Hearsay When I Hear It! app for iPhone and iPad

Almost every law student will at one point take an evidence class. At the end, there will be a written examination where you have to apply the Federal Rules of Evidence. However, there is a vast difference between trying to apply the rules of evidence in an exam setting and applying them in the court room at trial speed. It is a fact made all too clear to every attorney the first time they set foot in a court room on their own.

Hearsay When I Hear It! is a game designed to give you the experience of trying to apply the Federal Rules of Evidence in a court room-like setting. Instead of being text based like a law school exam, this game is audio based. Accordingly, you have to listen to the question, and sometimes the answer, and answer the question: is this admissible?

While there is an untimed mode, the value of this game comes in its four timed modes. At the Law Student Level, you have 5 seconds to make up your mind. At the other extreme is Clarence Darrow, where you have only 1 second to answer. This way, you get the experience of just how fast a trial can move and how quickly you have to make up your mind.

The game currently consists of two different trials. Each trial has four witnesses, and each witness is asked 10 random questions from a pool of thirty. Thus, there are 240 different questions designed to test your knowledge of not only the rules of hearsay, but judicial notice, competency, experts, character evidence, authentication, refreshing recollection, and others.

Unlike a real court room, the option to object or not object doesnt become available until the question and/or answer are finished. There isnt always an answer, but that doesnt necessarily mean it was an improper question.

The most unrealistic aspect of the game is that, in order to score well, you have to object to everything that is objectionable. In a real trial, you might not want to make certain objections for strategic reasons. In this game, however, you have to object if there is a basis. After all, there are some skills such as tactical use of objections that no app can teach.

Questions, comment, suggestions, feedback, particularly about the questions themselves, are always welcome. Please email me at [email protected]. If you have ideas for additional trials, let me know, and perhaps we can expand this app.

Enjoy!

This GAME was developed by Joshua Goodwin, an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio. The questions in the game are based on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as in effect on January 1, 2014. This is a GAME. It is not legal advice. Playing and installing this GAME does not constitute legal advice and it certainly does not make you a client of either Joshua Goodwin or his employer. You should neither take nor refrain from taking any legal action as a result of anything in this GAME. It is just a GAME.

In app purchases: None