Apart from their assigned mod courses, 1L students may only enroll in courses offered as 1L electives. A complete list of these courses can be found on the 1L Elective Listings page. 1L students must use the 1L class number listed on the course description when enrolling.
242.31 sec. 001 - The Court of Public Opinion: Advocacy Outside of the Courtroom (Spring 2022)
Instructor: Gregory Washington
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only
Units: 2
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
W 6:25 PM - 8:15 PM
Location: Law 141
From January 12, 2022
To April 22, 2022
Course End: April 22, 2022
Class Number: 32575
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 13
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 23
As of: 07/19 11:58 AM

There is an entire world of public discussion and discourse happening outside of the courtroom that often goes untouched by the law school curriculum. For every Thurgood Marshal, there is a Martin Luther King, Jr. For every Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there is a Tarana Burke. And for every landmark decision like Brown v. Board of Education, there is landmark legislation like the Voting Rights Act. Being an advocate sometimes means persuading people outside of the courtroom.
This course harnesses three different components of public discourse: legislative advocacy, media advocacy, and movement advocacy. In each area, you’ll be tasked with using your legal training to advocate for the policy change of your choosing. In the legislative advocacy section, you will research issue areas, develop talking points, and present as a witness in a mock legislative hearing. In the media advocacy section, you will write an opinion piece on an issue and then have a primetime-news style debate. And at the end of the course, you will take your skills and experiences to develop a nonprofit focused on tackling an issue of your choice before you pitch that new organization to fundraisers looking to invest in social change.
Moving the ball forward on social issues is something that is happening all around us and lawyers are uniquely equipped to be advocates in the public arena. This course teaches you how to shape public discourse with the skills you’ve developed in law school.
Requirements Satisfaction:
This class may be counted as either an Option 1 class (two Option 1 classes satisfy the J.D. writing requirement) or units from this class may count toward the J.D. Experiential Requirement. This class may count for both requirements if and only if a student is electing Option 1 and the student's other Option 1 class being used to satisfy the J.D. writing requirement is not being counted towards any other requirement. |
Exam Notes: (P) Final paper
Course Category: Simulation Courses
This course is listed in the following sub-categories:
Public Law and Policy
Race and Law
Social Justice and Public Interest
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Readers:
No reader.
Books:
Instructor has indicated that no books will be assigned.