245.23 sec. 001 - Evidence Advocacy and Trial Objections (Fall 2025)
Instructor: Nicholas Cotter (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only)
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only
Units: 2
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
Th 6:25 PM - 8:15 PM
Location: Law 145
From August 21, 2025
To November 20, 2025
Course End: November 20, 2025
Class Number: 32459
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 14
Waitlisted: 10
Enroll Limit: 16
As of: 07/01 03:13 AM
This course is an in-depth review of evidence law in context. Students will study the strategy of raising and responding to evidentiary arguments, with a focus on how the rules apply in practice and how the rules relate to one another. This course will also give students the opportunity and challenge of applying the rules of evidence in the same fashion as practicing lawyers – via written motions, oral arguments, and courtroom objections. This course requires participation in simulation exercises during class sessions and advance preparation outside of class sessions. Topics will include relevance, character evidence, hearsay, and expert testimony, among others.
Instructor Biography: Nicholas Cotter is an attorney with the Alameda County Public Defender. He is a trial lawyer representing indigent people charged with criminal cases. To date, he has represented hundreds of clients at all stages of criminal proceedings, including motions, preliminary hearings, and jury trials. He earned his bachelor’s degrees in Molecular & Cell Biology and Music from the University of California, Berkeley; his Master of Music from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach; and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.
Nick is passionate about studying and coaching trial advocacy. As a student, he earned team and individual awards at several national trial competitions, including recognition as an All-American Attorney in college and a national finalist in law school. Outside of work, Nick is a coach for UC Berkeley’s undergraduate and law school mock trial programs, a Senior Research Fellow with the California Constitution Center, and a member of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area. He also plays clarinet and saxophone with the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra.
Attendance at the first class is mandatory for all currently enrolled and waitlisted students; any currently enrolled or waitlisted students who are not present on the first day of class (without prior permission of the instructor) will be dropped. The instructor will continue to take attendance throughout the add/drop period and anyone who moves off the waitlist into the class must continue to attend or have prior permission of the instructor in order not to be dropped.
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Requirements Satisfaction:
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Exam Notes: (SP) Presentations that count for a significant portion of the grade
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Course Category: Simulation Courses
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