LAWS 8550 Trial Practice

There are several sections of trial practice, which are taught by adjunct faculty who are judges or practitioners. Each instructor selects his/her own readings and exercises, but the coverage of the sections is quite similar. All require students to prepare and to perform aspects of jury trial -- opening and closing arguments, and direct and cross-examination. The course is designed to develop practical skills and to build an appreciation for the relationship between substantive law and strategy and tactics in litigation. This section includes both civil and criminal trial exercises. Students also participate in a mock trial held in a real courtroom. All sections focus on trial advocacy; some also consider some pre-trial skills, such as discovery depositions. All sections have limited enrollments. Evidence is a prerequisite.

Course overview

Department
Law
School
LAW
Credits
2
Level
Graduate
Offered
Every Fall,Every Spring

Catalog details

Prerequisites
Completion or current enrollment in Evidence.
Corequisites
LAWS9996

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Requirements fulfilled

No source-backed degree requirement is attached to this course yet.

Official evaluation summary

4.50 / 5

Based on 257 aggregate responses from BC Avalanche/Blue evaluations.

Data freshness

Course and evaluation data last updated 2026-08-02. Source details and limitations are documented in Data Sources and Methodology.

Instructors

  • Andrew Lelling
    Spring 2024, Spring 2023 · Official rating 4.79/5
  • Christopher Muse
    Fall 2025, Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021 · Official rating 4.59/5
  • Edward Ginsburg
    Spring 2023, Spring 2022 · Official rating 4.83/5
  • Helene Kazanjian
    Fall 2021 · Official rating 5.00/5
  • Jeffrey Locke
    Fall 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 · Official rating 4.63/5
  • Meghan Spring
    Spring 2026, Spring 2025 · Official rating 4.94/5
  • Paul Chernoff
    Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021 · Official rating 4.58/5
  • Paul Wilson
    Spring 2026, Spring 2025, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021 · Official rating 4.50/5

Sections

No current section details are available.