The Lawyering Skills Courses

While all courses at Hofstra Law School teach students the law and how to think through legal issues, the practical skills oriented courses teach students how to practice law. Hofstra offers students a variety of opportunities to develop practice skills through skills related courses, clinics and externships.

In order to make sure that all Hofstra students graduate with a foundation in skills, we have adopted a 2 credit skills requirement for graduation, which can be satisfied by taking any of the courses which are designated in the registration materials for any upcoming semester as satisfying the skills requirement. Most, if not all of the clinics will satisfy that requirement. Externships do not satisfy the requirement. You will still get 3 credits if you do an externship, but those 3 credits will not count toward the skills requirement.

Skills courses are not just for those who wish to become litigators, and in fact, Hofstra offers courses in business drafting and transactional lawyering. However, the lawyering skills introduced in all of these courses are useful for every attorney, and include training in: (1) legal analysis and reasoning; (2) problem solving; (3) legal research; (4) legal writing; (5) factual investigation; (6) interviewing (7) counseling; (8) negotiation; (9) persuasive courtroom advocacy; (10) alternative dispute resolution; (11) mediation; (12) developing a case theory; (13) discovery techniques; and (10) recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas.

The unique role of the skills courses is to introduce the student to the challenges and demands of professional practice through educational methods which utilize "learning by doing" in addition to class discussion. The skills courses are ones in which the emphasis is on active participation by the student, who performs the skill under the watchful eye of experienced faculty who give immediate and constructive critique. The perspective from which the student is educated and evaluated in a skills curriculum course is servicing client needs, not simply understanding or resolving legal issues. The ultimate goal of a skills course is to help the student develop a framework for acquiring those skills and values that a competent lawyer must have to practice, and to help the student identify how he or she might improve those competencies.

The curriculum is sequenced so that each course builds on prior "academic" and "skills" courses and each course challenges the student to achieve ever increasing levels of mastery and confidence. The skills curriculum starts in the first year with a required course in Legal Writing and Research, followed by a course in Appellate Advocacy; together, these courses form the basis of the school’s educational component developing written and verbal presentation skills. The remaining skills training courses are offered in the semester-long course format, and in the intensive format of meeting all day every day for anywhere from 3 to 11 days and are offered during the mid-session break (early January), and on weekends during the semester or as part of summer school in May, June and August.

The Core Elective Courses

The core courses in the Elective Skills Curriculum are:

• Evidence
• Trial Techniques (Intensive Trial Advocacy Program)
• Legal Interviewing Counseling and Negotiating (LICN)
• Pretrial Litigation

Students who take this group of core skills courses, for a total of 13 credits, in addition to the required writing program, will have substantial training in legal analysis and reasoning; problem solving; legal research; legal writing; factual investigation; communication; interviewing; counseling; and negotiation. Although each course teaches students to use many of these skills, each also has a distinct area of emphasis. This is a small percent of the minimum of 48 elective credits that you must take.

Evidence is the substantive course that underpins the rest of the skills curriculum. The core to fact management and the development of case and negotiation theories is the concept of relevancy. That substantive legal doctrine is taught in this core course. If you have any serious interest in litigation skills training, it is important to take Evidence in the second year, since it is the intellectual predicate to the rest of the skills programs.

The Trial Techniques Program is a comprehensive introductory course in litigation advocacy, focusing primarily on the listening/responding skills of witness examination and the communication skills of in-court persuasion. It is taught in an intensive 10 day “Intersession Format” format during the winter break, and is often offered during the summer session as well.

The LICN course gives students an in-depth experience in the theory and practice of client interviewing and counseling which is linked to training in the strategic planning necessary for successful negotiations.

The Pre-Trial Litigation course completes the core of the skills curriculum. It centers on the fact acquisition and fact management skills essential to developing case theory while training students in the drafting and oral skills of the pre-trial stages of litigation.

The Advanced Courses: Live Client Clinics, Simulation (Skills) Courses and Externships

For those who are interested in further developing their skills as lawyers, the Advanced Skills Curriculum has many offerings. In three years of law school you must find space to learn both law and the applied skills of lawyering. Lawyering skills are a companion for any substantive area of specialization. Obviously, you will fill much of your time with substantive courses in that area, and take those advanced skills offerings that may be most pertinent to your interests. These skills courses exceed what any student can, or should take. It is important that you acquire a fully rounded education during your years at Hofstra Law School. That includes a foundation in lawyering skills, a general education in the core substantive areas of American Law, as well as a more intensive exposure to courses in your area(s) of interest.

The “Live-Client” Clinical Programs

For those interested in the courses that maximize one’s education in learning how to be a lawyer, the most exciting courses are the “live-client” clinics. In these courses the student represents, under close supervision, actual clients in and out of court. These are intense experiences that require tremendous effort and commitment, but repay it with a deep sense of satisfaction, accomplishment and learning. We offer the following in-house clinical programs:

• Child Advocacy Clinic
• Criminal Justice Clinic
• Housing Rights Clinic
• Mediation Clinic
• Political Asylum Clinic
• Securities Arbitration Clinic
• Community Development Clinic (tentative title)

We also offer selected Externship Placements, in which students perform legal work at government agencies or other public institutions, under the supervision of a faculty member.

The Simulated Advocacy (Skills) Programs

The “simulated” lawyering skills courses provide extensive training without the rigors presented by the responsibility for a real client. Students are given the opportunity to practice particular skills and receive feedback for those skills, within the context of a “simulated” as opposed to a “real” case. In addition to those courses listed in the “core electives” section, above, students may select from among the following courses that are offered during the regular academic year:

• Advanced Appellate Advocacy
• Advanced Legal Research
• Advanced Legal Writing
• Advanced Mediation Seminar
• Advanced Trial Advocacy
• Advanced Trial Techniques: Use of Expert Witnesses
• Domestic Violence Seminar (externship component)
• Introduction to Child Advocacy
• Moot Court Competition Seminar
• Introduction to Divorce Practice
• Appellate Moot Court Competitions
• Trial Moot Court Competitions
• International Moot Arbitration Team
• The Prosecutor’s Role: Pre-Trial Proceedings in a Criminal Case
• Motion to Suppress
• Mediation Advocacy

The Law School also offers a growing number of Business Skills courses. They include:

• Business Planning
• Business Drafting
• Real Estate Negotiation Techniques
• Estate Planning

All of these offerings present a tremendous opportunity for you to challenge yourself and develop the advocacy, negotiation, drafting and research skills that are vital to professional success, and you must consider how to integrate these into your next two years.

In addition, the Law School offers a number of intensive skills courses through its Weekend or Summer Skills Institute, and during the winter intersession. In addition to Trial Techniques, students may select from among the following courses, which may be offered during the summer and the winter intersession:

• Mediation Principles and Practice
• Trial Techniques
• Discovery: I (Written) and II (Depositions)
• Direct/Cross Examination Skills Intensive
• Introduction to Child Advocacy
• Introduction to Divorce Practice
• Introduction to Business Drafting
• Developing a Theory of the Case
• Motion to Suppress

The Externship Program

Students can earn 3 credits for externing at a legal office or judge’s chambers during the school year or summer. Students may NOT be compensated for their work, but gain the same valuable experience in an externship as in a job, sometimes even better as the program requires significant supervision by your externship supervisor. Externships may be in not for profit settings such as prosecutor and public defender offices, legal services, city and county attorney, and attorney generals offices, to name just a few of the places that count for externship credit. They may also be in judicial chambers and in some corporations and even in private firms under specialty externship programs, such as the Nassau County Bar Association (NCBA) program.

Students must work 12 -15 hours/week during the school year (24 hrs/week during the summer session), attend a weekly seminar, and produce 25 pages of supervised writing. This is a great way to gain experience and learn about a particular area of practice, and to network and meet practicing lawyers. For more information about skills programs and externships, contact Vernadette Horne, Career Counselor, at lawvhh@hofstra.edu.