CA Litigation Presentation by James Lee

8/8/2019 CA Litigation Presentation by James Lee

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Basic Rules and Procedures of California Civil Litigation( )

Presented by James K. Lee, Esq.


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O verview of U.S. Litigation Process

SummaryJudgment

Complaint &Summons Answer Discovery,

/

P resentationof Evidence

at TrialAppeal

Execution of

Judgment


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Duration of Litigation

Courts try to have trial within 1 year from complaint filing dateG enerally shorter for arbitrations

O ver 90% of Commercial Litigation cases settle before trial

90%


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Complaint & Summons1. Contact a Lawyer

a. Must respond within 30 days in state court.30 .

b. Must respond within 20 days in federal court.20 .

2. Notify Insurer --a. Call your insurance broker. .

b. Mail a copy of the complaint to the insurer.


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Responding to the Complaint

Attacking the Complaint Removal to Federal Court

Motion to Dismiss Improper Venue Personal/Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Insufficiency of Service of Process

H ague Convention

Answer


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Discovery , /

SummaryJudgment

Complaint &Summons Answer Discovery


at TrialAppeal

Alternatives to Litigation

Execution of

Judgment


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Discovery

Exchange of Information Before Trial (1) ;

; (2) .W ritten Discovery --

Interrogatories --Request for Admissions Exchange Documents --

Depositions Third party subpoenas --Most Time-Consuming, Most Costly


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Best Practices W ith Discovery and Documents

Preserve all evidence as soon as litigation is anticipated

Inference of evidence destructionBe thorough

E-mailsElectronic dataMemos/LettersNotesFully apprise lawyer of all facts. G ood and Bad. No surprises later.

.. .


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Privileged Communication and Documents

Attorney-Client Communication

-

Attorney W ork Product

Confidential Information/Trade Secrets/Protective O rder / /


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Summary Judgment

SummaryJudgment


/


at TrialAppeal


Execution of

Judgment


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Trial

SummaryJudgment


/


at TrialAppeal


Execution of

Judgment


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Trial

(Unlike Korea) At the End of the Process; continuous days ( ) ;

Very Very Costly Carefully consider cost versus benefit

Take an objective and logical approach

Jury Trial v. Bench Trial

Parties can stipulate or waiveComplex legal issuesEmotional Appeal


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Alternatives To Trial

Binding ArbitrationPursuant to contractual provision

Consider including in all contracts

:

Less and more informal discovery Less expensiveFaster Less formal Private

:

Risk of arbitrator making the wrong award ; , 2

Arbitration and Mediation,


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Does The Prevailing Party Recover Fees? ?

Not Automatic Based on statute

Based on contractual provisionContracts should be carefully drafted depending on

W ho is likely to breach

W hether the provision is likely to provoke a frivolous lawsuit on a contingency basis


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Thank you.

.

CA Litigation Presentation by James Lee

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