Media Contact: 
Charmaine Nelson (626) 344-4325
Email: Charmainen@pasadenaseniorcenter.org

HOW THE LAW AND COURTROOM FILMS TELL STORIES ABOUT OUR SOCIETY AND ATTITUDES THE TOPIC OF THE NEXT MASTERS SERIES AT PASADENA SENIOR CENTER

How do films and media tell stories about our cultural beliefs and societal attitudes? In ‘Return to Reel Justice: Courtrooms in the Movies,’ UCLA Professor Emeritus Paul Bergman will explore this topic as part of the Pasadena Senior Center’s Spring Master’s Series beginning Tuesday, April 7 and concluding on Tuesday, April 14 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on-site at the Pasadena Senior Center.

For each individual lecture, all in person, tuition is $15 for members and $18 for non-members. You can also buy ahead and save by purchasing tickets for both sessions: $25 for members and $35 for non-members. Reservations are suggested. Register at pasadenaseniorcenter.org, then go to Lectures & Classes, then Masters Series, or call (626) 795-4331.

In this two-part series, Professor Bergman will explore — via entertaining movie clips — how real trials and courtroom movies are made for each other: lawyers are storytellers, courtrooms are theaters and trials can provide, drama, surprise, suspense, laughs — and sometimes the truth. Just as anthropologists have used cultural residue like pottery and cave drawing to tell stories about how past societies functions and what people believed, films tell stories about our cultural beliefs and attitudes toward law, lawyers and justice.

• April 7: Lawyers vs. Clients (ethical dilemmas and strategic struggles in attorney-client relationships) and Exper-tease (Expert Witnesses – Rules and Roles)
• April 14: Your Honor? (judges in courtroom movies) and Out of the Question (hearsay and other evidence rules)

Paul Bergman is a Professor of Law Emeritus at the UCLA Law School. He received his J.D. from UC Berkeley and clerked for a federal court of appeals judge and worked at a law firm before joining the UCLA law faculty and pioneering one of the earliest and finest clinical law programs in the country. As a law school retiree, Paul continues to publish books and articles, teach Evidence and give courtroom film clip-based presentations regularly to judges, lawyers and community groups. He has authored or co-authored 16 books, including Real to Reel - Truth and Trickery in Courtroom Movies and its predecessor, Reel Justice - The Courtroom Goes to the Movies.

The Pasadena Senior Center’s mission is to improve the lives of older adults through caring service with opportunities for social interaction, fitness programs, basic support and needs services, education, volunteerism and community activism. With 10,000 Americans per day becoming older adults, the center is a leader in addressing issues of aging and provides innovative, cutting-edge, nationally recognized programs for this population group.

As a donor-supported nonprofit, the center operates without any local, state or federal funding and provides more services to older adults than any other organization in the San Gabriel Valley. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. To learn more visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org or call 626-795-4331.