Simulation Courses

UND School of Law's simulation courses provide students with practical legal experience through exercises that mimic real-world lawyering tasks, without involving actual clients. 

Students have the opportunity to work closely with faculty to develop and refine essential lawyering skills in a controlled, simulated environment. 

Simulated Academic Courses Offered*

 

Advanced Appellate Advocacy

 

Criminal Advocacy

#293 - 2 credits

This course will provide students with hands-on opportunities to learn and develop practical skills related to different phases of a criminal trial (e.g., preliminary examination, bail hearings, motion hearings, etc.). While advocacy skills will be emphasized, this course is designed to supplement, not substitute for, subjects covered in other trial advocacy courses. Class exercises will include conducting discovery, drafting and litigating motions, conducting witness examinations, and engaging in settlement negotiations. Evidence and Criminal Procedure are pre- or co-requisites for this course. Enrollment is limited; preference will be given to students who have completed Evidence and Criminal Procedure, then to third-year students generally. This course will be graded on an S/U basis, and attendance at each class session is mandatory.

Cybersecurity

#416 – 3 credits

Attorneys must have a solid understanding of cybersecurity to protect themselves and their clients against cyberthreats. In fact, the standards for attorney ethics and professional responsibility require attorneys to be knowledgeable about cybersecurity, and attorneys are required to implement sound cybersecurity into their practices. This course will cover the fundamentals of cybersecurity, which include the following: cybersecurity ecosystems and categories of cyberthreats; data security regulations and enforcement actions; industry-specific cybersecurity mandates; cybersecurity and corporate governance; federal cyber structure and public-private cybersecurity partnerships; cybersurveillance; international and comparative cybersecurity laws; cyberwarfare; cybersecurity planning and cyberattack response; cybersecurity litigation; and attorney best practices for cybersecurity. Students will complete the course having gained a solid understanding of the cybersecurity landscape, and students will be well-prepared to protect themselves and their clients from ever-increasing cyberthreats. 

Estate Planning

#287 - 2 credits

This simulation course examines various problems encountered in the planning and administration of an individual's estate. Included are such issues as the drafting of wills and trusts, the use of the marital deduction, lifetime gifts, testamentary trusts, the selection of trustees, valuation problems, apportioning the tax burden, the charitable deduction, deferred compensation plans, and life insurance. The course grade will be determined by take-home writing assignments designed to simulate actual work assignments.

International Human Rights Advocacy

#235 – 3 credits

International Human Rights Advocacy is designed to be a fun and engaging weekend seminar on September 13, 14, 21, 27, and 28 (five day-long classes).  This seminar enables students to enhance transferrable skills sought by all legal employers, such as research, writing, editing, and negotiation skills.  As a highlight of this course, we will visit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  Therefore, students must have a valid passport and be able to travel to Canada (e.g., no criminal record, including DWIs).  We adapt this course each year to meet the specific interests of the students, who help select the human rights issues and countries we will explore (including the United States and Canada).  No textbooks are required for this course; instead, we use free online and library materials.   Grades are based on a research paper addressing a topic relating to international human rights law, along with class participation and professionalism.  This seminar will satisfy the required 2L Intensive Writing Experience.  No prior knowledge of international law is necessary—everyone is welcome.

Law Practice Management

#243 – 3 credits

In Law Practice Management, students will address the following: perceptions of the legal profession, legal profession trends, law office operations, legal products and services, case planning, fee contracts and arrangements, common ethical concerns and methods of avoidance, civility in the profession, marketing and promotion of legal services, firm performance evaluations, law firm financial analysis, strategic planning, modern law office technology, pro bono obligations, and law office human resource management.

Law Practice Technology

#317 - 2 credits

Technology is drastically changing the face of legal practice. In this course, students will learn about current and emerging legal technologies, ethical issues surrounding the use of technology in a legal environment, and what they need to know to use, plan for, and manage technology in practice. Topics of coverage may include: the use of artificial intelligence in legal research, writing, and contract review; how “big data” is impacting legal practice; using and advising on the use of social media; best practices in E-Discovery; protecting client privacy; evaluating and managing technology; and the ethical mandates associated with the use of legal technology. No prior technology experience is required.

Legal Research and Writing for Practice

3 credits; course number TBD
 
Legal Research and Writing for Practice develops legal-writing skills through frequent research and writing assignments involving documents commonly drafted in law practice. The course runs like a fictional law firm wherein the curriculum consists of client files. The first assignment for each file is to research and write about the client’s issue. Each successive assignment tracks the document path that the client’s issue would take through the legal system. Students will draft documents such as client engagement letters, advice letters, demand letters, complaints, answers, motions to dismiss, responses to motions, affidavits, motions for summary judgment, settlement letters, motions to suppress, fee applications, blog posts, and contracts.
 
The key to student learning in this course is frequent practice and personalized feedback. There will be a weekly writing assignment. Students will have individual conferences with the professor each week at the same day and time, during which the professor coaches students on their particular strengths and weaknesses, giving them a solid research and writing foundation with which to confidently begin practice right after law school.
 
This class is an online, but synchronous course. A few weeks we will meet synchronously on Zoom as a class at the time in the course schedule. But most weeks students will meet individually via Zoom with the professor to receive feedback, talk through client issues, and receive the next assignment. Individual meetings will be scheduled during class time as much as possible, however, depending on the number of students enrolled, some students may have to meet during a mutually agreeable time outside of that instead; in any event, students’ assigned meeting time will be the same day and time every week.

Mediation/Mediation Practicum

 

Pretrial Practice (civil)

#410 - 3 credits

The majority of civil litigation is not resolved at the trial level, but instead at the pre-trial level. Competent pre-trial preparation is the key to a successful civil litigation practice. The course will familiarize the student with pre-trial practices and procedures through a combination of lectures, guest lectures, reading assignments and pre-trial activities in a mock civil case. Students will become familiar with the relevant Rules of Civil Procedure and other pre-trial techniques, including client interviewing and counseling, witness interviewing, informal discovery techniques, litigation planning, expert development and discovery, pleadings, interrogatories, depositions, requests for production of documents and things, requests for admission, pre-trial motion practice, settlement strategies, settlement brochures, settlement conferences, pre-trial conferences, and settlement agreements. The class emphasis will be pre-trial skills development in a mock civil case.

Transactional Negotiations

#247 – 2 credits

A legal career—either transactional, corporate, or courtroom based—often requires you to negotiate on behalf of your client.  Excellent negotiators learn to forge long-term collaborations between both parties with the ability to create value for both sides.  It is also important to learn how to identify potential risks within deal proposals to ensure that the deal structure does not create additional future issues.  This course will help you hone negotiation skills through hands-on simulations.  Even if you are already a skilled negotiator, we will be able to add to your current skill set.

Trial Advocacy

#297 - 3 credits

This course develops trial skills through a combination of lectures, demonstrations, and simulations. Students participate weekly as attorneys, witnesses, or jurors in mock trial situations. Subjects of study include trial and witness preparation, direct and cross examination, objections, foundations, opening statements, closing arguments, visual aids, impeachment, experts, problem witnesses, damages, and jury selection. The small size of the sections permits individualized instruction, and allows for each student to try a full-simulated jury trial near the end of the semester. Evidence is a prerequisite for this course. However, because the course is taught in the Fall, contemporaneous enrollment will suffice.

 

*The availability and designation of these classes are subject to change. The Office of Student Services will provide an updated, approved list of simulation courses each semester with the release of the course schedule.