University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law hosted 25 legal professionals from Mexico, Ecuador, and Chile on campus during the week of Oct. 27–31 for a trial advocacy bootcamp with partner Academia de Litigación.

The Spanish-language bootcamp was designed for prosecutors, investigators, and defense lawyers, in collaboration with Academia de Litigación.

“The Academia de Litigación program enhances McGeorge’s international presence in Latin America, expands its impact in trial advocacy, and fosters sustainable partnerships,” Adriana Aguena ’12, assistant director of the Graduate & International Programs, said. “It aligns with McGeorge’s mission to advance justice and legal education globally while providing faculty and students with meaningful cross-cultural and experiential learning opportunities.”

The program focused on a variety of skills, including entering evidence and handling objections, as well as persuasive advocacy. Students attended morning classes on trial skills and then separated into small-group practice sessions in the afternoons to apply the skills learned. Participants also visited the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse to observe federal proceedings and experience how the U.S. justice system operates in practice.

Felipe Vásquez, director of Academia de Litigación, also taught in the program, concluding each day with commentary on how U.S. trial skills can be implemented in Latin America.

“The study and the process of understanding of United States litigation practices, along with the analysis of their sources and the reasons for their origin, are extraordinarily valuable for Latin American justice systems, both in terms of how they should develop, exploring the reasons for their existence, and focusing on the purpose of their nature,” Vásquez said.

He added that this way of viewing the adversarial system it’s a special value that enriches the content of each stage of the due process of law and it is the essential feature of the Trial Advocacy Program that we have developed as an Academia de Litigación Chile with McGeorge School of Law.

According to him, the program's content is extremely useful for our professional practice, making a significant difference in our ability to analyze and develop a case.

Dominique Hinson, Interim Director of Trial Advocacy at McGeorge School of Law said, “When Academia de Litigación approached me about directing this program, I saw an opportunity to build something rigorous in traditional American trial advocacy training, but also deeply responsive to what Latin American attorneys actually need in their own jurisdictions to represent their clients well.”

She said the trial advocacy program balances intense skill-building with networking.

“It is exciting to create the kind of advocacy training most attorneys wish they had spaces where lawyers can build skills, expand perspective, and feel empowered to go back home and make change,” Hinson said.

The program was powered by the Trial Advocacy Center and the International Studies and LLM program. Faculty from McGeorge’s nationally recognized Trial Advocacy Program taught throughout the week, including Professor Hinson and Professor Simone Leighty. McGeorge Associate Dean Larry Levine also used his Spanish-speaking skills to teach attorneys on the “Dynamics of Trial and Legal Practice in the U.S.”

Three students in the McGeorge LLM program — Laura Hill Colorado (Colombia), Yatziry Martinez Talavera (Mexico), and Carlos Gutierrez Vega (Mexico) — served as hosts throughout the week, providing interpretation support between English and Spanish for the legal professionals on campus and helping facilitate cross-cultural exchange.

“I’ve spent years training lawyers across the country, and bringing that work to McGeorge—combining evidence, persuasion, and cross-cultural practice—has been energizing. And as an international program welcoming attorneys from far and wide, it was important to also show them what Sacramento has to offer, including a tour of our beautiful State Capitol,” Hinson said.

McGeorge is proud to continue building international partnerships that expand advocacy education and foster professional collaboration across borders.