Litigation and Practice Skills Training Courses

Alternative Dispute Resolution (LAW 575)

This course provides an introduction to negotiation, mediation, and arbitration as alternatives to traditional litigation, and studies the ADR movement in general. The course will combine lectures and class discussions based upon assigned readings with a series of increasingly complex simulated exercises, with the goal of exposing students to the theory and practice of various ADR techniques. You may not take this course if you have taken either negotiations or mediation.

Appellate Advocacy (LAW 406)

This is a required course for new members of the Chicago-Kent Moot Court Honor Society. The goal of the course is to provide students with advanced training in appellate litigation, and as such will concentrate on developing professional skills in brief writing and research, and oral advocacy. In addition, the course will include an introduction to various aspects of appellate procedure. Students will prepare a brief and will be required to participate in an intramural oral advocacy competition. The Moot Court Honor Society will choose members for Chicago-Kent's spring interscholastic competition teams based in large part on students' performance in this course.

Business Entity Formation (LAW 505)

Business Entity Formation and Business Entity Transactions are two three-credit business courses that are offered as part of the Law Offices clinical education program. Both courses are taught with extensive use of simulation exercises. Business Entity Formation provides an opportunity for students to form various types of business entities including partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations. In Business Entity Transactions, students implement various business transactions such as employment and consulting agreements, shareholder agreements and agreements in connection with the purchase and sale of a business. In both courses, the students apply the legal doctrine learned in Business Organizations and other courses to a series of progressively more sophisticated simulation exercises and prepare the documents necessary, in Business Entity Formation, to create and organize the entities; and in the case of Business Entity transactions, to implement the various business transactions required by the exercises. In both courses the students utilize information gathering, planning, counseling and negotiating skills in the development of the documents.

Business Entity Transactions (LAW 345)

Business Entity Formation and Business Entity Transactions are two three-credit business courses that are offered as part of the Law Offices clinical education program. Both courses are taught with extensive use of simulation exercises. Business Entity Formation provides an opportunity for students to form various types of business entities including partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations. In Business Entity Transactions, students implement various business transactions such as employment and consulting agreements, shareholder agreements and agreements in connection with the purchase and sale of a business. In both courses, the students apply the legal doctrine learned in Business Organizations and other courses to a series of progressively more sophisticated simulation exercises and prepare the documents necessary, in Business Entity Formation, to create and organize the entities; and in the case of Business Entity transactions, to implement the various business transactions required by the exercises. In both courses the students utilize information gathering, planning, counseling and negotiating skills in the development of the documents.

Center for Open Government Clinic 1 & 2 (LAW 527 / LAW 626)

Students working in the Open Government Law Clinic are involved in conferences with potential clients of the law school's Center for Open Government, researching legal issues and participating in ongoing litigation of Freedom of Information, Open Meetings Act and other taxpayer litigation. Students attend government meetings and prepare public records requests. Developing legal skills to be a government watchdog is a strong focus of the course.

Criminal Defense Clinic 1 & 2 (LAW 512 / LAW 532)

Students who intern in the Criminal Defense Litigation Clinic work on criminal defense matters in the trial and appellate courts in both the federal and state legal systems. The program represents clients accused of felonies and misdemeanors of all types.

Employment Litigation (LAW 324)

Employment Litigation is a simulation course, designed to introduce students to the representation of a client in an employment discrimination case, from the initial client interview through a motion for summary judgment. Students are assigned as members of either the plaintiff or defense law firm, and work with a "senior partner"/professor in interviewing the prospective clients; preparing engagement letters; drafting a Complaint or an Answer; drafting and responding to written discovery; preparing for, taking, and defending depositions; and preparing or opposing a motion for summary judgment.

Employment/General Litigation Clinic 1 & 2 (LAW 513 / LAW 533)

Students who intern in the Employment Discrimination/Civil Rights Litigation with some General Practice Clinic work on employment discrimination disputes and civil rights cases in the federal and state courts and at administrative agencies; the work also includes some general civil practice.

Entreprenerial Law Clinic 1 (LAW 507)

Students who intern in the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic address issues that frequently arise for companies, including but not limited to choice of entity, entity formation, contract review and drafting, corporate governance issues, review of leases, researching legal issues as appropriate, trademark searches and filing, and other transactional matters.

Environmental Law Clinic (LAW 521)

The Environmental Law Clinic will help students develop their lawyering skills by giving them the opportunity to represent individuals and community organizations with environmental concerns. Students will interview clients, represent clients in meetings with corporations and government officials, and represent clients in court. Cases range from assisting an individual who discovers she has lead paint in her home to helping communities with problems arising from active facilities, abandoned sites, and proposed facilities. The class sessions will provide an opportunity to observe and practice lawyering skills, develop an understanding of the key substantive environmental law areas involved in the clinic's work, and discuss ongoing cases. Students are required to perform 10 hours a week of fieldwork for the 3-credit version of the clinic, and 12 hours a week of fieldwork for the 4-credit version, in addition to the classroom component. Students are required to perform 5 hours a week of fieldwork for the 1-credit version. The clinic is open to 8 students each semester. If a selection process is necessary, you will be notified regarding the interview process after you register for the class. There are no course prerequisites for this clinic. Students must have completed 30 credit hours to take the Clinic.

Environmental Law Externship (LAW 588)

Students in the Program in Environmental and Energy Law have the opportunity to explore environmental opportunities in the public and public interest sectors. These externships help students develop their legal research and writing skills and substantive knowledge of environmental law. Externships are currently available at several government agencies and public interest groups: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Office, the Illinois Attorney General's Office (Environmental Division), the City of Chicago Law Department (Environmental Unit), the State's Attorney's office (Environmental Division), the Illinois Pollution Control Board, the Chicago Legal Clinic, the Lake Michigan Federation, the Illinois Commerce Commission, and the Environmental Law and Policy Center for the Midwest. Students should contact Professor Vivien Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) for more information about enrolling in this externship.

Family Law Clinic 1 & 2 (LAW 504 / LAW 523)

Students who intern in the Family Law Clinic work on cases dealing with legal separation, divorce, and child custody.

Health & Disability Law Clinic 1 & 2 (LAW 510 / LAW 518)

Immigration Law Clinic 1 & 2 (LAW 526 / LAW 539)

Students who intern in the Immigration Law Clinic work on cases in all areas of immigration law, including professionals, aliens of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts and business, individuals seeking immigration benefits for family members, asylees and individuals threatened with removal from the United States by the government.

Intellectual Property Externship (LAW 590)

The Intellectual Property Externship Program enables third-year students enrolled in the Intellectual Property Certificate Program to receive academic credit (without pay) for working 16 hours a week in an approved legal placement under the supervision of a designated attorney. The program is unique in that it enables students to gain practical experience and develop their legal skills while at the same time making themselves more marketable to prospective employers. The externship consists primarily of a fieldwork experience under a supervising lawyer, supplemented by individual meetings between the extern and Professor Gross throughout the semester. For more information about available externship opportunities, contact Professor Vivien Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu).

Intellectual Property Litigation (LAW 249)

As intellectual property has become critical to the success of many businesses, intellectual property disputes have become more frequent and more significant. This class combines doctrinal intellectual property law with a practical, skills-oriented approach to litigation practice. Specifically, it will explore the life cycle of an intellectual property dispute, including pre-suit strategy, jurisdiction and forum selection, pleadings, fact and expert discovery, summary judgment and other pretrial motions, trial, damages, injunctive relief, and appeal. We will use case law, cutting-edge intellectual property scholarship, and a case study of a current intellectual property dispute as vehicles to explore these issues.

Intellectual Property–Patent Clinic 1 & 2 (LAW 536 / LAW 538)

Student interns in the IP–Patent Clinic assist faculty and students at Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and other tech-transfer or school-related companies or institutions on selected "real-life" patent related matters. The student interns work with and are supervised by adjunct clinical faculty who are patent lawyers at K&L Gates in providing patentability opinions, performing clearance searches, and guiding clients through the range of intellectual property legal issues that typically face start-up inventors and companies. In addition, the student interns make presentations to Illinois Institute of Technology faculty and students on patent issues in an attempt to educate and market the IP–Patent Clinic to the faculty and students.

Intensive Intellectual Property Trial Advocacy (LAW 540)

The purpose of this intensive trial advocacy course is twofold. Exercises in this course are designed to introduce the students to the basic skills of trial advocacy in a primarily "learned by doing" format. Secondly, the course will expose the student to a variety of issues in the context of intellectual property cases. The course will necessarily include substantive intellectual property law as it pertains to the assigned a cases. The case files used in the course have been developed from actual intellectual property cases. In some case files, the actual legal memoranda discussing the substantive law issues presented in those cases have been included for the students benefit. Each student will be required to provide one juror for the final trial in which he or she is the trial attorney. Each student will be graded on the basis of daily performance throughout the course, a preliminary injunction hearing, and the final trial. You will be graded on objective performance; and upon your performance improvement during the course. Students must attend each class session from the class session start to the class session finish, and must be prepared to perform the exercises listed in the syllabus. Students will be expected to both conduct the exercise as counsel and to play the role of witness when called upon to do so. Prerequisite: Evidence and two of the following: Patent Law, Trademarks & Unfair Competition, Copyright Law, Law of Trade Secrets. Pass/fail not available. Students who have taken Trial Advocacy 1 (including the intensive version of the class) are not eligible to take this course. See the Schedule of Classes for scheduling and other information.

Intensive Trial Advocacy 1 (LAW 541)

This is an intensive one-week version of Trial Advocacy 1 (see separate description). The course is offered every August prior to the start of the Fall semester and every January prior to the start of the Spring semester. Students who take Intensive Trial Advocacy are required to take Trial Advocacy 2 in the semester immediately following completion of the Intensive course.

International Law Moot Court (LAW 560)

Preparation of an appellate brief for the Jessup International Moot Court Competition. Students must have taken, or be taking concurrently, the course in International Law.

International Rule of Law Externship (LAW 519 / LAW 522)

The Rule of Law Externship Program seeks to develop externships in emerging democracies such as Bosnia, Poland and Macedonia. Students spend some time prior to the externship familiarizing themselves with the relevant law of the country in which they will extern and they then spend two or three weeks in the country in which the externship placement is situated performing their assigned tasks. Students receive two externship credits, graded on a pass/fail basis. After they return to Chicago-Kent, students write a scholarly paper on a topic related to their externship for which they receive graded credit.

Judicial Externship 1 & 2 (LAW 572 / LAW 573)

Judicial Externship is a four-hour pass/fail program open to second- and third-year students only, and is offered Fall, Spring, and Summer terms. The prestigious fieldwork component of the program provides externs with the opportunity to work with a federal judge and/or the judge's law clerks by researching law, writing memoranda and drafting opinions. The judicial extern becomes involved in particular legal problems and is able, through research and writing, to contribute to the resolution of those problems. Depending upon the judge, an extern may have the opportunity to observe the day-to-day routine of the courtroom and to discuss with the judge or the judge's law clerk those legal problems which judges confront in their courtroom. There is an accompanying discussion component that focuses on various aspects of federal judicial decision-making and, where appropriate, how those aspects affect the extern's work product. Selection of an extern is made by the individual judge through the application process which the law school oversees. To apply, students must meet the minimum G.P.A. requirement, which is approximately the top 22% in the second- and third-year classes, respectively. The exact G.P.A.'s will vary from year to year. For more information, contact Professor Vivien Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu).

Labor/Employment Law Externship (LAW 421)

Law Review (LAW 550)

Preparation of articles and comments upon current legal and social problems for inclusion in the Chicago-Kent Law Review. Open only to members of the Board of Editors and the staff of the Law Review.

Legal Externship 1 & 2 (LAW 559 / LAW 571)

The Legal Externship Program is a four-hour pass/fail program that enables a law student to receive academic credit (without pay) for working 16 hours a week in an approved legal placement under the supervision of a designated attorney. The program is unique in that it enables students to gain practical experience and develop their legal skills while at the same time making themselves more marketable to prospective employers. Legal Externship consists primarily of a fieldwork experience under a supervising lawyer, supplemented by individual meetings between the extern and his/her faculty advisor throughout the semester. Externs interested in civil law may select to work in corporations, firms or government agencies, specializing in such diverse legal areas as immigration, tax, commodities, securities, health care, medical malpractice, or general corporate law. Externs in criminal law may choose to work with the States Attorney's Office, Public Defender's Office, or the U.S. Attorney's Office. Some externships offer the opportunity to obtain a 711 license and appear in court. For permission to do an externship or for more information about available externship opportunities, please contact Professor Vivien Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu).

Litigation Technology (LAW 254)

This course will teach law students interested in becoming trial lawyers how to integrate technology into their trial presentations. Students will learn how to apply principles of persuasion to the creation of courtroom visuals which they will then present in the trial advocacy portion of the course. The course will use hypothetical problems and cases to allow students to develop presentations that persuade and will include computer lab sections, some lecture, and student participation with instructor critique. Students will try civil cases and criminal cases. Students should own their own laptop computers and be prepared to bring them to class every week. The machine should be Windows-compatible. The class may run longer than three hours when students try their mock trials. Maximum class size is 16 students. Prerequisite: one semester of Trial Advocacy.

Mediation (LAW 420)

An exploration of the mediation process as an alternative to traditional litigation. The course explores the role of the mediator as well as the role of attorneys in the mediation process. This is a simulation course in which students participate in several mediations.

Mediation & ADR Clinic (LAW 511)

Students who intern in the Mediation and Other ADR Procedures Clinic engage in training and practice in mediation, arbitration, and other ADR techniques. They become certified as mediators and conduct a number of mediations over the course of the semester. Typical cases include juvenile court cases, criminal misdemeanor cases, employment discrimination cases, landlord-tenant disputes, and small claims court disputes. They also assist the clinical professors in arbitrating cases and drafting arbitration opinions.

Moot Court Honor Society (LAW 551)

Instruction in, and preparation of, appellate briefs and appellate oral arguments in intramural and national competition.

Negotiations (LAW 429)

This course examines the negotiation process engaged in by lawyers. It is intended to increase a student's understanding of that process and to develop his/her skills as a negotiator. Experts in various fields discuss negotiations as they apply in those areas of the law. Students engage in mock negotiations in a variety of contexts, such as divorce, real estate, contracts, commercial law, labor law, and criminal law. Not all instructors cover each of these areas of substantive law, and different instructors emphasize different areas of substantive law.

Pretrial Litigation for LADR Students Only (LAW 502)

Pretrial Litigation for LADR Students Only is open only to students who are in the Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (LADR) Certificate Program. A primary goal of the course is to teach both the mechanics and the theory of Pretrial Litigation, which is the activity in which civil litigators are engaged for the vast majority of their lawyering careers. The course also has as its goal to educate practitioners who will have the capability to solve professional problems within the indeterminate, real world of the practice of law. Students will be introduced to the process of developing professional judgment and making them reflective practitioners who will have the skills, abilities, and training to attain success and the highest degree of competence in their professional lives. In this course students will meet with their "simulated" client and interview him/her. Students will conduct both a legal and factual investigation, which will include research into the law and the interviewing of potential witnesses. Students will take part in preparing and filing pleadings, a discovery plan, written interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests to admit facts, and any discovery-related motions that they deem necessary to fully prepare their client's case. Students will also participate in a simulated deposition. Students will then prepare and argue a motion for summary judgment. After the defendant's motion for summary judgment is denied, students will conduct a counseling session with their client in preparation for a simulated negotiation session with opposing counsel. Finally, the students will take part in the preparation and filing of a Joint Pretrial Order, including a trial brief. The course will end on the eve of trial with a pre-trial conference with the judge. The complaint or answer, written discovery requests, and brief in support of or in opposition to summary judgment, will take the place of an advanced legal writing course.

Professional Responsibility: Ethics and Advocacy (LAW 137)

The ground rules of ethical advocacy are key to becoming an effective and respected litigator. This problem-based class will allow you to practice advocacy skills while learning about the Rules of Professional Conduct and other ethical issues that govern your practice. Using a problem all semester, you will learn and practice skills including: client and witness interviews, preparing your client or witness for depositions, preparing and presenting actual conflict waivers, conducting direct and cross examinations, presenting opening and closing statements, and handling other ethical issues, for example what to do if a witness or your client lies in a matter before a tribunal. The semester will conclude with an actual trial conducted by the students. Class will meet twice a week with a portion devoted to presentation of course materials, by lecture, video and film clips, and class discussion of the assigned reading. The remaining portion of each class will be devoted to role play exercises by the students. Our objective is for you to learn while enjoying the experience, doing it yourselves with our guidance. Taking this class will satisfy the graduation Professional Responsibility requirement.

Refugee & Asylum Law Externship (LAW 595)

This is a Spring semester practical training course offered by Heartland Alliance's Midwest Immigration & Human Rights Center (MIHRC) for law students interested in immigration law. The course is offered through Chicago-Kent's Legal Externship Program. In addition to the Law School externship meetings, students must attend weekly evening classes at MIHRC's downtown office, and are assiged an asylum case to prepare for presentation before the Chicago Asylum Office. The class schedule will be arranged once students are selected. Students will prepare cases of asylum applicants previoulsy interviewed and accepted by MIHRC. Each student will interview and assist in the preparation of their client's affidavit. After researching domestic and international law, as well as country conditions pertinent to the claim, students will assemble an asylum application with supplemental documentatin and will draft a legal memorandum in support of their client's application. At the end of the program, students will file clients' applications with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and accompany their clients to their interviews at the Chicago Asylum Office. Prior immigration law experience is not required. Fluency in a second language is preferred, although not a requirement. Please contact Professor Vivien Gross for more information about applying to this program.

Tax Clinic (LAW 515 / LAW 535)

Students who intern in the Tax Clinic participate in one of the country's leading tax clinics, aggressively representing clients in a wide variety of disputes with the Internal Revenue Service. A full-service federal tax controversy and transactions practice, the Tax Clinic represents middle-income and small business taxpayers in connection with IRS audits, administrative appeals, asset seizures and other debt enforcement actions, and trials before the United States Tax Court and the United States District Court. Under the supervision of an experienced federal tax litigator, students receive hands-on experience negotiating settlements with revenue agents, appeals officers, and attorneys for the IRS; drafting petitions, discovery, motions and legal memoranda in connection with pending Tax Court trials; interviewing clients and securing information from third parties in order to defend a taxpayer's return position; preparing offers in compromise to reduce a taxpayer's outstanding debt; and taking an assortment of intervention measures to minimize or avoid immediate hardship resulting from IRS collection actions.

Trial Advocacy 1 (LAW 555)

An introduction to litigation taught by leading trial attorneys and judges. The course uses hypothetical cases to teach the student trial preparation, strategy, and conduct in a courtroom setting. Although the instructor will demonstrate from time to time, the primary teaching method is student participation with instructor critique. Classes often run longer than three hours.

Trial Advocacy 2 (LAW 558)

An in-depth study and performance of litigation skills in certain trial settings. The course is a continuation of Trial Advocacy 1. Classes often run longer than three hours.