At Brandeis Law, appellate and oral advocacy is hands-on

Strong oral advocates are not born — they’re made. 

That’s the view of Brandeis Law Professor Justin Walker, who teaches Lawyering Skills to first-year law students. 

As part of that class, the 1Ls write appellate briefs, with half the class on one side of the argument and half on the other. Students are broken up into pairs for mock oral arguments that are judged by local practitioners.

“It takes a lot of preparation to do well,” Walker says. “The ones who are really good at it are really good because they work at it.”

In preparing for these oral arguments, Walker plays clips of strong arguments used in real cases. He and his students discuss what these attorneys did well — for example, answering questions rather than dodging them. 

Delivery matters too.

“The good ones have a conversational tone that’s polite and not combative,” Walker says. “It’s not overly familiar, but it’s not mechanical.”

Professor JoAnne Sweeny, who also teaches Lawyering Skills, echoes this sentiment. She coaches her students to speak to judges in a deferential, respective tone.

“Anytime you’re talking to a judge, you’re basically asking for a favor,” she says. 

It’s important for students to realize that they won’t simply be reading their briefs — they’ll be interrupted with questions from the judges, Sweeny says. 

Students are often surprised by the rapid-fire nature of the questions.

“The judges don’t want to hear speeches,” Walker says. “They want to hear answers to their questions.”

Successful oral advocates are able to answer those questions and then redirect back to their argument.

“It’s a skill and something you need to practice,” Sweeny says.

Hammad Khan, a staff attorney with the Personal Safety Unit at Louisville’s Legal Aid Society, is a volunteer judge. 

Khan remembers being a nervous law student preparing for oral argument. He says he volunteers as a judge in part to reassure students that their skills as an oral advocate don’t necessarily reflect on their skills as an attorney. 

He began volunteering as a judge in 2015 and has noticed that many students’ delivery is almost too rehearsed. 

“You don’t have to be perfect,” Khan says. “You have to be persuasive.”

But overall, he says, he’s been impressed with Brandeis students.

“What I have seen from the Brandeis students is that they’ve always been very prepared,” Khan says. “They are ready to bring their A game. Whatever the argument is, they present really well.”