Administrative Advocacy

Catalog description

Many legal matters involving state and federal laws are resolved, at least in part, through administrative proceedings rather than courts. Examples include disability and other types of benefits claims, employment, housing, and education matters, licensing disputes, tax matters, patents, and immigration proceedings. Administrative hearings sometimes have less formal procedures than courts, and some matters can be handled by advocates who are not licensed attorneys. In this course, you will develop skills related to interviewing clients, presenting evidence, and making legal arguments at administrative hearings. You will participate in a mock hearing using a free video chat platform assigned by the professor. You will interact with your professor and fellow classmates by email, phone, and face-to-face using the video chat platform. You must have, or have ready access to, a web camera (webcam), a microphone, and a sufficiently fast internet connection to participate in these interactions and in the mock hearing.