Learn to advocate

Making the best case.

Good lawyering is about fighting hard – for justice, for your client, for what you believe in. That’s called advocacy, and at the School of Law you’ll learn to build your case and wage that fight skillfully, effectively and fairly.

The leadership and expertise for that focus comes from the Advocacy Institute, a high-caliber set of opportunities to develop and practice your advocacy skills under the guidance of some of the best legal advocates anywhere. That means real-world coaching as you compete in moot court and mock trial competitions at home and worldwide, including our popular nationwide Buffalo Niagara Mock Trial Competition (this student-run event sells out every year). Or try your hand in the growing field of legal mediation where you’ll learn how to maximize results for your future clients through advocacy at the mediation table. Many students say that these experiences are among the highlights of their law school career.

Another Advocacy Institute initiative is the Innocence and Justice Project, in which a select group of students seek out cases of individuals who assert that they’ve been wrongly convicted, and do the investigation, legwork and legal filings that could set them free. It’s important, difficult and rewarding work – and there’s no better laboratory for the skills of advocacy.