HONORS COURSE
This course will meet a Friday and Saturday of two separate weeks.
Course Description
In just a few years, the benefits of mindfulness training have permeated American society, from elementary schools to the military, from yoga studios to corporate boardrooms, and into the legal world as well. This course explores how legal advocates can benefit from mindfulness training. At the core of most interpersonal lawyerly activity is some form of communication, whether it is to persuade, inform or dispute. Successful oral advocacy requires one to be truly present and mindful for two reasons: First, to speak in a non-rehearsed way that genuinely connects with the listener. And second, to maintain a flexible awareness that permits a lawyer to adjust to new information. Mindfulness -- defined here as moment-to-moment awareness without judgment – is a powerful tool for the legal advocate to remain focused and on-message but still open to perceiving, interpreting, and feeling what is happening around him or her. In this course, students will engage in a variety of simulation exercises including appellate argument, trial advocacy, negotiation, and mediation aided by mindfulness exercises designed to simultaneously focus and relax the participants in what can be stressful legal environments. This course is for students who desire to be stronger legal advocates by developing the resiliency skills that mindfulness training offers. The professor was on the faculty of RWU Law for many years but returned to full-time practice in Washington six years ago where he has endeavored to integrate mindfulness into his practice as a government lawyer and investigator. He also runs the RWU D.C. Semester-in-Practice program in the Spring semester.
HONORS COURSE
Course Type
See Course Type Descriptions
SeminarCourse Credits
1.0Course Degree
Juris Doctor