The Academy’s rigorous weeklong program focuses on the courtroom trial process, from voir dire to verdict.  A small number of intricate and challenging case files provide the curriculum framework, allowing participants to fully engage each trial stage while maintaining a requisite sense of cohesion.  Participants review case files and assignment schedules prior to the June start date, and the curriculum sets an intense pace from the breakout session.  Under the tutelage of Clifford E. Haines and a faculty of premier trial lawyers and eminent judges, participants broaden and refine their skills with trial exercises that demand focus and encourage peer review.

The Academy devotes four days to individual trial components, including motions, jury selection, cross-examination, and opening/closing statements.  The remaining three days focus on complete trials; Academy faculty members preside over the courtroom and provide individual feedback on each performance.  Additional critiques are provided by peers, practitioners, and the student litigator, who must present a self-critique of recorded trial videos.  The program culminates with trials in six separate courtrooms before jurors selected from the community.

While some attention is given to the fundamentals of trail lawyering, the Academy’s emphasis is focused on theory development (conceptualization), tactics (strategy), and effective presentation (persuasion).  The case files also present intricate practical and ethical questions that are carefully addressed throughout the program.

Many consider Temple’s Academy of Advocacy the best program of its kind.  The pace is intense but the rewards are considerable.  Over 800 graduates attest to the Academy’s design and value, and prominent alums continue to help reinvent the program.  The Academy’s national network remains another fixture of Temple’s legacy as a premier trial advocacy institution.