Preparing Mexico’s Judges for Legal Changes

U.S.-style oral arguments and cross-examinations will soon become part of Mexico’s legal system. In preparation for judicial reform, UNL law professor Steven Schmidt led a team of instructors that provided two weeklong trial advocacy courses for family law judges and magistrates of Mexico’s Superior Court. Participants learned every aspect of an oral adversarial trial as well as the judge’s role. Although the training familiarized participants with U.S.-style oral advocacy, it used facts and legal issues derived from Mexico’s judicial system. The collaborative agreement between UNL and Mexico’s Superior Court of Justice for the Federal District, signed in May 2013, builds on a partnership between the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and UNL’s College of Law. Previously, UNL provided advocacy training for Mexican lawyers for several years with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

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