Golden Gate University

The Litigation Center is premised on the notion that trial and presentation skills are honed through repetition and experience. This course is designed to give students an opportunity for additional presentation experience beyond Trial Advocacy. This course provides an experience similar to participating on a mock trial competition team and addresses additional topics in advocacy. In Advanced Trial Advocacy, every student will participate as counsel in several full trials, as advocates, witnesses, and jurors. Outstanding students in this class may also be selected to represent the law school in mock trial competitions. This course (or competing in mock trial) is required for the JD Litigation Certificate. Prerequisite: Evidence and either Trial Advocacy or Trial Evidence & Advocacy

Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2013 , Spring 2013

This course explores the US approach to criminal justice compared with that of other countries through readings and lively discussions. Specifically, this course considers the differences between adversarial and non-adversarial trial systems, the roles of the different figures in the criminal justice system; that of the defendant, prosecutor, judge, jury, victim and defense attorney. This course also examines issues such as rules surrounding police investigations, the practice of plea bargaining and other trial-avoidance procedures, as well as some substantive criminal law issues such as the crime of rape, sexual harassment, and punishment considerations, including the death penalty. This course will count toward satisfying the JD upper division writing requirement.

Units: 2

The ABA Law Student Division National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) emphasizes the development of oral advocacy skills through a realistic appellate advocacy experience. Competitors participate in a hypothetical appeal to the United States Supreme Court. The competition involves writing a brief as either respondent or petitioner and then arguing the case in front of the mock court. Enrollment in this course is limited to members of the Moot Court Board. Students may not enroll without explicit permission. This course counts toward completion of the Upper Division Writing Requirement.

Units: 2 , Offered: Spring 2013

This course is open only to students who have been selected by the instructor to represent the law school in an inter-school mock trial competition. The number of mock trial competitions, and corresponding student competitors, varies from year to year. Selection to compete in mock trial competitions will be based upon an application and tryout open to all upper division students who have completed Evidence and have completed or are currently enrolled in Trial Advocacy. Consent of the instructor is required for registration in this course. Prerequisite: Evidence. Co-requisite: Trial Advocacy.

Units: 2 , Offered: Fall 2013 , Spring 2013

Students participate in the annual National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition in New York City at Pace University School of Law. Students who participate in the mandatory qualifying round in the fall (in which the students who represent the law school are selected) receive 1 unit of credit; students chosen for the actual competition receive 2 units. This course counts toward completion of the Upper Division Writing Requirement.

Prerequisite: Appellate Advocacy and one introductory environmental law course; or permission of the instructor., Units: 1 - 2 , Offered: Fall 2013 , Spring 2013

The American Society of International Law sponsors this moot court competition, which enables students to argue timely questions of international law in regional and final competitions against teams from 150 law schools in 20 different countries. This course counts toward completion of the Upper Division Writing Requirement.

Units: 1 - 2 , Offered: Fall 2013 , Spring 2013

The Roger J. Traynor California Moot Court Competition is a prestigious interscholastic moot court competition open to California law schools. The competition is designed to provide students with a learning experience that reflects contemporary appellate practice in California, and uses an edited record from an actual California Court of Appeal case. A team of two or three students will prepare and submit an appellate brief representing one side, and present oral arguments representing both sides. This course counts toward completion of the Upper Division Writing Requirement.

Units: 2 , Offered: Spring 2013

This national competition hosted by the Williams Institute is dedicated to the areas of sexual orientation and gender identity law. The competition provides an opportunity for competitors to write an appellate brief on a current legal topic and to argue the case before a panel of judges. The competition is designed to promote and recognize the finest oral and written advocacy on a significant problem in sexual orientation and gender identity law. This course counts toward completion of the Upper Division Writing Requirement.

Units: 2 , Offered: Spring 2013

This course focuses on the study of substantive criminal law. It examines the rules of conduct for major crimes against persons and property and the defenses to such crimes. The course also considers the development of and philosophical rationales for criminal law.

Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2013

This course affords students the opportunity to apply the skills learned in Trial Advocacy in the context of a criminal case. The class is divided into two-person teams. Each team is assigned either the role of prosecution or defense counsel. The class usually begins with the staging of a mock crime. The crime is reported, a suspect is arrested, charges are filed, and the prosecution commences. The class proceeds, week by week, through major phases of a criminal case. The course concludes with the trial of the case, which is conducted in a local courthouse.

Prerequisite: Evidence, and either Trial Advocacy or Trial Evidence & Advocacy., Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2013 , Spring 2013

This survey of the basic constitutional issues underlying the criminal justice system focuses on the role of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments in regulating police practices such as search and seizure, confessions, lineups, and right to counsel.

Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2013 , Summer 2013 , Spring 2013

Topics include bail and other forms of pretrial release, prosecutorial discretion, the preliminary hearing, grand jury, joinder and severance, speedy trial, discovery, guilty pleas and plea bargaining, double jeopardy, pretrial publicity, change of venue, sentencing, appellate review and harmless error, and habeas corpus. Prerequisite: Criminal Procedure I.

Units: 3 , Offered: Spring 2013

This seminar studies the historical, cultural, and psychological aspects of domestic violence in addition to the civil and criminal changes in the law both nationally and internationally. Students are assigned a reader composed of relevant articles, cases, and legislation.

Units: 2 , Offered: Spring 2013

This course is a survey of the principles of law and rules governing the admissibility of proof at criminal or civil trials, including direct and cross-examination of witnesses, impeachment of credibility, expert testimony, hearsay, privileged communication, and documentary proof. Prerequisite: Civil Procedure I,

Corequisite: Civil Procedure II, Units: 4 , Offered: Fall 2013 , Summer 2013 , Spring 2013

Capital Post Conviction Defense Clinic introduces students to the representation of indigent defendants challenging their convictions and death sentences on direct appeal and through habeas corpus proceedings in the California Supreme Court. In addition to discussing legal and topical issues concerning death penalty representation at the weekly seminar sessions, students will work under the supervision of experienced capital defense attorneys to represent indigent defendants in their research and drafting of pleadings, the investigation of claims, and the collection and preservation of evidence. GGU law students in the past have drafted appellate arguments and habeas corpus claims, reviewed capital trial testimony, witness statements, and police reports, evaluated crime scene evidence, researched and drafted office memoranda and resource materials on various topics, collected defendant life history documents, and prepared litigation outlines and chronologies. In addition, CAP student externs are encouraged to attend oral arguments, to participate in litigation meetings, and to visit a client on death row. CAP is located at 101 Second Street, Suite 600. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.

Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2013

Students intern with prosecuting attorneys or public defenders on criminal cases in trial or appellate courts in the state or federal system. Students also attend a concurrent seminar covering relevant criminal justice issues. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement.

Prerequisite: Evidence. Strongly Recommended: Criminal Procedure, Trial Advocacy. Also Recommended: Criminal Litigation. Consent of instructor required. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis., Units: 2 - 4 , Offered: Fall 2013 , Spring 2013

Students intern with prosecuting attorneys or public defenders on criminal cases in trial or appellate courts in the state or federal system. Students also attend a concurrent seminar covering relevant criminal justice issues. Students are recommended to take Evidence concurrently. Consent of instructor required. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis. This course is offered only in the summer term.

Units: 2 - 4 , Offered: Summer 2013

This is the entry course for the litigation program, and it teaches the basic skills needed by every lawyer going to court: conducting a direct examination of a witness, introducing documents and physical evidence, cross-examining witnesses, making and answering objections, and preparing opening statements and closing arguments. Much of the students' work is videotaped. The final examination for this course is a full trial conducted in a local courthouse. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. Prerequisite/Corequisite (depending on the instructor): Evidence.

Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2013 , Summer 2013 , Spring 2013

The term "white collar crime" describes a classification of non-violent, complex criminal offences. Corruption, bribery, schemes to defraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice offenses are some of the most common white collar offenses litigated in federal courts. Students will explore the stages of the federal criminal process implicated in a white collar case. We will discuss the issues unique to the investigation, prosecution, and defense of white collar crimes. Students also will discuss the related issues of parallel proceedings, working with cooperating witnesses, corporate liability, litigation and trial tactics, plea negotiations, and sentencing. Prerequisite: Criminal Law. Students who have taken LAW 706H Lawyering: White Collar Crime in Practice may not enroll in this course.

Units: 2

Since 1989, more than 200 wrongfully convicted people have been exonerated by DNA testing. (One of that number, Peter J. Rose, exonerated in 2004-2005, was represented by Professors and students from GGU.) This 2-unit seminar course gives students the opportunity to do law reform work. Students investigate the factors that contribute to wrongful convictions by studying flaws in our criminal justice system and, working in conjunction with the national Innocence Project, propose remedies.

Units: 2 , Offered: Fall 2013