David Aaronson is the Director of WCL’s nationally recognized Trial Advocacy Program. His areas of specialization include: Criminal and Civil Trial Advocacy, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1964, he was selected to be a Prettyman Fellow in the Georgetown Graduate Law Center's Legal Internship Program, the first LLM program focusing on trial advocacy skills. He represented indigent persons accused of crime in Federal and local courts and served as a clinical instructor. He joined the Washington College of Law faculty in 1970, after practicing civil and criminal law with a private law firm. During 1971-1973, he served as Interim Director of Clinical Programs and Co-Director of the Maryland Criminal Justice Clinic, developing the prosecutor component. In 1981, he joined his colleague, Professor Anthony C. Morella, as Co-Director of the Trial Advocacy Program, continuing until 2004, when, upon Morella's retirement, he became program director. He has authored or co-authored seven books and monographs and numerous articles on topics such as crime victims’ rights and remedies, criminal jury instructions, eye witness identification, the insanity defense, police discretion and public policy, decriminalization of public drunkenness laws, and alternatives to conventional criminal adjudication. Professor Aaronson has served as chair of the Maryland State Bar Association's Section of Criminal Law and Practice. He is on the executive committee of the Association of American Law School’s Criminal Justice Section, and a member, former co-chair, and currently, chair of the ABA's Criminal Justice Section's Rules of Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and Police Practices Committee. He received the Robert C. Heeney Award (presented “to those individuals exemplifying the highest professional standards and achievement in the field of criminal law during their distinguished careers”) in 1999 from the Maryland State Bar Association, Section of Criminal Law and Practice. He has been twice honored as "Outstanding Teacher" and as American University Scholar/Teacher of the Year. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute.
Articles
Reflections: The Honorable Irma S. Raker – Judge, Teacher, and Role Model, Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals (2008)
This article is a sketch of Judge Irma S. Raker’s career from her days as...
Books
Maryland Criminal Jury Instructions and Commentary, Books (2009)
Maryland Criminal Jury Instructions and Commentary, Third Edition, is a comprehensive set of pattern jury...