Annual Prosecutor/Public Defender Trial Program Continues Nearly 50-Year Legacy

More than 75 prosecutors, public defenders, and trial advocates representing 17 of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits gathered at the University of Florida Levin College of Law July 26–31 for the annual Gerald T. Bennett Prosecutor/Public Defender Trial Training Program. Participants also included four junior barristers and one King’s Counsel from the United Kingdom.

Founded in 1977 by Professor Gerald T. Bennett, an eminent scholar of criminal law who directed the program until his death in 1999, the program’s intensive joint-training model remains its defining feature. It’s still the only program of its kind in the United States.

Professor Bennett’s ties to the UK’s criminal bar have been central to the program since its inception. Distinguished Queen’s Counsel – now King’s Counsel – have traveled to Gainesville year after year to serve as faculty, while junior barristers participate as students. Many of the members of The Florida Bar’s Criminal Law Section who helped Bennett launch the program continue to teach in it today, and more than 3,200 criminal lawyers have sharpened their skills here since its founding.

“What makes it endure isn’t just the skills training, though the small-group work on precise, intelligent witness examination is second to none,” said UF Law Professor Sarah Wolking, who leads the program each year. “It’s the emphasis Professor Bennett insisted on from day one: professionalism and ethics, woven through every session of the week.”

This year’s program also featured several UF Law faculty, alumni, and members of the local judiciary. UF Law Professor Thinh Nguyen presented on artificial intelligence. Professor Duane Daiker, who joins UF Law this fall as Director of Advocacy and Legal Skills Professor, served as teaching faculty alongside Adjunct Professors Aaron Kelly, Kris Eisenmenger, Andrew McCain, and Canaan Goldman, as well as Judge George Wright and Judge Craig DeThomasis. UF Law alum Morgan Zwirn (JD 22) also served as teaching faculty and presented on trial preparation and pretrial motions. 

On the last day, eight participants were presented with special awards to recognize their performance throughout the week. Three of the recipients were recent UF Law graduates Maria Fahmy (JD 25), Joel Kratt (JD 25), and Ryan Chepp (JD 24).

“After nearly five decades, UF Law continues to host this program each year – a living tribute to a professor who understood that great public service lawyering isn’t just about mastering the courtroom,” said Professor Wolking. “It’s about listening, professionalism, and genuinely understanding the perspective on the other side of the aisle.”