Civil Motions Practice Workshop

About ninety-five percent of all cases settle before trial, making pretrial motion practice one of the most relevant and potentially important aspects of a litigator's arsenal. MCLE is pleased to offer this Civil Motions Practice Workshop, combining lectures aimed at the strategic, written, and oral aspects of motion practice, demonstrations, and on-your-feet oral argument practice before a Massachusetts judge. After hearing your oral argument, the judge offers personalized review and critique. This day-long workshop stresses the "learn-by-doing" method of skills training. Working in small groups, each participant argues a pretrial motion, either as the moving party or as the respondent.

During the workshop, faculty members address some of the practical and strategic aspects of written motion practice and demonstrate the skills of oral argument using an active case or one of the hypothetical problems provided in the workshop materials.

In advance of the workshop, participants receive detailed instructions, the workshop problems, and background resource materials in oral advocacy skills. In this workshop, you learn how to argue a motion effectively and persuasively. You walk away with the secrets of successful motion practice and with the confidence to become a better oral advocate. Each problem consists of a brief fact pattern, a summary of relevant law, and supporting evidence. The problems could include:

Agenda and written materials