Litigating as a Junior Associate Bootcamp (van Hoeven/Joshi)
Faculty
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| Juliana van Hoeven Director of Regulatory Affairs and Advising and Deputy Registrar juliv@law.upenn.edu |
Additional Information
Experiential CourseYes
Skills Training
Team Projects
Drafting Legal Documents
Other Professional Skills:
Grading
50% Participation,
50% Other (Thorough completion of the course assignments and readings posted on Canvas and thoughtful participation in classroom discussion will earn you a "Pass" in the class participation component, which counts for 50% of the course grade. The remaining 50% will be determined through completion of a final project. This one-credit course will be graded pass/fail. )
No
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- Class sessions are regularly recorded. If you are absent due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can send you an email with instructions for accessing the recording for the class session(s) you missed.
- If you are absent, due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can ask for volunteers among your classmates to share their notes with you.
- When you are better, please make an appointment to meet with me and I will review/answer questions about what you missed.
Meeting Times/Location
US 9:00AM - 5:00PM
Tanenbaum Hall 253
Category
Upper-Level
Credits
1.0
Every great litigator has to start off somewhere. Many begin their careers as junior associates in the litigation departments of major law firms all over the world. This course will introduce second-year law students to some of the basic questions, concepts, and practical skills they are likely to encounter or use as junior associates assigned to high-stakes litigation in BigLaw. The goal of this course is to equip students with practical skills that will give them a strategic advantage as summer and junior associates, and pave the path to a thriving career down the road.
Before the start of this class, students will be assigned to a real-life case that has already progressed through the first stages of litigation, as though they were joining a legal team for the first time. Pre-class assignments will include finding and pulling the docket, identifying the client, locating key filings including the operative complaint, operative scheduling order, and critical past rulings, and preparing a summary of the litigation to date. Students should come to the first class prepared to be weight-bearing members of their legal team.
Topics for classroom discussion will include: • As a Big Law junior associate, who is my client? Is it the associate who assigned me the work, the managing partner on the case, the person or entity I represent, the Court, the Firm, or someone else entirely? • What is billing time? How do I bill my time with my client’s best interests in mind? • Given the stage of litigation, what is the legal team likely to be working on at this point? What types of assignments might I expect to assist with? • When questions inevitably arise, what and/or who are my best resources? What types of challenges will these resources be able to assist me with? • When do I ask my assistant, the paralegal on the case, or the associate for help? What is the best way to do this? • What does the partner on the case expect of me and how can I best demonstrate my value to them? • How do I handle sticky situations, including when I (inevitably!) make my first mistake, my workload is at maximum capacity, or I am faced with competing deadlines?
“Litigating As A Junior Associate” will be taught by current and former associates in the litigation department of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP, who will be able to share real-world insight into what sets a junior associate up for success. Guest speakers will include attorneys and judges currently working on some of the most advanced litigation matters in the world. Guests will share their perspectives on what makes junior attorneys valuable team members. Students will have the opportunity for Q&A.
Given the nature of the in-class work and assignments, attendance is mandatory. This bootcamp will be graded credit/fail. It will meet from 9AM-5PM on Saturday, February 8 and Sunday, February 9, 2025.
Business and Corporate Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of business and corporate law; Perform legal analysis in the context of business and corporate law; Communicate effectively on topics related to business and corporate law; Demonstrate an understanding of the interconnection between the world of business and finance and that of business and corporate law, and how they affect other areas of law and society.
Skills Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of the individual course skill; Demonstrate the ability to receive and implement feedback; Demonstrate an understanding of how and when the individual course skill is employed in practice.
Courts and the Judicial System Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of both substantive and procedural issues in the operation of our legal system; Perform legal analysis in the context of procedural issues and the judicial process; Communicate effectively on topics related to procedure and the judicial process; Demonstrate an understanding of how procedural issues and the judicial process affect all other area of our legal system.
Professional Responsibility and Ethics Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.