Virginia (VA) Skills CLE Course Catalog

Despite the old saying, facts do not speak for themselves. People must speak for them. Further, humans learn and store information by stories, not by recitation of facts. Juror persuasion happens when the right story is told the right way. Join nationally respected trial consultant Rich Matthews for an exploration of the crucial but often undervalued part that the right witness with the right preparation plays in moving jurors to vote your way.

Whether you’ve won or lost in the trial court, winning your case on appeal requires an entirely different approach in terms of your strategy and the mechanics of presenting your case to the appellate court. Pivoting successfully from trial court to appellate litigator can make the difference between losing and winning your appeal. Peter Afrasiabi, Co-Director of the Appellate Practice Clinic at the UC Irvine School of Law and the Appellate Practice Chair at One LLP, provides sage advice on how to prepare for and present your oral argument to an appellate court to help you win your next appeal.

The world’s best advocates – starting with Cicero and carrying forward to the most skilled orators of today – use storytelling and credibility to make arguments that persuade and move their audiences. Because law schools and many law firms don’t teach or reward these polestars of advocacy, many lawyers lack these critical skills. This program in advanced advocacy teaches you how to become a gifted and credible storyteller capable of crafting truly compelling arguments on behalf of your clients.

It’s all about putting things in the right order. It’s about different pieces interacting in a way that makes sense. No, Stuart Teicher is not talking about a symphony or your greatest pop song, he’s talking about your legal writing. In this interesting program, Stuart will tackle the hardest part of legal writing — the organization phase. He’ll teach us how to create a mindmap, and he’ll get into the details about outlining. In the end you’ll learn how to put together a legal writing that will make others sing your praises.