Workshop on writing legal briefs and oral advocacy held at American Center, Dhaka
The Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) of the United States Department of Justice organised a two-day workshop on ‘Techniques and Skills in Writing Legal Briefs and Oral Advocacy’ from August 13-14, 2018, at the American Center, Dhaka. The workshop aimed to train up the students who are pursuing a career in the legal arena as well as the ones aspiring to participate in national and international moot court competitions. More than 40 law students and accompanying faculty members from various universities of Bangladesh attended the workshop.
The Appellate Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Oregon, Ms. Kelly Zusman conducted the workshop. Furthermore, Mr. Gregory V Davis, Intermittent Legal Advisor, US Department of Justice, Mr. Eric Opanga, Resident Legal Advisor, US Department of Justice, and Ms. Sangita Gazi, Assistant Legal Advisor, US Department of Justice-OPDAT Bangladesh were present at the workshop and shared their views with the participants.
The first day of the workshop focused on the techniques of legal writing and research skills. Ms. Kelly Zusman trained the participants on the methods of drafting and editing case briefs in order to present a winning memorial in a moot court competition. Afterward, Mr. Gregory Davis conducted a session on the techniques of conducting legal research effectively and searching for case laws from legal databases to find the relevant case decisions from thousands of search results swiftly.
The next day of the workshop was dedicated to oral argumentation. The participants viewed various clips from the proceedings of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the global finals of the previous editions of Jessup Moot Court Competition in order to enhance their oral advocacy skills. They analyzed the clips and got to know more abouteloquently presenting arguments to the judges and responding to tough questions.
Throughout the workshop, the participants interacted with the facilitators and voiced out their queries regarding the problems that they usually face during the preparation phase of moot court competitions and the means to overcome such hurdles. This was a unique opportunity for them to develop their mooting and research skills, not only for participating in moot court competitions but also for their academic and professional careers. The takeaways from this workshop will immensely help the students on their journey to become better legal professionals as well as ace mooting competitions at home and abroad in future.
THE EVENT WAS COVERED BY ALI MASHRAF, STUDENT OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA.