Business LAW "Court Observation Assignment"

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Bus 201

Court Observation Assignment

Your assignment is to write about your court observation. You should attend a criminal

or a civil trial, preferably not family at the King County Superior Court. If you cannot

find anything else, you can do a family law case but please look for a non-family law

civil case first. I prefer superior court to district court, because it is easier to find civil

trials in superior court.

You should view a trial session not a motion session. What distinguishes a trial from a

hearing or motion session is that the former have witnesses who testify and are subject to

direct and cross examination. A COURT APPEARANCE WHERE A DEFENDANT

MERELY PLEADS GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY TO A CHARGE OR WHERE

ATTORNEYS ARGUE MOTIONS IS NOT A TRIAL SESSION. This is true even if

the guilty pleas are followed by sentencing.

Morning sessions generally start around 8:30 a.m. and afternoon sessions usually start

around 1:30 p.m. It is up to each individual judge to determine when he or she wants to

start their court sessions. There are two King County Superior courthouses. One is

located on 516 3 rd

Avenue in Seattle and the second courthouse is located at 401 4 th

Avenue North in Kent. For more information on the King County Superior Court, visit

the home page at http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/SuperiorCourt.aspx. THERE IS

NO JURY ACTIVIY ON FRIDAYS SO YOU CANNOT GO TO COURT ON

FRIDAYS.

Please note that often the plaintiff/state and defendant will resolve the case on the day of

the trial or the day before and the trial will be canceled. If you are interested in seeing a

particular case, I encourage you to call the court clerk in the morning to verify that the

case you want to see will be in session that day. There is always something to observe in

the court and you should not fail to attend simply because a case you may have wanted to

see will not be in session.

I would like you to write a minimum of 5 pages double spaced re: what you observed.

You should locate the Civil Rules that apply to what you are observing if at all possible.

You should answer the following questions:

1. What type of action did you see? Describe the situation at hand. What point in

the litigation process was it?

2. Did you see any paralegals associated with the case?

3. Were the attorneys clear and audible? How did the attorneys present themselves?

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4. If you heard witnesses, did you find some more believable than others? Why or

why not?

5. Was there a jury? Describe the scene generally.

6. Is this what you expected? Why or why not?

7. What Civil or Local Rules were involved in the case?

8. Did you observe the Judge using any "local local" rules?

9. Describe the roles of any other people present in the courtroom (bailiff, court

clerk, etc.)

10. What else would you want the class to know about what you saw?

Please do not attempt to write testimony from the proceeding. This paper is not about

what witnesses, attorneys, or the judge said in open court. If I want or need to read the

testimony from the court, I can get an official trial transcript from the clerk. This paper is

about your thoughts and impressions on the court and why you have those opinions.

The report must be typed with 1 inch margins and 12 point font. The grading rubric for

this paper will be posted on Angel. The pages of this paper should be attached by staples.

Paper clips or other means of attaching multiple pages (other than staples) are not

acceptable.

The due date of the paper will be posted on Angel. Late papers will receive a 10%

deduction for every 3 days past the due date. Failure to submit the paper will result in a

grade of Incomplete for the class.

Parking is expensive and hard to find sometimes, so you may want to attend the session

with other students. However, the paper must be written by each student without input

from other sources or students.

I hope you have fun with this assignment. The court staff, prosecutors, and public

defenders serve a vital role in the court process and they all know students are coming to

observe sessions. They are all over worked and under paid busy professionals but, if you

have a chance to talk to them, they may answer some of your questions.

Finally, once you have gone to court, check with me and I will find time for you to

present your experience in class. I expect that people will go to court at different times

throughout the quarter, and that way, we will be able to enjoy the stories throughout the

quarter. The last day to present is the class before our final exam.