Paralegal 130
Complex Litigation
Course Introduction

Welcome to Complex Litigation! This course is the culmination of much of what you have been learning over the past many months. Some of the material will be familiar, but we will deepen your knowledge of that material and you will learn much new material as well. This course therefore provides you an opportunity to realize how much you have learned already and to see how you can employ this knowledge in understanding ever more complex legal situations, particularly in the context of a real-life complex litigation case that we will follow throughout the course. As you read the material, examine the litigation documents, and learn the rules concerning advanced civil procedure, you will get a very realistic sense of what the work of paralegals entails in the real world.

About This Course

This course examines the topic of complex litigation in the context of an actual case, Anderson v. Cryovac, which involved a lawsuit by citizens of Woburn, Massachusetts, against several companies for the companies' alleged role in contributing to the pollution of the town's water supply and the resulting multiple cases of childhood leukemia suffered by the residents of Woburn. In this context we will examine the entire process of litigation, from the informal investigation of the case, through filing of the pleadings in the case, to trial, settlement, and appeal. Your textbook says that "Anderson v. Cryovac was an extraordinarily complex, lengthy, and bitterly fought case. Consequently, the documents [in the case reprinted in your textbook] illustrate virtually every phase of the civil litigation process" (page viii). Therefore, the case presents an excellent case study for paralegals to learn about complex litigation.

During the course we will therefore retrace the steps in litigation that you learned in PARA 115, Litigation Basics, but we will see those steps in action and we will study the more complex issues such as removal and supplemental jurisdiction, joinder of claims and parties, Rule 11, discovery wrangling and abuse, secrecy in litigation, bifurcation and polyfurcation of cases, settlements and dismissals, special verdicts, motions for new trials, appeals, Rule 60 motions, and issue and claim preclusion in subsequent litigation. Along the way we will also necessarily consider additional issues such as advanced tort liability, joint and several liability, insurance coverage, bankruptcy, and constitutional issues that may arise in complex litigation.

Course Objectives

After successfully completing this course, you will be able to

• identify the legal contexts in which complex litigation is likely to arise;
• recognize jurisdictional questions that are likely to arise in complex litigation;
• locate, list, and explain the typical rules of civil procedure, particularly federal rules and statutes that are likely to be implicated in the context of complex litigation;
• list and define the various devices available for aggregating parties and claims in complex litigation;
• promote and execute the helpful roles that paralegals can and are likely to perform in complex litigation; and
• conduct legal research on the free Internet for resources that are likely to help paralegals in their work, particularly in complex litigation.
• identify requirements for preservation, review, and production of electronically stored information and application in the discovery process

Course Materials

Lewis A. Grossman and Robert G. Vaughn, A Documentary Companion to A Civil Action, 3rd ed. (New York: Foundation Press, 2006). ISBN: 1599410257 

"Paralegal e-Discovery" (PDF, 18 p.) Presented at the National Business Institute (NBI) seminar, "E-Discovery for Paralegals: Definition, Application and FRCP Changes." James Yand, June, 2007 Seattle, WA.

"Guidelines for State Trial Courts Regarding Discovery of Electronically-Stored Information." (PDF, 14 p.) Conference of Chief Justices: Working Group on Electronic Discovery. Richard van Duizend, Reporter. Sept. 2005.

Required Viewing

A Civil Action (available at video rental stores on videocassette or DVD). It is also available to buy on the Web. If you find it impossible to view this film, you should instead read the book listed immediately below by Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action.

Recommended (required if the film is unavailable)

Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action (New York: Vintage Books, 1996). ISBN: 0679772677

This book is frequently available in used bookstores. It is for sale on the Web.

Supplemental Reading

"Computer-Based Discovery in Federal Civil Litigation." (PDF, 26 p.) Kenneth J. Withers, Federal Judicial Center, Washington D.C.

"Two Tiers and a Safe Harbor: Federal Rulemakes Grapple with e-Disovery." (PDF, 41 p.). Kenneth J. Withers, Federal Judicial Center, Washington D.C.

Robert H. Klonoff, Class Actions and Other Multi-Party Litigation (St. Paul: West Group, 2004). ISBN: 0314144110

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure—any copy, including online versions.

The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School has a site entitled The Lessons from Woburn Project with lots of information about the case:

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/acivilaction/

On that same site are videos viewable through RealPlayer of significant participants in the Woburn case:

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/acivilaction/ConfVid.htm.

One of the defendants in the case, W. R. Grace, has a Web site about the case: http://www.civil-action.com/.

Salon has an interview with Jonathan Harr: http://www.salon.com/feb97/harr970205.html.

Prerequisites

PARA 115, Litigation Basics, PARA 120, Business Law, and PARA 125, Litigation Specialties

Technology Requirements and Skills

In addition to the technology requirements and skills noted in the Online Student Handbook for this course you will need to

• use a word processing program;
• have access, at least once, to a VCR or DVD player and monitor to view the required film.

About the Online Environment

Your online course offers several advantages to the traditional classroom, including the comprehensive Online Student Handbook, the ability to communicate electronically with students and with your instructor, and links to a rich array of online resources.

Online Student Handbook

This handbook answers questions about your online learning course, such as how to purchase your textbook, schedule an exam, obtain a transcript, and get technical help if you need it. The handbook also provides additional resources, such as how to order books or journals from the library and how to study for an online course.

Communication with Your Instructor and Student Peers

• Online Discussion Forums, designed by the University of Washington award winning Catalyst team, allow you to communicate with other currently enrolled students and with your instructor. We encourage you to use the discussion forum to exchange ideas, resources, and comments about your course work with other students in this course. This unstructured forum is monitored by your instructor.
• You can use e-mail to ask me a question or preferably post your question on the discussion forum. I will reply to all discussion forum questions on the forum, and to e-mail questions via e-mail.

Online Resources

As an online student, you have access to a wealth of Web resources compiled to provide fast, easy access to information that supports your online learning experience. Organized by subjects, Online Resources link you to sites with help for writing and research, study skills, language learning, and library reference materials. All links have been assessed for credibility and reliability, and they are regularly monitored to ensure their usability.

Course Organization

The course is divided into ten lessons with ten short assignments and two online quizzes. You will begin this course together as a cohort and complete it together. The course will follow the organization of a typical case: informal investigation, filing of pleadings, discovery, trial, settlement, and appeal.

The required textbook is filled with documents from the complex litigation involved in Anderson v. Cryovac. We will examine those documents and the rules related to those documents closely.

The textbook is also filled with study questions. Some of the questions are intended to encourage you to examine very closely the language of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Some of the questions pose more difficult interpretive problems that require you to analyze a rule in depth or examine a rule's relationship to other rules.

Additionally, some of the questions seek to ensure that you have read and understood the various litigation documents, orders, and opinions pertaining to Anderson v. Cryovac that the textbook contains.

Some of the questions in the textbook may be used to generate class discussions. Your instructor will occasionally post these textbook questions in the online discussion forum to get the discussion rolling. While these will not be weekly postings, you can anticipate that your instructor will post at least four or five separate discussion threads during the quarter.

About the Assignments

Accompanying each lesson is an assignment related to the lesson topic. These will most often be short answers either to questions raised in the textbook or related to documents presented in the book. On occasion, the assignments may refer to matters outside the textbook that relate to complex litigation such as bankruptcy, joint and several liability, insurance law, or other matters.

In most instances, you should be able to complete the assignments within an hour, at most two. Because to understand later stages of litigation often necessitates understanding what preceded those stages, you must complete and submit each assignment before going on to the next lesson and the next assignment.

Assignments that are turned in after the due date will lose 1 of the 10 possible points for every day that they are late.

Evaluation

You are evaluated on discussions, assignments, and online quizzes.

Discussions

Participation in online discussions will constitute 10 percent of your grade. To get the full 10 percent, you must post at least one substantive comment or response in each of the four or five separate threads during the quarter.

Assignments

Each week you will have an assignment related to the lesson for that week. Evaluation criteria accompany each assignment. You must complete each assignment with a grade of "satisfactory." Each "satisfactory" completion will be given 10 points, for a total of 100 points, or 50% of your grade.

If you receive an "unsatisfactory," you will have one opportunity to bring the assignment to a grade of "satisfactory" and the instructor will provide explicit feedback about how to do this.

Online Quizzes

The two multiple-choice quizzes, each with 20 questions, are worth 40 points each. They will focus on the rules of civil procedure and federal statutes pertaining to complex litigation and arising in the context of the case study, Anderson v. Cryovac. Because these rules and statutes arise again and again in complex litigation, learning them is an essential transferable skill that you will utilize in your work as a paralegal. The commentaries, assignments, and self-study questions for each lesson will alert you to the most important parts of the course that will likely be on the quizzes.

You will take the first online quiz after Lesson Five; it will cover the material from Lesson One through Lesson Five. You will take the second online quiz after Lesson Ten; it will cover the material from Lesson Six through Lesson Ten.

The quizzes will be open book. You may consult the book, your notes, the lesson commentaries, and any additional material that is helpful. However, because each quiz is timed, you will not be able to look up the answer to every question. You will have one hour to complete each quiz.

Grading

Your grade for this course will be recorded as Successful Completion or Unsuccessful Completion. (SC/USC). If you receive a Successful Completion for this course, you will earn the appropriate number of Continuing Education Units (CEUs). You must complete the components listed below to the instructor's satisfaction to receive a Successful Completion.

Course Component	Percentage of Final Grade
Discussions	10% (20 points possible)
Assignments	50% (100 points possible)
Quizzes	40% (80 points possible)

Hints on How to Study

First read the assigned reading from the textbook. Then read the online commentary for the lesson (you do not need to turn in the answers to questions referred to in the online lesson commentary; they are not part of your course grade).

Participate in the discussion forums mentioned in the lesson. They are part of your course grade.

Following that, go on to the assignment for that lesson. The assignment will reinforce the lesson. It counts toward your course grade. Submit your assignment per the "Assignment Submission Guidelines" on the About Your Instructor page of your online course syllabus.

About the Lessons

Lesson One: What is Complex Litigation? Removal and Supplemental Jurisdiction

Although no one agrees exactly what makes a particular case an example of complex litigation, you will learn in this lesson that complexity arises when jurisdictional questions get involved over issues of whether cases can be transferred between state and federal courts (removal jurisdiction) or whether one court system can decide questions typically reserved for the other court system (supplemental jurisdiction).

Lesson Two: Rule 11

An attorney's signature on a complaint is the attorney's certification that the case has a good faith basis in law and fact. Under Rule 11, sanctions are available when the other side can prove that this certification was not merited.

Lesson Three: Joinder of Claims and Parties/Class Actions

One way complexity arises in litigation is through the procedure called joinder, in which multiple claims or multiple parties or both become involved in the litigation.

Lesson Four: Attorney-Client Privilege/Experts

Although many people have an idea what attorney-client privilege means, the practical impact of that privilege during the discovery phase of litigation, as well as discovery involving experts, often raises a case from a run-of-the-mill case to one meriting the label of complex litigation.

Lesson Five: Discovery Techniques

Part 1: Electronic Discovery (eDiscovery)

Part 1 of this lesson will focuss on identifying requirements for preservation, review, and production of electronically stored information and their application in the discovery process.

Part 2: Entry Upon and Inspection of Land

Part 2 of this lesson will focus on discovery devices, specifically, motions to enter and inspect land, but with other devices in passing as they are discussed in the required reading for this lesson.

Lesson Six: Secrecy in Litigation

Litigation that is considered complex often involves corporations. Corporations often argue that specific information is beyond discovery because it will reveal trade secrets or, even if revealed, must remain secret because it may put the corporation in a bad light or prejudice the potential jury pool. When these arguments have some arguable basis, the complexity meter rises.

Lesson Seven: Abuse of Discovery and Sanctions

Paralegals play a key role in discovery. The more you know about the variety of discovery abuses that can arise, the better prepared you will be when complex discovery issues arise, and the more capable you will be in assessing the ethical implications of discovery abuse.

Lesson Eight: Scheduling, Pretrial Conferences, Polyfurcation

Complex litigation is often complex largely because of procedural questions. Who will do what when? What must be done by what date? What issues can be decided separately from other issues?

Lesson Nine: Jury Instructions and Special Verdicts

One area that many people new to the legal system do not know much about is the process of instructing the jury. Paralegals often draft those jury instructions. The instructions often involve asking jurors to decide very specific questions through special verdicts. This process was crucial in Anderson v. Cryovac. This lesson will explore that process.

Lesson Ten: Appeals; Claim and Issue Preclusion: Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel

Just as joinder of claims and parties can raise the complexity of litigation, complexity also arises when certain claims or issues in prospective cases not yet filed have arguably already been determined in prior litigation between the same or somehow related parties. This lesson will consider claim and issue preclusion along with the more commonly understood conclusion of a trial: the appeal.

About the Course Developer

Marc Lampson began his legal career by attending courses in the paralegal program at Edmonds Community College in 1980 and started working as a paralegal shortly thereafter. In 1981 he began law school and in 1985 was admitted to the Washington State Bar Association as an attorney. He has worked as a paralegal, law clerk, and lawyer in civil and criminal matters, in state and federal courts, and on the administrative, trial, and appellate levels. He currently practices law as a litigation attorney for the Unemployment Law Project in Seattle.

He has also been a professor of legal writing and research at Seattle University School of Law and an instructor in three local paralegal programs. Additionally, he has a master's degree in library and information science with a specialization in law librarianship and is a candidate for a doctorate in information science.

In 1993 he wrote a local legal history entitled From Profanity Hill. Through his writing and practicing and teaching law for nearly a quarter century, he has developed a great respect for the law, the legal profession, and its practitioners. Developing an online course for the University of Washington's online Paralegal Studies Certificate Program combines his interests in the law, in legal information and information retrieval, and in demystifying the law for people who have an interest in the legal system.

---

©2007, University of Washington. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or
by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.