She was best known for her work on the theory of evidence, and additionally taught civil procedure, the legal profession, and periodic seminars.
From 1992 to 1997, she chaired a special faculty-student committee appointed by Dean Herma Hill Kay to develop a proposal for improving and expanding the clinical curriculum at Boalt.
The focus of her teaching and research was on the adversary system: the legal rules, practices, and procedures that govern civil and criminal trials.
One of Professor Swift's most lasting contributions to the Law School's teaching mission was her leadership in the establishment of Boalt's Center for Clinical Education," which brought clients in need of legal advice to Boalt, where students, directed by a faculty member, provided counsel.
The suit was settled with an agreement to leave the tenure decision to an outside independent review committee of distinguished academics.
My goal is, of course, to develop students' knowledge of the legal rules, practices and procedures that govern civil and criminal trials.
Equally important, however, is that students understand how these rules establish roles for the participants in the adversary system — the lawyers, their clients, the judge and the jury.
Students are introduced to acting in the lawyers' and judge's roles through specific role-playing techniques that I have incorporated into all of my classes.
Law students tend to think of lawyers as "in charge" and it is important to expose them to the constraints on their autonomy created by a representational relationship.
"The practice of law is challenging precisely because it is constantly working out the tension in the core values of the justice system.