Summer Associates: Litigation

What do civil litigators do? This course explains the typical roles in a civil litigation group at a law firm, including partners, counsel, associates, and paralegals, and also describes the role of the client.

This course explains the life cycle of a civil litigation case, from filing the complaint to conducting discovery to judgment and appeals.

An overview of the typical civil litigation discovery process, including the different types of discovery, the process of serving and responding to discovery requests, and the phases of discovery.

An overview of how to conduct a document review, including an explanation of the various purposes and goals and how a review might be structured. Also includes an introduction to producing documents and drafting production cover letters.

An introduction to depositions, including why they’re used, the different types of depositions, deposition procedure, and objections made during depositions.

An introduction to motion practice, including the typical briefing process, the ways a motion can be made, the contents of a typical motion, and strategic considerations when drafting a brief.

Protecting privileged information is critical in litigation. This course explains privilege and work product, what to do if protected information is sent to the other side, clawbacks, privilege waivers, and joint defense groups.

Checklist for substantive review of legal authorities in a brief, format of legal and record citations, common mistakes, and when in the drafting process to prevent errors.