Last month, Harvard Law School invited Vinoo again as visiting faculty for its Trial Advocacy Workshop (TAW).
TAW gives students the opportunity to embark on an intense three-week course that enhances their abilities and understanding of trial and evidence law. Professor Ronald Sullivan runs this workshop featuring assistance from high-profile lawyers like Vinoo, and judges from around the country. Harvard brought Vinoo in to teach during Week 3 of TAW alongside Harvard Lecturers on Law, The Honorable Jay Blitzman, Brandi Harden, Mina Malik, and Professor Dehlia Umunna, who ran the course this year during Professor Sullivan’s sabbatical.
Vinoo shared his more than 22 years’ experience in litigation with Harvard students who were eager to learn about how the court system operates. TAW featured two distinct mock trials—a federal civil rights matter and a state homicide case. During the week, Vinoo was part of a smaller teaching cohort critiquing six students at a time with Judge Blitzman, a former public defender and retired Massachusetts juvenile court jurist, and Boston’s chief federal public defender, Miriam Conrad. Vinoo, Judge Blitzman, and Ms. Conrad also critiqued students from Harvard Medical School and Boston College graduate schools, who acted as experts.
Last month, Harvard Law School invited Vinoo again as visiting faculty for its Trial Advocacy Workshop (TAW).
TAW gives students the opportunity to embark on an intense three-week course that enhances their abilities and understanding of trial and evidence law. Professor Ronald Sullivan runs this workshop featuring assistance from high-profile lawyers like Vinoo, and judges from around the country. Harvard brought Vinoo in to teach during Week 3 of TAW alongside Harvard Lecturers on Law, The Honorable Jay Blitzman, Brandi Harden, Mina Malik, and Professor Dehlia Umunna, who ran the course this year during Professor Sullivan’s sabbatical.
Vinoo shared his more than 22 years’ experience in litigation with Harvard students who were eager to learn about how the court system operates. TAW featured two distinct mock trials—a federal civil rights matter and a state homicide case. During the week, Vinoo was part of a smaller teaching cohort critiquing six students at a time with Judge Blitzman, a former public defender and retired Massachusetts juvenile court jurist, and Boston’s chief federal public defender, Miriam Conrad. Vinoo, Judge Blitzman, and Ms. Conrad also critiqued students from Harvard Medical School and Boston College graduate schools, who acted as experts.
Individually, Vinoo advised two separate student teams. One team defended the police officer in the federal civil rights simulation while the second team represented the State in the homicide mock trial. Vinoo spent hours with his advisees to prepare them for the big event—mock trials in the Boston Federal Court.
Vinoo gives back to the legal community through teaching. At Harvard, he enjoyed spending a September week in the beautiful New England town of Cambridge, teaching the next generation of attorneys how things really work. Not long after the program ended, one of Vinoo’s student advisees sent him a handwritten note. The Harvard pupil thanked Vinoo for the knowledge he shared and wrote about how participating in the mock trial sharpened the law student’s interest in pursuing a litigation career. You can read the handwritten note below.
Not only was teaching at Harvard fun for him, but it was also satisfying for Vinoo to help mold the minds of our nation’s future criminal defense lawyers, prosecutors, and civil litigators. And by the way, Harvard took great care of Vinoo and other visiting faculty, with lodging at a nice Cambridge hotel and hosting cocktail receptions for them.
Finally, while some nights went to 9 pm with presentations, during one of the evenings that didn’t go as late, Vinoo was able to catch his beloved Mets play the Red Sox at Fenway Park with his nephew, a Northeastern student. Unfortunately, the Red Sox stomped all over the Mets, but it was still a great week overall.
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