NEW ADVOCACY CENTER DIRECTOR FOCUSED
ON EXPANSION
Elizabeth Boals joined Stetson Law in July 2020 as the new
director of the Center for Excellence in Advocacy. Boals
came to Stetson from American University Washington
College of Law (WCL), where she was the Assistant Dean of
Part-Time and Online Education. She previously served as director
of the Criminal Justice Practice and Policy Institute and associate
director of the Weinstein Trial Advocacy Program at WCL. In
addition to running the Advocacy Center at Stetson, Boals teaches
Evidence, Criminal Law, and a variety of Advocacy courses.
Evolution of Advocacy
Advocacy programs are changing nationally, Boals said.
Previously, they (perhaps apart from Stetson) took a back seat at
many law schools. Today, more schools recognize the value of
rigorous hands-on training for students, and advocacy programs
are getting new attention and funding. The national advocacy
community is growing more collaborative, as evidenced by the
recent creation of the National Association of Legal Advocacy
Educators (NALAE) to advance creativity and innovation in
advocacy teaching. Boals is the vice president of Trial Programs
for NALAE.
“I look forward to doing my part to enhance the recognition of
advocacy teaching as an essential component of legal education,”
she said.
On the trial performance front, that means attending even more
competitions, especially national ones. She aims to leverage
digital tools to implement a multi-coach model for teams and
launch a mandatory summer training program for coaches and
students. And while competitions are an essential way for the
national community to see Stetson students in action, as well as
for Stetson students to get critical practice on how to be wellrounded
and professional advocates, Boals will be concentrating
on much more.
Boals’ Goals
“I’m hoping to focus the next few years on the breadth and depth
of courses that we’re offering, making sure that we are engaged in
the national community, that we are out there on many fronts
not just winning competitions,” she said. “It is not enough just
to send students to competitions. We have to engage in
conferences, in advocacy scholarship and in interschool
communication in ways that we haven’t had to do in the past.”
Boals’ plans include supporting faculty and coaches in
developing effective teaching methodologies, the thoughtful
integration of technology in the learning process, and the
creation of meaningful advocacy training experiences for students
outside of the classroom. She started a thorough review and
revamping of the Online Advocacy Resource Center, which
offers skills lectures, training
videos, demonstrations, and
other advocacy-related topics
accessible and free to all.
Last fall, she announced a new
Advocacy Writing Competition
aimed at motivating advocacy
skills teachers, coaches, and practitioners to share their practical
and innovative ideas, as well as to support them in their careers in
academia. The winner will present his/her paper at the annual
Stetson Educating Advocacy Teachers (EATS) Conference in June
and be published in the Stetson Journal of Advocacy and the Law.
Boals has also revived long-discussed plans for a new Advocacy
Center space, one that includes dedicated practice courtrooms,
meeting spaces, and – of course – trophy cases. Currently the
second floor of the Charles A. Dana Building above the Eleazer
Courtroom is dilapidated storage space, but it could make for an
amazing advocacy hub once construction and remediation costs
are funded.
Alumni Engagement
Boals “absolutely” wants alumni to get involved with the
Advocacy Center however possible.
“There is no way to run a trial advocacy program of this size, this
breadth, without alumni engagement.”
Options abound, from being an adjunct teacher, a coach, a mooter,
judging competitions, contributing funding to the new center, or
simply sharing ideas and suggestions (send them to advocacy@law.
stetson.edu). The pandemic has been helpful in that it has shown
how much can be accomplished over video chat, opening a
plethora of possible collaborations with alumni who might not
have been able to get involved before because of geographical
limitations. The bottom line: Please reach out, she said.
A Bit More About Boals
Boals is a member of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy
(NITA) teaching faculty, and her areas of specialization are
criminal law and procedure, evidence, trial advocacy, expert
testimony and jury selection.
With her J.D. from George Mason University School of Law, and
bachelor’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University, Boals began her legal career as an assistant public
defender in Alexandria, Va., handling a felony caseload in
District Court and appeals in the Virginia Court of Appeals.
Before transitioning to a full-time teaching position, she was a
labor and employment litigation attorney for the U.S.
Department of Commerce.
B Y A S H L E Y M C K N I G H T - TAY LOR
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