Florida Tomorrow is a day...
when all people live under the Rule of Law.
A trial lawyer, Jennifer Zedalis believes, is like an artist. Sketch an argument. Add details. Paint a picture that convinces a judge and jurors.
Like all artists, it’s practice, Zedalis knows, that can make a good law student a great trial lawyer. And as director of the Trial Practice Program at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law, she’s passionate about training that next generation of trial lawyers to be masters at their craft.
“The most visible lawyers in our culture are those arguing cases in front of juries,” she says.
Consequently, trial lawyers represent not only their clients, but the whole profession. In order to do both effectively — to become what Zedalis calls “mature” lawyers — students in Trial Practice undergo rigorous training. In addition to traditional coursework, they attend lectures and discussions, participate in weekly workshops taught by practicing attorneys and judges, and hone their skills through one-on-one video critiques. Ethical conduct, integrity, professionalism and devotion to client are stressed. So is the need to understand increasingly complex scientific evidence, such as DNA and data from fields like engineering, forensics and medicine.
As law becomes more specialized and places more demands on its practitioners, training new trial lawyers to understand and successfully meet those demands becomes even more essential, Zedalis insists.
“The higher the standard set for the profession,” she says, “the more noble the profession.”
Toward that end, students completing Trial Practice — some 90-plus each semester — can intern through the State Attorney or the Public Defender’s Office, representing actual clients before real judges. Or they can assist indigent members of the community through the Virgil Hawkins Civil Law Clinic. Students also compete to be on UF’s Trial Team, which has won national titles three times in the last five years, including the National Civil Rights Advocacy Competition and the National Civil Trial Competition.
All that preparation pays off in the end, Zedalis says. Students are taught to think quickly, synthesize information from other disciplines, understand and apply subspecialties in law and communicate effectively and persuasively — all while adhering to the highest principles exemplified by the profession.
After all, Zedalis says, “trial practice is an art form.”
