Stephen S. Weinstein Trial Advocacy Program Holds Final Trials at Montgomery County Judicial Center

Over 100 law students will participate, with 80 undergraduates acting as jurors in cases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC, November 18, 2010 – American University Washington College of Law is proud to announce the Stephen S. Weinstein Trial Advocacy Program’s Final Trials, being held Saturday, Nov. 20 from 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the Montgomery County Judicial Center in Rockville, Md.

During the final program, seven trials will be held simultaneously before seven judges in different courtrooms. Approximately 100 law students will participate, with about 80 American University undergraduate students serving as jurors. The student jurors will be instructed by the judges as to the applicable law at the conclusion of the trials, will deliberate, and reach a verdict. They will state the verdict in open court and then provide feedback to the law students.

 “The final trials are an amazing opportunity for law and undergraduate students to experience, first-hand, the trial of a complex criminal case,” said Elizabeth Boals, associate director of the Stephen S. Weinstein Trial Advocacy Program.  “The law students are treated as real attorneys throughout the trials and are tasked with every aspect of the trial from the examination of witnesses to persuasive storytelling in closing arguments.  As jurors, the undergraduate students are the focus of the student attorneys’ efforts:  They have the best seats in the courtroom.”

The hypothetical case to be tried during the final trials is a criminal case, State v. Sanchez, which involves a gang-related murder.  The judges presiding over the trials are Judge DeLawrence Beard (retired Chief Judge Montgomery County, MD Circuit Court), Judge William Cave (retired Chief Judge Montgomery County, MD Circuit Court), Judge Eugene Hamilton (retired Chief Judge DC Superior Court), Judge Michael Mason (Montgomery County, MD Circuit Court), Judge Irma Raker (retired Court of Appeals of Maryland), Judge Nelson W. Rupp, Jr. (Montgomery County, MD Circuit Court), and Judge Patrick Woodward (Montgomery County, MD Court of Special Appeals). 

American University Washington College of Law’s Stephen S. Weinstein Trial Advocacy Program provides experiential learning opportunities for students to gain proficiency in trial litigation skills. The program simulates true legal advocacy through mock trials. In trial advocacy courses, trial and appellate level judges sit on the bench in the law school’s high-tech courtroom and offer students unique insight and experience into the practice of law. The judges work in tandem with successful and prestigious litigators, who closely work with students to hone their litigation skills. The Trial Advocacy Program also employs a professional actor, Paul Morella, to provide the students with practical instruction on presentation techniques.

 For more information on the Stephen S. Weinstein Trial Advocacy Program, please go to http://www.wcl.american.edu/trial/. 

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American University Washington College of Law

In 1896, American University Washington College of Law became the first law school in the country founded by women. More than 100 years since its founding, this law school community is grounded in the values of equality, diversity, and intellectual rigor. The law school’s nationally and internationally recognized programs (in clinical legal education, trial advocacy, international law, and intellectual property to name a few) and dedicated faculty provide its 1700 JD, LL.M., and SJD students with the critical skills and values to have an immediate impact as students and as graduates, in Washington, DC and around the world. For more information, visit wcl.american.edu.