Law Students’ Talks Turn Into Trials by Fire

Zahra Khoury thought gaining the trust of Iraqis who had fled their homeland and were now living in Southern California was the most difficult part of her project on international human rights law.

It took dozens of meetings and hours of coaxing before any would even talk to the Fullerton law student. And the goal was getting them to speak candidly of their lives in a country whose government has jailed relatives of those living abroad who speak against the regime.

But Saturday, as Khoury presented her findings to a panel at Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, she discovered that a grilling by three seasoned judges can be even tougher.

Khoury’s presentation on the state of human rights in Iraq was one of four given by students in a course taught by Orange County Superior Court Judge Nho Trong Nguyen. The course is the school’s first on international human rights law.

Nguyen said putting the students before judges gives them valuable experience lawyers must have.

“They may have been flustered,” Nguyen said, “but it’s good for them.”

The trio of judges quickly created a climate another student described as “adversarial” by peppering Khoury with questions during her half-hour presentation: What would she do to solve Iraq’s problems? What actions should the United Nations undertake?

Khoury tugged at her electric-blue suit jacket and looked pleadingly at Nguyen after one inquiry. After another, she turned away and moaned, “Oh, God.” Such tough questions were unexpected but helpful, she said.

“I thought they would listen to my whole presentation, then maybe ask a couple things,” Khoury said. “I didn’t think they would drill me. But as embarrassed as I was when I didn’t know the answers, I think it was obvious how much I cared for the people I talked to.”

The other student presentations were on Iran, Vietnam and Myanmar, known as Burma before 1989.

Juvenile Court Judge John Flynn, one of the more demanding interrogators, said the questions were intended to gauge the students’ quick-thinking skills, not humble them.

“To shift and keep moving like you’re on an ice floe, that’s what it takes to be a good lawyer,” he said. “When I’m asking hard questions, I’m trying to get to the root of what they believe. I’m testing the limits of how deep the passion for that cause lies in their hearts.”

After a presentation on Iran with five other students, Josh Light said the judges’ questions about how they would change the situation were aggravating.

“It was this adversarial approach, which we totally didn’t expect,” Light said. “Policymakers around the world don’t have answers to these questions, and we’re just law students who’ve studied these countries for a couple months.”

State Appellate Court Judge Eileen C. Moore said that even if the students didn’t know how they would fix injustices, their passion was moving. “None of them know what the solution is, but they all still have hope,” she said. “It makes me optimistic that these horrible things will end someday.”