Fall 2022 Course Schedule

Pre-Trial Litigation (LAW-649-003)
Michael Bruckheim, Jill Cummins

Meets: 06:30 PM - 09:20 PM (Tu)

Enrolled: 12 / Limit: 16

Administrator Access


Notices

There are no notices at this time.

Description

This course focuses on developing essential written and oral pretrial civil litigation skills. We will cover a number of writing and oral tasks many lawyers (and, in particular, many junior lawyers) perform routinely including, among other things, drafting complaints, answers, interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for admissions, and motions for summary judgment. In class, students will have opportunities to conduct and defend depositions of fact and expert witnesses, negotiate settlements, and present and defend motions for summary judgment.

Students will be divided into teams of two (assuming an even-numbered of students in the class; otherwise, there will be one team of three students) who will represent either the plaintiff or defendant in an employment discrimination case. Each team will constitute a “firm” for purposes of the class. In addition to the tasks described above, each team will develop its own firm letterhead and billing statements to account for the firm’s work.

Textbooks and Other Materials

The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.

    Required

  • Tanford and Keele, The Pretrial Process, 3d ed., Carolina Academic Press, 2022

    • Recommended

  • Tanford and Keele, The Pretrial Process, Document Supplement, Carolina Academic Press, 2022

    • References

  • Preparing the Lay Witness for Deposition (National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), 2002 [video])

  • Winning at Deposition (NITA, 1998 [CD-ROM])

  • Baiker-McKee, Janssen and Corr, A Student’s Guide to the Federal Ru le s o f C iv il Procedure West, 2013

First Class Readings

Assignment of FRCP to students. Review The Pretrial Process, Chapter 1, pp. 1-26, Intro to PreTrial Litigation

Syllabus

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