PREREQUISITE: A law degree or completion of one of the following courses is required to attend: Fundamentals of Evidence (or its equivalent), Special Court Jurisdiction, or Special Court Jurisdiction: Advanced.

Why should I take this course?
Consistently rated as one of the top courses at NJC, Advanced Evidence is a must for judges who want to improve their evidentiary rulings. This course gives you the opportunity to analyze rules of criminal and civil evidence in a setting where you can debate the rules with other judges from around the country. The expert faculty will not only lead you through the quagmire of the Federal Rules of Evidence, but will also compare and contrast the common law rules of evidence. The course is “advanced” in the sense that you have the opportunity to examine the various rules of evidence in depth. It is helpful if you can bring your state’s evidence rules with you, so you can compare and contrast those rules with the federal rules.

Who should attend?
This course has been specially developed for general jurisdiction judges or special court judges who hear criminal and/or civil cases. If you are a legally trained administrative law judge, you certainly are welcome; however, some of your practical concerns may not be specifically addressed. Appellate judges are encouraged to enroll not only for an update on evidence, but to hear the practicalities of applying evidentiary rules from a trial court judge’s perspective.

Who are the members of the faculty?
Faculty members are judges recognized as experts in the field of evidence, as well as law professors who understand the real-life concerns that judges face.

How is this course taught?
The faculty uses a number of adult education techniques including lecture, audio-visual aids, question and answer, debate, and class problems. Participants will also be directly involved in solving hypotheticals in your small group discussions.

What should I tell my presiding judge or funding agency so that my attendance will be approved?
Judges must have a good understanding of the rules of evidence to make appropriate decisions in their courtrooms. This course gives the participant judge the rare opportunity to contrast their state rules of evidence with those of their colleagues from around the country. Each participant will also be given in-class problems that they must present to their colleagues. Ultimately, the judge participant will come away with a greater grasp of the rules of evidence and the reasons underlying those rules.

Whom should I contact for more information?
For more information, please contact the Registrar’s Office at (800) 255-8343 or registrar@judges.org.

Class Materials
An electronic version of the binder will be shared a week before the class. Hard copies will not be provided. Participants are most welcome to print their binders.

Attire
Business casual: most participants wear jeans, comfortable pants, sneakers, or tennis shoes

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The expert faculty will review recent cases that impact evidentiary rulings, address problematic areas under the Federal Rules of Evidence, and explore the impact of these on evidentiary issues in state and administrative courts. After attending this course, you will be able to rule on evidentiary issues with greater accuracy and confidence.

The course will take a deep dive into the evidentiary issues judges face everyday, including relevance, impeachment & rehabilitation, character evidence, hearsay, opinion and expert evidence, and authentication. In addition, faculty will review constitutional evidence issues. The 2026 course has also been revamped to focus more on AI including authentication failures, deep fakes, shifting burdens of proof and more.

"Excellent! This is one of the most comprehensive evidence trainings I have received in over 40 years as a lawyer and 10 years as a judge." - 2024 Participant

"This is a high-quality course taught by judges with a great deal of experience dealing with evidentiary issues "in the trenches". I would recommend this course to any judge regularly presiding over hearings and trials and wanting to correctly apply the Rules of Evidence in making on the spot decisions." - 2024 Participant

"This course provided invaluable information and practice tips on the topics of hearsay, authentication, and opinion testimony. The instructors were terrific - very knowledgeable and engaging." - 2025 Participant

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