Supreme Court Seminar - Law 861

This course will focus on between 9 and 12 cases currently before the United States Supreme Court. The course will also consider several other high-profile cases percolating in the lower federal courts with high probability of reaching the Supreme Court.

This is how the seminar will work: Each student will select one current Supreme Court Justice to impersonate for the entire semester. Before each class, students will review the briefs in the case assigned for that week and any writings by their respective Justice on the subject area. During class, students will discuss the case as the Justices would in their private conference. The students will then vote on the case. During the course of the seminar, each student will produce at least one majority opinion, one concurrence, and one dissent. The course will be for three credits and will focus on effective advocacy and opinion writing. The hope for the course is that the students will learn several interesting areas of the law, gain insight into the way judges think so as to become better advocates, and learn effective brief-writing techniques. Students will also have the opportunity to hear from a seasoned Supreme Court advocate during one of the class meetings.