COLLIN COLLEGE
DIVISION OF BUSINESS INFORMATION AND ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY
COURSE SYLLABUS~TEXAS CIVIL LITIGATION
Spring 2011
COURSE NUMBER: LGLA 1344 SECTION: S70
COURSE TITLE: TEXAS CIVIL LITIGATION
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course presents fundamental concepts and procedures of Texas civil litigation with emphasis on the paralegal’s role.
CREDIT HOURS: 3 LECTURE HOURS: 3
PREREQUISITE: LGLA 1342 (LGLA 1346)
COLLEGE REPEAT POLICY: A student may repeat this course only once after receiving a grade, including “W.”
COURSE DELIVERY METHOD: Lecture
TEXTBOOK: Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and Course Supplement (available at bookstore 01/20/2011)
INSTRUCTOR’S INFORMATION:
Professor Kristine Horn
Contact: or
Office: SCC Room K-237 (Associate Faculty Office) 972-881-5759
Office Hours: Thurs. 6:30-7:00 and by appointment
Web Page: http://iws.collin.edu/kdhorn/
CLASS INFORMATION:
Class meets Thursday 7-9:45 p.m. at SCC Room I-114.
CAMPUS SECURITY:
In case of on-campus security emergency, contact Campus Police at (972) 578-5555
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
After completing this course with a passing grade the student should be able to:
□ Describe and explain the pre-trial stages of a civil lawsuit;
□ Describe and explain the civil litigation trial process;
□ Draft a general denial appropriate for a Texas lawsuit;
□ Distinguish between pleadings, motions, discovery, and orders
□ Calculate and determine the response deadlines involved in the pre-trial processes of pleading and discovery (docketing);
□ Draft various pleadings for a Texas civil lawsuit;
□ Distinguish the types of written and oral discovery;
□ Draft and respond to discovery requests asserting or challenging objections as necessary;
□ Explain the mechanism for asserting a privilege or objection to discovery;
□ Explain the mechanism by which parties may make binding agreements in a civil lawsuit;
□ Prepare and maintain a trial notebook;
□ Explain the scope of and constraints imposed on discovery in a lawsuit; and
□ Describe the types of extraordinary remedies available to litigants.
METHOD OF EVALUATION:
Group participation is required of all students in this class. With the exception of the final exam, group members work collaboratively on assignments and receive one grade. The weight allocation of your class assignments is as follows:
Interview Memo 5%
Pleadings Assignment 10%
Discovery Requests 10%
Discovery Responses 10%
Rule 11 Agreement 5%
Filing/Correspondence 5%
Deposition Outline 5%
Deposition Summary 5%
Motion Practice 15%
Trial Prep/Argument 10%
Final Exam 20%
______
100%
ATTENDANCE POLICY:
Regular attendance and active class participation are required for this class.
RELIGIOUS HOLY DAYS: Please refer to the current Collin Student Handbook
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT STATEMENT:
It is the policy of Collin College to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals who are students with disabilities. This College will adhere to all applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the ACCESS office, SCC-G200 or 972.881.5898 (V/TTD: 972.881.5950) in a timely manner to arrange for appropriate accommodations. See the current Collin Student Handbook for additional information.
ACADEMIC ETHICS:
Every member of the Collin College community is expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. Collin College may initiate disciplinary proceedings against a student accused of scholastic dishonesty. Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts, or omissions related to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the submission of one’s own work material that is not one’s own. Scholastic dishonesty may involve, but is not limited to, one or more of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion, use of annotated texts or teacher’s editions, use of information about exams posted on the Internet or electronic medium, and/or falsifying academic records. While specific examples are listed below, this is not an exhaustive list and scholastic dishonesty may encompass other conduct, including any conduct through electronic or computerized means:
Plagiarism is the use of an author’s words or ideas as if they were one’s own without giving credit to the source, including, but not limited to, failure to acknowledge a direct quotation.
Cheating is the willful giving or receiving of information in an unauthorized manner during an examination; collaborating with another student during an examination without authority; using, buying, selling, soliciting, stealing, or otherwise obtaining course assignments and/or examination questions in advance, copying computer or Internet files, using someone else’s work for assignments as if it were one’s own; or any other dishonest means of attempting to fulfill the requirements of a course.
Collusion is intentionally or unintentionally aiding or attempting to aid another in an act of scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to, failing to secure academic work; providing a paper or project to another student; providing an inappropriate level of assistance; communicating answers to a classmate about an examination or any other course assignment; removing tests or answer sheets from a test site, and allowing a classmate to copy answers.
See the current Collin Student Handbook for additional information.
INSTRUCTOR POLICIES:
WEB SITE: http://iws.collin.edu/kdhorn/
Bookmark this page! You are responsible for the information I post on the site. Assignments, supplemental readings, useful links, class notes, and announcements are posted here. You should check the site before each class to determine if there are any announcements pertaining to the upcoming class period.
DUE DATES: All dues dates for assignments and exams are firm dates. There will be no make-up tests unless the EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES CLAUSE applies (see below). Assignments are due at the beginning of the class period for which they are assigned, and will NOT be accepted by email.
THE EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES CLAUSE: Extreme circumstances include those very limited situations such as plague, pestilence, nuclear war, death, and serious illness. Events that do not qualify include: your significant other telling you that you are no longer significant, staying up late to watch Law and Order, or, my personal favorite, “I had a test in another class.” (Conventional wisdom suggests that telling a professor her course is not as important as others will not result in a warm, fuzzy response). Work, family, and yes, even social obligations DO NOT qualify. If you are faced with a bona fide emergency, send me an email BEFORE the class period if at all possible, and be prepared to submit documentation of the emergency. If you know in advance that you will not be attending class on an assignment due date, dire consequences may be avoided by turning your assignment in early. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CLAUSE WILL BE STRICTLY CONSTRUED IN FAVOR OF THE STATED POLICY NOTWITHSTANDING THE FACT THAT I DRAFTED IT.
“The Dog Ate It”. Please keep a copy of your writing assignments. Also, to sidestep easily avoided problems related to computer failures—keep a copy of your work on a floppy disk or CD and be ready to make alternative arrangements for last minute printing. A crashed computer does not qualify as an extreme event under the EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES clause.
Course Reading/Participation. Students are expected to read the assignments before class and make a significant effort toward meaningful participation in class. Class exercises and weekly assignments will supplement the reading material. Please note that the instructor reserves the right, in the case of students on the borderline between letter grades, to consider significant and meaningful class participation, effort, and attendance in determining whether to award the higher letter grade.
Attendance. Woody Allen once said that 80% of success is simply being there. In this class it is more like 99.999 %. Regular attendance is critical to your success in this course, but I will leave it to your good judgment as to how you prioritize your time. Attendance is taken only to comply with university policy and to assist the instructor in determining whether to award the higher grade in the case of averages that are borderline. Please, DO NOT CONTACT ME IF YOU WILL NOT BE IN CLASS unless the day in question is the day of an exam AND the Extreme Circumstances clause applies. If you are not in class on a day other than when a test is scheduled, I will assume that you have conducted your own cost/benefit analysis, and have a good reason for not being there.
Availability. The fact that I do not maintain an office at Collin DOES NOT mean that I am not available. I am happy to meet with you before or after class or at another mutually convenient time. Please do not hesitate to contact me. Email is the preferred method of communication.
TENTATIVE COURSE CALENDAR
These dates are tentative and subject to adjustment by the instructor. Students should check my website regularly for announcements.
The last to day to withdraw without the instructor’s permission is March 11, 2011.
Individual Assignments are marked with a *. Each student will be required to complete these assignments. All other assignments will be completed as a group project.
Jan 20: Class overview and introductions.
Lecture: Anatomy of the litigation process.
Review Federal Civil Litigation
Jan 27: Preliminary research; preparing to file suit.
Lecture: Fact finding/interviewing and investigation.
Assignment: Interview Memo
Feb 3: Lecture: Pleadings, parties, jurisdiction, venue, and local rules.
Assignment: Offensive pleadings
Due: Interview Memo *
TRCP 3-19, 22-41, 44-52, 78-79
Feb 10: Lecture: Citation and service of process.
Assignment: Defensive pleadings
Due: Plaintiffs’ petitions
TRCP 3a, 6-10, 13, 57, 71, 99, 103-119, 124
Feb 17: Lecture: Answers, special exceptions and affirmative defenses
TRCP 4-5, 81-85, 91-97, 121, 239, 239a, 216
Feb 24: Lecture: Amended and supplemental pleadings, Counterclaims, Cross-claims
Due: Defendants’ Answers
Optional assignment: Amended pleadings
Mar 3: Lecture: Discovery
Assignment: Discovery requests
TRCP 190-215
Mar 10: Lecture: Responding and objecting to discovery/Bates labeling, document production, etc, privileges and objections.
Assignment: Responding to discovery
Due: Discovery Requests
Mar 17: Spring Break.
Mar 24: Lecture: Pretrial motion practice, Court Filing & Communications
Assignment: Discovery Motion or Dispositive Motion
Due: Discovery Responses
TRCP 21a, 166, 239
Mar 31: Lecture: Deposition Preparation and Summaries
Assignment: Deposition Outline and Summary*
Apr 07: Lecture: Texas Rules of Evidence
Due: Deposition Outline and Summary*
Apr 14: Lecture: Rule 11 Agreements, Extraordinary Remedies, ADR
Assignment: Rule 11 Letter
Due: Pretrial motion; transmittal letter
Apr 21: Lecture: Preparing for trial, jury selection and courtroom decorum
Assignment: Trial prep/assembling exhibits
Apr 28: Exercise: Hearings
May 05: Exam Review
May 12: Final Exam