Product Description

Due to high demand, registration for the program is closed. Please contact MCLE Customer Service at 1-800-966-6253 if you would like to be added to the wait list.

This intensely challenging, five-day course gets you “on your feet” under the rigorous scrutiny of judges and leading practitioners. Join the scores of divorce lawyers who have polished their courtroom effectiveness in this workshop’s supportive environment, learning trial advocacy from motion practice—to expert witness examination—to final argument. You won’t find another training experience quite like this one. 

In each class session, you perform as trial counsel in phases of an ongoing trial. Your week begins with admitting exhibits and demonstrative evidence. By Day 5, you’re examining actual real estate and psychological experts. Your recorded performances are fully critiqued, both in group settings and one-on-one, with faculty members. 

Throughout the week, you observe expert domestic relations practitioners demonstrate effective trial techniques. Between “courtroom” performances the faculty lectures on family law trial topics. On the final day of this intensive workshop experience, you’re the leading counsel in a full-blown divorce trial. All the skills you learned during the week are on display before a Probate and Family Court judge, who concludes the session with a frank, no-holds-barred critique of your trial performance and newly-found advocacy skills. 

Such a rite of passage for excellence in family law, the Greater Boston Family Law American Inn of Court has chosen this program to partner with—offering a full scholarship to one worthy applicant. Open to lawyers only, this program gives you newfound confidence in yourself. 

Workshop benefits

• Receive feedback on your performance from over twenty-five top domestic relations trial lawyers and judges
• Review your videotaped performances in private with an experienced divorce trial lawyer
• Observe expert family law practitioners demonstrate advocacy techniques that they have found effective at trial
• Examine real experts—GALs, family service officers, and appraisers
• Network with dozens of expert family law practitioners
• Practice trial techniques in a supportive environment where stakes are low but learning potential is high

Agenda & Materials

• Monday, June 6
  8:30 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.

  Uncontested and Contested Motions; Opening Statements; Direct and Cross-Examination
• Tuesday, June 7
  9:00 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.

  Direct and Cross of Experts; Financial Statements
• Wednesday, June 8
  9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

  Common Evidentiary Problems; Closing Arguments; Lawyer Relations
• Thursday, June 9
  9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

  Trial Preparation; Conferences with an Expert
• Friday, June 10
  9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

  Trial

Please Note

MCLE webcasts are delivered completely online, underscoring their convenience and appeal. There are no published print materials. All written materials are available electronically only. They are posted 24 hours prior to the program and can be accessed, downloaded, or printed from your computer.

Cochairs

Faculty