# Trial practice

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**Trial practice** is an upper-level course offered in most American [law schools](/source/Law_school) designed to teach future [litigators](/source/Litigation) the fine points of presenting a case to a [judge](/source/Judge) and [jury](/source/Jury). Unlike most law school courses, a trial practice class has very little discussion of [substantive law](/source/Substantive_law), and is focused on the practical application of [public speaking](/source/Public_speaking), [narrative](/source/Narrative), and using [body language](/source/Body_language) to communicate a particular set of events to the triers of fact. Trial practice also contains elements of [strategy](/source/Strategy), teaching students how to decide the order in which witnesses should testify, when exhibits should be introduced, and how to trap opposing witnesses into giving testimony that damages their side.

[Evidence](/source/Evidence_(law)) is the area of substantive law most reinforced by a trial practice course, with students learning how to apply evidence law in a real-life setting, including learning when they can object to questions asked of witnesses, what objections to raise, and how to effectively present objections.

Trial practice courses may have a classroom component. Also, trial practice courses will usually have an ongoing "lab" component where an attorney will instruct a small group of students on trial skills and assist them in honing their craft. Often, students practice against one another in [mock trials](/source/Mock_trial) throughout the course; for example, students may be divided into groups of 4, with each group containing two teams who practice against one another in mock trials.

Rather than a [final exam](/source/Final_exam), the course may culminate in a mock trial with volunteer "witnesses".

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Trial practice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_practice) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_practice?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.