The Seton Hall Law Skills Curriculum
At Seton Hall Law, students learn more than just how to think like a lawyer, they learn how to become one--from one.
The Skills Curriculum – which can include courses, pro bono work, externships, and intramural competitions – helps students develop the legal skills that great attorneys need. The program encompasses an array of opportunities through which students acquire the legal tools and then put them to work not only in the classroom, but on behalf of real clients, and through intramural competitions, against other law school teams.
COURSES
From legal writing to appellate advocacy, students learn to apply their newly acquired legal knowledge in the classroom setting. Courses in legal persuasion and advocacy and trial practice for both criminal and civil cases are taught by practicing attorneys or federal judges. Mock-trial simulations give students a chance to role-play and they are critiqued by instructors and classmates in real time, and via videotape. In the Transactional Skills class, students spend an entire semester preparing deals: buyer and seller teams negotiate terms of sale and purchase, and prepare contracts and agreements. The classes in Alternate Dispute Resolution hone students’ negotiation, mediation and arbitration skills, preparing them to resolve disputes outside the courtroom – the way in which 99 percent of all legal issues are resolved.
Learn more about the Skills Curriculum
CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PRACTICE
Outside the classroom, Seton Hall Law enables students to gain hands-on experience and to dedicate their newly-acquired skills to helping communities and individuals in need of legal assistance. Through the pro bono program, Seton Hall students can begin to work on real clients’ cases even in their first year of law school. Through the Center for Social Justice clinics, students assume primary responsibility for cases ranging from family law to housing and education policy reform to international human rights. Students remain under the tutelage of professors and practitioners as they practice all facets of litigation, receiving guidance and support every step of the way. Through the advanced ADR seminars, students have the opportunity to represent clients in arbitration and mediate in actual cases. Additionally, Seton Hall Law’s comprehensive externship programs place students in corporations, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, judges’ chambers, and court offices.
Learn more about Pro Bono opportunities
Learn more about the clinics and the Center for Social Justice
COMPETITIONS
For students who are interested in utilizing their legal skills to vie against other law schools, Seton Hall Law offers a robust intramural competition program on mock trials, appellate advocacy, client counseling, negotiation, and international law. Through teamwork and intensive preparation students sharpen their advocacy and courtroom skills. In October 2009 the Alternate Dispute Resolution Society competed in the inaugural Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, which included three different team events in negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Joseph Gehrke (’11), Dave Kurtz (’11) and Derrick Upchurch (’12) won the Negotiation title, beating out 11 other law schools. The event was co-sponsored by FINRA, the nation’s pre-eminent securities dispute resolution provider, and the St. John’s University Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution.
Learn more about intramural competitions