Trial Advocacy: Pre-trial procedure

A planning guide that takes you from the moment the potential client steps into your office, through all aspects of case preparation, to the moment you step before the judge as an advocate.

Internal investigations : practical considerations for avoiding pitfalls / W. Scott O'Connell -- Timing of mediation : pre-litigation, early mediation, or late mediation / Andrew R. Kasnetz -- Picking the right place : venue selection and jurisdictional considerations / Tom Waskom -- Seeking and preparing litigation holds / Howard Merten, Paul M. Kessimian, and Christopher M. Wildenhain -- Discovery in the modern age : conducting and resisting e-discovery / J. Michael Schowalter -- Expedited or pre-suit discovery / Laurence Kurth -- Initial case assessment : preliminary fact and legal evaluations / Michael D. Shalhoub and Jill Owens -- Discovery themes : keeping it simple, but effective / Sawnie A. McEntire -- Getting organized : preparing timelines of important events and documents / Robert L. Christie -- Motions for summary judgment : strategy and timing / James Miller -- Shifting risk with offers / Alexandra W. Wahl -- Designing and executing a critical witness deposition / Raymond C. Lewis and John Jerry Glas -- Making the kitchen hotter : effective use of motions to compel / David R. Pruet III -- Another perspective : jury consultants, focus groups, and mock trials / Sawnie A. McEntire -- The final screenplay : final trial preparations, witness selection, and exhibits / Lee M. Hollis.

This loose-leaf manual provides a unique task checklist that provides the what, why, when, and how for structuring the case, discovery techniques, admitting and excluding evidence, using experts, settlement strategies, trial tactics, cost-saving measures for smaller cases, and more.

This text organizes pretrial planning and preparation into a series of distinct steps students can readily master. Litigation files form a hypothetical case, complete with sample documentation and paperwork, take students through each stage of a civil case. Additional litigation files, six in all, appear on an accompanying CD-ROM and include both plaintiffs' and defendants' files.

Pretrial Advocacy covers both criminal and civil pretrial practice, with a focus on federal and state litigation. Professional responsibility and civility are emphasized through the text. Checklists of skills, techniques, and ethics, which appear in each chapter, as well as 79 assignments, designed for student role-play performances, allow for greater student comprehension.

This book identifies the most salient grounds for pretrial motions, explains the issues that commonly arise, and provides a succinct statement of the governing law.

This text is designed to assist students in identifying, developing and mastering the fundamental skills necessary to fully represent a client through out all stages of the pretrial process. It focuses on teaching the skill, law and art of pretrial advocacy through the lens of civil practice. It covers all of the activities associated with representing clients during the pretrial stages of litigation.