CIVIL PRETRIAL PRACTICE SPRING 2006 SYLLABUS

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1 CIVIL PRETRIAL PRACTICE SPRING 2006 SYLLABUS Week 1: January 12 Lecture: Introduction to the Course, Factual and Legal Context for the Simulated Case, and Litigation Planning. Assignment: Review accident report, Rose demand letter and Anderson s response to demand letter; browse the library for resources on pretrial practice; and decide on partners for law firms. (The assignment is for the week following the class and as prescribed by the litigation schedule.) Reading: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (hereinafter FRCP ), Rules 1-11 and comments. Course Procedures and Syllabus. (The reading is in addition to the Assignment and is designed to provide you the tools to complete the assignment.) Week 2: January 19 Lecture: Fact Investigation, Interviewing Techniques and Memo Writing. Classroom Activity: Divide the class into plaintiff and defense law firms; adjourn to separate rooms to discuss and plan investigation, including legal research, witness interviews, and other informal fact investigation; discuss legal theories, strengths and weaknesses of the case or defense; and outline goals for client and witness interviews and research projects. Assignment: Inspect, diagram and photograph the scene of the accident; conduct initial interviews of your client(s) and prepare memoranda outlining your interviews; research the legal issues in the case based on class discussions and prepare memos outlining the research. Reading: Lecture notes and other information. Week 3: January 26 Lecture: Pleading the Case. Classroom Activity: Meet as law firms to evaluate cases and discuss interviews and legal research; review litigation plans, including additional follow-up interviews with clients(s) and additional legal research on newly identified issues; Plaintiff law firms discuss the elements of their complaints; Defense firms discuss potential defenses for their answers; and all firms plan additional factual investigation to be done prior to filing the pleadings. Assignment: Conduct follow-up interviews of the client(s) and prepare memos outlining the interviews; research additional legal issues based on class discussions and interviews as they are taken; all law firms carry on additional informal discovery as necessary, including interviewing the fact witnesses the parties have identified; each plaintiff firm draft, serve and file complaint no later than 11:00 PM on 1

2 Wednesday, February 1. (Note: You are not required to prepare a civil action cover sheet, summons, motion or order for the appointment of a guardian ad litem.) Reading: Lecture notes and other information; FRCP, Rules 12-15, and 17-21; Model Rules of Professional Conduct (hereinafter Model Rules ), Rules 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4; U.S. District Court for the Middle District of N.C., Local Rules of Civil Practice (hereinafter Local Rules ), Rules LR1.1, LR1.2, LR 7.1, LR17.1 ( Week 4: February 2 Lecture: Pretrial Motions Practice. Classroom Activity: Plaintiff firms meet to discuss their complaints and anticipated defenses; Defense firms meet to discuss preparation of their Answers; and all firms discuss discovery strategies. Assignment: All law firms carry on additional informal discovery as necessary, including interviewing the fact witnesses the parties have identified; all firms prepare and circulate a summary of information and catalogue of documents received; Defense firms prepare, serve and file Answers no later than 11:00 PM on Wednesday, February 8. Reading: Lecture notes and other information; FRCP 26, 29, 37; Federal Rules of Evidence (hereinafter FRE ), Rules 104, 105, 106, 201; Model Rules, 1.5, 1.6, 1.16, 3.1. Week 5: February 9 Lecture: Discovery Practice and Introduction to the Use of Expert Witnesses Classroom Activity: Plaintiff firms meet to discuss amendments to the complaint in light of the Answers filed; Defense firms discuss strategy for presenting pretrial motions; and all firms meet to outline their plans for discovery. Assignment: All firms continue informal discovery; and all firms supplement and circulate a summary of information and catalogue of documents received; Plaintiff firms prepare, serve and file motions to amend, notices of hearing and hearing memoranda no later than 11:00 PM on Tuesday, February 14; Defense firms prepare, serve and file motions to dismiss, notices of hearing and hearing memoranda no later than 11:00 PM on Tuesday, February 14. (Note: You are not permitted to file a written response to the motion of the opposing party; however, you can present cases that support your position in opposition to the motion at the hearing.) Reading: Lecture notes and other information; FRCP 33, 34 and 36; FRE, Rules 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, Model Rules, Rule 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5; Local Rules, Rules LR7.3, LR

3 Week 6: February 16 Lecture: Interrogatories, Requests for Production and Requests for Admissions. Classroom Activity: Court will hear all pending motions filed by either side. Assignment: Prevailing parties on motions prepare, circulate and present orders to the Court to be entered no later than the start of class on February 23; all firms prepare, serve and file interrogatories, requests for production, and requests for admissions no later than 11:00 PM on February 22; and all firms prepare, serve and file any allowed amendments to pleadings no later than 11:00 PM on February 22. (Note: Disclosure of information about experts shall be made in answer to interrogatories.) Reading: Lecture notes and other information; FRCP, Rule 37. Week 7: February 23 Lecture: Enforcing Discovery Rights. Classroom Activity: Firms meet to discuss the rulings on motions; review litigation plans, including additional follow-up witness interviews and additional legal research on recently identified issues; plan additional factual investigation to be done in anticipation of the start of depositions; and review and outline responses to interrogatories, requests for production and requests for admission. Assignment: Meet with expert witness and prepare interrogatory responses regarding opinions of expert witness; meet with clients to prepare responses to written discovery, including sharing information gained in the informal discovery process, verifying the answers to interrogatories, inquiring about the existence of any additional documents for production; prepare, serve and file answers and responses to interrogatories, request for production and requests for admission no later than 11:00 PM on March 1. Reading: Lecture notes and other information; FRCP, Rules Week 8: March 2 Lecture: Mechanics of a Deposition. Classroom Activity: Firms meet to review the answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for production and responses to requests for admissions. Assignment: Prepare deposition questions of the opposing parties; arrange for meetings with the clients to prepare them for the upcoming depositions and to review the status of the case; initiate discussions with counsel for opposing party about available dates for the depositions of the parties and witnesses; contact clients and witnesses to arrange meetings and dates for depositions. Reading: Lecture notes and other information; FRCP, Rule 36; FRE, Rules , ; Model Rules, Rule 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4; Local Rules, Rules LR 83.1, LR83.2, LR83.4, LR83.11(e) 3

4 Week 9: March 9 Lecture: Taking and Defending the Depositions. Classroom Activity: Watch instructional video tapes; firms discuss problems to anticipate in the depositions to be taken; and discuss style, format and content of depositions. Assignment: Outline deficiencies in responses from the opposing party to the interrogatories, request for production and requests for admissions; open negotiations with the counsel for opposing party to correct the deficiencies; plan depositions to lay the ground work for motions to compel for uncorrected deficiencies; contact clients and witnesses to arrange meetings and dates for depositions; continue preparing outline of the deposition questions of opposing parties and fact witnesses; no later than March 9 at 11:00 PM, prepare, serve and file notices of depositions of Sally Rose, Bruce Anderson and Shannon Johnson for March 20-26; no later than March 22 at 11:00 PM, prepare, serve and file notices of depositions of fact witnesses during March 26-April 2. Reading: Lecture notes and other information; FRCP, Rules 32 and 37; FRE, Rules , Week 10: SPRING BREAK (March 13-17)\ Week 11: March 23 Lecture: Use of the Deposition in Motions and Trial Classroom Activity: Firms discuss depositions taken and plans for upcoming depositions. Assignment: All firms prepare, serve and file motions to compel, motions for protective orders, notices of hearing and memorandum no later than March 28 at 11:00 PM for hearings to be held March 30; take depositions of Sally Rose, Bruce Anderson, and Shannon Johnson during March 20-26; take depositions of fact witnesses during March 26-April 2. Reading: Lecture notes and other information; FRE, Rules ; Model Rules, Rules 5.1, 5.2, 5.3. Week 12: March 30 Lecture: More on Expert Witnesses. Classroom Activity: Court will hear all discovery motions, including motions to compel and motions for protective orders. Assignments: Outline affidavits of expert for use in the prosecution and defense of summary judgment; 4

5 prevailing parties on motions to compel prepare, circulate and file orders for the Court to be entered no later than the start of class on April 6; all firms prepare, serve and file supplemental discovery in response to the Court s orders by April 5 at 11:00 PM; contact witnesses who might give affidavits to discuss meeting times to review and execute affidavits; all firms meet with expert to work on affidavit for the expert for summary judgment. Reading: Lecture notes and other information; FRCP, Rules 43(e), 44 and 56; FRE, Rules , ; Local Rules, Rule LR56.1. Week 13: April 6 Lecture: Motions for Summary Judgment Classroom Activity: Discuss preparation and strategies for summary judgment motions. Assignment: Organize, authenticate, and supplement supporting factual materials for motions for summary judgment; prepare, serve and file motions for summary judgment, briefs, supporting affidavits, depositions and other papers no later than April 12 at 11:00 PM. Reading: Lecture notes and other information. Week 14: April 13 Lecture: Settlement Techniques and Pitfalls Classroom Activity: Firms meet to discuss the motions filed by opposing counsel and outline responses to summary judgment. Assignment: Prepare, serve and file responses to motions for summary judgment briefs, supporting affidavits, depositions and other papers on or before April 15 at 11:00 PM; and prepare for hearing on motions for summary judgment. Reading: Lecture notes and other information. Week 15: April 17, 18 and 19 Classroom Activity: The Court will hear Motions for Summary Judgment 5

6 CIVIL PRETRIAL PRACTICE COURSE PROCEDURES AND LOCAL RULES OF THE COURSE This course will introduce you to civil pretrial practice by using a simulated civil action. There are differences in this practice course from a traditional lecture course. Accordingly, it is imperative that you read and understand the following procedures and rules. This memorandum will answer many of the commonly asked questions that I have answered in previous classes. 1.0 Law Firms 1.1 I will divide the students into two groups. One group will represent the plaintiffs. The other group will represent the defendants. You will work in your group for the entire semester. Although you will only represent one side of the case, the course will give you equal exposure to both plaintiff and defense practice. 1.2 In the group, you will form a law firm with one or two other classmates. You will work in your law firm throughout the semester to prosecute or defend the case. 1.3 Your law firm will oppose a law firm from the other group for the entire semester. 1.4 You are to work collaboratively with your group and your law firm. The members of the law firm will undertake separate tasks and share the results with your firm and the group. Each student should put in an equivalent amount of work for the semester. 1.5 The law firm name should include the last names of the students in the firm. I recommend listing the names in alphabetical order. 2.0 Litigation 2.1 I have employed law students and others to serve as clients and witnesses. Because of the time constraints of the course, I have not employed all the witnesses you might like to interview or depose. However, you have the clients and witnesses necessary to prosecute or defend your case. 2.2 I have created documentary evidence consistent with the transactions and occurrences in the simulated case. These documents will be in the possession of your clients and other witnesses. Some of the documents will be obtained in discovery from the other side. Because of the time constraints of the course, I have not created all the documents you might like to have. However, you will be provided those documents necessary to prosecute or defend your case. The lack of some documents may well cause you frustration. However, there are no other documents other than the ones that I have provided to the witnesses and clients and no additional documents will be created during the course. You may create demonstrative exhibits, photographs, and charts. You may not use evidence that might be available, if this were not a manufactured fact situation, such as weather reports, traffic studies, governmental studies, newspaper articles, and schedules of events taking place at the time identified in the fact situation. 1

7 2.3 I serve in several capacities in the course. I am an instructor, senior partner, judge and expert witness. I will attempt to make sure you understand what role I am in when we interact. If you have any question about my status in a situation, please ask As the instructor, I will lecture on the skills that are necessary for pretrial practice. I will also be available for consultations by , telephone and in person. I will endeavor to be as available as possible given the fact that I am an adjunct faculty member and do not have office hours at the law school You will find that sometimes the methods that I discuss may vary from reading materials that I suggest you consider. Litigation is an art not a science. There are often different ways to accomplish the same thing. By reading the materials and attending the lectures, you should have a good understanding of the various ways to handle a problem Because this is a practice course, you may have to perform a task without having been instructed on all the techniques you feel you need. It has been my experience that self taught lessons are sometimes the ones that are the best. It is also the intent of the course that the students learn from each other. This practice helps foster collegiality, an important skill in litigation practice As the senior partner, I will provide advice to each law firm. We will break out into small groups after many of the classes to discuss the progress of the case. During these sessions, you should raise questions. Although frustrating, you will find that the senior partner does not always know the answer to your questions. In addition, the senior partner sometimes prefers the associates do the necessary collaborative research and consultation to arrive at the answer My role as the judge is to hear motions and petitions and give a ruling. The hearings will take place at designated times and with the formality one would expect in a court of law. I cannot make ex parte rulings. I will endeavor to act like a judge while I am in that role. It may appear to you that I am abrupt in my tone or ruling. Although this is unintentional, I hope that this may prepare you for what you will encounter in practice I will serve as an expert witness for each firm. Although you will not pay my customary fees, you are to treat me in all other respects as if you have employed me to serve as an expert witness in your case. I will work with each firm to draft an affidavit that will support or defend against a summary judgment motion. 2.4 After the necessary preparation, the law firms for the plaintiff will each file a separate lawsuit on behalf of their clients. The opposing law firms for the defendants will each prepare and file an answer to the complaint. Thereafter, the separate lawsuits will progress through discovery and conclude with motions for summary judgment. Because of the joint planning and strategy sessions in the groups, the lawsuits will have similarities. However, each law firm is encouraged to use creativity and imagination in planning its case. In addition, the opposing parties may present different challenges to each law firm. Therefore, your case may be different from the others in your group. The rulings of the Court on motions may differ based on the record presented to the Court, the law the Court is asked to consider, and the convincing force of the arguments of counsel. The rulings of the Court may alter your case from the other cases from that point forward, and thus may change the strategy of counsel. 2

8 2.5 The Court is not bound by any informal agreements between counsel such as extensions of time, informal amendments of pleadings, waivers of formal notice of depositions, and other similar agreements. You should follow the strict letter of the rules. If you enter into informal agreements that become the source of disagreements, the court will not assist in resolving these conflicts. Please do not ask the opposing party to enter into any informal agreements for waivers or extensions. The Court will allow motions for extensions of time for good cause. In addition, the Court will sanction formal stipulations presented in writing to the Court for review. 2.6 There is no required textbook for the course. You will need a current copy of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence and the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. I will place on Blackboard lecture notes, examples of pleadings, motions and other practice materials. There are manuals and materials are in the law school library that provide additional insights into litigation skills. In addition, you will be expected to find resource materials that you can share with your colleagues on many of the tasks you will be asked to accomplish. 3.0 Law of the Case 3.1 The plaintiff law firms will prepare their lawsuits as if they were to be filed in the federal court for the Middle District of North Carolina. There is no diversity jurisdiction and no federal question presented by the facts of the case. However, we will pretend that there is diversity for the purpose the course. You should plead the case with the facts that you have been provided, even though the court would not have jurisdiction since there is no diversity. The defense firms will not oppose the jurisdiction of the federal court because of the lack of diversity or for any other reason. However, recall that in a diversity case, there are required averments concerning the amount in controversy which you should plead. 3.2 The Court will apply the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence and the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The Court will apply the substantive law of North Carolina, as if there was diversity jurisdiction. 3.3 The Court expects the highest standards of research and writing because all students have taken the research and writing course and have passed it. You should become familiar with the substantive law of North Carolina that applies to the case. The law firms are encouraged to share the research that they do and to maintain a central database or brief bank with the cases downloaded from Westlaw or other similar databases. 3.4 I will not lecture on the substantive or procedural law that you are to apply in this case, other than is necessary in the context of discussing various litigation practices. Each of you has had or is taking the course work that has prepared you for this course. I expect each of you to recall the prior course work. However, I recognize that some of your course work may not have been oriented to the practical aspect of litigation. Therefore, please do not hesitate to ask questions. There are no dumb questions in my class. If you have a question, probably your colleagues have a similar question. If you would prefer to ask the question in private, ask the question by . If the question is applicable to the other students, I will broadcast the question and answer by to the class without attribution to you. If you would prefer that I not broadcast the question and answer, please tell me. 3

9 4.0 Your Work Product 4.1. Each time your law firm conducts an interview of a client or witness, the firm must summarize its interview and distribute copies of a memorandum summarizing its findings to its group. Provide a copy to me. 4.2 If your law firm conducts legal research for its group, summarize the research and distribute the memorandum to the group. Provide a copy of the memorandum to me. 4.3 In the interest of saving resources, the memoranda referred to in 4.1 and 4.2 should be distributed as an attachment to an . If the memoranda cannot be delivered by , you should use the student mail boxes to deliver these memoranda. I have a mail folder in the mail room where you can deliver these memoranda to me. 4.4 Please convert all attachments to Word. 5.0 Filing Pleadings, Motions and Other Papers ( Papers ) 5.1 The syllabus governs the time for service and filing papers. 5.2 File the original papers with the Court. The original shall have the original handwritten, pen and ink signature of at least one member of the law firm and the date the paper is signed. In addition, it shall contain the original certificate of service as provided for herein. 5.3 All papers filed with the Court will have a typewritten footer at the bottom left hand side of each page setting forth the case number, the designation of the party filing the paper, the name of the paper and the date the paper is filed. The footer should have the following format in 8 point type: Plaintiffs Complaint - 02/01/ File the papers in my mail folder within 24 hours after the paper was served. It is also permissible to file the paper with the court at the beginning of class, assuming that the start of class is within 24 hours after the paper was served. 5.5 A paper is not filed unless it is signed by one of the counsel of record with the footer as set forth in Rule 5.3. If a paper is left in my mail slot without the required signature and footer, it is not considered filed and the consequences arising from the failure to file paper may apply (eg. default, motion considered unopposed, etc.). 6.0 Service of Pleadings, Motions and Other Papers ( Papers ) 6.1 The deadlines for the service of papers have been set forth in the litigation schedule provided in the syllabus. 6.2 All papers must have a certificate of service signed by one of the attorneys for the party serving 4

10 the paper setting forth the date and method of service. The certificate of service is not a separate paper or pleading and does not require a caption like a pleading. Rather, it can be typed on the last page of the paper following the date and signature of the lawyer or be a separate page attached to the paper. The certificate is dated and signed by an attorney of record for the party serving the paper. A certificate of service is a certificate by the lawyer to the court and is taken very seriously by the court. 6.3 The preferred method of service of papers shall be by attaching them to an sent to all attorneys in the opposing law firm with a copy of the and attachment to the Court. The date and time of the shall constitute the date and time of the service. An additional method of service is by hand delivery. Even though you provide a copy to the court by and attachment, you still are required to provide a hard copy to the court as provided in Rule 5.4. If you use , you are still required to have a certificate of service. 7.0 Written Discovery 7.1 Each law firm may serve on the opposing law firm no more than fifteen (15) interrogatories, fifteen (15) requests for production and fifteen (15) requests for admission. Each part and subpart is counted separately. These numerical limitations apply to the total number to be served to each side in each case regardless of how many parties there are. 7.2 The attorney serving documents produced in response to a request for production shall label the document to demonstrate that it was served with a response to a request in such a way not to deface the document. Should the party who made the request desire to see the original documents, the parties should confer to arrange a convenient time to meet and review the original documents. 7.3 A party is required to serve the full number of interrogatories, request for production and request for admission when required by the syllabus. 7.4 Responses to written discovery are due on the day set forth in the Syllabus. 8.0 Depositions 8.1 All depositions are limited to two hours for direct/redirect examination and thirty minutes for cross examination. The length of the deposition will vary depending on the role of the person to be deposed. As a course requirement, each student must serve as lead counsel in taking a deposition and lead counsel in defending a deposition. A law firm can only use the depositions that it took or defended in support of or defense of motions in its case. 8.2 The lawyer who noticed the deposition will record the deposition by video recorder. It is preferred that the camera record the image of the examiner. The deposition should also be recorded by audio recorder. You do not need to transcribe the depositions, except as set forth hereinafter. Please bring the videotape to class when requested. 8.3 If a party is going to offer portions of a deposition in support of a motion, the portions must be transcribed and served with the motion. Thereafter, the opposing party must be offered a least two days to review the tape and determine whether the transcription is accurate and whether the opposing party 5

11 would like to offer other portions of the deposition in opposition to the motion. Any objections to the transcript and additional portions selected by the opposing party to be offered into evidence at the hearing should be served on the moving party on or before the day before the hearing on the motion. In emergency cases, the Court will consider the tape of the deposition without requiring the transcript. 8.4 The party who noticed the deposition is responsible for arranging for the videotape of the deposition, checking out the necessary equipment from the library and taping the deposition. Once a deposition is recorded, the party noticing the deposition is responsible for preserving the videotape as the Court s copy. Any other party can obtain a copy of the videotape at its expense, by either making the tape itself or by paying the expenses for the tape to be copied by the party noticing the deposition. Please be sure that the equipment is working properly before the deposition starts. Also, please be respectful of the time of the witnesses and clients. 9.0 What you should not do 9.1 It is important that you not engage in warfare with your opposing counsel. I have designed the problem to create opportunities for motions to amend, motions to dismiss, discovery motions and motions for summary judgment. I expect the motions to be filed at the times specified. I will not permit additional motions that might traditionally arise in litigation such as motions for an independent medical examination, motions for sanctions, or Rule ll motions. Also, I will not permit required motions to be made late that should have been made at the times specified. Given the time constraints that we must work under, in this course and your other courses, we will not have time for you or your opposing counsel to prepare, brief and argue any additional motions. 9.2 It is important that you not engage in unprofessional behavior. Unfortunately winning at all cost litigation is more the norm than the exception. Part of the course work will be to define what professional behavior is in the context of litigation. It is my job, in part, to make sure that you do not do harm to your fellow litigants. 9.3 I have employed people to serve as clients and witnesses. You may contact them outside of the context of the formal interviews, if permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct. Please remember that the majority of the parties and witnesses are students who have classes to keep up with. Also, you should maintain a professional, polite demeanor at all times with the witnesses and parties Communication 10.1 Please check your each day. When the litigation begins, members of the class will be using to communicate with you about important aspects of the ongoing litigation Any communication with me outside of class should be by at rglenn@gmf-law.com. If you have an immediate need, my office number is and my fax number is I also will be happy to meet with you before class and after class. As a litigator, I am sometimes unavailable while I am in trial. I have voice mail which I listen to frequently each day. Penni Pennington is my legal assistant and will be happy to take detailed messages I do not expect any emergencies. Rather, I expect you to work within the confines of the 6

12 schedule that I provide. This will require you to plan carefully to insure that you are able to ask all your questions and complete all your assignments according to the schedule. An important litigation skill is anticipating problems in order to deal with them timely Presentation 11.1 All written work must be typed. Please refer to the Appendix to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for the format for pleading and motions. These are offered as examples only, as I generally find the forms to be too abbreviated for the novice pleader All cases and other authorities that are cited in legal memoranda and briefs filed with the Court which you want the Court to consider should be copied and provided to the Court when the arguments are presented to the court. If a group determines that there are cases and other authorities that will be cited by all law firms in support of motions, a master set can be assembled, indexed and provided to the Court for use in all motions by the law firms in that group. Since the motions are ruled on from the bench, it is helpful for you to highlight the portions of the authority that you feel is helpful for the court to consider I require each student to argue during the hearings for motions.. Generally, at each hearing, a firm will argue a motion and defend a motion which gives ample opportunity for all members of a firm to argue Class Attendance and Participation 12.1 Class attendance is required. Unavoidable absences should be cleared ahead of time with me through or other means. Because of the nature of this course, it is essential that all students participate in the classroom sessions. During the lectures, questions are welcomed and encouraged. There are very few absolutes in the art of litigation. If you have a new and different way to do something, I encourage you to experiment. Be prepared to explain your reasons and engage in debate about the choices that you have made. Your participation is mandatory during the strategy sessions This course is labor intensive. However, if you work collaboratively as a group and as a law firm, you can accomplish all the tasks assigned. If you plan your work carefully and are mindful of upcoming deadlines, you will find that the workload is manageable As a litigator, I have the habit of studying the members of the jury during trial. When I am teaching my class, I also study the students for some sign that what I am saying is making sense. Please do not engage in distracting behavior Grades 13.1 Grades are not based on which law firm "wins" or "loses." Grades are based on the student's demonstrated creativity, preparation and performance in the class. The final grade represents the student s performance over the entire semester. A grade on an exercise in January counts the same as a grade on a similar exercise in April. This is a performance class based on a number of subjective criteria. I will grade your work considering the following aspects of your performance in the course: 7

13 Locating, understanding, and working with the applicable substantive law and procedure; Investigation, organization and management of information; Accuracy, clarity and advocacy in writing pleadings, motions, discovery, memoranda, briefs and other papers; Oral advocacy; Classroom participation and in strategy sessions; Ethical practices; Professionalism toward clients, witnesses, opposing counsel, law firm members and the Court; Understanding and appreciating personal concerns of clients and witnesses; Compliance with applicable rules and schedules 13.2 Because much of the work product of a law firm is done collaboratively, the grades for the firm are going to be similar. This places added importance on firm to work together as a unit for the best grade for all members of the firm Litigation Schedule 14.1 The syllabus contains the litigation schedule adopted by the Court. You must meet these deadlines. No informal extensions are allowed. If an informal extension is offered by your adversary - reject the offer. Do not make offers of extensions of time The Court will generally make rulings from the bench following the arguments of counsel. As a result you should plan your presentation accordingly. All orders from the bench are deemed entered as of the end of the hearing. Therefore, all actions permitted or ordered by the Court should be commenced and completed in the time allowed by the Court even before the preparation, circulation, filing and entry of the Court s order The Court will not sign an order unless the attorney submitting the order verifies that the form of the order (not the result) is satisfactory to opposing counsel. If the attorney is unable to get approval of the form from the opposing attorney, the Court should be advised All pleadings, motions and other papers must be served on or before the date listed. If the date listed is the date of the class, then the time for service shall be no later than the time for the start of the class. It is acceptable to hand deliver the document at the start of class. The time for answering or responding to a paper is set forth in the Syllabus and controls, even if the paper is served early As the semester progresses some papers require notarization, such as answers to interrogatories and affidavits. If the paper requires a notary, use the standard form and sign it yourself as Norman Notary Purpose and Citation of Rules 15.1 The purpose of these rules is to run the course with minimal disruption or confusion. Please consult the rules before asking a question about the procedures. If you are confused or believe there is an inconsistency in the application of the rules, please point it out to me in an and I will clarify the inconsistency or issue an advisory ruling. 8

14 15.2 These rules shall control over all other rules and shall be cited as authority whenever applicable These rules shall be cited as CR, Rule #. 9