Course Catalog

2 Unit(s)

This course will introduce students to the skills associated with working in judicial chambers and with Supreme Court advocacy. Students will learn the laws behind a select number of today's headline-grabbing Supreme Court cases and will explore the processes by which decision-making occurs at the Court. Using actual certiorari petitions, real appellate briefs and the recordings of oral argument from the current term of the United States Supreme Court, students will practice the skills used by clerks, judges and advocates. Assignments will include writing a bench memo or one section of a judicial opinion, preparing an oral argument memorandum, conducting appellate argument as both an advocate and a justice, and attending an oral argument. This course is open only to first-year JD students.