CSP Home

Staff

Course Info & Prework

Schedule

Course Descriptions

Course Resources

This course prepares non-lawyer professionals to participate effectively in legal proceedings. The course is designed to enhance the competence and a comfort level@ of personnel required to provide testimony during trials, administrative hearings or depositions. Specific references are made to Federal regulations with generic applicability to state, county and local regulations and ordinances. Topics discussed include: pretrial discovery; burden of proof; the Afundamental rule of evidence@; how lab and field work relate to testimony; hearsay and its exceptions as evidence; the Abest evidence rule@; organization of testimony; and cross-examination. A major course exercise will be a mock court room trial.

College Credit: 1 semester hour

Who Should Attend: Personnel who need to learn skills that will be useful in court proceedings and other formal meetings. No previous knowledge of environmental law is required.

Length: 3 days/24 hours

Objectives: By the end of this session, the participant will be able to:

• Collect, organize and present testimony within the legal framework;
• Maintain professional integrity within the context of courtroom procedures;
• Endure cross-examination;
• Work effectively with attorneys;
• Describe how lab and field work relates to testimony; and
• Describe terms used in court such as exhibit, deposition, testimony, hearsay, rules of evidence, and chain of custody.