#42: Trial by Algorithm: How AI-Powered Trial Prep Is Shaping a New Generation of Advocates

#42: Trial by Algorithm: How AI-Powered Trial Prep Is Shaping a New Generation of Advocates

New litigators dread unscripted moments: witnesses who answer in ways they never prepared for, or objections that land in the middle of a question. In the latest episode of Real Cases, Professor Katherine Donoghue and Carson Sadro explain how Stetson's trial advocacy program is using AI to rehearse those exact moments before students face them in a courtroom or a mock trial. Their custom GPTs play witnesses, let young attorneys rerun cross examinations, and even pepper students with objections, including wrong ones they have to recognize and rebut in four sentences. We talk about why repetition is the real engine behind courtroom skill, and why they tell students to be wrong in the simulation, before they're wrong in front of a judge.

#41: AI Is Changing Law School: What Future Lawyers Need to Know

Every generation of lawyers has had to adapt to new tools. But few tools have raised harder questions about judgment, authorship, and accountability than AI. In the latest episode of Real Cases, Professor Kirsten Davis, a nationally recognized expert in legal writing and generative AI and a recipient of the 2026 Mary S. Lawrence Innovation Award, joins us to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping legal education and what that means for the next generation of lawyers. She explains how Stetson's #1-ranked legal writing program is evolving its curriculum to prepare students for an AI-assisted profession without sacrificing the foundational skills that make great lawyers. We discuss how to exercise professional judgment about AI generated text, what new graduates need to know about the technology's use in the workplace, and how the nature of legal assessment itself is changing as AI grows more capable of producing work that sounds—but doesn't always think—like a lawyer's.

#40: Understanding Federal Financial Aid Changes in 2026

On the latest episode of Real Cases, Dean Benjamin Barros and Associate Director of Student Financial Planning Heidi Gonzales explain how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is changing the student loan landscape—and what Stetson is doing to respond. We discuss how to prepare more strategically for funding your legal education, how Stetson supports students through merit-based scholarships and financial planning guidance, and how prospective students can get in before the new caps take effect by enrolling in our new Summer cohort starting in late May '26.

#39: Who's In Your Corner? Inside Stetson Law's Mentorship Culture

Behind every confident lawyer is someone who helped them find their footing. In the latest episode of Real Cases, we explore the mentorships—with deans, with professors, and with working attorneys—that help Stetson students navigate law school and launch meaningful careers. Professors Catherine Cameron and Assistant Deans Catherine B. Martin, Latoya Edwards, and Steve A. Maxwell join us to discuss what mentoring looks like at every stage of law school, from your transition into 1L year through bar prep and career planning. The conversation highlights Stetson's unique Inns program, our support for first-generation and non-traditional students, and how early guidance helps students gain real-world perspective before entering the profession.

#38: Beyond the Verdict: Inside Stetson's Criminal Law Concentration

Criminal law sits at the crossroads of fairness, accountability, and reform. From questions of who gets prosecuted to how victims are heard, Stetson Law pushes students to see beyond the verdict and into the systems that shape it. In this episode of Real Cases, we sit down with Professors of Law Susan D. Rozelle, Roberta Flowers, and Judith A. M. Scully, along with the Gary R. Trombley Family White-Collar Crime Research Professor of Law Ellen S. Podgor, to discuss the new Criminal Law Concentration at Stetson. We explore what draws students to prosecutorial work versus defense work, the moral and procedural complexities of plea bargaining, and the role of criminal lawyers in addressing corruption, white-collar crime, and social justice reform.