Charleston Law launches Center for Trial Advocacy

A new practice center at the Charleston School of Law will sharpen lawyers‘ and law students‘ trial skills, a news release from the school says.

One of the school’s professors, Suzanne Chapman, also has been named the inaugural director of the center.

“For alumni and other members of the local legal community, the Center for Trial Advocacy will provide opportunities to engage with law students and with each other to improve their own courtroom skills through CLEs, speaking events, conferences, and other practical hands-on opportunities,” the release says.

The center also will house the current school’s co-curricular Trial Advocacy Board, an organization of students who have been selected to represent the law school at national trial competitions.

Said Chapman: “The opening of the Center not only recognizes our students’ previous achievements but also provides them with future opportunities to engage with, learn from, and work beside leaders in the field of litigation. We are excited about the future of the Charleston Law Center for Trial Advocacy and the opportunities it affords our students and the larger advocacy community.”

Chapman teaches legal writing, trial advocacy, advanced evidence, and construction law and has served as the faculty adviser to the Trial Advocacy Board since June 2023, the release says. In 2024, she was appointed as Region 5 representative for the National Association of Legal Advocacy Educators.