The Temple LL.M. in Trial Advocacy offers an unparalleled opportunity: to go back to school with the benefit of knowing what you do not know and with an awareness of your weakest attributes as an attorney. When I enrolled in the LL.M. program, I had a little more than 4 years of practical, hands-on experience as a trial attorney: multiple jury trials, hundreds of depositions, and countless court appearances. What all of that experience gave me is a clear and honest view of the chinks in my armor, the flaws in my abilities as a trial attorney. It was only with that recognition and years of opportunity to learn what I had worked on that I could go back to school to learn and re-learn how to be a great attorney.
The LL.M. program allowed me to take risks that I would otherwise not be able to take when representing actual clients. I was able to find out what worked for me, both inside the courtroom and outside the courtroom. I learned to think about the big picture of theme and theory and to begin planning for trial before the case was ever put into suit rather than weeks or months before picking a jury. This program allowed me to re-learn and truly master the rules of evidence with the knowledge and hindsight of how they apply in the practice of law, something I could not begin to comprehend when I first learned the rules of evidence in my J.D. program.
I would recommend the Temple LL.M. Program to any attorney with real-world experience who truly wants to master his or her craft. It’s true that practice makes perfect, but the LL.M. program is the only place (that I am aware of) where a lawyer can actually practice and test out the tools that he or she needs to work on, without jeopardizing the legal rights of their clients. In short, the Temple LL.M. program is the ultimate laboratory to achieve maximum professional growth whether you are 4 or 24 years out of law school! I would recommend it to any one of my colleagues.
Michael Budner, ‘17
Saltz Mongeluzzi Barret & Bendesky, Philadelphia, PA