Nationally known lawyer Stephen Susman will deliver the Peter Chase Neumann Lecture on Civil Justice on Thursday, October 4, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 160. The talk is entitled, "Why We Need to Preserve Jury Trials and How to Do It."

Widely recognized as one of the country's top litigators, Susman has been honored by, among others, The National Law Journal, the Best Lawyers in America, and American's Top Trial Lawyers. He received the Litigator of the Year Award and Top U.S. Litigator Award (twice) in the International Commercial Litigation's worldwide annual poll of lawyers. He is the founder of the national firm of Susman Godfrey.

Throughout his career he has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in high-profile cases: for Northrop in the McDonnel Douglas F-18 jet fighter case; former House Speaker Jim Wright in his ethics battle; the Hunt brothers in lender liability litigation; and the state of Arkansas in a milk price-fixing case.

Please plan to join me as Stephen Susman delivers the Neumann Lecture, again made possible through the generosity of our alumnus, Peter C. Neumann, class of '64.

Apart from his practice and teaching lawyers and law students across the country, Susman has a keen interest in examining the phenomenon of disappearing jury trials. 

The Civil Jury Project, his national project with New York University, has organized more than twenty successful "jury improvement lunches" where state and federal court jurors share their thoughts on how the justice system and jury duty can be improved.

The Jury Improvement Project will be hosting a luncheon in the Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie lobby, also on Thursday, October 4, from noon - 1:30. (There is plenty of space to work in our library for those who have downtime between the luncheon and the lecture and want to stay on campus.)

Through the continuing generosity of donor Brooke Davis, the Barry Davis National Trial Team will not only attend the regional ACTL Competition, but has been invited for the first time to attend the 2018 Tournament of Champions in Philadelphia in late October. Our team was selected based upon their performances over the previous three years at the ACTL National Trial Competition. Members this year include: Jesus Alonso, Brianna Braun, Amy Brown, Sasha Charls, Karen Donderewicz, Mika Galilee-Belfer, Brian Heddell, and Will Vitkus. The coaches are Brian Chase ('11) and Travis McGivern.

A hallmark of the fall semester is the friendly rivalry inspired by the annual Jenckes Closing Argument Competition on Friday, November 9th. Two-person teams vie for the coveted Jenckes Cup, which has been traded between the Arizona Law and ASU for 48 years.

Named for the late Joseph A. Jenckes, a 1961 UA law alumnus and prominent Phoenix trial attorney, the competition is sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers to encourage camaraderie and friendly competition and to showcase the importance of trial advocacy skills training. ACTL members also judge the competition.

Each spring Arizona Law will be offering a two-weekend course, Taking and Defending Depositions. 

Scheduled for April 12-14 and April 19-21, 2019, the course operates on a highly interactive model, in a simulated deposition setting with constructive faculty technique. 

Ten slots in the class are reserved for attorneys who wish to hone their deposition skills. The remaining twenty-two slots are for law students who have an interest in litigation. Last year, many attorneys and judges took time to provide feedback to the students in the class. We are so grateful for their help in educating our students.

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In addition to these special activities, the core of the Advocacy Program still consists of the Evidence, Basic Trial Advocacy, Advanced Trial Advocacy, and Pretrial Litigation classes, which focus on the practical skills needed by all litigators. 

Many of the Basic and Advanced Trial Advocacy exercise classes are now held in two College of Law courtrooms at the Consolidated Justice Courts downtown. A new course on Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiating is now offered each fall, and Professor Bergman is exploring other offerings in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and the use of experts.