Barbara E. Bergman

Director of Advocacy

Professor Barbara Bergman graduated from Stanford Law in 1976.  After clerking on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, she became a staff attorney at the Public Defender Service (PDS) in Washington, D.C.  She took a one-year hiatus from being a public defender to serve as Associate Counsel to President Jimmy Carter in the White House from 1979 to 1980.  After representing clients as a PD for a total of five years -- beginning in juvenile court and ending up representing clients charged with murder and rape -- she joined the law firm of Bredhoff & Kaiser handling civil litigation, including employment and union-side labor law.

In August of 1987, she became a professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law and taught there for 28 years with one of her primary courses being a 6-credit Evidence/Trial Practice course.  She also taught Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Children’s Law as well as in the clinic.  While at the UNM School of Law, she served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for four years and interim Dean for ten months.    

Professor Bergman had been co-director of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy’s (NITA) Southwest Regional Trial Practice program as well as NITA’s Southwest Taking and Defending Depositions Program. She served on the NITA Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2019 and is now an Emerita Member of that Board.  She served as president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) from 2005 to 2006 and has been a national co-chair of NACDL's Amicus Committee since 2006. In 2010, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Trial Advocacy, presented by Stetson School of Law. 

During her tenure at UNM, she joined the defense team in the state court capital prosecution of Terry Nichols. She worked on that case for four and one half years, spending one and one half of those years in Oklahoma, including the three and one half months that the case was in trial in McAlester, Oklahoma. 

Her publications include the Everytrial Criminal Defense Resource Book, Wharton’s Criminal Evidence (8 volumes), Wharton’s Criminal Procedure (5 volumes), and the Arizona Criminal Practice Manual.

On July 1, 2016, Professor Bergman started work at UArizona as the Director of Advocacy, taking the reins from the legendary Professor Tom Mauet, who had founded the Trial Advocacy Program over 40 years before.  She now teaches Basic Trial Advocacy, Advanced Trial Advocacy, Interviewing, Counseling and Negotiating, and Taking and Defending Depositions. 

Curriculum Vitae

Representative Publications

  • Everytrial Criminal Defense Resource Book (2d ed. forthcoming 2016) (co-author, with John Cline).
  • Wharton’s Criminal Procedure (14th ed.; Vol 1 (2003); Vol. 2 (2004); Vol. 3 (2005); Vol. 4 (2007 - 2009); Vol 5 (2015)) (co-author, with Nancy Hollander & Theresa Duncan).
  • Complete List of Publications

Education

  • J.D. Stanford Law School
    1976
  • B.A. Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois
    1973
    Graduated summa cum laude.

Work Experience

  • Director of Advocacy
    James E. Rogers College of Law
    2016 - present
  • Emeritus Professor of Law
    University of New Mexico School of Law
    2015 - 2016
  • Professor of Law
    University of New Mexico School of Law
    1993 - 2015
  • Interim Dean
    University of New Mexico School of Law
    2012 - 2013
  • Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
    University of New Mexico School of Law
    2008 - 2012
  • Visiting Professor of Law
    Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
    2005 - 2006
  • Co-counsel for Terry Nichols
    State Capital Prosecution in Oklahoma
    2000 - 2004
  • Faculty member
    Pre-Law Summer Institute
    Summers 1990, 1992 - 1995, 1998 - 1999, 2002
  • Visiting Professor of Law
    Hastings College of Law, San Francisco, California
    Spring 1997
  • Associate Professor of Law
    University of New Mexico School of Law
    1990 - 1993
  • Visiting Professor of Law
    University of Utah School of Law
    Summer 1989
  • Assistant Professor of Law
    University of New Mexico School of Law
    1988 - 1990
  • Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
    University of New Mexico School of Law
    1987 - 1988
  • Associate
    Bredhoff & Kaiser, Washington, D.C.
    1984 - 1987
  • Adjunct Professor
    Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
    1980 - 1986
  • Staff Attorney
    Public Defender Service, Washington, D.C.
    1980 - 1984
  • Associate Counsel to the President
    The White House, Washington, D.C.
    1979 - 1980
  • Staff Attorney
    Public Defender Service, Washington, D.C.
    1978 - 1979
  • Associate
    Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Washington, D.C.
    1977 - 1978
  • Law Clerk
    The Hon. Ben C. Duniway, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, San Francisco, Californi
    1976 - 1977

Awards

  • Pamela B. Minzner Chair in Professionalism
    2012 - 2015
  • 2015 Driscoll Award from NM Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
    2015
  • Justice Mary Walters Award
    2014
  • Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Trial Advocacy, Stetson School of Law
    2010
  • Henry Weihofen Professorship
    2002 - 2004
  • Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award Winner, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
    2000
  • Keleher and McLeod Professor of Law
    1995 - 1997
Faculty
Advocacy
Criminal Law & Justice (including Juvenile Justice)
Evidence