Melding teaching with latest in technology

By Paul Janczewski Legal News Do you remember those dark ages, way back in the 1990s, when college and grad school students chiseled out their in-class note-taking using (gasp!) paper and pen? While those stone-age implements are still necessary, and useful in a pinch, many in higher education now unfold laptop and notebook computers before class. That was the scene on a recent Thursday at an advanced evidence problems class at Cooley Law School's Auburn Hills campus. But at that class, something else happened that may shape the landscape of certain teaching methods in the future. Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Farah, an adjunct professor of the class, used actual video from real cases in his court to help illustrate evidentiary issues for the students. Cooley Law School Auburn Hills Campus Dean John Nussbaumer called the new innovation in teaching the wave of the future. "We're on the cutting edge of using this technology," Nussbaumer said. He said he knows of no other law schools using actual case video to help students not only learn the nuances of evidentiary problems, but also of seeing how those principles were applied in actual cases. "What could be better than seeing the real thing?" Nussbaumer said. "Students are so used to video in other aspects of life, this method makes those lessons really come alive, and the students learn better." Nussbaumer admits that at Cooley, and elsewhere, DVD technology is used to teach and critique students. "But we're using it here to teach evidence." The brainchild of this melding of teaching and technology is Farah, himself a Cooley graduate. Even Farah admits he is not someone who should be confused with a cutting-edge techno-geek. He had a savvy Cooley employee on hand in class to ensure that he could operate the machinery properly. But since video-technology is used in all Genesee County Circuit courtrooms, Farah saw a way to incorporate that in helping to teach law school students some of the finer points of problems encountered in introducing evidence. "I wanted to get them 'in the courtroom' to see how it's done," Farah said. Farah, 56, obviously has come a long way to get to this point. Born and raised in Flint, Farah graduated from Southwestern High School in 1971, and then earned a criminal justice degree from Michigan State University in 1975. Originally wanting to be a journalist, and with designs on getting into business, Farah said he found those career paths "less interesting than law." While at MSU, Farah said he was hooked on obtaining a law degree after a class taught by Zolton Ferency, an attorney, who later ran for a state post. Later, by taking courses in American constitutional history, Farah said his desire to enter law was "cultivated and cemented." Farah was also fascinated by a political science class taught by Harold Spaeth, who developed the use of computer analysis of old United States Supreme Court cases, and using those prior decisions to foretell the court's future decisions. Farah further honed his appetite for law by going to courtrooms in Lansing and Genesee County and watching actual trials, a trait that carried over to his desire to let his students learn from watching real courtroom action. "I'd just go to court and watch," he said. "It helped me stay up on things before law school, and I wanted to see what lawyers did." Farah entered Cooley in mid 1976, and graduated in early 1979. He passed the bar that same year. He said Cooley was a logical place to obtain his law degree. "I was very familiar with the Lansing area, and it was comfortable to stay there," he said. At that time, Cooley had a single campus there. Later, it branched out to include campuses in Grand Rapids, Auburn Hills, and Ann Arbor. "Cooley is a success story," Farah said. "It started out as virtually nothing, and now is one of the largest law schools with a number of students. I wanted to be a part of it. And it's given me the opportunity to become a lawyer, then a judge." After obtaining his law degree, Farah returned to Flint. In 1980, he was hired by a prominent Flint area law firm. While there, he did all the things new attorneys do--criminal cases, civil cases, domestic, and landlord-tenant matters. To get more work, Farah said he got on the court-appointed list, and later, the appellate court-appointed rotation. Farah worked many cases as an appellate attorney before applying for a vacancy on the Genesee County Circuit Court. In 1998, then-Gov. John Engler selected Farah for the seat. "I learned the most from my appellate practice," Farah said. "I wrote many legal briefs, and learned to make better legal arguments." While doing that, Farah was also able to argue a case before the Michigan Supreme Court justices. Farah began his judicial career as a jurist on the Family Division of the Genesee Circuit Court. In 2005, he moved over to the Criminal-Civil Division, where he remains today. He eventually returned to his roots, and gained a seat on Cooley's Board of Directors. In that role, Farah attends graduations, and was able to run into some of his old fellow students and professors. "I was able to rekindle those relationships I had when I was in school," he said. At one of those recent graduations, Farah said he approached Nussbaumer and expressed an interest in teaching there. Nussbaumer suggested he teach an advanced evidence problems class. Farah took him up on that and began teaching the class in September. Farah said using actual trial video to teach was "a combination of our two ideas." But Nussbaumer said using DVD technology from real cases "was his idea." In the past, that class was taught the traditional way, using case law and trial transcripts, Nussbaumer said. At Cooley, all students are required to take an evidence class, while it is an elective for students at other law schools, Nussbaumer said. That class must be taken before students are able to take Farah's advanced evidence problems class. "This is the next level for those who want to go into litigation specialization," Nussbaumer said. He said the school usually gets judges and attorneys to teach elective courses as a "bridge between classroom and the real world." Farah follows in a line of previous instructors that include former Michigan Supreme Court Justice James Ryan, who now sits on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Others who followed Ryan were also state or federal judges, and a prominent attorney. "Judge Farah follows in that tradition," Nussbaumer said. "He's a great teacher and carries on Cooley's mission of knowledge, skills and ethics." In Genesee County, Farah is able to watch cases from several years ago, if necessary, on video. In pitching his idea to use that technology at Cooley, Farah thought "why don't we take something from the courtroom, things that happened in live cases, and use it to help teach?" "This way, we'd be able to take the courtroom to the classroom, and the classroom to the courtroom. This is a 21st century version of using transcripts to teach evidence," he said. "You can read transcripts in class, and lecture, but let's watch it, and listen to it, and then discuss it," Farah said. Farah said his new way of teaching is not a criticism of past professors of evidence classes, or of his brilliance, but simply a different way to illustrate it. "You learn by using it," he said. He wishes he and others had the luxury of using this new technology, "but it was a different era." "The mission here at Cooley has always been practical application of knowledge, and this works hand in glove with that." Luckily, Farah was able to secure evidence he needed to teach certain issues on DVDs from Genesee County, and use it at the Auburn Hills campus. Farah said he pays Genesee County for any labor involved in obtaining those DVDs. All those cases, and the accompanying transcripts, if available, are public record. Before using the DVDs in class, Farah said he secures permission from any attorney, prosecutor or witness who appeared in the real trial. Generally, Farah uses issues that arise in his courtroom. But not every class is dedicated to watching videos of him and others in legal action. It's impossible to teach this class without relying on the old stand-bys of transcripts and case law in certain issues. And just because Farah may have ruled a certain way in the cases he highlights doesn't mean his rulings were not also subject to debate. "I never focus on the particular ruling as iron-clad, but rather to illustrate how issues are presented," he said. "As judges and attorneys, we are not always letter-perfect." He said students will see the action as it occurs in real-life situations, not the television or movie depiction of courtroom dramas. "If television were the standard (of how attorneys operate), there would not be one student who wouldn't be terrified to go to court," Farah said. "Here, they see the attorneys and judges occasionally struggle to make a point, or a ruling. This should make it easier for young attorneys to march into court, rather than make it harder. "I wanted to bring accurate experiences to class, so the courtroom would not look so scary," he said. Farah said in his experiences, law clerks and interns have told him they learn more by watching legal issues argued in courts than they sometimes do out of books. "I was encouraged to teach after hearing that, and that's what gave birth to this class," Farah said. At a recent class, Farah used video to explain FRE 702, which details the hows and whys of expert witness testimony. Overall, the students in this advanced evidence problems class said they are getting more out of the videos than then could just by reading about it. "It's very useful," said Allison Lavoie, 25, of Bloomfield Hills. The third-year law student said "it allows us to see how the rules of evidence are applied in the courtroom, in real life. "It gives us an insight into courtroom practice. By just reading it, you don't get the insight of the interactions of the attorneys." Chris Rickard, 28, of Ferndale, also a third-year law student, agreed. And he said having a judge as professor adds to the realness of the exercise. "He's a great source for getting a clear understanding of the rules," Rickard said. Farah said he leaves class "feeling energized and gratified." "I'm able to impart practical application of the rules of evidence to these budding lawyers." Published: Wed, Dec 2, 2009

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