Maureen A. Howard

Maureen Howard is a Law Professor and the Director of the Trial Advocacy Program at University of Washington in Seattle. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of the Hong Kong University Law Faculty and the Director of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy's Northwest Regional Trial Skills program. Her research and teaching interests include trial advocacy, civil procedure, evidence, and criminal law. Professor Howard began her career as a civil litigator in Seattle with the law firm of Stoel Rives LLP, where she concentrated her practice in commercial and employment law. After twelve years, she moved to the King County Prosecutor's Office where she tried criminal felony cases. She later became a Judge pro tempore for King County, presiding over both civil and criminal trials, until joining the faculty full-time. Professor Howard has taught trial advocacy for over fifteen years: in addition to teaching at the UW School of Law, she has taught trial skills at Emory University and Loyola University law schools. She has also taught at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) programs at Stanford University, University of San Francisco, William Mitchell College of Law, Seattle University, and in San Diego, as well as at the NITA national program at University of Colorado. In 2006, she traveled to Dublin, Ireland at the request of the Department of Public Prosecutions to train prosecutors for the country. Professor Howard serves on the Washington Pattern Jury Instruction Committee, the Judicial College Board of Trustees, and the Executive Committee for the William L. Dwyer Inn of Court. She also coaches several Washington state high school mock trial teams for state and national competitions. In addition to her formal teaching, Professor Howard writes and speaks nationally on the art of trial advocacy and has appeared on several television programs as a legal commentator. Professor Howard is admitted to practice in Washington and California.