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Developing Professional Skills: Criminal Law

1st Edition
Douglas A. Blaze | Joy Radice
ISBN: 9780314279804
Subject: Criminal Law
Format: Print - Softbound
Page Count: 159
Copyright: 2017 | Status: In Stock
Other Formats Available

This creative and original book provides ten independent exercises designed to help students master Criminal Law through real legal problems. Working with these exercises, students will tackle difficult criminal law questions to increase their understanding of the course topics while simultaneously developing skills in client interviewing and counseling, legal drafting, negotiation, and advocacy. These exercises also make it easier to integrate skills training into a traditional criminal law course.

Each exercise is based on fundamental criminal law concepts so that the book can supplement any criminal law casebook. Students learn criminal law doctrine through problems requiring them to:

  • Negotiate a plea agreement about an appropriate sentence
  • Interview and counsel clients about their charges
  • Write an email to a supervising prosecutor
  • Prepare a defense letter to a prosecutor countering a plea offer
  • Draft an amendment to a criminal statute
  • Make a closing argument
The book also provides a brief overview and tips for effective interviewing, negotiation, and counseling to help students begin the process of mastering the relevant skills. And it situates the lawyering exercises in the context of related professional responsibility rules.


Imprint: West Academic Publishing
Series: Developing Professional Skill
Publication Date: 02/24/2017
Related Subject(s): Professional Identity Formation

Douglas A. Blaze, University of Tennessee College of Law

Joy Radice, University of Tennessee College of Law

CasebookPlus™

This title is available in our CasebookPlus format. CasebookPlus provides support beyond your classroom lectures and materials by offering additional digital resources to you and your students. Anchored by faculty-authored formative self-assessments keyed to our most popular casebooks, CasebookPlus allows students to test their understanding of core concepts as they are learning them in class – on their own, outside of the classroom, with no extra work on your part. CasebookPlus combines three important elements:

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Multiple-choice self-assessment questions, including:
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  • Black Letter Law questions (available in select subjects)
  • Subject area review questions for end of semester use
Essay and short answer questions with sample answers and expert commentary, in 1L and select upper-level subjects

Leading digital study aids, an outline starter, and audio lectures in select subjects

Students can still utilize CasebookPlus digital resources if they’ve purchased a used book or are renting their text by purchasing the Learning Library at westacademic.com.

With CasebookPlus, you can customize your students’ learning experience and monitor their performance. The quiz editor allows you to create your own custom quiz set, suppress specific quiz questions or quiz sets, and time-release quiz questions. Additionally, the flexible, customized reporting capability helps you evaluate your students’ understanding of the material and can also help your school demonstrate compliance with the new ABA Assessment and Learning Outcomes standards.

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