Indiana University Bloomington

Primary Navigation

Degrees & Courses

Sample horizontal photo

Areas of Focus

Litigation

“Litigation” refers to the resolution of disputes through the court system. It encompasses everything from traffic court and small claims to murder trials, class-action suits, and Supreme Court cases on the posting of the 10 Commandments. Litigators must be competent in three areas: the substantive law governing the subject-matter of the dispute (contracts, family law, criminal law, civil rights, torts, etc.), the procedural law governing how the court system works at all three phases of litigation (pretrial, trial, and appeal), and the principles of good advocacy.

The first year of law school gives students preliminary exposure to all aspects of litigation except trial practice. Students are introduced to the basic substantive areas of law common to litigation (contracts, torts, property, criminal and constitutional law) and to pretrial civil litigation procedure. In the Research and Writing program, students are introduced to simple oral and written advocacy. Many more courses and co-curricular offerings related to litigation can be found in the upper class curriculum. See the Guide to Litigation-Related Courses.

At the heart of the second- and third-year litigation curriculum are five courses and one co-curricular program

Students who want only a basic introduction to trial practice should take Evidence and Trial Advocacy. Evidence must be taken first, and is a pre-requisite to Trial Advocacy. It is usually offered both semesters and is taught by Professors Bethel, Orenstein, and Tanford. It does not matter which section you choose because the Trial Advocacy instructors report no noticeable differences among students’ abilities to use evidence at trial that can be attributed to which section of Evidence they took.

Students who are serious about becoming effective litigators have several opportunities for more advanced instruction. They can enroll in Appellate Advocacy and participate in the Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition to improve their written and oral advocacy skills, which most students do in the second year.  Students who take both Evidence and Trial Advocacy in their second year will have the prerequisites to enroll in Advanced Trial Practice, Trial Competition, clinical courses, and externships in their third year.

The Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition takes place in the fall and early spring. Students work in pairs preparing an appellate brief and arguing their case in front of panels of judges, lawyers, professors, and other experienced advocates, and receive valuable feedback on their arguments and performances. Many students enroll simultaneously in a companion course on basic Appellate Advocacy taught by Professor Seth Lahn.

Advanced Trial Practice in offered in the fall of the third year. This 3-credit course is a limited-enrollment class that offers extensive courtroom practice, one-on-one instruction in trial advocacy, and instruction in the procedures and ethics of litigation. Four to eight students from this course are selected to represent the law school at the ABA Labor and Employment Law Trial Advocacy Competition in Chicago in November.

Trial Competition is offered in the spring semester of the third year and is open to any student who has taken basic Trial Advocacy. Students are divided into teams that prepare and try a personal injury or product liability case. The teams compete against each other through multiple rounds of competition in a law school tournament. The winning teams represent the law school in the AAJ Student Trial Advocacy Competition in March.

Indiana Law also has numerous clinical and externship programs that include litigation and advocacy components, and bring students into contact with real clients, lawyers, courts, and administrative agencies. Students perform real legal tasks and gain hand-on experience in litigation under the supervision of our clinical faculty and selected outside lawyers.