Trial advocacy Forum

[csexton182]

What is trial ad like? I'm sure it is useful for someone trying to work in in the PD/DA office, but what is the program like in law school? I've heard it is hard, but is it exciting or is it dull? I'm just curious, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys

[gdane]

To me it's very exciting. I love it. My school's program has both "pre-trial" and "trial" components to it. For pre-trial we do stuff like bond hearings, depositions, witness interviews, etc. For trial we do directs, crosses, redirects, impeachment, introduction of exhibits, etc. We also have to dress up all snazzy for trial classes. We get "judged" by U.S. Attorney's, Federal Public Defenders, state and federal judges, private defense lawyers, etc. It's great to get feedback from actual practicing attorneys that do this stuff every day.

Give it a try if you're interested.

[csexton182]

Awesome thanks I appreciate it. I felt that it would be exciting and I look forward to taking it if given the opportunity.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I really liked Trial Ad, because you walk through all the steps of doing a trial, it's very hands-on and you're always doing something (and it is, at least ostensibly, all stuff you will be doing as a lawyer). At my school, it's graded pass/fail, so it's hard in that it's a lot of work (and you actually have to do it, as opposed to classes where you don't have to read and can just read an outline at the end), and it's hard in that there's a lot of stuff to remember, but it's not hard conceptually or anything. I also took a version of the class that had outside attorneys come in and teach/evaluate, though I'm not positive if all the sections at my school did this. Totally totally worth it.

[csexton182]

Thanks for the responses guys, I greatly appreciate it. Ideally, I would like to work in the DA's office, but we'll see. Trial Ad is very appealing to me.There's a school in my region who is known for their stellar program, so I suppose I'll have to wait to see if I get in. I really hope I do so I can experience this program. Thanks for the input guys, it was extremely helpful.