Class Information
Fall 2026
5314 Lawyering Skills and Strategies - A2 - GOMEZ- 12466
Professor(s):
Alissa Gomez (CLINICAL FACULTY [405(b)])
Credits: 3
Course Areas: 1st Year - Section A
Time: 1:00p-2:30p M 2:30p-4:00p TH Location: Mon-102B TH-213
Course Outline: Lawyering Skills and Strategies I will focus on an introduction to the American legal system and the underlying skills and strategies that lawyers must possess to succeed within it. By working through fact-specific problems both inside and outside the classroom, students will learn to identify legal issues; to locate and to assess the governing law; to gather initial facts from the client; to communicate with the client; to analyze legal issues within the context of particular fact patterns; to cite to the governing law; and to write clear and concise documents that reflect that legal analysis or that address the client’s transactional needs.
Course Syllabus: Syllabus
Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid-term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.
Prerequisites:
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule:
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: No
Experiential Course Type: No
Bar Course: No
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Unavailable (Required Course)
Course Materials
Book(s) Required
Course Materials: Becoming a Legal Writer, Robin Boyle-Laisure, Christine Coughlin, & Sandy Patrick, (2d Ed., Carolina Academic Press 2025). 9781531023812 • The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (22nd ed. 2025). 9798218574574
You must purchase a print copy of the Bluebook, as you will need it for in-class
assignments and on the final exam, when you will not have internet access. You
will also need the Bluebook for the Spring semester and for summer employment
opportunities, so it is best that you buy (rather than rent) the Bluebook. If you want
to purchase online access, you may do that too, but the print book is required.
