Advocacy Certificate Requirements & Curriculum

A student must satisfy established requirements, such as course prerequisites or competitive selection, for any of the required courses. In addition:

1. a student must achieve an overall (combined) minimum GPA of 2.7 (or B-) in all courses submitted for qualification for the Certificate;
2. in any course/activity taken for the "Practice" requirement, a student's mentor must submit a written report certifying that the student performed at a satisfactory level; and
3. if service on a competition team is submitted as a substitute for the requirement of Advanced Trial Advocacy, a student's coach must submit a written report certifying that the student performed at a satisfactory level.

Students seeking Certificate credit for a field placement, a competition team, or a law review or journal, must confer with the Program Director well enough in advance of registration to ensure that the particular placement or project to be undertaken by the student will be in keeping with the purposes of the Advocacy Certificate Program.

If a course requires a commitment beyond one semester, the second semester of the course may, with the approval of the Program Director, be counted as an additional course for the purposes of satisfying the requirements of this program.

If any of the courses listed may be taken for either two (2) or three (3) units, students are generally expected to enroll for three (3) units. Enrollment in a course for fewer than two units generally will not satisfy the requirements of this program.

When there is good cause, the Program Director may vary the requirements of this program in individual cases; prior written approval of such variance is required.

Curriculum

Basic Courses

Course	Units
Civil Procedure	5
Evidence	4
Global Lawyering Skills II1	4
Trial Preparation and Advocacy	3

Additional Basic Course — choose one of the following three

Advanced Trial Advocacy	3
Advanced Appellate Advocacy Seminar	2+2
Competition Team2	2 or 3

Additional Basic Course — choose one of the following three

Civil Pretrial Litigation	2
Criminal Pretrial Litigation	2
Federal Defender Clinic Seminar (taken contemporaneously with Federal Defender Clinic)	2 or 3

Trial Alternatives — at least one of the following courses

Course	Units
Alternative Dispute Resolution	3
Negotiations and Settlement Seminar	2 or 3
Mediation	3

Law and Theory Underlying Litigation — at least one of the following courses

Course	Units
Advanced Criminal Procedure	2 or 3
Complex Civil Litigation	2 or 3
Expert and Scientific Evidence	2
Federal Courts	3
Law Review or Journal (prior written approval from Director required)
Sentencing and Post-Conviction Remedies	2
Tax Practice and Procedure	2

Practice (2 units minimum) — at least one of the following courses

Course	Units
Administrative Adjudication Clinic	2
Bankruptcy Clinic	3
Criminal Appellate Advocacy Clinic	3
Elder and Health Law Clinic	2
Federal Defender Clinic	3
Housing Mediation Clinic	3
Immigration Clinic	2
Prisoner Civil Rights Mediation Clinic	3
Field Placement — (prior written approval from Director required; substantial litigation activity is required, including in most cases client contact or, for placements in the offices of the US Attorney, a District Attorney, or the California Attorney General, interviewing or preparing witnesses)

One Additional Course

One additional course from any of the three categories above (Basic Courses category excluded); alternatively, Computer-Assisted Litigation or Client Interviewing & Counseling may be taken to satisfy this requirement.

¹ Law review or journal service does not operate as a substitute for the requirement for Global Lawyering Skills II as it pertains to the Certificate.
² Prior written approval from Director required.

Questions?

Contact Professor Thomas J. Leach, Director of the Advocacy Certificate Program
Email | 916.739.7002