Integrated Trial Advocacy Program (ITAP)
The Beasley School of Law, named after one of Philadelphia's greatest trial attorneys, is well known for its intensive trial program.
The Integrated Trial Advocacy Program, or ITAP, is a sequence of four classes designed to give students the knowledge and practice to be effective advocates in the courtroom. Law students in the ITAP program are generally in their second year of schooling, although some students choose to take the program in their third year.
During the Fall semester, students take Evidence and Trial Advocacy I concurrently. Evidence classes are typically large in size (50-60 persons) while Trial Advocacy classes are typically 12-person sections designed to allow each student adequate time to practice their skills. Students are required to apply the Evidentiary rules and tactics learned in Evidence class to mock trial scenarios in Trial Advocacy I. Scenarios will typically be based on a fictitious case file, and students practice direct examinations, cross examinations, opening and closing arguments, and motions arguments. Many Trial Advocacy professors encourage open objections, where anyone in the class, and not just the opposing counsel, may raise objections during examinations of witnesses. By the end of Trial Advocacy I, each student (paired with another student as co-counsel) will have tried a complete mock case against another pair of students.
During the Spring semester, students take a practical course in Civil Procedure (as opposed to the more academic Jurisdictional Civil Procedure taught to first years) and Trial Advocacy II. During this phase of the ITAP program, students practice arguing motions, qualifying expert witnesses, and conducting depositions. Like Trial Advocacy I, Trial Advocacy II requires that each student (along with another student as co-counsel) try a complete mock case against another pair of students.
Evidence and Civil Procedure classes in ITAP are typically taught by full-time faculty members, while Trial Advocacy sections are usually taught by adjuncts who are themselves practicing trial attorneys or judges.
Read more about this topic: Temple University Beasley School Of Law
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