Spring 2023
Professor(s):
Katherine Brem (CLINICAL FACULTY [405(b)])
Credits: 3
Course Areas: Practice Skills - (Research and Writing)
Time: 10:30a-12:00p TTH Location: 221
Course Outline: Federal Pretrial Drafting is an upper level writing class designed to prepare students for “real world” litigation practice after law school. In the context of a single federal court case, students will draft basic pleadings, some minimal discovery documents, a short motion for summary judgment and accompanying response, and a mediation statement. Lectures will cover requirements for these documents under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, but also enable students to refine their factual investigation, legal analysis and drafting skills. Students will receive ample feedback and opportunities to rewrite certain assignments to further hone these essential practice tools.
Grading. The motion for summary judgment and response, along with associated rewrites, will comprise 50% of your final grade. Discovery documents and any associated rewrites will comprise 20% of your final grade. Your remaining grade will be apportioned at 10% each among the following assignments: the complaint; the answer; and the mediation statement.
Course Syllabus: Syllabus
Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. After student registration opens, there may be instruction mode changes to this course up through two weeks before the first day of classes for the term, but notice of such changes will be sent to then-registered students. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid-term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.
Quota=12
I will not assign any textbooks for the class, though I think you will find it useful to have easy access to a current edition of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
For myself, I purchased Michigan Legal Publishing Ltd.’s Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (2016 ed.), ISBN-13: 978-1518899690, though you can always access the most recent edition of the Federal Rules online.
Prerequisites:
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule:
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: Yes
Experiential Course Type: No
Bar Course: No
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Conditional Availability (not for required credits)
Course Materials
Book(s) Required
Course Materials: Ross Guberman, Point Made (2d ed. 2014); ISBN: 978-0199943852