589 Legislative Advocacy

This course is designed to introduce students to the state legislative process and prepare them to be competent, thoughtful advocates on behalf of community groups and coalitions. Through simulation activities, students will have multiple opportunities to learn how to engage in effective legislative and policy advocacy, including drafting legislative language, analyzing bills, creating advocacy materials, communicating with key stakeholders, and presenting testimony before a legislative body. Students will explore the legal and ethical dimensions of legislative advocacy and examine the different roles that lawyers can play in effecting change.

During the semester, students will take on the role of legislative advocate on behalf of a community group or coalition. They will follow the development of a piece of legislation from the idea phase through a public hearing. This process includes: (1) understanding a bill from the perspective of a community group/coalition; (2) defining the problem that may be solved (or created) by this bill’s passage; (3) drafting and re-drafting legislative language to strengthen and/or change the bill; (4) drafting a “backgrounder” for legislators and the general public; and (5) developing and presenting arguments in support of the bill. 

Students will work in teams of three or four to represent the interests of a simulated community group or coalition – their “client” – throughout the legislative process. Each student team’s client will represent a different perspective on the proposed bill. Class sessions will break down each procedural component and provide students with multiple opportunities to develop and practice their legislative advocacy skills simulated activities, written assignments, and reflections. Students will receive contemporaneous and written feedback from their professor and peers; students also will engage in regular self-assessment.

This course is open to 2L and 3L JD students. LLM students may enroll with permission of the instructor.

Course Areas of Practice
Evaluation Methods
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Class participation
Degree Requirements
Course Type
  • Simulation
Learning Outcomes
  • Knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law
  • Legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, problem-solving, and written and oral communication in the legal context

Sample Syllabi

Fall 2024

2024
Course Number Course Credits Evaluation Method Instructor

589.01 2
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Class participation
Allison Korn

This course is designed to introduce students to the state legislative process and prepare them to be competent, thoughtful advocates on behalf of community groups and coalitions. Through simulation activities, students will have multiple opportunities to learn how to engage in effective legislative and policy advocacy, including drafting legislative language, analyzing bills, creating advocacy materials, communicating with key stakeholders, and presenting testimony before a legislative body. Students will explore the legal and ethical dimensions of legislative advocacy and examine the different roles that lawyers can play in effecting change.

During the semester, students will take on the role of legislative advocate on behalf of a community group or coalition. They will follow the development of a piece of legislation from the idea phase through a public hearing. This process includes: (1) understanding a bill from the perspective of a community group/coalition; (2) defining the problem that may be solved (or created) by this bill’s passage; (3) drafting and re-drafting legislative language to strengthen and/or change the bill; (4) drafting a “backgrounder” for legislators and the general public; and (5) developing and presenting arguments in support of the bill. 

Students will work in teams of three or four to represent the interests of a simulated community group or coalition – their “client” – throughout the legislative process. Each student team’s client will represent a different perspective on the proposed bill. Class sessions will break down each procedural component and provide students with multiple opportunities to develop and practice their legislative advocacy skills simulated activities, written assignments, and reflections. Students will receive contemporaneous and written feedback from their professor and peers; students also will engage in regular self-assessment.

This course is open to 2L and 3L JD students. LLM students may enroll with permission of the instructor.

Grading Basis: Graded

Pre/Co-requisites
None

Fall 2023

2023
Course Number Course Credits Evaluation Method Instructor

589.01 2
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Class participation
Allison Korn

This course is designed to introduce students to the state legislative process and prepare them to be competent, thoughtful advocates on behalf of community groups and coalitions. Through simulation activities, students will have multiple opportunities to learn how to engage in effective legislative and policy advocacy, including drafting legislative language, analyzing bills, creating advocacy materials, communicating with key stakeholders, and presenting testimony before a legislative body. Students will explore the legal and ethical dimensions of legislative advocacy and examine the different roles that lawyers can play in effecting change.

During the semester, students will take on the role of legislative advocate on behalf of a community group or coalition. They will follow the development of a piece of legislation from the idea phase through a public hearing. This process includes: (1) understanding a bill from the perspective of a community group/coalition; (2) defining the problem that may be solved (or created) by this bill’s passage; (3) drafting and re-drafting legislative language to strengthen and/or change the bill; (4) drafting a “backgrounder” for legislators and the general public; and (5) developing and presenting arguments in support of the bill. 

Students will work in teams of three or four to represent the interests of a simulated community group or coalition – their “client” – throughout the legislative process. Each student team’s client will represent a different perspective on the proposed bill. Class sessions will break down each procedural component and provide students with multiple opportunities to develop and practice their legislative advocacy skills simulated activities, written assignments, and reflections. Students will receive contemporaneous and written feedback from their professor and peers; students also will engage in regular self-assessment.

This course is open to 2L and 3L JD students. LLM students may enroll with permission of the instructor.

Grading Basis: Graded

Syllabus: 589-01-Fall2023-syllabus.pdf175.55 KB

Pre/Co-requisites
None

*Please note that this information is for planning purposes only, and should not be relied upon for the schedule for a given semester. Faculty leaves and sabbaticals, as well as other curriculum considerations, will sometimes affect when a course may be offered.