Simulation Courses
Practice the skills of professional attorneys in class.
Through a simulation course, students develop lawyering skills by participating in practice-based exercises in which they perform the legal tasks required to effectively represent a client in the type of dispute or transaction being simulated or with respect to the type of legal issue being researched. The instructors evaluate student performance and provide feedback so that students may improve from one exercise to the next. It is the essence of learning-by-doing.
Students begin their simulation-based learning 1L year through the Lawyering Program. During their 2L and 3L years, students may continue their practice-based learning through a range of offerings. Our simulation offerings for 2024-25 include:
Advanced Evidence and Advocacy: LAW JD 922
3 credits
This course teaches students evidence at an advanced level through student exercises simulating courtroom presentations. This is simulation course and the emphasis is on performance and feedback in order to integrate legal evidence theory with the professional skills students need to advocate for their future clients. After evidence related exercises, students will engage in self-critique and will also receive feedback from fellow classmates and the instructor. The instructor will utilize the student exercises to teach the law of evidence at a level beyond the introductory evidence course and advocacy skills. Class discussion and exercises will provide opportunities to improve trial and advocacy skills, recognize and address ethical issues, and consider broad societal questions. Exercises may include the following: a motion in limine concerning prior bad acts evidence, a voir dire on an issue of rape shield, or a Daubert hearing concerning expert testimony on causation in a toxic tort case. PREREQUISITE: Evidence. NOTE: This course counts towards the 6-credit experiential learning requirement.
FALL 2024: LAW JD 922 A1 , Sep 3rd to Dec 5th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:30 pm | 7:30 pm | 3 | Lowy | LAW | 512 |
Advanced Legal Writing and Editing: LAW JD 874
3 credits
The purpose of this seminar is to provide students with the opportunity to improve their writing, editing and communication skills. Students will prepare a variety of practice related documents based on a single fact pattern. Some legal research will be necessary, but the emphasis will be on writing, not on research. Students will also have the opportunity to edit other students' papers, with the goal of improving their own writing skills. Actors will perform a scenario for the class, from which students will extract the pertinent facts. From this fact pattern, students will draft an inter office memo, a letter or memo to a non lawyer client, and a trial or appellate brief. Students will also engage in simulated client interviewing and counseling sessions, as well as a simulated meeting with a supervisor. Students will be graded on the basis of their written work, editing work on their classmate's papers and on their classroom performance. There will be no final exam. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 14 students. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
FALL 2024: LAW JD 874 A1 , Sep 3rd to Dec 5th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Constance A. Browne | LAW | 513 |
Alternative Dispute Resolution: LAW JD 881
3 credits
The goal of this course is to improve students' ability to resolve disputes and to productively engage in conflict. In this highly interactive class, students will examine a variety of dispute resolution processes, other than traditional court adjudication, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, dispute system design and restorative justice. Over the course of the semester, students will engage in a series of exercises (i.e., role-plays) through which they can develop and hone their skills and approaches to dispute resolution. Discussion and short lectures will accompany the exercises, as appropriate. There will be short written assignments as well as a longer paper due at the end of the semester. No final exam. NOTE: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in both Alternative Dispute Resolution and Negotiation (JD921).
SPRG 2025: LAW JD 881 A1 , Jan 13th to Apr 23rd 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:15 pm | 3:45 pm | 3 | Mark Bamford | LAW | 410 |
Client Counseling: LAW JD 862
2 credits
This seminar will provide students with the real-world skills necessary to effectively counsel their clients. We will discuss the differences in counseling clients when their legal matters are complex or simple, sensitive or uncontroversial, and high-risk or low-stakes. Finally, we will examine client counseling at several stages of the attorney-client relationship, including the initial client meeting, client and witness interviews, preparing the client to be deposed or testify, and strategically guiding the client's decision-making as the matter evolves. Students will not only study methods of effective client counseling; they will practice what they learn by conducting mock interviews and collaborating with their classmates/co-counsels to rehearse optimal client counseling techniques. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 16 students. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
SPRG 2025: LAW JD 862 A1 , Jan 13th to Apr 23rd 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Emily Leung | LAW | 418 |
Criminal Motion Practice and Advocacy: LAW JD 768
3 credits
Advocacy courses in law school tend to focus on the traditional Trial Advocacy model (opening statements, direct and cross examinations, and closing arguments) or post-trial Appellate Advocacy. The vast majority of cases, however, never reach trial. Criminal Motion Practice and Advocacy will look comprehensively at the pre-trial motions that comprise the bulk of criminal litigation. Students will have the opportunity to research, write, and argue their own pretrial motions against opposing counsel. The course will travel chronologically through the life of a criminal case, beginning at arraignment and focusing on the art of motions practice. In class exercises will include arguments for Motions to Suppress searches and seizures based on search warrants, as well as Motion to Suppress hearings with live witness testimony and examination. NOTES: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 12 students. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. PREREQUISITE: Criminal Procedure. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: A student who fails to attend the first class or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the class. Students who are on the wait list for a section are required to attend the first meeting to be considered for enrollment.
FALL 2024: LAW JD 768 A1 , Sep 3rd to Dec 5th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 9:00 pm | 3 | Michael VitaliHaefner | LAW | 512 |
Effective and Ethical Deposition: LAW JD 958
3 credits
The purpose of this seminar is to teach students how to take and defend effective and ethical depositions. The course involves both a simulated deposition component and a professional responsibility component. Simulated Deposition Course Component: Students will be divided into firms representing either the Plaintiff or the Defendants in a gender discrimination and defamation case brought by an attorney who has been denied partnership. The students will prepare and perform depositions of lay and expert witnesses and gather experience with obtaining and developing facts, preserving testimony, and the uses of depositions. Professional Responsibility Course Component: The simulated context offers the opportunity to explore several professional responsibility issues that arise naturally in deposition practice. These issues emerge largely because of the dual professional roles of an attorney: zealous representative and officer of the court. Some of the more timely issues involve proper witness preparation, improper witness coaching, inadvertent waiver of privilege, and abusive tactics. Writing and Performance Requirements: Each week students will write a short one or two page comment on the professional responsibility issues raised in class. At the end of the course, students will perform a videotaped deposition rather than take a final written exam. NOTE: This class may be used to satisfy the Professional Responsibility requirement, credits toward Experiential Learning requirement, or the upper-class writing requirement. This class may not be used to satisfy more than one requirement. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 12 students per section. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
SPRG 2025: LAW JD 958 A1 , Jan 13th to Apr 23rd 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Constance A. Browne | LAW | 513 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Constance A. Browne | LAW | 513 |
Mediation: Theory and Practice: LAW JD 826
3 credits
This class will cover the theory and practice of mediation as a mode of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) used in various legal contexts. We will start by mastering the basic concepts and techniques of facilitated negotiations, and work our way, using simulations and role plays, through successively more difficult mediation scenarios. These scenarios will be set in various legal contexts such as commercial, family, criminal, and international disputes. We will work together to develop your individual mediation skills and to learn effective mediation advocacy and settlement valuation. Through lectures, exercises, simulations and classroom discussions we will focus on the theoretical underpinnings that guide the mediation process and the skills related to communication, problem-solving and professional judgment. We will explore the ethical and professional issues related to mediation as well as the legal and cultural constructs that shape mediation practice. Because this course is experiential, students are required to attend all sessions and to participate actively. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
FALL 2024: LAW JD 826 A1 , Sep 3rd to Dec 5th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Erin McCoy Alarcon | LAW | 420 |
Negotiation: LAW JD 921
3 credits
The goal of this course is to improve your effectiveness as a negotiator. In this highly interactive class, students will examine negotiation from a variety of perspectives and learn specific negotiation strategies and tactics. Over the course of the semester, students will engage in a series of negotiation exercises (i.e., role plays) through which they can develop and hone their negotiation skills and approaches. Discussion and short lectures will accompany the role-plays, as appropriate. There will be short written assignments as well as a longer paper due at the end of the semester. No final exam. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 16 students. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in both Negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (JD881).
FALL 2024: LAW JD 921 A1 , Sep 3rd to Dec 5th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:15 pm | 3:45 pm | 3 | Mark Bamford | LAW | 410 |
Patent Trial Advocacy: LAW JD 933
3 credits
This course introduces the student to the structure of the patent trial process and the skills used by patent trial lawyers. This is a simulation course. Students will act as trial counsel in a federal civil action. The case will model a hypothetical patent case, from filing of the complaint to trial. The students will simulate motion practice, claim construction, depositions, as well as trial. The course will include some substantive instruction on patent law, but the focus of the course will be on experiential learning. Students will receive instruction on general litigation techniques relevant to presenting complex science and technologies to a judge or fact-finder. For example, students will learn how to utilize technology to facilitate their presentations during oral argument and in examining witnesses (e.g., through use of demonstratives). Students do not need to have a background in science or technology. Similarly, students do not need to have taken prior coursework in patent law. Enrollment will be limited to 12 students, who will be divided into plaintiff and defendant teams. Grades will be individualized and based on the following: participation in class discussion, simulations, and workshops; motion to dismiss argument; claim construction argument; deposition; and trial. PREREQUISITE Evidence (may be a corequisite for 3Ls). RECOMMENDED COURSES: Patent Law, Patent Litigation NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
SPRG 2025: LAW JD 933 A1 , Jan 13th to Apr 23rd 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:30 pm | 7:30 pm | 3 | Prussia |
Role of In-House Counsel: LAW JD 978
2 credits
Practicing law in-house is often done at the tension point of enterprise growth and risk mitigation. This course explores the unique aspects of working as a lawyer within an organization's internal legal department. In order to provide a realistic appreciation and understanding of the role of in-house counsel, the course will utilize scenario-based group tutorials and simulations in which students will act as in-house counsel for a fictitious company in a specific industry. Areas covered may include contractual and employment matters, regulatory, compliance, internal investigations, enterprise risk questions and advising the Board of Directors and senior management. While the course will involve the substantive law of various areas relevant to the fictitious company's business and operations, the focus of the course will be on practicing and building lawyering skills that are critical for effective and ethical in-house practice. These include identifying and analyzing legally viable alternatives, and making recommendations, for the company to pursue to carry-out its business strategy and mitigate risks, as well as written and oral communications and presentations reflecting the same. As an overarching theme, the course will consider how to balance the important role of lawyer and trusted business advisor with the backdrop of the ever-present ethical and reputational considerations of the enterprise. This course is designed to provide students with practical skills (as well as opportunities to use and apply them) as they learn to identify and navigate the day-to-day challenges of the modern corporate counsel. Grades in the course will be based on scenario-based responses (presentation and/or written), a collaborative final group presentation, and in-class participation. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. NOTE: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: A student who fails to attend the first class or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar will be administratively dropped from the course. Students who are on the wait list are required to attend the first class to be considered for enrollment. Because the course involves regular in-class exercises, some of which are done in teams, and class participation is a significant component of a student's final grade, regular class attendance is essential and thus the course normally does not accommodate flexibility in attendance.
SPRG 2025: LAW JD 978 A1 , Jan 13th to Apr 23rd 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Daniel Layo | LAW | 420 |
Trial Advocacy: LAW JD 894
3 credits
This course introduces the student to the structure of the trial process and the skills used by trial lawyers. The topics covered range from opening statements to closing arguments, including conducting direct and cross-examination of witnesses, making and meeting objections, introducing documents and discovery into evidence, and using hypothetical questions with expert witnesses. Students must perform simulated exercises and will try one or more civil or criminal cases before a jury. Visit the web for more information on the instructors. PREREQUISITE: EVIDENCE. Students taking TRIAL ADVOCACY in the second semester of their third year may take EVIDENCE as a COREQUISITE. Students who have taken a trial advocacy course as part of a clinic may not subsequently enroll in Trial Advocacy. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 12 students. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. NOTE: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: A student who fails to attend the first class or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the class. Students who are on the wait list are required to attend the first meeting to be considered for enrollment.
FALL 2024: LAW JD 894 A1 , Sep 3rd to Dec 5th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 6:00 pm | 8:50 pm | 3 | KelleyHaefner | LAW | 512 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 6:00 pm | 8:50 pm | 3 | LAW | 512 |
In addition, our Transactional Law Program offers Contract Drafting (LAW JD 788), a foundational simulation course that teaches students to draft, analyze and negotiate contracts in various transactional contexts, and the following more advanced transaction-based simulation courses:
Trans. SIM: Pharma/Biotech: LAW JD 812
3 credits
Practice Areas: Healthcare law, Intellectual Property and Strategy Transactions This course is one of the semester-long transaction simulations offered as part of the Transactional Law Program. Collaborative activity is essential to the biopharmaceutical industry due to the high costs and risks associated with drug development. In this course, students will learn how to read, draft, and negotiate collaboration agreements for new drug research, development and commercialization partnerships between biopharmaceutical companies. The course will begin with a brief introductory overview of (i) the biotechnology industry, with a focus on the importance of partnering for successful drug development and commercialization; and (ii) different forms of partnering agreements to develop a general understanding of the structure of such contracts. For the duration of the course, students will be assigned to teams to review, revise and negotiate the terms of a collaboration agreement for their clients, either a large pharmaceutical company or a smaller biotechnology company. Students will learn to think critically about whether certain provisions favor one party or the other, and ways to modify such elements through drafting changes. At the conclusion of the course, each team will be asked to present the key terms of the proposed collaboration agreement to their client's board of directors. Through regular out-of-class assignments, including substantial drafting assignments involving marking up term sheets, preparing issues lists, revising key sections of the collaboration agreement that will be negotiated and finalized by the student teams, and delivering board presentations, the course builds contract analysis, drafting, negotiation and strategic thinking skills students will need as they enter transactional law practice. The course also addresses various ethical issues that may arise in connection with these types of transactions and in transactional practice generally. The course grade will be based on individual participation, drafting assignments, and contributions to team efforts. Please note that no scientific background is necessary for this course as we will not be focusing on the scientific rationale for collaborations. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. PREREQUISITE: Contract Drafting is recommended, but not required. NOTES: This course counts toward the 6-credit Experiential Learning requirement and also satisfies the Transaction Simulation requirement of the Transactional Practice Concentration. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: A student who fails to attend the first class or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar will be administratively dropped from the course. Students who are on the wait list are required to attend the first class to be considered for enrollment. Because the course involves regular in-class exercises, some of which are done in teams, and class participation is a significant component of a student's final grade, regular class attendance is essential and thus the course cannot accommodate flexibility in attendance.
SPRG 2025: LAW JD 812 A1 , Jan 13th to Apr 23rd 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Laurie Burlingame | LAW | 416 |
Transaction Sim: Form and Financing a Start-Up: LAW JD 789
3 credits
Practice Areas: General Corporate and Corporate Finance This course is one of the semester-long transaction simulations offered as part of the Transactional Law Program. The simulated transaction is the formation and subsequent first-round venture financing of a new software business started by two entrepreneurs who are recent graduates of the California Institute of Technology. During this course, students will be exposed to, and will handle, the principal issues that arise in counseling entrepreneurs as to their emerging businesses, including key elements such as founders' arrangements, entity selection, governance, equity compensation, intellectual property protection, capital raising through SAFEs (which are simple agreements for future equity), convertible notes and preferred stock financing, capitalization/valuation/dilution and investment documentation based on industry-standard contracts. Through exercises both in and outside of class, as well as class discussions, students will simulate the work of practicing attorneys who counsel start-ups and their founders on a day-to-day basis. As part of these simulations, students will review sample agreements, draft and revise agreements and conduct negotiations. In addition, from time to time during the course, the instructors will address ethical issues and other practice points that can arise in connection with the simulated transaction or in transactional practice generally when working with emerging/start-up companies. The course grade will be based on attendance and class participation and three graded writing assignments. CLASS SIZE: 12 students. PREREQUISITE OR CO-REQUISITE: Corporations. Contract Drafting is recommended but not required. NOTES: This course counts toward the 6-credit Experiential Learning requirement and also satisfies the Transaction Simulation requirement of the Transactional Practice Concentration. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: A student who fails to attend the first class or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar will be administratively dropped from the course. Students who are on the wait list are required to attend the first class to be considered for enrollment. Because the course involves regular in-class exercises, some of which are done in teams, and class participation is a significant component of a student's final grade, regular class attendance is essential and thus the course cannot accommodate flexibility in attendance.
SPRG 2025: LAW JD 789 A1 , Jan 13th to Apr 23rd 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 3 | Dinesh MelwaniPerkins | LAW | 513 |
Transaction Sim: International Business Collaboration: LAW JD 783
3 credits
Practice Areas: Cross-Border Transactions and International Negotiations This course is one of the semester-long transaction simulations offered as part of the Transactional Law Program. The simulated transaction involves two companies, one a large U.S.-based pharmaceutical company ("KJH"), and the other an African agricultural production company that is majority owned by the government of the fictional African country of Malundi ("MCC"). The two companies are interested in working together to exploit a new technology developed by KJH that uses cassava, a plant, grown and harvested by MCC, for a new arthritis drug. MCC has a surplus supply of cassava and has been searching for alternative markets and uses for the surplus supply. KJH has a worldwide distribution channel, has developed and patented a manufacturing process, and possesses valuable know-how, used to extract the active ingredient for the new drug from cassava. Their collaboration could take the form of a joint venture, licensing agreement, long-term supply contract, or a combination of these structures. The course will begin with an introduction to important concepts about international business legal structures, negotiations, and the facts of the simulated case. The class will engage in a number of "hands-on" skill building exercises, individually and in small groups. After the third- or fourth-class meeting, students will be assigned to one of two teams of attorneys, one team representing MCC, and the other representing KJH. The teams will structure, negotiate and document in a detailed "letter of intent" the terms of the parties' collaboration.. The course will explore the impact of cross-cultural customs and norms, as well as challenges presented by individual personalities and negotiating styles and client demands. Certain ethical issues will be addressed that may arise in transactions of this kind and in transactional practice generally. A key goal of the course is to expose students to "real-world" practice and enhance students' ability to structure, negotiate and document a transaction. The course grade will be based on individual class participation, individual and team drafting assignments and team negotiations. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. This course is open to LLM students provided there are available seats and with the permission of the Instructor and the Assistant Dean of Graduate and International Programs. PREREQUISITES: Corporations and Contract Drafting (or Transactional Contracts in the case of LLM students) are recommended, but not required. NOTES: This course counts toward the 6-credit Experiential Learning requirement and also satisfies the Transaction Simulation requirement of the Transactional Practice Concentration. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: A student who fails to attend the first class or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar will be administratively dropped from the course. Students who are on the wait list are required to attend the first class to be considered for enrollment. Because the course involves regular in-class exercises, some of which are done in teams, and class participation is a significant component of a student's final grade, regular class attendance is essential and thus the course cannot accommodate flexibility in attendance.
FALL 2024: LAW JD 783 A1 , Sep 3rd to Dec 5th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Joseph BasileHaefner | LAW | 513 |