Soon-to-graduate law students spoke directly with Lancaster County judges inside their courtrooms thanks to the efforts of Lancaster County District Court Judge Robert Otte and Ms. Molly Brummond, Assistant Dean for External Relations at the UNL College of Law.

In late February, five Lancaster County Judges hosted the county’s first Walk Through the Courts. UNL Law Students were invited to 5 courtrooms (4 District and 1 County) and engaged in five different discussions about the courts and the litigation process. Molly Brummond, Kevin Ruser, Steve Schmidt, and Ryan Sullivan from UNL attended with approximately sixty 3rd-year UNL Law students.

Judge Kevin McManaman provided a welcome and introduction in Courtroom 30 after which students split into four groups and dispatched to the various courtrooms where the following topics were covered:

Courtroom #34, District Court Judge Robert Otte:
Care and feeding of your judge: Soft skills and unwritten rules that you should know (and judges expect) when you’re a newly minted lawyer.

Courtroom #33, District Court Judge Andrew Jacobson
A fistful of traps for new lawyers. How to avoid common pretrial, trial and post-trial mistakes.

Courtroom #36, District Court Judge Susan Strong
“We made too many wrong mistakes.” (Yogi Berra).  Navigating the main practice areas under the jurisdiction of the District Court.

Courtroom #23: County Court Judge Matt Acton
The wild west of county court: Small claims, probate & estates, felonies and everything in between.