Professional Skills Teams
Hastings has many opportunities for professional skills development:
Client Counseling Team
CLIENT COUNSELING TEAM (1 OR 2 UNITS) – SPRING – (LAW*978)
Satisfies professional skills requirement only if 2 units received.
The Hastings Client Counseling Team (HCCT) is an organization designed to focus on skills development, and integrating “real world” experience with theories and principles of client interviewing and counseling. All HCCT team members must have completed the Interviewing and Counseling course, or in the alternative, may participate after obtaining instructor pre-approval.
Although enrollment in the HCCT takes place in the spring semester, HCCT activities begin in the fall semester. All interested students are invited to attend a 2-hour introductory session in the fall semester. Students who have completed or are concurrently enrolled in Interviewing and Counseling, or have obtained instructor approval, may enter the in-school competition held in mid-November. The students selected through the in-house competition will represent Hastings in the ABA Regional Client Counseling Competition. (Hastings will pay for the travel costs, including meals and lodging, for the ABA competition). At the instructor’s discretion, students who are not selected to compete, but who would like to continue to participate on the HCCT, may be invited to join the HCCT as non-competing members. Over the winter break, all HCCT team members are required to study materials on interviewing and counseling, as well as the substantive law chosen for the ABA competition. In the spring semester, all team members engage in mandatory 2-1/2 hour practices twice a week through mid-February. Competing team members are expected to work with the team coach outside of regular practices in order to prepare further for the ABA competition. All team members, whether competing or non-competing, receive individual support, coaching and mentoring designed to increase their interviewing and counseling skills.
Students who meet all participation requirements and who also compete in the ABA Regional competition are eligible to receive 2 units per year, to be awarded in the spring semester. Students who meet all participation requirements and who also serve as President and/or Team Coach are eligible to receive 2 units per year, to be awarded in the spring semester. Students who meet all participation requirements but who are non-competing members are eligible to receive 1 unit per year, to be awarded in the spring semester. The HCCT is open to first-year students but they cannot receive credit for participation. In the past, first-year students have represented Hastings in the ABA competition.
All HCCT units are subject to the overall 18-unit credit limit for non-classroom work as set forth in 1203 of the Academic Regulations and Other Rules Applicable to Students.
Intercollegiate Moot Court Competitions
Read about the Moot Court Competition Team - tryouts, awards, competitions, etc.
INTERCOLLEGIATE MOOT COURT COMPETITIONS – (LAW*973) – FALL/SPRING
(2 Units upon completion of competition)
Satisfies professional skills requirement.
Hastings has one of the most successful Moot Court Competition programs in the United States. Hastings students win National Championship awards, Best Brief awards, Best Oral Advocate awards, and many other honors each year in competitions held throughout the nation in a variety of topics.
Competition students usually participate as a three-member team with two oral advocates and a brief editor. The students write an appellate brief and prepare to argue both sides of the case for the oral
arguments. They participate in 12-15 formal oral argument practices that are judged by students, faculty and practitioner panels. Competitors are well-prepared for the tournaments which are sponsored by schools, bar associations, courts and institutes.
Hastings pays for the travel costs (including meals and lodging) to the tournaments when students are competing. Students who win regional events also compete at national final rounds.
Tryouts for the competition teams are held in April and are open to all Hastings students. Each applicant prepares a 5-10 minute oral argument from a brief utilized in a competition that year, submits a résumé and writing sample, and participates in an informational interview with the competition selection committee. The teams for the upcoming year are announced at the Moot Court Awards Ceremony held at the end of April each year.
Competition students receive two units of academic credit for each competition as well as personalized, individual support and guidance to maximize their learning and performance in the competition subject area and in appellate written oral argument.
Intercollegiate Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Competitions
Read about the Negotiation and Mediation Team - competitions, team results, awards, etc.
INTERCOLLEGIATE ADR COMPETITIONS (1 UNIT PER SEMESTER*) – (LAW*977) – FALL/SPRING
Satisfies professional skills requirement only if 2 units are received.
Since its formation in 2000, the Hastings Negotiation Team has successfully competed in national and international negotiation and mediation competitions. Students participate in 2-member teams negotiating deals and settling disputes arising in a variety of factual and legal contexts. The competitions are held in-person or online using specialized web-based technology. In participating on the Team, students receive individual support, coaching and mentoring designed to maximize competitive performance, to increase understanding of legal problems and their practical implications, and to develop problem-solving skills.
Hastings pays for the travel costs (including meals and lodging) to in-person competitions. Students who win regional events also compete at national final rounds.
The tryout for the Team is an In-School Competition held in late September or early October. The In-School Competition is open to all Hastings students, and consists of two rounds of negotiation and mediation. It is judged by panels of mediators, local practitioners, coaches and experienced team members using competition standards. To prepare interested students for the In-School Competition, a month of weekly coached practices is offered during September.
*Team members receive one unit of credit for each semester in which they participate in an outside competition.
Intercollegiate Trial Team
INTERCOLLEGIATE TRIAL TEAM COMPETITIONS (2 UNITS PER SEMESTER) – (LAW*979) – FALL/SPRING
Satisfies professional skills requirements.
Hastings has a nationally recognized Trial Team, which competes against other law schools around the country in various mock trial competitions sponsored by law schools, bar associations, and legal organizations. The competitions involve both civil and criminal topics, and members of the team compete in at least one tournament a semester.
A tournament team usually is composed of four students, two of whom represent the plaintiff or prosecution side of the topic and two of whom represent the defense. Students will give either an opening or closing statement, and will be responsible for conducting at least one direct and one cross examination. In addition, students will present and argue motions in limine before the trial begins. When one side is acting as lawyers, the other two students act as witnesses for their colleagues. A competition usually entails two or three preliminary rounds, which average about three hours in length. Most tournaments then have a semi-final and final round to determine the champion.
Fact patterns and trial materials for a given competition are distributed about seven weeks before the competition. Students work with the coaches, alumni, their individual team members and the Trial Team as a whole to prepare for the competition, and will participate in numerous practice trials in the weeks leading up to the competition.
Hastings pays for the travel costs (including meals and lodging) for the students participating in the tournaments. Tryouts for the team are held in April, and are open to all Hastings students. A student trying out for the team is given a fact pattern from a past tournament and is asked to give a closing statement and conduct a short cross examination of one of the witnesses. The student also participates in a short informational interview with the selection committee.
Trial Team members receive two units of academic credit each semester, and receive intense training in evidence, trial advocacy, and trial ethics. Students can expect to leave the Trial Team with a complete command of the nature and nuances of trial preparation and courtroom advocacy.