On 29 November 2013, Center for Law and Policy screened the critically acclaimed, classic trial film To Kill a Mocking Bird to the first batch of LL.B. candidates at UMT School of Law and Policy. The movie was also a part of the course Skills Development-I taught by Syed Imad-ud-Din Asad [LL.M. (Harvard); Founder and Director, Center for Law and Policy; Founding Director and Associate Professor, UMT School of Law and Policy] in the LL.B. program.
The 1962 movie was adapted by screenwriter Harton Foote from the 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name by Harper Lee.The movie won Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Art Direction.
Set in a small Alabama town in the 1930s, the story focuses on scrupulously honest, highly respected lawyer Atticus Finch, magnificently embodied by Gregory Peck. Finch puts his career on the line when he agrees to represent Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape. The trial and the events surrounding it are seen through the eyes of Finch's six-year-old daughter Scout. While Robinson's trial gives the film its momentum, there are plenty of anecdotal occurrences before and after the court date.
The movie was followed by a thorough discussion, led by Professor Asad, about responsibilities of lawyers, etiquettes of presenting and arguing cases, and racism in the United States. The students were very excited and learned a lot in a new manner--- movies are never screened as part of a course in Pakistani law schools.
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