To Emulate a Trial

On May 20, 1998, the SLUG members gathered for lunch at the Delta King for a demonstration by Jules Rubinstein, of Practising Law Institute, the well-known legal skills training organization. A nonprofit since 1933, PLI does over 200 seminars per year.

Ms. Rubinstein demonstrated PLI's "Interactive Courtroom" instructional CD-ROMS. The ten CD-ROM titles cover negotiation, discovery, witness preparation and trial. The trial titles train you to make quick and accurate evidentiary objections.

When you launch Interactive Courtroom, you hear conversation buzzing among the courthouse entryway's marble columns. A courtroom clerk shows you around.

Then, opposing counsel and party witnesses clash in a colorful case of alleged breach of an entertainment industry contract. During the questioning, you can click on a blotter marked "Objection." Object without good grounds, and you risk a realistic judicial chewing-out. Object an instant too late, and the witness's answer can damage your case.

When you state your ground, the program counts it as right or wrong, gives the program authors' answer, and cites the pertinent rules or code sections. A click on the citation gets you the cited provision's full text.

The characters interact with you. The judges remember bad objections, and their words and body language convey escalating impatience with you for making them.

Interactive Courtroom gives you a wealth of information. Click on a book, and a detailed trial memo appears. Click on an "advisor" window, and an on-screen guru advises you. To take a break, you click on a water pitcher; the click pauses the action and pours you a cool (emulated) glass.

For the issues I confronted, the program's authors gave good answers. Once, however, I complained that an examiner who leaned threateningly over the witness stand was "badgering" the witness. The program expected "harassment" and gave me no credit. To avoid such synonymic snafus, you can choose from a pull-down menu of objections. Lest you try to use the menu as a multiple-choice crutch, its list of possible objections is as tall as the screen.

Reference

The Interactive Courtroom, Practising Law Institute, 695 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park 94025, (800) 373-1829, fax (888) 324-1991, www.pli.edu