New lawyers who want to develop or improve their courtroom skills can gain intensive trial experience this summer through Willamette University College of Law’s Advanced Trial Practice course. The CLE-eligible course, taught by long-time litigator and adjunct professor William F. Martson, Jr., will be offered Monday, July 13, 2015 through Friday, August 7, 2015.
Enrollment is open to licensed lawyers who want to develop or improve their skills in the courtroom and to select law students.
“The primary way trial lawyers learn and master their craft is by trying cases; the more cases they can try, the better,” explains Martson. “However the current reality is that, at the beginning of one’s career, it is difficult to get the intensive, high-pressure experience that has spawned good trial lawyers in the past.”
Advanced Trial Practice has been designed to offer such experience. Working in rotating teams of two, students will try a different case every week for four weeks. The course emphasizes experiential learning with feedback as a methodology for teaching trial skills.
The methodology is similar to that used in skills seminars offered by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.
Alumni and other attorneys taking the course for CLE credit may opt to participate in weeks 2 and 4 of the program. If they select this option, the tuition is $2,247. Upon completion of two weeks of the course, each practicing lawyer will receive 20 CLE credits from the Oregon State Bar. Cost for the four-week course is $4,494. Upon completion of the entire four-week course, each practicing lawyer will receive 40 CLE credits from the Oregon State Bar.
To register, contact Ann Abbott at 503-375-5331. For more information, contact Professor Rick Martson at rmartson@willamette.edu or law-osa.edu.