Practice makes perfect. Until someone actually experiences something firsthand, it is hard to know what to expect in that situation. Whether it is learning how to play a musical instrument or run in a marathon, a full understanding cannot be achieved until one has experienced it and obtained feedback from teachers or coaches.
Such is true with law students and the litigation process. As part of a practical seminar at Georgetown University Law School aimed at teaching law students how to litigate an actual civil case from the complaint to the courthouse steps, Professor Amy Davis Kossak appreciates the importance of giving law students the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning. Planet Depos recently provided pro bono realtime services for 12 mock depositions conducted by the law students in Professor Kossak’s seminar. Below are Professor Kossak’s insights into why this experience is so valuable to her students from classroom to career.
Planet Depos: Can you explain what was involved in preparing for the mock depositions?
Professor Kossak: Before the mock depositions, each student in the course was assigned to play the role of either plaintiff’s counsel or defense counsel in a hypothetical legal malpractice case. Once the students decided which witnesses they wanted to depose, the students reviewed the relevant case documents, consulted their summary judgment outlines and proof charts, and prepared outlines for the depositions.
Putting together these outlines required the students to consider why they were taking the depositions (e.g., to discover facts, to preserve trial testimony for a witness who may be unavailable), what topics they wanted to cover, how they wanted to approach the questioning on each topic, what exhibits they wanted to use, and even how they wanted to use the outline itself (e.g., as a general guide or as a detailed list of planned questions). The preparation paid off, and the students did an excellent job with their very first depositions!
Planet Depos: What are the benefits to the students from having a court reporter provide realtime and a final transcript of the mock depositions?
Professor Kossak: Having the realtime and final transcripts were, in a word, ‘tremendous.’ Several students commented on how much they enjoyed the deposition exercise and especially appreciated the realtime court reporter’s involvement. Having a realtime reporter at the deposition allowed students to decide (in the safety of a classroom setting) whether they preferred being able to see the rough transcript as it was created (which seemed to work well for visual learners) or whether keeping their eye on the constant flow of text was more distracting than helpful (which seemed to be the case for more auditory learners).
Having a final transcript created for each deposition was even better. Not only did having a final transcript allow the students to prepare summary judgment motions and deposition designations in a realistic way (which both the students and professors really appreciated), but it also allowed students to review their own depositions after the fact and reflect on what they did well (and where they could improve) so that their first real depositions as practicing lawyers could be even better. Finally, the practical tips the court reporter provided before and after the depositions were a wonderful bonus and will certainly come in handy as these students become litigators.
Planet Depos: As court reporters, we’ve been a quiet participant in thousands and thousands of depositions. This group of law students was well-prepared, innovative and fairly calm. They also exhibited some impressive creative thinking that will serve them well when they enter private practice. What trends, if any, are you seeing in your students in terms of attitude, behavior and commitment?
Professor Kossak: Students are increasingly interested in learning ‘real life’ lawyering skills during law school. While summer jobs and internships provide great opportunities for practical learning, students sometimes feel uncomfortable asking questions in these settings that might be seen as too basic (e.g., How do I serve a subpoena? What should a deposition outline look like?). That is where our class comes in. We have found our students to be highly motivated, eager to participate in class, and excited to embrace their roles as plaintiff and defense counsel in our hypothetical case, and we attribute much of this enthusiasm to the fact that students believe that the skills they’re learning will be directly applicable to their jobs as lawyers starting on Day 1.
Congratulations to the law students and a big thank you to Professors Amy Davis Kossak, Jesse Carlson, Hannah Stott-Bumsted, and Certified Realtime Reporter Lee Bursten for their time and dedication to this practical learning experience.