California Court of Appeal Visits USC Law

To allow more students to attend, the court divided its calendar into three sessions, with three cases heard during each session. The mid-morning session was filled with students who heard attorneys argue a variety of cases involving child custody issues and unauthorized bank withdrawals. After the arguments, students were given the opportunity to ask the judges questions.

 

Justice Kathryn Doi Todd, Presiding Justice Roger W. Boren and Justice Victoria M. Chavez

Asked by a student what type of speaking style she prefers, Justice Todd said that it is imperative to be direct and to the point while bringing up relevant factual and legal points. She outlined that judges are turned off if they feel as though an attorney is trying to convince them of something, instead of using a factual, researched-based approach to the argument.

 

Presiding Justice Boren added that, in addition to being professional and respectful of the judges, attorneys must make sure they are staying true to their own unique personalities.

 

Associate Professor of Legal Writing and Advocacy Rebecca Lonergan, who coordinated the court’s visit, said she was pleased that first-year students were exposed to a wide range of abilities and styles from the attorneys present.

 

“I thought the visit was a great success, both in terms of being a learning experience for the students, and how well it went off.  There were a lot of people and a lot of logistics involved, and it went smoothly,” said Lonergan, adding that she appreciated the attorneys making the trip to the law school. “We especially appreciated the court and the attorneys taking the time to answer the students’ questions after each session. It provided our students with a wonderful opportunity to personally interact with experienced practitioners and judges.”

 

Presiding Justice Boren said that as he reviews a case before a court hearing, he often has a fairly strong view of the verdict based on the logistics of the case as well as the writing prowess seen in the attorney’s documents. However, he noted that this is not always the case and he will occasionally change his original view based on the attorneys’ oral arguments. 

 

In the near future, all the first-year students will begin making their own oral arguments as part of the Legal Writing classes and possibly during the qualifying rounds of the Hale Moot Court Competition. This will be the first time many of the students will try their hands at oral arguments, so the students were advised to pay close attention to the lawyers’ and judges’ rhetoric. Many of the cases argued at USC likely will be decided in the coming weeks, and the students will be able to find out how each case was eventually resolved. 

 

“Because we have oral advocacy coming up, [the Court of Appeal visit] was particularly useful,” said Jay Choi ‘14. “I think that the arguments were on a higher level than when we went to district court last semester and hearing the judges answer our questions was invaluable.”