of the court.

921 Pre-trial Litigation (3) Examination of the civil pre-trial process. Students will draft actual pre-trial documents in civil cases, such as a complaint, motions for preliminary injunction, class certification papers, motions to dismiss and for summary judgment, and various discovery papers.

922 Advanced Trial Advocacy (3) Advanced study and development of trial skills. Topics covered will include: trial preparation, advanced direct and cross-examination, expert witnesses, jury selection, technology in the courtroom, and motion practice. Prereq: 920.

Related Clinic Opportunities:

905 Advocacy Clinic (6) Supervised fieldwork requiring students to assume substantial responsibility for representing clients with various civil and criminal legal problems. Students will explore and begin to develop the fundamental professional skills involved in practicing law. Depending on case assignments, students will gain experience interviewing and counseling clients, negotiating with other attorneys, planning for transactions and dispute resolutions, initiating and defending claims, conducting factual investigations, and presenting evidence. Prereq: 920 and third-year standing.

908 Mediation Clinic (3) Mediation process, theory, strategy, tactics and skills studied and developed through readings, simulations, and service as mediators in the General Sessions Court and other settings. Includes mediation ethics, the relationship of mediation to other dispute resolution methods, the roles of attorneys in mediation, and the writing of mediation agreements.

947 Prosecutorial Externship (6) Supervised fieldwork in a prosecutor's office requiring the student to assume substantial responsibility to represent the government in various criminal settings. Students will explore and begin to develop the fundamental professiona skills involved in prosecuting on behalf of the state or federal government. Depending on the case assignments students will gain experience interviewing victims and complaining witnesses, negotiating with other attorneys, planning for cases for trial and dispute resolutions, conducting factual investigations, and presenting evidence. Prereq: 920 and third year standing.