A Focus on ADVOCACY AND LAWYERING SKILLS 65+ courses and seminars such as: Alternative Dispute Resolution California Civil Litigation (Capstone) Complex Criminal Litigation (Capstone) Estate Planning and Drafting Interviewing, Counseling and Negotiating Trial Advocacy Windows Into Law Practice courses Opportunities beyond the classroom: On-campus clinics: Children’s Rights, DFEH Civil Rights, Immigration Law and Street Law Externship placements such as: ACLU of Southern California; El Rescate Legal Services; Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office; California Attorney General’s Office; Worker’s Compensation Appeals Board Year-long Externship Program with Children’s Law Center of California Practicums: Amicus Project, Appellate Litigation, Entertainment Law Firm, Entertainment Production, Immigration Appeals, Law Firm, Youth Offender Parole Hearings Intramural Competitions: Appellate, Negotiation and Trial Practice Honors Programs: Moot Court, Negotiation and Trial Advocacy Small Claims Court Project Student organizations and activities: Black Law Students Association; Contract Law Society; Homelessness Prevention Law Project; Hoover Elementary Mock Trial and ADR Project; Labor and Employment Law Association; Negotiation and Trial Advocacy teams; OneJustice and Justice Bus™; Student Mediation Association; Teen Court
10 10
Outstanding written and oral advocacy skills are essential for a successful career in the law. Southwestern’s comprehensive selection of courses, clinics, practicums, externships and honors programs provide tremendous opportunities for students to develop and hone their advocacy skills, beginning with our unique 3-track LAWS program in the first year, where they can choose to explore an appellate, negotiation or trial practice path.”
Professor Isabelle R. Gunning Professor of Law
B.A., Economics, 1977, and J.D., 1980, Yale University; Member, California State and District of Columbia Bars Courses: Alternative Dispute Resolution; Evidence; Immigration Law; International Protection of Human Rights; Interviewing Counseling and Negotiating; SCALE Evidence Law and Practice; Women and the Law Seminar
Following a clerkship with Chief Judge William Bryant of the U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia, Professor Gunning served as a staff attorney with the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C. A highly respected pro bono mediator, she has served in that capacity for the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Services Project, Gay and Lesbian Mediation Project, Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Martin Luther King Jr. Dispute Resolution Center, and Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center. For the ABA’s African Law Initiative and other entities, she traveled to Ethiopia, South Africa and Tanzania to speak on legal education and trial advocacy. Professor Gunning was the first African-American woman to serve as president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, and is a member of the National ACLU board.