Closing Argument Presentations at the National Aviation University

Ironically, our smallest group of law students at this point in the semester comes from the National Aviation University, with a student population of 35,000. We found upon arrival that the most fluent English speaking students from our class had been invited by the faculty to attend a special program at the U.S. Embassy.

Nevertheless, we proceeded to practice the closing argument with the smaller group in attendance tonight. In order to help them to be better prepared, Olga and I counseled with and helped them with lingering questions and concerns, and then we allowed both the students presenting for the prosecution and the defense to meet together to give mutual support in their final preparations.

The end result exceeded my expectations. We had very good performances from several students, including especially Katya, who is very fluent in English, having been an exchange student in Texas for nine months. Overall I was pleased with the effort, and hope to see the other stronger students return next week to work on opening statements.

Closing Argument Presentations at Kyiv International University

I heard three prepared--and two unprepared and extemporaneous--closing arguments at the Kyiv International University of Law and Economics today. The presentations were of varying strength. It was interesting that the unprepared presentations were offered by students with superior language and speaking ability, but they lacked the insight that would have come from a careful study of the case file. Among the prepared presentations, I was most impressed with that of Anastasia (accent on the second to last syllable, thus: An-a-sta-SEE-a), who had obviously done her homework. Nevertheless, there is enough ability in this group to give the other law schools a run for their money, provided that they can buckle down and prepare themselves.

Closing Argument Presentations at the National Economic University

My long teaching day ended on a very high note in the law school mock trial room at the Vadym Hetman National Economic University of Kyiv. I heard from five students who had prepared to deliver closing arguments. The presenters had all done their homework, and I was blown away with their minute comprehension of the intricate details of the case file. In preparing to come to Kyiv I had studied the case file many times over a period of three months, and yet these young students, working in a foreign language, had perceived factual nuances and arguments which I had entirely overlooked. Only one of the students, Kate, chose to present for the prosecution, and she was truly outstanding, presenting a comprehensive and persuasive case-in-chief. The other students all presented argument for the defense. I was struck by the diverse theories and themes they developed. Each of them were very powerful and ingenious. While I have been very impressed with the performance to date of individual students from all of the schools, the law students from the National Economic University, as a group, seem the ones to beat in the Spring mock trial competition. Today's interaction with these beautiful and bright young people was a pure delight.

Teaching at "KROK"

Today was my first experience teaching at the 15,000 student Ukrainian Economics and Law University (Університет Економіка та Права), also popularly known as "KROK," or "Step." I met with a small class in the mock trial room of the law school. Because we teach only a single two and a half hour session each week at KROK, the students did not have the benefit of two days preparation time which the other closing argument presenters enjoyed. I spent the first hour of my lecture going over the case file with the students and discussing presentation strategies with them. During the second hour about six of the students were brave enough to attempt a largely extemporaneous argument. Interestingly, at KROK, as with the other two law schools I worked at today, only a single student (in each case a woman) was brave enough to present for the prosecution. All of the others elected to argue the defense case. I suppose this was out of a mistaken belief that the defense case was easier. This, of course, is not the case, as the case file is so carefully crafted with balanced arguments for either side, that it doesn't really make any tactical difference to choose one side over the other. At KROK I was most impressed with the presentations of Ludmilla (seated on the front row at the right), who presented for the prosecution, and with Tanya (second from the left) who presented for the defense. Olga also tells me that there are other very promising students at KROK who were not in attendance today.

Closing Argument Presentations at the Academy

This morning I worked with the law students at the Kyiv Academy of Advocates as several of them presented closing arguments. A large number of fellow law students joined us in the large ground floor presentation hall with its round vaulted ceiling. I made particular note of the passion and focus which the presenters brought to their work. They were well prepared and very polished. I was especially impressed with Taisia (pictured on the left) and Aleksey (receiving his gift shirt, below), who presented for the Prosecution and Defense respectively, and who won the mock trial competition this past Spring. These two, in particular, show great promise as trial advocates. All of the presenters spoke either without notes or only with a small number of notes, which helped their connection with the potential jury. They were also very sharp in illuminating key details from the case file. It appears that a number of Academy students from this year will want to participate in the year end mock trial, including some participants from last year. I expect great things from a number of these fine young law students. With such dedicated members of the bar in Ukraine, the future of this awakening Democracy looks very bright.