When Karen Hidalgo’s 8th graders started prepping for their Reconstruction Era debate, they got a crash course in persuasion from a seasoned family law attorney. With over 20 years of courtroom experience and a National Moot Court title under her belt, Hillery Kaplan shared practical tips on crafting strong arguments, presenting evidence, and winning over an audience. Blending humor, real-world stories, and debate strategies, she showed the students how skills like these can make a difference far beyond the classroom.

Enjoy our Q&A with Hillery Kaplan below!

Q: Describe your background and current work:

A: I am an attorney who practices exclusively family law. I went to UT Austin for undergrad and Emory University for Law School.  I have been licensed and practicing since 2002, and have been Board Certified in Family law since 2016.  In the course of my practice, I have been a litigator and often appear in court for hearings and trials.  In law school, I participated in Moot Court and was the National Moot Court Champion in oral advocacy and brief writing. In high school, I was on the debate team and won many accolades, as well.  

Q: What was the theme of your talk? 

A: Karen Hidalgo’s 8th graders were preparing for a debate on various topics related to the Reconstruction Era, and she wanted me to come to talk to students about the power and components of debate, how to prepare for a debate, how to structure it, how to use persuasive language, how to prepare for rebuttal, and how I used those skills in my work. I talked a lot about structure, such as number of points to make, presenting evidence to support each point, and how to be clear so that the listener doesn’t lose the forest through the trees.  I used the analogy of a painting and how if there is too much added to the painting, you can’t really tell what it is – same goes for debates. 

Q: What was the best question the students asked you? 

A: One of the students asked me how to be persuasive in advocating for a position that they believe (and clearly is)  ethically wrong/distasteful.  I thought this was a particular astute question and my answer was to stick to the facts and the support/evidence that support your position in order to distract the listener from the ethical side of their argument that is not favorable to them.

Q: What were the students most interested in? 

A:  These students are clearly very competitive and interested in winning the debate against their classmate, so they were most interested in how to prepare for and rebut their opponent’s argument in order to “win” the debate.  They were also interested in my experiences in Court and I told a couple of funny/interesting age-appropriate stories about some of my more off-the-wall trials. 

Q: How can good debate skills help students in everyday life? Or can they? 

A: They absolutely can! Knowing how to advocate for yourself or others persuasively is an important skill and will certainly help students throughout their lives, whether it’s in school, in interviews, or navigating everyday life. 

How did the 8th graders do in the debate? Read about it here!