10 - Litigation Assistantship Flashcards
litigation
1 - the formal process of resolving a legal dispute through the courts
2 - a lawsuit
civil dispute
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
criminal dispute
a legal controversy in which the government alleges the commission of a crime
arbitration
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
judicial arbitration
court-referred or court-ordered arbitration
contractual arbitration
arbitration that the parties have agreed (contracted) to use
award
the decision of an arbitrator
mediation
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
med-arb
a method of ADR in which the parties first try mediation and if it doesn’t work, they try arbitration
private judging
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
neutral evaluation
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
templates
a file containing text and a format that can be used as the starting point for creating frequently used docs
caption
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
notice pleading
a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief
special damages
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
affidavit
a written or printed statement of facts made under oath by a person (affiant) before someone with authority to administer the oath
Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)
an electronic public access service that allows subscribers to obtain case and docket info from federal courts via the internet (www.pacer.gov)
depo summarizers
an employee whose main job is digesting discovery documents, particularly depositions
digest
an organized summary or abridgment
Bates stamp
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
page/line digest
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
chronological digest
a summary of a deposition transcript that presents the events described in the deponent’s answers in their chronological order
topical digest
a summary of a deposition transcript organized by specific topics covered in the answers of the deponent
predictive coding
a method of training software to find data that meets defined parameters
trial notebook
a collection of documents, arguments, and strategies that an attorney plans to use during a trial
shadow jurors
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
table of authorities (TOA)
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
cite-checking
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
brief bank
a collection of appellate briefs and related documents drafted in prior cases that might be adapted for current cases and used as models
contempt
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
