The following post is from guest blogger Eve Brown of Indiana University. It includes the materials that she presented as a Master Teacher finalist at the 2010 ALSB conference in Richmond, Va.
Many of our students aspire to be attorneys. Frighteningly, most of them have a severely distorted image of the legal profession, as well as of the judicial process. From watching television and movies, students believe that practicing law is filled with drama and glitz, and that courtrooms are hotbeds of passion and intrigue. They come to class imagining trials complete with last-minute epiphanies, surprise mystery guests, shouting attorneys and sobbing witnesses.
Many of our students aspire to be attorneys. Frighteningly, most of them have a severely distorted image of the legal profession, as well as of the judicial process. From watching television and movies, students believe that practicing law is filled with drama and glitz, and that courtrooms are hotbeds of passion and intrigue. They come to class imagining trials complete with last-minute epiphanies, surprise mystery guests, shouting attorneys and sobbing witnesses.
It may be worthwhile (and fun) to use a class session to “debunk” common courtroom myths, and to clarify the true intent of the civil judicial system – the reasonable, often boring, resolution of private disputes.
This Matlock clip illustrates an image of trials created by television.
This movie clip from the movie, "Witness For The Prosecution" illustrates another image.
This clip is from a California election recount trial (Nguyen v. Nguyen)
Power Point slides to accompany Eve Brown's Master Teacher presentation.
Lecture Slides Master Teacher
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