Preface

• Author: Stewart Edelstein

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PREFACE

BUT FOR

We all learned in law school a specialized use of language, including

the meaning of “but for” in the tort causation analysis. “But for” applies

here as well, to positive effect rather than the cause of harm, begin-

ning with a Yale Law School student’s inquiry years ago. He asked Steve

Wizner, the Yale professor in charge of clinical prog rams, if Yale offered

an advanced course for students who completed Trial Practice. Yale did

not, but Steve told him that if the student could find enough others

interested in such a course, he would see what he could do.

The next day, that student delivered to Steve a petition signed by a

dozen of his classmates: if Yale offers the course, they will take it. Steve

had the confidence in Fred Gold and in me (we had both taught Trial

Practice at Yale for many years) to invite us to create that new course.

Fred and I had to figure out how to teach what law-school students need

to know from the first client meeting through the end of a jury trial in

just 13 class sessions. Collaborating closely, we devised a syllabus and,

together, we have taught Civil Litigation Practice at Yale ever since.

Knowing how to do something and knowing how to teach it are

distinct skills. By teaching Trial Practice and co-teaching Civil Litiga-

tion Practice over the years, I have learned—sometimes my students in

the role of guinea pigs—what works and what doesn’t. But for my stu-

dents, who taught me so much by teaching them, I would not have the

insights that made this book possible. As Oscar Hammerstein II put it:

“If you become a t eacher, by your st udents you’ll be taught.” And but for

Fred Gold’s inspirational co-teaching (unless you see him i n action, you

cannot appreciate his uncanny skill in teaching the art of cross-exami-

nation, using nothing more than a yellow highlighter and his wits), this

book would not be as comprehensive or instructive.

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