Trial by Fire 

Students to argue actual cases again at UM’s

by Jeannie Waller

Third-year law students at UM will have an opportunity to argue an appellate case before the state Court of Appeals in 2007 through the law school’s Criminal Appeals Program. The 2006-07 academic year will be the third consecutive year for the Court of Appeals to host a special session on the UM campus.  
Eight third-year law students at The University of Mississippi will have a chance to argue an actual appellate case before graduating from law school next May.

Through a program directed by clinical professor Philip Broadhead, eight students will research, write and file briefs on three cases for the Criminal Appeals Program in UM’s National Center for Justice and the Rule of Law.

The program was created in 2002 to give third-year students practical experience in criminal law and procedure. It enables them to provide pro bono representation to indigent persons in cases pending before the state appellate courts.

Broadhead selects felony cases from circuit courts throughout the state for the first eight students who apply for the program.

If the court agrees to hear oral arguments for a case, then two students will be chosen to argue the case before a panel of three judges when the Court of Appeals holds its third consecutive special session on the UM campus in April.

Broadhead said the students working for the Criminal Appeals Clinic this semester will file a motion for rehearing that asks the court to reconsider its decision, followed by a petition. The students are allowed to present the cases under the Limited Practice Act, which requires them to be under the oversight and supervision of a clinical professor who is also a licensed attorney.

—Jeannie Waller

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