Professional Skills/Lawyering Skills/Simulation

The Family Law Clinic provides pro bono advice, counsel and representation to clients of the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law (the "Center") in a variety of family law matters, including but not limited to domestic violence, division of property, visitation, custody, parentage, and child support matters. Students in this Clinic will learn lawyering skills and provide high quality legal assistance to a vulnerable and underserved population in a community-based learning environment.

Cal Bar Writing: Skills and StrategiesCal Bar Writing: Skills and Strategies is an intensive workshop-style course that provides students with instructions and numerous hands-on practice opportunities focusing on the skills, strategies and select substantive law tested on the written portion of the California Bar Exam. Essay writing skills will be taught using select subjects and topics that are frequently bar tested.

Appellate Process and Brief Drafting provides students with additional instruction in appellate writing, strategy, and practice. Topics will include standing to appeal, the timing of an appeal, the extent of appellate review, and tips for effective appellate advocacy. Students will answer hypothetical fact patterns to test their understanding of these concepts. Students will also analyze various appellate briefs and opinions to further their understanding of what constitutes effective written appellate advocacy.

This three-unit spring course is designed to help students develop lawyering skills that students will need in their legal careers. The course continues to refine students' skills in the legal research, analysis and writing style techniques introduced in the fall semester LAWS I course. In addition, it adds instruction on persuasive legal writing. The course also includes assignments and lessons on professionalism, oral advocacy and client counseling. NOTE: First-year students will receive their specific LAWS section and professor information at or just before Orientation.

Students who have successfully completed the Community Lawyering Clinic can continue to further develop and refine their lawyering skills through direct representation of CSUN community members in immigration matters, community outreach and policy projects. Students will not participate in the weekly Community Lawyering Clinic classroom component; rather, they will work solely on clinic cases and projects. The course may be taken for 1 to 3 units upon approval from the Director of the Community Lawyering Clinic.

The Community Lawyering Clinic is a five-unit, graded semester course. There are no course prerequisites and no final examination. Interested students must submit an application and resume to Professor Julia Vazquez via the online student portal. Enrollment in the Clinic is limited. The Community Lawyering Clinic provides Southwestern Law Students ("students") with the opportunity to learn lawyering skills and provide high quality legal assistance to a vulnerable and underserved population in a community based learning environment.

The Ventura County Public Defender's Office and Southwestern Year-Long Externship is an opportunity for Southwestern students to work in the delinquency division of the Public Defender's Office and receive specialized training in and assisting with the representation of juveniles. Work in the externship will involve one or more of the following: initial client interviews, case evaluation and assessment, research and writing, appearances before the juvenile court, subpoena preparation, and writing and arguing (if certified) motions to expunge clients' prior convictions.

This course will offer students the opportunity to expand their skills in using primary and secondary legal sources and research the types of issues encountered in the practice of law. The course covers a range of topics, including in-depth statutory and case law research, legislative history, and administrative law research. Additionally, California practice materials and specialized topical resources will be examined. Students will be exposed to real-life situations, including the ethics of legal research and cost-effectiveness.

This course presents an overview of estate planning for individuals and focuses particularly on lifetime and death tax consequences to members of a family. Coverage includes estate, gift, corporate, partnership and individual tax issues. Issues regarding life insurance, trusts, wills, family transactions, investment analysis and other financial considerations are also discussed. Prerequisite: Wills & Trusts (360).

This is a hands-on course designed to train students in how to analyze technology contracts and how to draft some of today's most widely used forms of technology agreements. The course will take a detailed look at every aspect of contract drafting - why some clauses work and why others don't. Common provisions used in technology agreements will be reviewed in detail, particularly those standard, "boilerplate" terms that many lawyers have a tendency to skip over.