BAR EXAM |

Roach, Dubose, Cox and Harris (adjuncts)

There are four professors that teach this course. All of the professors take turns in giving lectures on how to write a good appellate brief, petition for review, how to argue for petition for review, etc. Professor Randy Roach is the guru of Appellate Practice in Texas--listen closely to anything he says when he is critiquing your oral arguments. Warren Harris is a partner at Bracewell and Patterson. Sean Cox and Robert Dubose all work at Randy Roach's firm- Cook Roach, LLP. All of the materials you will need will be provided for you in the Copy Center so there are no books required. This class is a lot of work!!! You will have 4-5 oral arguments--4 of those arguments are graded. All of these four arguments will be taped so you can see yourself in action and hear the comments the professors make. You will have four written assignments--they will all be graded. The grade distribution will be given to you on the first day for the oral and written assignments. Be prepared for the judges to be hard on you when you are oral arguing (Note: Roach and Harris ask a lot of questions in oral arguments).

Warning!!! As I have said before, this class is a lot of work. The fact pattern that was given to us for the appellate brief was very hard (it was on insurance law, Prof. Roach's speciality) and it was even harder to argue. It seemed that during the semester there was always something that needed to be done in that class and there will be times where this class will be the priority of your other classes. This was a valuable learning experience and at the end, you will either love or hate appellate practice. One suggestion--for those who are on Moot Court, think twice about taking this course at the same time (especially if you are in a competition). It will help you build up your oration skills for the competitions however, with all of the work you have to do for the competitions and for Appellate Ad, it can (and will) drive you looney. Luckily for this class, there is no final!! The professors will say that the work in the class will veer off towards the end--whatever!! In Appellate Ad, you will have to work to do from the beginning until the end.

This review was submitted by Deonne R. Cunningham