Commercial Litigation for Junior Lawyers and Legal Support Staff 2012


Course Date: April 13, 2012

Welcome and Introduction

Michael J. Hewitt — Singleton Urquhart LLP, Vancouver
Steve M. Vorbrodt — Singleton Urquhart LLP, Vancouver

Obtaining and Organizing Documents

  • obtaining proper document disclosure from a client
  • organization of a party’s documents
  • documents to include in the List of Documents
  • obtaining and organizing documents from other parties of record

Steve M. Vorbrodt — Singleton Urquhart LLP, Vancouver

E-Discovery Primer

  • paper vs. electronic evidence
  • principles, rules, and guidelines of eDiscovery
  • key steps in eDiscovery
    • strategy
    • identification
    • preservation
    • collection
    • processing
    • review
    • production
  • risks, challenges, and best practices associated with eDiscovery
  • advantages of using litigation support software

Ann Halkett — Litigation Support Coordinator, Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP, Vancouver

Networking Break

Multi-party Litigation

  • mediation of multi-party litigation
  • settlement terms unique to multi-party litigation
  • tactics and strategy in multi-party litigation

Cameron B.P. Elder — Harper Grey LLP, Vancouver
Christopher M. Rusnak — Harper Grey LLP, Vancouver

Third Party Claims

  • practical changes and problems with third party claims under the new rules 
  • who, what, when, and why to third party
  • striking third party claims

Steve Abramson — Harper Grey LLP, Vancouver

Lunch (on your own)

Privilege and Proving Documents

  • categories of privilege
  • relationship between privilege and document disclosure and production
  • methods of proving documents at trial: witnesses, affidavits, statutes, and agreements

Michael J. Hewitt — Singleton Urquhart LLP, Vancouver

Witness Interviews

  • preparing for and interviewing lay witnesses
  • expert witnesses

Michael D. Shirreff — Sugden McFee & Roos LLP, Vancouver

Networking Break

The Role of the Lawyer vs. the Role of the Support Staff: Where is the Line?

  • confidentiality
  • duty to keep your lawyer informed
  • how to get into trouble and how to avoid it!

Brad T. Martyniuk — Lindsay Kenney LLP, Vancouver

Concluding Remarks

Michael J. Hewitt — Singleton Urquhart LLP, Vancouver
Steve M. Vorbrodt — Singleton Urquhart LLP, Vancouver