Studying Hard Skills—The Difference Between Civil & Criminal Procedure

Your law school experience will teach you both hard skills such as evidence, contracts, torts, civil and criminal procedure, and soft skills. Soft skills include relationship building, negotiation, and teamwork.

As a student at the California Desert Trial Academy, College of Law, you will learn all of the required hard skills during your course work during the week and practice sessions on Saturdays. Soft skills are emphasized during your Saturday Enrichment program where you will network with the local legal community and learn valuable negotiating and practice skills.

It is imperative that you develop a strong understanding of both civil and criminal procedure in order to pass the California Bar Exam and to become a proficient advocate for your clients. Civil and criminal procedure are vastly different subjects, but they do share some crossover in practice.

1. The rules of criminal procedure are designed to guarantee constitutional due process to individuals charged with a crime. Because a client’s liberty is at stake in a criminal proceeding, these rules provide the foundation for keeping the government in check throughout the proceedings.
2. Civil procedure generally consists of the rules by which civil disputes must be managed and litigated in the courts. Civil cases are those between individuals or other entities in which a civil wrong is adjudicated. These disputes include tort claims such as negligence, wrongful death or personal injury matters. The relief sought is most frequently monetary.
3. Some of the rules of civil procedure come in to play in criminal matters such as discovery and subpoena rules.
4. As a law student at CDTA, you will graduate with a solid foundation on both of these subjects. Civil and criminal procedure is amongst the seven subjects tested on the multiple-choice portion of every bar exam, the MBE. In addition, California tests heavily on the essay portion for both California and Federal Civil Procedure as well as Criminal Procedure. You will be well prepared for these subjects as a graduate of the California Desert Trial Academy, College of Law.

Are you interested in becoming a trial attorney? Our mission at CDTA College of Law is to educate, train, and develop extraordinary legal advocates. Your legal education will be comprised of bar-tested academic subjects, skills training, and values reinforcement. Upon completion of your four-year course of study you will be fully qualified to take and pass the California Bar examination. Call us today at (760) 342-0900 or find out more online here.