{"id":113944,"date":"2018-02-20T23:50:30","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T23:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writemyessayfree.com\/court-observation-assignment"},"modified":"2017-08-03T16:11:20","modified_gmt":"2017-08-03T16:11:20","slug":"court-observation-assignment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/court-observation-assignment\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Observation Assignment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Court Observation Assignment<\/p>\n

Summary: Students will observe a judicial proceeding and write a short (1-3 page)<\/p>\n

paper summarizing their observations and analyzing how the events at the<\/p>\n

proceeding relate to a concept (or concepts) we cover in our course.<\/p>\n

Instructions: Students may attend a judicial proceeding in the court of their choice<\/p>\n

(Superior Court, Magistrate Court, Probate Court, Federal District Court, State or<\/p>\n

Federal Appellate Court, Tax Court, Bankruptcy Court, Traffic Court, Drug Court,<\/p>\n

etc.). The dockets and court calendar for many courts can be found on the court\u2019s<\/p>\n

website. For example, the Docket\/Calendar for Carroll County Superior Court is<\/p>\n

posted a week in advance here: http:\/\/www.carrollcountyclerk.com\/calendars.html<\/p>\n

and the proceedings begin at 9 AM. In addition, criminal preliminary hearings in<\/p>\n

Carroll County are held on the first Friday of the month at 8 AM at the Carroll<\/p>\n

County Jail. Whenever possible, students should be at the courtroom and ready to<\/p>\n

begin observation at the time the proceeding begins. If you are doing an afternoon<\/p>\n

observation in Superior Court, you may begin your observation after the lunch<\/p>\n

recess (typically 1 PM or shortly thereafter). Keep in mind that courts recess at<\/p>\n

good stopping points, not on a fixed schedule, so the lunch recess may be earlier or<\/p>\n

later than the noon hour. Do NOT go into the courtroom in the middle of a<\/p>\n

proceeding. If you arrive at court after the morning proceedings have begun or after<\/p>\n

the lunch recess has ended, you will need to wait until a break to enter the<\/p>\n

courtroom. There typically is a 5 minute break about every hour to hour and a half.<\/p>\n

Once you enter the courtroom, do not leave until the next break (this may be an<\/p>\n

hour or two later).<\/p>\n

Make a note of the case name and number, the date and time of your observation<\/p>\n

(including how long you stayed), the name of the judge, parties, and attorneys (if<\/p>\n

you catch them), and a list of the issues to be addressed that day (e.g., summary<\/p>\n

judgment motion, voir dire of prospective jurors, status conference, motion to<\/p>\n

dismiss, direct examination of witness, cross-examination of witnesses, motions in<\/p>\n

limine outside the presence of the jury, etc.). Also, pay attention to the demeanor of<\/p>\n

the attorneys in the courtroom. Are they respectful\/deferential to the judge? Are<\/p>\n

they argumentative? Do they have different styles (forceful, laid back, cordial,<\/p>\n

aggressive, etc.)? Take notes throughout the proceeding to use in drafting your<\/p>\n

paper later. Your notes will be turned in as part of your assignment submission.<\/p>\n

Once you return home, review your notes\/textbook on the concepts addressed in<\/p>\n

the court proceeding and write your paper discussing how what you observed<\/p>\n

relates to the concepts in our course, how your observation improved your<\/p>\n

understanding of those concepts, and anything remarkable that struck you as<\/p>\n

interesting or something you learned that you did not know beforehand.<\/p>\n

Logistics of Courtroom Observations:<\/p>\n

If you will be observing in Superior Court or a court in a relatively large jurisdiction,<\/p>\n

please refer to the online calendar or, if one is not available, call the Clerk of Court to<\/p>\n

determine what types of cases are being heard on the day you plan to attend court.<\/p>\n

The following types of cases are NOT suitable for observations without advance<\/p>\n

approval from the professor: domestic violence actions, child custody disputes,<\/p>\n

child support disputes, legitimation hearings, adoptions, child name change<\/p>\n

proceedings, or other sensitive litigation involving families and especially children.<\/p>\n

Those types of proceedings are deserving of privacy, and they do not tend to relate<\/p>\n

to business law anyway.<\/p>\n

NOTE: If for some reason you strongly desire to view one of these types of<\/p>\n

proceedings, you can see me and make your request far enough in advance for me to<\/p>\n

contact the attorneys and see if they would mind having a student observe the<\/p>\n

proceeding. I will not accept submissions for observations in these proceedings<\/p>\n

unless you have received express permission in advance from me to attend.<\/p>\n

General Note: Normally, the only people who attend court proceedings are the<\/p>\n

parties, their family members, witnesses that will be called to testify, and the<\/p>\n

parties\u2019 attorneys. It is not customary to have strangers or visitors in the<\/p>\n

courtroom, so the judge and attorneys may be a bit surprised that you are there.<\/p>\n

In addition, in most trials or hearings involving witnesses, the attorneys will invoke<\/p>\n

the \u00c7\u00b2rule of sequestration,\u00c7\u00b3 which prevents witnesses from remaining in the<\/p>\n

courtroom during the hearing or trial. If the \u00c7\u00b2rule\u00c7\u00b3 is invoked, all witnesses will be<\/p>\n

ordered by the judge to leave the courtroom. What this means is that you will<\/p>\n

probably be the only person left in the courtroom. If this happens, the judge or<\/p>\n

attorneys will almost certainly ask you who you are and why you are still in the<\/p>\n

courtroom. You should respectfully state that you are a student at University<\/p>\n

of West Georgia and are there to observe a judicial proceeding as part of your<\/p>\n

business law course. Ask them if it is ok for you to remain in the courtroom to<\/p>\n

quietly observe the proceedings. The judge will more than likely tell you that it is<\/p>\n

fine for you to stay. The judge and attorneys will probably be genuinely happy<\/p>\n

(maybe even a little flattered) that you have chosen to observe them. In rare<\/p>\n

instances, the proceeding may be closed to the public. In that case, they might ask<\/p>\n

you to leave. This is not usual, and I do not think you will have any problems<\/p>\n

remaining in the courtroom to observe. If this does happen to you, let me know, and<\/p>\n

we will discuss how you will receive credit on the assignment.<\/p>\n

BUSA 2106 Observation Form for Court Proceedings<\/p>\n

Student\u2019s Name:_______________________________________<\/p>\n

Date of Observation:__________________________________<\/p>\n

Venue and Court: ______________________________________<\/p>\n

Name of Case: __________________________________________<\/p>\n

Presiding Judge: _______________________________________<\/p>\n

Attorney (Plaintiff\/Petitioner):_______________________<\/p>\n

Attorney (Defendant\/Respondent):__________________<\/p>\n

Type of Proceeding:____________________________________<\/p>\n

Brief Description of Case:________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Student Notes from the Proceeding:____________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

__________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Court Observation Assignment Summary: Students will observe a judicial proceeding and write a short (1-3 page) paper summarizing their observations and analyzing how the events at the proceeding relate to a concept (or concepts) we cover in our course. Instructions: Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113944\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}