In Episode 22 of May the Record Reflect, Reuben Guttman and J.C. Lore discuss their new book, Pretrial Advocacy, and why modern litigation practices necessitate early, close attention from practitioners. They discuss the interplay of early discovery with the Federal Rules of Evidence and Civil Procedure, how law schools are responding to “front-loaded” litigation that often results in fewer jury trials, why public interest law matters, and what’s exciting about pretrial.  

Topics

3:37    The meaning of front-loaded cases
6:16    Effects of Iqbal, Twombly, and Daubert on law practice and teaching advocacy
10:15  Pretrial advocacy at law school
12:14  Is pretrial exciting? 
16:56  Settlement versus trial
18:21  Why trials are still important
23:09  Getting to know the rules
29:07  Social media evidence
36:20  What’s lost with settlement
38:22  Public interest practice
41:03  Signature signoff question

Quotes

“The fun thing I always thought about pretrial advocacy is you get to learn about areas you never knew of. I once met a famous trial lawyer many, many years ago and he’s since passed – Alfred Julien – and he told me that one of the fabulous things about being a trial lawyer is that you get to be a jack of all trades, in some regards, and an expert in none. I always thought it was exciting because it’s a process you get to immerse yourself in and really learn a lot.” (Reuben Guttman)

“Certain types of trials aren’t happening anymore because of the huge cost of litigation. But there are courthouses and courtrooms all over this country that are doing trials every single day, on both the civil and the criminal side. You go to landlord–tenant court, you go to family court, you go to municipal court, you go to immigration court—all of these courts are having trials all of the time.” (J.C. Lore) 

Recommended Resources

Pretrial Advocacy (book)

Reuben Guttman (bio)

J.C. Lore (bio)

Iqbal v. Ashcroft

Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twomby

Conley v. Gibson

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

 Read NITA’s statement on the important of in-person advocacy in courts, here.