Pretrial Skills and Advocacy

217 Pages·2012·0.79 MB·English

Pretrial Skills and Trial Advocacy:
Brief Notes and Materials

Elias N. Stebek
St. Mary’s University College

Sponsored by Justice and Legal System Research Institute
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
February 2009
Preface

This teaching material is a modest attempt to avail readings to Pretrial
Skills and Trial Advocacy. Students embark onto this skills-focused
course after having taken various pre-requisite courses on substantive
and procedural laws.

The initial readings of this material introduce the areas of competence
in effective lawyering and show the significance of skills-focused
courses that enhance the competence of students in blending
knowledge and analytic skills with practice. Most of the learning
outcomes of this course envisage learning through direct observation
followed by hands-on-practice through written assignments, pair
activities, group activities and classroom simulations.

The readings extracted from various sources coupled with the
introductory notes and the exercises are meant to facilitate the
learning-teaching process which is expected to be flexible and
innovative depending upon the setting and circumstances that
surround course delivery. The phases of litigation planning,
investigation (factual and legal), pretrial negotiation and settlement,
preparation of pleadings and trial simulations involve tasks and
activities that require splitting large classes into smaller class size as
envisaged in the course syllabus.

The real challenge in lawyering lies in relating the law with different
fact situations to resolve legal issues. This material thus focuses on
these skills at the pretrial and trial phases of lawyering. These skills
are not “taught, as such” but rather practiced, and students are
expected to carefully and diligently observe, do and simulate the
skills involved in the process.

________________________________________________________

Acknowledgment

I am grateful to the encouragement I received from Ato Temesgen
Tessema who had started to develop this material with me, but
couldn’t pursue owing to other responsibilities. My thanks also go to
Ato Filipos Aynalem and Ato Tekalign Fanta for the feedback and
comments they gave me as assessors of this teaching material. And, I
am particularly grateful to Trial and Appellate Advocacy students at
SMUC Faculty of Law (last year and this year) and to Lawyering
Process II students at AAU Faculty of Law (2006/2007) because their
active participation and diligence have indeed facilitated the
embryonic development of the readings included herein.
Contents
Page

Contents ........................................................................................................................iii
General Introduction...................................................................................................1

Part I- Pretrial Skills

Unit 1- Profile of Effective Lawyers

Unit Introduction .....................................................................................................4

Section 1- Competency profile of LL.B graduates................................................5
Reading 1- Graduate profile expected upon LL.B graduation.................5

Section 2- Sample benchmark for LL.B graduates................................................7
Reading 2- Subject benchmark statement: Law ........................................8
Reading 3- Levels and areas of performance ...........................................10
Reading 4- Competencies of the Bachelor of Law Programme ............14

Section 3- The Legal Method: Research, Analysis and Communication .......16
Reading 5- The legal method and role of a lawyer .................................17

Unit 2- Litigation Planning

Unit Introduction ...................................................................................................19

Section 1- Pretrial legal service observations .....................................................20
Sample pretrial observations .........................................................................20
Pretrial Observation Report I .....................................................................20
Pretrial Observation Report II ....................................................................21

Section 2- Reading on litigation planning ..........................................................23
Organizing litigation planning ..................................................................23
a) Establish the terms of the attorney –client relationship
b) Determine the client’s needs and priorities
c) Determine the elements of potential claims, remedies, defenses and
counterclaims
d) Identify likely sources of proof.
Contents iii
e) Determine what informal fact investigation is necessary
f) Determine what formal discovery is necessary (N.B- inapplicable in
Ethiopia)
g) Identify solutions
h) Develop a litigation strategy
i) Make litigation cost and timetable estimates
j) Use a litigation file system.

Review Exercises ....................................................................................................32

Supplementary reading
Supplementary Reading I ...................................................................35
Supplementary Reading II ..................................................................43

Unit 3- Fact investigation
Unit Introduction ...................................................................................................45
Section 1- Structuring fact investigation .............................................................46
Reading 1 ...............................................................................................47
Section 2- Client interviews ..................................................................................52
Reading 2 ...............................................................................................53
Section 3- Acquisition of material evidence .......................................................61
Reading 3 ...............................................................................................62
Section 4- Witness interviews and expert review ..............................................65
Reading 4 ...............................................................................................66
Reading 5 ...............................................................................................72
Reading 5 (The Small Case) ................................................................74
Review Exercises ....................................................................................................75

Unit 4- Legal investigation, Case Evaluation and Litigation Strategy
Unit Introduction ...................................................................................................77
Section 1- Primary and secondary sources .........................................................79
Reading 1 ...............................................................................................79
Reading 2 ...............................................................................................81
Section 2- Determining claims, remedies and defences and counterclaims ..83
Section 3- Interpretation and legal analysis .......................................................87
3.1- Sample principles of interpretation.........................................................87
3.2- Breaking down a rule into its parts.........................................................89
iv Pretrial Skills and Trial Advocacy: Brief Notes and Materials, February 2009
Reading 3 ...............................................................................................90
3.3- Legal reasoning..........................................................................................91
Reading 4 ...............................................................................................93
Section 4- Parties in litigation, jurisdiction and venue .....................................97
4.1- Parties that can be plaintiff and defendant ...........................................97
4.2- Jurisdiction and venue..............................................................................98
Section 5- Reading on Case evaluation and litigation strategy......................100
Reading 5 .............................................................................................100
a) Taking the case................................................................................100
b) Establishing the terms of the client-lawyer agreement.............101
c) Declining representation................................................................102
d) Planning the litigation...................................................................102
d) Pre-filing requirements..................................................................102

Unit 5- Pre-trial negotiation and settlement
Unit Introduction .................................................................................................103
Section 1-Reading on negotiation and settlement ...........................................105
Section 2- Skills for conducting a conflict resolution process.........................109
a) Interests and positions ..................................................................109
b) Separating interest from position ................................................110
c) Principles of negotiation ...............................................................110
d) Principles of a win-win strategy ..................................................113
e) Don’t bargain over positions ........................................................114
g) A role for (hypothetical cases) .....................................................115
h) Exercise on conflict analysis .........................................................117
Review Exercises ..................................................................................................118

Unit 6- Pleadings
Unit Introduction .................................................................................................119
Section 1- Initial steps in the preparation of pleadings ..................................120
Section 2- Statement of claim and statement of defence..................................124
Section 3- The criminal charge............................................................................127

* *

Contents v
Part II Trial Advocacy

Unit 7- The Adjudication Process: An overview
Unit Introduction .................................................................................................131
Section 1- Reading of the adjudication process in civil cases: Roadmap .....132
Section 2- Adjudication without trial in civil cases..........................................134
a) First hearing and judgment on admissions ................................134
b) Preliminary objections ..................................................................134
c) Framing of issues ...........................................................................135
d) Adjudication without trial............................................................136
Section 3- Synopsis of the criminal justice process ..........................................137
a) Setting criminal justice in motion until preliminary inquiry...137
b) Reading on the judicial process in criminal cases......................139
Review Exercises ..................................................................................................142

Unit 8- Witness Examination
Unit Introduction .................................................................................................143
Section 1-Factual Propositions ...........................................................................144
Section 2-Reading of trial and production of evidence ..................................147
Section 3- Reading on examination-in-chief (Direct Examination) ...............153
The role of direct examination .........................................................153
The law of direct examination...........................................................154
Planning direct examination .............................................................157
Questioning technique ......................................................................168
Adverse and hostile witnesses .........................................................173
Section 4- Reading on Cross Examination ........................................................175
Should you cross-examine? ..............................................................175
Purposes and order of cross-examination ......................................177
Elements of cross-examinations .......................................................177
Section 5- Reading on Redirect Examination ...................................................187
Review Exercises ..................................................................................................190

Unit 9- Trial Simulations
Unit Introduction .................................................................................................191
Section 1- Reading on the final phases of trial preparation............................192
Section 2- Opening statements, objections and closing arguments ..............199
Section 3- Trial court simulations: Exercises and Activities ..........................205
Annex I Trial Lawyer’s Self-Evaluation Guide...............................................209
Annex II Major Sources of Extracts: Books.......................................................211
vi Pretrial Skills and Trial Advocacy: Brief Notes and Materials, February 2009
General Introduction
1
The course material introduces the skills necessary for pretrial (in Part I) and trial
lawyering (in Part II). The first four units deal with areas of performance in
lawyering, litigation planning, fact investigation, legal investigation and case evaluation.
The topics addressed in these units include legal problems and issues
communicated by clients, identification of client needs, priorities, potential claims,
remedies and sources of proof, and examination of potential defenses and counter-
claims of the other party. Units 5 and 6 briefly highlight negotiation and pleadings.
The second part of the course material titled “Trial Advocacy” is designed to
assist the learning process of students with a view to enabling them to participate
in simulated courtroom situations followed by feedback and recommendations for
improvement. The materials included in Part II will serve as inputs in the efforts
of students to present persuasive opening statements and conduct forceful direct
and cross examination of fact witnesses and experts, and to successfully introduce
evidence. The course material will emphasize practical solutions to typical
problems that litigators encounter in the presentation of a case. The material does
not, however, cover details which fall under courses on procedure and evidence.

General Objectives

At the end of the course, students are expected to:

- identify pretrial and trial phases of litigation in civil and criminal cases;
- explain the technical, ethical, evidentiary, procedural and substantive
aspects of pretrial and trial lawyering;
- apply pretrial tasks;
- simulate tasks of a lawyer in trial of criminal cases;
- simulate tasks of a lawyer in trial of civil cases.

1 The General Introduction and Specific Learning Outcomes are mainly taken from the
course description of the syllabus with adjustments

1
Specific student learning outcomes
At the end of Pretrial Skills and Trial Advocacy, students should be able to:
a) explain the graduate profile of an LL.B graduate and relate it to
pretrial and trial tasks of a lawyer;
b) discuss the legal method and relate its elements with pretrial and trial
tasks of a lawyer;
c) define the concept of pretrial skills;
d) organize litigation planning;
e) structure fact investigations;
f) conduct client and witness interviews;
g) undertake legal investigation with regard to substantive and
procedural laws;
h) explain case evaluation and strategy;
i) explain and simulate pre-trial negotiation and settlement
j) describe and illustrate pleadings and motions;
k) explain tasks involved in trial lawyering;
l) identify phases of the trial process in civil and criminal cases;
m) research, analyze and apply material facts, legal issues and relevant
legal provisions;
n) write a persuasive analysis of legal issue that adheres to trial practice;
o) conduct direct examination, reexamination and cross-examination of
witnesses;
p) orally present a client’s position in a manner that conforms with trial
practice.
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2 Pretrial Skills and Trial Advocacy: Brief Notes and Materials, February 2009
Part I- Pretrial Skills

The first part of this course material includes six units. The first unit aims at
laying down a foundation by highlighting the areas of performance that call for
fundamental lawyering skills that are indispensable in the legal profession
including the tasks involved in pretrial and trial lawyering.

Pretrial lawyering refers to various tasks that are required to be accomplished
before litigation. It involves litigation planning (Unit 2), fact and legal
investigation followed by case evaluation and designing litigation strategy (Units
3 and 4). The words ‘lawyer’ and ‘litigator’ are not synonyms because the former
includes tasks far wider than litigation. Pretrial lawyering thus involves efforts to

amicably settle the case (Unit 5) through alternative dispute settlement
mechanisms such as negotiation. In case such efforts fail to come to fruition,
however, lawyers resort to their ultimate option of drafting pleadings (Unit 6)
which will then lead to litigation. Part I includes the following units:

Unit 1- Profile of Effective Lawyers
Unit 2- Litigation Planning
Unit 3- Fact investigation
Unit 4- Legal investigation, case evaluation and litigation strategy
Unit 5- Pre-trial negotiation and settlement
Unit 6- Pleadings
__________

Unit 1- Profile of Effective Lawyers 3
Unit 1- Profile of effective lawyers

Unit Introduction
Lawyers render services as attorneys, legal advisors, judges, public prosecutors,
etc. in addition to which they may provide administrative services in the public or
private sector. They may also be engaged in academic endeavours such as
teaching. These services require subject knowledge, various skills and integrity.
Lawyers who represent clients undertake pretrial and trial activities which require
skills that need to be introduced in law schools and be further enhanced through
services in the legal profession. These areas of competence are briefly discussed in
the sections below.

The competency profile highlighted in this unit includes:
a) knowledge and understanding (of the laws, legal institutions and
processes) upon LL.B graduation;
b) Ability towards identification, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of
legal issues, relevant laws and relevant facts;
c) Ability towards subject application and problem solving;
d) Ability to identify and use primary and secondary legal sources and
conduct research;
e) Ability to independent learning, research, analysis, opinions, reflections
and conclusion;
f) Language proficiency and effective (oral & written ) communication;
and
g) Other Key skills: comprehension and usage of numerical or statistical
forms, word-procession, using the internet and email, electronic
information retrieval systems, and team work.
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4 Pretrial Skills and Trial Advocacy: Brief Notes and Materials, February 2009