Abstract
In the first issue of the Clinical Law Review, Peter Hoffman challenged clinical legal educators to "take skills seriously" by producing clinical scholarship that is "practical in its orientation and design" and written so as to enhance the ability of lawyers to represent their clients and to help law students prepare for law practice. To Hoffman, the best clinical scholarship about skills combines theory and practice, but ultimately is grounded in actual lawyering experiences. Finally, Hoffman insisted, if skills-focused clinical scholarship is to be useful, it must be written so that lawyers and law students can read, understand and, above all, apply the analysis provided in that scholarship to the task of representing their clients. This article takes up Hoffman's challenge in the context of examining the skill of negotiating or plea bargaining from the perspective of the criminal defense lawyer. I decided to focus on this particular skill for two reasons. As anyone familiar with the criminal justice system recognizes, criminal defense lawyers spend much of their time "plea bargaining." Indeed, the vast majority of criminal cases are resolved by a guilty plea. It seemingly would follow then, that criminal defense lawyers interested in obtaining the best results possible for their clients would concentrate on becoming effective negotiators.
Publication Title
Clinical Law Review
Volume
2
Issue
1
First Page
73
Recommended Citation
Rodney J. Uphoff,
The Criminal Defense Lawyer as Effective Negotiator: A Systemic Approach,
2
Clinical L. Rev
73
(1995).
Available at:
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/clr/vol2/iss1/5