Question

Deadline
Due by the end of Week 5 at 11:59pm, ET.

Directions
Prepare an intra-office memorandum for the senior partner explaining how a case management program might be used to organize a case. Specifically explain how the program can help a trial attorney in each phase of the case:

Case Intake

Investigation

Discovery

Settlement Negotiations

Trial

Your memorandum should be a minimum of two pages in length and contain proper spelling and grammar.

Answer 1

Case management program is required and is becoming common with many big law firms. It also sets the firm in the right direction of assessing the kind of case it takes, management of those case, profit evaluation, development in case, capacity and other related aspects. Definitely if the senior partner accepts this intra office memorandum for case management than it will work as an advantage and will ease the way the work is being done in traditional manner.

Case intake: The first and very key process is Case intake which is the process of identifying the type of the case the firm takes. There is the general evaluation of the case not its win or loss in court aspects but on its other factors on the firm like how much time the firm will have to spent on it, billable hours, stake that is involved etc.

Investigation: This also holds a significant value in case management as the clients are being asked to produce the important and all necessary documents before the attorney or firm so that they can investigate the case as to what claims or complaint can be made out. Investigation is necessary for understanding the client’s case.

Discovery: There three types of discovery process usually takes place in litigation, that is formal discovery where both parties agree to share information related to their case in good faith. Formal discovery is done by the authority of law that production of documents etc. While Informal discovery is where party’s collects information outside the legal aspect as in interviewing witness, searching records which are there in public, doing internet research etc.

Settlement negotiations: settlement talks can start anytime in between the parties. The parties on both sides may feel that there cost for the litigation is increasing and they feel the pressure. They may in these cases might opt for settlement and avoid lengthy court process. This saves the litigation cost as well as the time.

Trial: This phase is where both the sides lack trust or believe in the mutual settlement negotiations and they decide to further go ahead with the litigation. In trial, both the sides attorney will argue their case, present there witness, cross examine them before a judge or jury. Based on all the evidence placed before judge or jury and arguments advanced and keeping the law in loop the judge or jury decides the case.

The case management process will definitely help the senior partner. The case management would provide for proper mechanism software will be used like for e-discovery and litigation investigations where larges corporate clients are involved.

It becomes very difficult where the both the parties review the other side documents especially when the document are mails trails running in millions of documents and conversation exchange which might be crucial to identify the important privilege and confidential information which can establish the case

Using advanced software and management and outsourcing some of the tedious and time taking work are some of the management techniques under case management which if the senior partner brings into use he will surely get the advantage in it.