Trial practice for law students

Trial practice is the quintessential lawyering skill. To succeed in a trial requires both knowledge of the law and skill in application. When students engage in trial practice, they are essentially bringing law to life and bridging the gap between the study of law and professional practice. This chapter will describe the teaching of trial advocacy at Bond and underscore the need for such skill subjects in Australian legal education. Trial advocacy, as taught at Bond, focuses on student learning through doing. The subject includes weekly small group workshops that are designed to provide progressive and incremental advocacy exercises, where students receive immediate feedback. Moreover the workshops are video recorded and students are given the opportunity to review and reflect on their work. The subject culminates in the students preparing and presenting a full trial.