Veronica Valentine McNally serves as the Director of Trial Advocacy and Director of Externships at the College of Law.
McNally serves on the advisory committee of the Michigan Supreme Court Learning Center. She has also served as a member of the State Bar of Michigan (SBM) Standing Committee on Character and Fitness (2005-13) and the SBM Young Lawyers Executive Council (2005-07). Law & Politics selected her as a Rising Star from 2010 through 2016. In 2016, she received a Master Advocate Designation from the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.
McNally is a public health advocate. She is the president of the Franny Strong Foundation and founder of the I Vaccinate Campaign (IVaccinate.org). In 2018, she was named as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Childhood Immunization Champion for Michigan. That same year, she was also appointed by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to serve on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for a four-year term as ACIP’s consumer representative. She was re-appointed for a fifth year. In this role, she provided perspectives on the social and community aspects of vaccination. The ACIP develops recommendations on how to use vaccines to control disease in the United States.
McNally graduated in 2004 from Michigan State University College of Law, where she earned a jurisprudence award for Trial Practice. She won the Michigan State University College of Law Best Brief, Best Oralist, and Best Overall awards in the Moot Court Class Competition in 2002. She was on the national championship team for the Pepperdine Entertainment Law Moot Court Competition in 2003, and she won second place awards for Best Oralist and Best Brief in the Wagner Labor Law Moot Court Competition in 2004. McNally earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2000 from the University of Michigan, where she was the judicial vice president for the Panhellenic Association (1999-2000) and president of Alpha Chi Omega (1998-99).
J.D. Michigan State University College of Law
B.A. University of Michigan
Legal Analysis and Writing
This course will prepare students for success on the bar exam by focusing on three subjects tested on the MBE. Students will improve their ability to respond to multiple-choice MBE questions and narrative MEE questions, receiving formative feedback on essay writing. At the end of each of the three sections of the class, an exam will test students' mastery of the material through multiple-choice and essay questions. A cumulative final will not be given.
Trial Practice Institute-Pretrial II
(Formerly DCL 513)
Must be in the Trial Practice Institute program. Pretrial II focuses on the fundamental approaches of persuasion, elements of advocacy and methods of effective presentation. The class is divided into four teams of four people which are then assigned depositions of witnesses in a problem with fact, lay and expert witnesses. At the conclusion of the deposition phase of the problem, motions in limine are prepared and argued by each team. Additionally, a facilitative mediation brief is prepared by all teams and argued. At the conclusion of the class, opening statements are prepared and presented by each one of the teams. The students will be prepared at the end of the course for the elements of the Trial I course that will commence in the second year of the program. Must be in the Trial Practice Institute program.
Because certain non-TPI courses duplicate the content of this course, students may not also receive academic credit for the following courses: Applied Evidence, Civil Trial Advocacy I, Civil Trial Advocacy II, Client Counseling and Interviewing, Criminal Trial Advocacy I - Pre-Trial, Criminal Trial Advocacy II - Trial II.
Trial Practice Institute: Pre-Trial I
(Formerly DCL 506)
Must be in the Trial Practice Institute program.
Because certain non-TPI courses duplicate the content of this course, students may not also receive academic credit for the following courses: Applied Evidence, Civil Trial Advocacy I, Civil Trial Advocacy II, Client Counseling and Interviewing, Criminal Trial Advocacy I - Pre-Trial, Criminal Trial Advocacy II - Trial II.
Trial Practice Institute: Trial Practicum
This course will provide the foundation for trial work to all TPI students, but is designed for TPI students who do not have advocacy experience through the Moot Court & Trial Advocacy Board (Board). The course includes instruction on the component parts of a trial, such as opening statement, direct examination, cross examination, and closing argument. It also explores introducing exhibits, impeachment, the mechanics of refreshing recollection, and the recorded recollection hearsay exception. It will also provide students with an opportunity to refine these skills on their feet.
