Hundreds of idealistic, bold and creative young lawyers join the ranks of legal services programs across the country each year. Bringing enthusiasm and fresh ideas, new attorneys challenge us to examine many of the "ways we do things around here" and consider new approaches to addressing long-standing and emerging client needs. In Basic Lawyering Skills training, to be offered by the Shriver Center on February 1-3, 2012, in Fort Worth, Texas, seasoned practitioners teach the "nuts and bolts" of a lawyer's trade, including client communication, case analysis, motion practice, and counseling, all framed within a legal aid context.
Basic Lawyering Skills begins with a case study of two struggling clients caught up in a state public assistance work requirement system. The broken system pits them against each other, with one client forced to serve as the employer for the other in a fledging day care enterprise. The situation engenders a complex web of legal entanglements for both, creating a rich environment for holistic interviewing and counseling efforts, complex case analysis, and skills practice. It also provides a chance to analyze the problem from a variety of perspectives, starting with the dispute between the two potential clients, but providing opportunities to see strategies that might unite them in more systemic advocacy efforts directed at the welfare system that placed them in this situation. Participants work through the case sequentially, beginning with the initial client interview and preliminary legal and factual analysis of the case, through client counseling, motion practice, negotiation, and trial.
The course also includes sessions designed to introduce participants to the rich history of the legal services movement and the diverse visions and essential values underlying the practice. Participants also receive guided mentorship and the tools necessary to build realistic professional development goals. Learn more and sign up today!