Temple University Beasley School of Law presents: Why Get an LL.M in Trial Advocacy

Thursday, April 20, 2023
12:00 PM – 12:45 PM
Online

about the webinar

Please join us online for an in-depth information session on the LL.M. in Trial Advocacy program at Temple Law. This session will cover everything you need to know – from the way our faculty members utilize practical skills, theory, and knowledge in the classroom, to the opportunities the program offers, and program logistics like course formats, performance weekend details, and financial aid.

Professor Marian G. Braccia, the LL.M. Program Director, will share a program overview as well as key program dates, and Professor Jules Epstein, Director of Advocacy Programs, will provide an overview on the Evidence curriculum. Doug DiSandro, Jr., partner at Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky will share his experiences as a former LL.M. in Trial Advocacy student, as well as the advantages he received from the LL.M. training. DiSandro recently graduated from the program in 2022 and was awarded a Faculty Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy.

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Presenters

Marian G. Braccia

Director of the LL.M. in Trial Advocacy Program, Practice Professor of Law

Marian Braccia is the Director of the LL.M. in Trial Advocacy and a Practice Professor of Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law, where she brings particular expertise in courtroom technology, e-discovery issues, and trial skills. Prior to joining the full-time faculty, Professor Braccia taught Introduction to Trial Advocacy and an experiential course in criminal prosecution for several years as an adjunct in Temple’s trial advocacy program. She has also served as a coach for Temple’s National Trial Team.

Professor Braccia is an accomplished litigator, having served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office from 2006 to 2018 under D.A.s Abraham, Williams, Hodge, and Krasner. In addition to serving as a trial attorney in Major Trials and the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit, in 2012 Professor Braccia was appointed to a supervisory position in the District Attorney’s Charging Unit, and in 2014 launched Philadelphia’s Domestic Violence Diversion Program, assuming a caseload in excess of 200 dockets, monitoring participants’ treatment progress, and reporting on program statistics to the DOJ’s Office of Violence Against Women. In August 2017, she took on added responsibilities as Director of Information Technology for the DA’s Office.

She presents frequently on gender bias in the courtroom, particularly as it impacts transgender and gender-diverse people and cisgender women. Braccia also teaches lawyers in Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, and Peru the fundamentals of American trial advocacy through Temple’s Chilean pre-LL.M. program. She also teaches Evidence Law to Chinese legal professionals as part of the Temple-Tsinghua LL.M. degree program. Temple Law’s Trial Advocacy program has been consistently ranked among the top programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.

Doug DiSandro, Jr.

Partner, Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky

Doug DiSandro, Jr. is a personal injury attorney with the law firm of Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky in Philadelphia.  Doug’s practice is devoted to fighting on behalf of individuals and families who have suffered catastrophic injury or death in product liability, construction, maritime, workplace, trucking, and many other types of cases.  Since joining the firm in 2017, Doug has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of his clients in high profile and high stakes cases across the country.  In addition to representing victims of negligence, Doug has dedicated himself to giving back to the community and fighting for the rights of others, having served as a volunteer attorney for the Delaware Law School’s Veterans Law Clinic and continuing to carry an active caseload of pro bono clients through the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program (V.I.P.).  Doug lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two young children and is a proud member of the 2022 graduating class of Temple’s LL.M. in Trial Advocacy program.

Jules Epstein

Edward D. Ohlbaum Professor of Law, Director of Advocacy Programs

Jules Epstein is the Edward D. Ohlbaum Professor of Law and Director of Advocacy Programs at Temple University Beasley School of Law. He is a former partner at the highly respected Philadelphia criminal defense and civil rights firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg, & Lin LLP, where he remains of counsel. Professor Epstein teaches criminal law and evidence courses.

A 1978 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, Professor Epstein began his legal career with the Defender Association of Philadelphia. He was an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania from 1988 through 2006, has taught in and prepared materials for countless continuing legal education programs, and has authored dozens of articles and book chapters on criminal law and evidence topics. He served as a Professor of Law and the Director of the Taishoff Advocacy, Technology, and Public Service Institute at Widener School of Law before joining the faculty at Temple.

Professor Epstein’s work has concentrated, in recent years, on capital case, eyewitness, and forensics issues. He has taught death penalty law nationally to judges and attorneys, and continues to handle capital cases at the appellate and post conviction stages. In the area of eyewitness evidence, he has lectured, authored both articles and book chapters, and served as an expert witness.

Nationally, Professor Epstein served as a member of the National Commission on Forensic Science from 2013 until the Commission’s demise in 2017.  He was co-editor of SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE REVIEW: ADMISSIBILITY AND THE USE OF EXPERT EVIDENCE IN THE COURTROOM, MONOGRAPH NO. 9, (ABA Books, 2013) and THE FUTURE OF EVIDENCE (ABA Books, 2011). He is faculty for the National Judicial College, teaching courses to judges in advanced evidence and capital case law. In Pennsylvania, he is a member of a group of lawyers, judges and academics revising the Suggested Standard Jury Instruction, Criminal, and served on a commission addressing issues in cases of wrongful convictions.