4/23/2024 9:40:33 PM	PLS 54 Course Outline as of Fall 2010	New Course (First Version)
CATALOG INFORMATION
Discipline and Nbr:  PLS 54	Title:  CIV PROC: DISCOVERY
Full Title:  Civil Procedure: Discovery
Last Reviewed:9/14/2020

Units		Course Hours per Week			Nbr of Weeks	Course Hours Total
Maximum	3.00	Lecture Scheduled	3.00		17.5 max.	Lecture Scheduled	52.50
Minimum	3.00	Lab Scheduled	0		17.5 min.	Lab Scheduled	0
		Contact DHR	0			Contact DHR	0
		Contact Total	3.00			Contact Total	52.50
		Non-contact DHR	0			Non-contact DHR Total	0

Total Out of Class Hours:  105.00

Total Student Learning Hours: 157.50

Title 5 Category:  AA Degree Applicable
Grading:  Grade Only
Repeatability:  00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP
Also Listed As: 
Formerly: 

Catalog Description:

This course addresses pre-trial discovery and evidence considerations in civil litigation.  Students learn procedures and tactics for initiating, managing, and compelling discovery and drafting major discovery documents in current use from sample problems.  Evidence questions that commonly occur during trial preparation are examined.  Methods of informal fact gathering, including interviewing, investigation, and public document retrieval are also covered.

Prerequisites/Corequisites:
Course Completion of PLS 51 Legal Research, PLS 52 Legal Writing, and BOT 85.5 (formerly BOT 85.5A and BOT 85.5B); OR Course Completion of PLS 51 Legal Research, PLS 52 Legal Writing, BOT 85.5A and BOT 85.5B

Recommended Preparation:

Limits on Enrollment:

Schedule of Classes Information
Description:

This course addresses pre-trial discovery and evidence considerations in civil litigation.  Students learn procedures and tactics for initiating, managing, and compelling discovery and drafting major discovery documents in current use from sample problems.  Evidence questions that commonly occur during trial preparation are examined.  Methods of informal fact gathering, including interviewing, investigation, and public document retrieval are also covered.

(Grade Only)
Prerequisites:Course Completion of PLS 51 Legal Research, PLS 52 Legal Writing, and BOT 85.5 (formerly BOT 85.5A and BOT 85.5B); OR Course Completion of PLS 51 Legal Research, PLS 52 Legal Writing, BOT 85.5A and BOT 85.5B
Recommended:
Limits on Enrollment:
Transfer Credit:CSU;
Repeatability:00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP

ARTICULATION, MAJOR, and CERTIFICATION INFORMATION

Associate Degree:		Effective:		Inactive:
Area:
CSU GE:	Transfer Area			Effective:	Inactive:
IGETC:	Transfer Area			Effective:	Inactive:
CSU Transfer:	Transferable	Effective:	Fall 2010	Inactive:
UC Transfer:		Effective:		Inactive:
C-ID:

Certificate/Major Applicable: Not Certificate/Major Applicable

COURSE CONTENT

Outcomes and Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

1.  Draft form and special interrogatories

2.  Summarize depositions

3.  Perform the paralegal's role in medical examinations

4.  Draft Requests for Admissions

5.  Draft Requests for Production of Documents and Things, and manage that resultant production

6.  Seek and evaluate expert witnesses

7.  Calculate calendaring deadline

Topics and Scope

1.  Discovery Overview

    a.  Purposes

    b.  Advantages and disadvantages

    c.  Discovery devices (tools)

    d.  Discovery plans

    e.  Limits to discovery

    f.   Motions to compel

2.  Interrogatories

    a.  Advantages and disadvantages

    b.  Form and special interrogatories

    c.  Formatting and drafting

    d.  Responding to interrogatories

    e.  Analyzing responses to interrogatories

    f.   Challenging responses

    g.  Service of interrogatories

    h.  Interrogatories in federal courts

    i.  Drafting tips

3.  Depositions

    a.  Advantages and disadvantages

    b.  Basic deposition rules

    c.  Party and third party depositions in Superior Court

    d.  Personal and consumer records

    e.  The role of the paralegal in depositions

    f.   Depositions in Federal Court

    g.  Deposition summaries

4.  Requests for Admission

    a.  Purpose

    b.  Drafting Requests for Admissions

    c.  Responding to Requests for Admissions

    d.  Failure to respond to Requests for Admission

5.  Requests for Production of Documents and Things

    a.  Drafting format

    b.  Timing of Request

    c.  Response to Request

    d.  Scope of inspection

    e.  Enforcing the demand

    f.   The role of the paralegal in Requests for Production

    g.  Organizing and analyzing documentary evidence

6.  Independent Medical Examinations (IME)

    a.  Purpose

    b.  Physical and mental examinations

    c.  Drafting Request for IME

    d.  Responding to Request

    e.  The medical exam report

    f.   Federal Court IME's

    g.  The paralegal's role in IME's

7.  Expert Witnesses and Expert Discovery

    a.  Expert discovery in Superior Court

    b.  Locating and evaluating expert witnesses

    c.  Demand of Expert Exchange

    d.  Response to demand

    e.  Late-disclosed experts

    f.   Expert discovery in Federal Court

    g.  Expert depositions

    h.  Sanctions

    i.   Ex parte motions

8.  Calendaring Discovery

    a.  Limiting discovery

    b.  Calendaring discovery devices

    c.  Strategic timing

    d.  Creating and managing discovery timelines

9.  Electronic discovery

Assignments:

1.  Read textbook and outside sources of approximately 40 pages per week.

2.  Draft and respond to all discovery requests.

3.  Create and maintain a final project discovery portfolio

4.  Summarize a deposition.

5.  Solve calendaring problems.

6.  Draft motions to compel.

7.  Two to five quizzes.

Methods of Evaluation/Basis of Grade.

Writing: Assessment tools that demonstrate writing skill and/or require students to select, organize and explain ideas in writing.		Writing 60 - 75%
Drafting legal documents and deposition summary
Problem solving: Assessment tools, other than exams, that demonstrate competence in computational or non-computational problem solving skills.		Problem Solving 10 - 20%
Homework assignments, research procedural and substantive law, completion of final project discovery portfolio
Skill Demonstrations: All skill-based and physical demonstrations used for assessment purposes including skill performance exams.		Skill Demonstrations 0 - 0%
None
Exams: All forms of formal testing, other than skill performance exams.		Exams 10 - 20%
Quizzes, multiple choice, true-false, matching items
Other: Includes any assessment tools that do not logically fit into the above categories.		Other Category 5 - 20%
Attendance and participation

Representative Textbooks and Materials:

California Civil Litigation, Susan B. Luten, 5th edition, Cengage Learning, 2008.

Recommended reference:  Civil Procedure Before Trial, Weil and Brown, The Rutter Group, 2008.

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