The main goal of this course is to prepare law students, whether they go into private practice or work in-house (as a corporate lawyer, patent attorney or litigator), whether they go on to clerk, or whatever legal career they select, to think about how each decision taken in a litigation must be reconciled with the overall goals.
The course will focus on litigation strategy, with a special emphasis on current developments in the law and technology concerning electronic discovery. Using cases and case studies, we will examine in detail strategic issues that arise in connection with all phases of litigation (including not only civil litigation but responses to civil or criminal regulatory inquiries). We will examine the strategic issues that should be addressed in connection with, among others: (a) conducting an internal investigation and responding to a regulatory request, (b) advising a client (from an in-house and outside counsel perspective) on document preservation and litigation hold issues, (c) plotting a course of action in discovery, including document demands, protective orders, depositions (with a particular focus on understanding the connection between depositions and ultimate motions for summary judgment or use of the deposition testimony or related exhibits at trial), and (d) dealing with electronic discovery issues which are now a common focus of all aspects of any litigation.
The course will include a mix of case review, case studies and individual and group projects, which may include one “48 hour” exercise (at an agreed upon time). During the 48 hour exercise, students, working in small groups of two or more (depending on enrollment) will receive a request (from a client, from an adversary, from the court) on a specific issue and will be required to prepare and present their advice or response to the request.