Skills Classes
When you role-play a lawyering task, you get results that cannot be obtained from books alone. Trying to apply knowledge tells you where weak spots are. As you refine your knowledge, you gain the confidence needed to be your best in any situation, even if it requires very fast thinking.
Pacific McGeorge students can gain this advantage in courses that cover every aspect of lawyering from initial client contact through appeal. A common format applies: learning from reading and discussion is advanced through every student role-playing lawyer tasks and receiving immediate feedback from observing classmates and the professor.
Client Interviewing and Counseling
Negotiations and Settlement Seminar
Judicial Arbitration
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Civil Pretrial Litigation
Criminal Pretrial Litigation
Trial Preparation and Advocacy
Advanced Trial Advocacy
Appellate and International Advocacy
Many other courses cover how to use what you learn about a topic. In Legal Process, students conduct computer, Internet and hard copy research and write office memos and trial court briefs. In Patent Law, students learn how to write and submit a patent application. In the California Legislature: Law Revision Seminar, students draft statutory amendments. In Business Planning, students draft agreements for partnerships or limited liability corporations. In Trademark Law, students write trademark applications and learn how to respond to office actions. The hallmark of the Pacific McGeorge experience is applied learning.
Client Interviewing and Counseling
Any practicing lawyer will tell you that this is the most important task lawyers perform. You cannot satisfy a client unless you have a good understanding of client goals. Probing questions are sometimes needed to learn these. A lawsuit may not be the answer, particularly if the client places a high premium upon good relations with a disputant after this round is over. If litigation is the right plan, winning the case may depend upon which questions you ask in early interviews. Clients don't necessarily know what to volunteer. You need practice to convert your knowledge of legal rules into roadmaps that help you explore for relevant facts. The Pacific McGeorge course in Client Interviewing and Counseling gives you that needed practice. Top
Negotiations and Settlement Seminar
All lawyers negotiate more than they litigate. Transactional lawyers negotiate when they put deals together. Litigators negotiate over possible settlements. Skill here moves you to the top of the profession, no matter what your chosen specialty. Clients rightly prefer to reach desired outcomes as painlessly as possible, and often negotiation is the right tool for that task. Some think negotiation is intuitive and cannot be improved upon greatly in a class. Consider this feedback from a successful Pacific McGeorge graduate:
"My most profound lesson in law school came from role-playing a negotiation in the Negotiations and Settlement Seminar. I chose a very ineffective strategy. I was surprised when, instead of striking a great deal, I struck no deal. When I began law practice, this trial and error was behind me, thankfully, for me and my clients."
Craig Barbarosh
Class of 1992 Top
Judicial Arbitration
Arbitration, submitting a dispute to a person or panel with relevant expertise for decision, has grown in popularity in recent years as an alternative to court, because it can be faster and can be customized to meet the parties' needs. Some court rules require parties to try arbitration in given cases, with a penalty imposed if the loser there insists on trial and does no better. Excelling in this process, known as "judicial arbitration," requires special strategy and tactics. Pacific McGeorge students practice all aspects of the process from case preparation to hearing and briefing. Top
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Arbitration is one of many means to resolve problems outside court. In Alternative Dispute Resolution, students learn the distinctions between negotiation, mediation (assisted negotiation), arbitration, med-arb (mediation followed by arbitration), summary jury trial, and other choices. They role-play the part of advocate in alternative processes to explore how advocacy strategy should differ in each setting. Most importantly, they begin to assess what sorts of problems are best suited for each alternative method, so that client disputes can be solved by the most efficient and satisfactory means. Top
Civil Pretrial Litigation
Litigators do not spend most of their time in court. The tasks that consume most of their time are: working with clients to investigate facts in the client's possession, using rules to get facts from the opponent (known as "discovery practice"), responding to discovery requests, resolving disputes over discovery (which sometimes requires going before a magistrate, master, or judge), writing motions and arguments to the court to get issues resolved that could expand or limit any trial, and working toward settlement. Even though most lawyers do some litigation and all litigators spend most time on these tasks, many law school graduates never get a chance to practice the needed skills. Not so at Pacific McGeorge. In Civil Pretrial Litigation, the weekly lecture/demonstration time concentrates on one aspect of pretrial process. Then, the students meet in small workshop groups, and each student role-plays the skill for that week, with immediate feedback. Writing assignments cover key aspects of pretrial process. Ample sections are offered for all interested students. Top
Criminal Pretrial Litigation
As in the case of civil litigators, the best prosecutors and defenders know the ins and outs of pretrial process, where the battle is often won or lost. The factors influencing charging decisions (for prosecutors) and client intake (for defenders) are covered in this course, including ethical considerations. Then, after examining the strategic considerations influencing witness interviewing and other discovery, the class focusses on pretrial motions resolving issues such as exclusion of evidence, which can be determinative in criminal cases. Plea negotiations and sentencing issues are also covered. Criminal Pretrial Litigation is invaluable for anyone aspiring to work in the criminal justice system. Top
Trial Preparation and Advocacy
Pacific McGeorge students taking Trial Preparation and Advocacy end up with more hands-on trial experience than many attorneys receive in their first few year of practice. During each of the first ten weeks, students get rigorous practice in some phase of trial with direct feedback. Often, students are able to immediately put that advice into action with a repeat role-play of key elements in the presentation. At the conclusion of this preparatory period, students (in teams of two) handle all aspects of a full-day trial before a currently serving or recently retired judge and sample jurors from the community. The case files used are highly realistic. Students pick their themes and prepare their own witnesses. The jurors are watched via video during deliberations, an unmatchable form of instant feedback. Both the judge and a professor help the students to analyze the experience and their performances. Top
Advanced Trial Advocacy
Successful trial lawyers have a winning theme that is woven into every aspect of the presentation, from opening argument through each witness examination and into the closing statement. In Advanced Trial Advocacy, students work on theme selection and practice crafting each case phase accordingly. Particular emphasis is placed on advanced communication skills. As in the case of the basic course, the culminating experience is a full trial enacted with complete realism. Top
Appellate or International Advocacy
The Pacific McGeorge program in Appellate and International Advocacy wonderfully conveys what it is like to handle actual litigation. Students receive a file positing a case in trial court. They present written and oral argument on a trial court motion. The result takes the case to appeal, allowing students to experience how the viability of appellate issues has been influenced earlier in the case's life. In small workshops, written and oral persuasive skills are advanced through practice, and each student completes an appellate brief and argument. The course affords a full year in which students improve their abilities through practice. Top