Spanish Trial Skills Academy Welcomes 30 Peruvian Attorneys
Proyecto ACCESO teaches valuable oral trial advocacy skills to Peruvian prosecutors
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Adjunct Professor Lilia A. Velasquez instructs Chilean attorneys at a similar Trial Skills Academy held earlier this spring
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SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2010 - The Trial Skills Academy at California Western School of Law welcomes 30 attorneys from Peru June 18 through 22. Sponsored by Proyecto ACCESO, the five-day program teaches Peruvian prosecutors from the Escuela del Ministerio Pública (School of the Prosecutor) litigation skills.
"We are not only exporting a set of practical skills to legal professionals in Peru, we are spreading the positive aspects of our legal culture," says Assistant Dean for Mission Development and Director of Proyecto ACCESO Jamie Cooper.
The Trial Skills Academy is the only program in the United States that offers Spanish-language instruction of oral trial advocacy skills to Latin American attorneys. Instructors are top Spanish-speaking deputy district attorneys from San Diego: Giacomo W. Bucci and Victor M. Nunez. Lilia E. Garcia, another instructor, is with the California Attorney General Office. In the past, their instruction has helped train some of the best trial lawyers from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.
Problem Solving with a Global Perspective
As part of the Trial Skills Academy, attendees will visit the U.S.-Mexico international border to take a tour with the U.S. Border Patrol, giving context to the issues facing law enforcement officials.
Through partnerships with the local Bench and Bar, and the legal community along the U.S.-Mexico border, Proyecto ACCESO helps Latin American countries transition legal systems from the inquisitorial to the adversarial model, found in the U.S.
"We are moving legal systems from the darkness to the light, changing centuries of corrupt, opaque, and inherently unfair criminal and other procedures," says Cooper.
With this transition comes a set of unique challenges that require a multi-dimensional approach to problem solving. California Western teaches attorneys to think creatively in the Trial Skills Academy.
About the Trial Skills Academy
During the Trial Skills Academy, attorneys become more efficient in trial techniques and strategies through role-playing the defense and prosecution in a simulated case.
After the five-day seminar, the Peruvian attorneys will be more prepared to:
- give solid opening statements;
- examine witnesses with confidence during direct and cross-examinations;
- give convincing closing arguments;
- and develop better trial strategies.
Proyecto ACCESO Educates Legal Professionals
Since its inception, Proyecto ACCESO has trained thousands of legal professionals in the Americas, from judges to public defenders, private lawyers, and law enforcement agents, on ways to promote the rule of law in their countries.
"The rule of law helps everyone," says Cooper. "It helps indigenous peoples, students, workers, women's groups, multinational corporations, and governments. With the rule of law comes the enforcement of contracts, shareholder and IP rights, and the protection of fundamental human and civil rights." | 
