10 - Litigation Assistantship

Question 1

litigation

Answer 1

1 - the formal process of resolving a legal dispute through the courts
2 - a lawsuit

Question 2

civil dispute

Answer 2

a legal controversy in which

a) one private person or entity sues another;
b) a private person or entity sues the government; or
c) the government sues a private person or entity for a matter other than the commission of a crime

Question 3

criminal dispute

Answer 3

a legal controversy in which the government alleges the commission of a crime

Question 4

arbitration

Answer 4

a method of ADR in which the parties avoid litigation by submitting their dispute to a neutral third party (the arbitrator) who renders a decision resolving the dispute

Question 5

judicial arbitration

Answer 5

court-referred or court-ordered arbitration

Question 6

contractual arbitration

Answer 6

arbitration that the parties have agreed (contracted) to use

Question 7

award

Answer 7

the decision of an arbitrator

Question 8

mediation

Answer 8

a method of ADR in which the parties avoid litigation by submitting their dispute to a neutral third party (the mediator) who helps the parties resolve their dispute, but doesn’t render a decision that resolves it for them

Question 9

med-arb

Answer 9

a method of ADR in which the parties first try mediation and if it doesn’t work, they try arbitration

Question 10

private judging

Answer 10

a method of ADR consisting of arbitration or mediation in which the arbitrator or mediator is a retired judge; sometimes misleadingly called rent-a-judge

Question 11

neutral evaluation

Answer 11

a method of ADR in which both sides hire an experienced attorney or an expert in the area involved in the dispute who will listen to an abbreviated version of the evidence and the arguments of each side and offer an evaluation in the hope that this will stimulate more serious settlement discussions

Question 12

templates

Answer 12

a file containing text and a format that can be used as the starting point for creating frequently used docs

Question 13

caption

Answer 13

the heading or introductory part of a pleading, court opinion, memoranda, or other document that provides identifying info such as the kind of document that it is, the names of the parties, and the court involved, if any

Question 14

notice pleading

Answer 14

a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief

Question 15

special damages

Answer 15

economic loses (e.g. medical expenses or lost wages) that must be alleged and proven (not presumed to exist); a category of compensatory damages, which is money paid to restore an injured party to their position prior to the injury or other loss

Question 16

affidavit

Answer 16

a written or printed statement of facts made under oath by a person (affiant) before someone with authority to administer the oath

Question 17

Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)

Answer 17

an electronic public access service that allows subscribers to obtain case and docket info from federal courts via the internet (www.pacer.gov)

Question 18

depo summarizers

Answer 18

an employee whose main job is digesting discovery documents, particularly depositions

Question 19

digest

Answer 19

an organized summary or abridgment

Question 20

Bates stamp

Answer 20

a tool with which to manually or digitally insert a number (usually sequential) on a page; after using the tool on a page, it automatically advances to the next number, ready to stamp the next page

Question 21

page/line digest

Answer 21

a summary of a deposition transcript that presents the questions and deponent’s answers in the order in which the questions were asked along with the page and line numbers where the questions and answers appear

Question 22

chronological digest

Answer 22

a summary of a deposition transcript that presents the events described in the deponent’s answers in their chronological order

Question 23

topical digest

Answer 23

a summary of a deposition transcript organized by specific topics covered in the answers of the deponent

Question 24

predictive coding

Answer 24

a method of training software to find data that meets defined parameters

Question 25

trial notebook

Answer 25

a collection of documents, arguments, and strategies that an attorney plans to use during a trial

Question 26

shadow jurors

Answer 26

persons hired by one side to observe a trial as members of the general audience (gallery) and, as the trial progresses, to give feedback to the trial attorney who will use the feedback to assess strategy for the remainder of the trial

Question 27

table of authorities (TOA)

Answer 27

a list of primary authority and secondary authority that a writer has cited in an appellate brief or other documents; the list includes page numbers where each authority is cited in the document

Question 28

cite-checking

Answer 28

examining citations in a document to determine their accuracy, such as whether the format of the citation is correct, whether a parallel cite is needed, whether quoted material is accurately quoted, and whether the cited law is still valid

Question 29

brief bank

Answer 29

a collection of appellate briefs and related documents drafted in prior cases that might be adapted for current cases and used as models

Question 30

contempt

Answer 30

conduct that defies or disrespects the authority of a court or legislative body; when the court is defied or disrespected, it is called contempt of court