MarcFriedenberg.com

This course explores how facts get proved in court in civil and criminal actions (with a slight bias toward the criminal side). The focus will be on the Federal Rules of Evidence. Considerable time will be spent on the central concepts of “relevance” and “prejudice,” and an extended treatment of the hearsay rule and its many exceptions will give the class practice in refining theories of evidentiary use and misuse. The interplay between the hearsay rule and the Constitution will also be examined. In addition, we will consider character evidence, the impeachment of witnesses, and the introduction of physical and expert evidence. The course uses a mix of problems and cases, and requires a degree of class participation.

Law is a profession that runs on information, and students who understand how to operate in the information age are in a unique position to develop their talent fully, whether they go on to work in the private, governmental, or public-interest sectors. That is why leaders of the bar, judges, and the most prestigious public-interest organizations in New York City turn to students in the Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic for help with pressing challenges. While many law schools now offer law-and-technology courses, Columbia has pioneered the study of how technology affects the practice of law. Students in the clinic learn contemporary law practice through hands-on experience using the digital technologies that are reshaping the profession.

In the classroom, students learn and practice basic skills, such as interviewing and counseling, with an emphasis on using digital technology to help make these very human encounters satisfying and productive. In addition, students employ technology as they draft pleadings, plan case strategy, and advocate in a variety of settings. Beyond learning how to adapt technology to assist in these traditional activities, students acquire the new skills that are transforming law practice - knowledge management, electronic fact gathering, and presentation.

Clinic students work shoulder-to-shoulder, both in person and in an online environment, with lawyers for a wide range of public-interest organizations and members of the judiciary. Among other projects, students have handled eviction cases, advocated with administrative agencies to restore essential government benefits, represented victims of domestic violence, organized the pro bono efforts of the private bar in the wake of 9/11, and worked with grassroots community groups to press for affordable housing. Recently, clinic students, working in collaboration with the New York City Civil Court, began to develop an online, automated tenants’ response to eviction proceedings, which could serve the needs of the hundreds of thousands of tenants who face eviction each year without the hope of obtaining a lawyer. Students emerge with a combination of contemporary legal and technical skills that gives them a considerable professional edge as they enter the practice of law.

The course has two major goals: to engage students in a critical review of the substantive law governing the gathering and dissemination of information by print, broadcast and Internet; and to achieve a fresh understanding of the appropriateness and adequacy of the constitutional protection that this body of law affords the nation’s public media.