Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professors Jonathan Lopez and Barry Pollack

J.D. Seminar 1167 | 2 credit hours

Through discussion and selected assignments representative of different stages of the prosecution, students will critically examine the hypothetical criminal prosecution from both sides of the adversarial process – moving beyond a discussion of the basic stages of the trial into an analysis of how each side mentally approaches each stage – asking themselves what they hope to accomplish and what is the best method for doing so. Several main themes will permeate the discussions throughout the course. These themes include the recognition that there are many legitimate and effective ways to approach any given scenario, the necessity of maintaining ethical integrity at every stage of the process, and the balance of advocating aggressively while maintaining cordiality and professionalism with opposing counsel. Each student will do a total of four written assignments and one oral assignment.

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice (or the equivalent Democracy and Coercion) or Criminal Procedure. A white collar crime course is recommended, but not required.

Students may not receive credit for both this class and Federal Investigations and Prosecutions or Role of the Federal Prosecutor.