Sara Berman is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law. Sara currently serves as the Director of Academic and Bar Success Programs for the AccessLex Center for Legal Education Excellence. She has served for decades in faculty and administrative leadership roles in law schools in California and Florida, and is the author of numerous articles and books, including Pass the Bar Exam: A Practical Guide to Achieving Academic & Professional Goals and Bar Exam MPT Preparation & Experiential Learning For Law Students: Interactive Performance Test Training, both published by the American Bar Association. Sara is also the co-author along with Paul Bergman of Nolo’s Represent Yourself in Court: How to Prepare and Try a Winning Civil Case.
Articles By Sara J. Berman
Police must convince a neutral judge that, more likely than not, a crime has been committed and the subject of the warrant was involved.
Defendants who believe the case against them is very weak often ask whether it's possible to negotiate a dismissal before the arraignment.
Refusing to comply with a grand jury subpoena can land you in jail. Learn what rights and privileges grand jury witnesses have, including 5th Amendment rights.
Manslaughter is an unlawful killing that doesn’t involve malice aforethought—intent to seriously harm or kill, or extreme, reckless disregard for life. The absence of malice aforethought means that manslaughter involves less moral blame than either first- or second-degree murder.
"Probable cause" requires more than a mere suspicion that a suspect committed a crime, but not as much information as would be required to prove a suspect guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Domestic violence can include threatening, pushing, or more serious assaults, and can land the abuser behind bars.
Homicide is a legal term for any killing of a human being by another human being.
At a sentencing hearing, the judge will review the presentence report (prepared by the probation office) and hear arguments from both the prosecutor and the defense attorney—and sometimes, the victim.
A plea bargain is an agreement between a defendant and a prosecutor, in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest (nolo contendere) in exchange for an agreement by the prosecution.
Failing to comply with a condition of probation can land you swiftly in jail.