Better Discovery: Taking a More Targeted Approach - In-Person
Though the discovery process is not the sexiest part of the legal workload, this program will highlight how to find fun in its essential functions. Join us for this multi-day program and let us change your perception of discovery. Leave with best practices for discovery requests and responses, deposition preparation, discovery disputes, working with special masters and basic e-Discovery issues.
We will facilitate skills with two days of education from highly esteemed practitioners, federal magistrate judges, and special masters. Whether you are new to the practice or looking to sharpen your skills, this program is sure to make the discovery process easier and even more entertaining!
- Create an effective discovery plan for your case
- Use the best discovery request and response strategies
- Hear from a panel of federal magistrate judges, a Colorado Court of Appeals judge, and special masters
- EDI session included
Home studies will be available approximately 2-3 weeks following the live program.
For your own safety, the safety of others, and in an effort to provide everyone with the most rewarding in-person meeting and event experiences possible, we request that you attend this event only if you have been fully vaccinated. All attendees must wear masks for indoor events unless attendees can maintain a distance of six feet from each other, in which case masks may be removed. Masks may also be removed by an attendee, briefly, when they are speaking, eating, or drinking.
Depending on CDC and/or state or local health guidelines, a rise in COVID-19 cases, or other circumstances that may threaten the well-being of our attendees, CBA-CLE reserves the right to convert to a fully virtual event.
If disability accommodations or special assistance are needed, please contact us at [email protected]. Requests must be made at least two weeks prior to the scheduled program.
The program will be submitted for CLE accreditation in Colorado. If you need to seek accreditation in another state, please review the process and requirements for that individual state. CBA-CLE staff can provide a Uniform Certificate of Attendance, and it is the attendee’s responsibility to complete the accreditation outside of Colorado.
December 7, 2021
Discovery Practicum Day 1
8:30 – 9:00 am
Registration and Coffee
9:00 – 9:15 am
Opening Remarks
Extended by Danaé D. Woody, Esq., Woody Law Firm, LLC
9:15 – 10:45 am
Don’t Approach Discovery Like a Honey Badger: An Overview
This session provides an overview of the purpose of the Discovery Practicum, which is to help lawyers recognize that discovery is a means to an end, and therefore, it should be approached methodically and with deliberate thought focused on the needs of each particular case. This session will also inform attendees how to develop a discovery plan effectively and strategically.
Presented by Byeongsook Seo, Esq., Snell & Wilmer L.L.P., and Shelby Woods, Esq., HKM Employment Attorneys LLP
Moderated by Honorable S. Kato Crews, The United States District Court, District of Colorado
(Stretch Break from 10:00 – 10:10 am)
10:45 – 11:05 am
Initial Disclosures: Differences between the Federal and State Level
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1) and Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1) impose significantly different initial disclosure obligations on the parties although practitioners are not always in tune with the variations. We will dive into the key differences between the Colorado and Federal rules with some fun hypotheticals.
Presented by Rachel R. Mentz, Esq., Mentz Law, P.C.
11:05 – 11:25 am
Networking Break
11:25 am – 12:55 pm
Discovery Requests and Responses 101
This session focuses on the best practices for drafting appropriate and narrowly tailored discovery requests, common objections raised to written discovery, and suggestions for effective conferrals to avoid judicial involvement. We will also focus on the drafting of other discovery related documents or agreements.
Presented by Andrew J. Petrie, Esq., Ballard Spahr LLP, Alan D. Schindler, Esq., Timmins LLC, Professor David I. C. Thomson, Esq., University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and Honorable Scott T. Varholak, The United States District Court, District of Colorado
Moderated by David S. Law, Esq., Leventhal Lewis Kuhn Taylor Swan PC, and
Rachel R. Mentz, Esq., Mentz Law, P.C.
12:55 – 2:00 pm
Lunch on your own
2:00 – 3:15 pm
Strategies for a Dynamite Deposition
This session will focus on strategies for taking effective depositions, including preparing for your deposition, knowing the purpose of each deposition you take, fact witness and expert depositions, records depositions, conducting the deposition, and addressing common issues that may arise during depositions.
Presented by Jessamyn L. Jones, Esq., 3i Law, and Andrew E. Swan, Esq., Leventhal Lewis Kuhn Taylor Swan PC
3:15 – 3:35 pm
Networking Break
3:35 – 5:00 pm
Effective Approaches for Dealing with Discovery Disputes
Hear about the most common discovery disputes that arise, gather tips for avoiding or resolving them without court intervention, and learn when to get the court involved.
Presented by Honorable Jaclyn C. Brown, Colorado Court of Appeals, Franz Hardy, Esq., Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP, and Qusair Mohamedbhai, Esq., Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC
5:00 - 5:05 pm
Closing Remarks
5:05 pm
Adjourn
December 8, 2021
Discovery Practicum Day 2
8:30 – 9:00 am
Registration and Coffee
9:00 – 9:10 am
Welcome Back Remarks
Extended by Rabea Taylor, Esq., Leventhal Lewis Kuhn Taylor Swan PC
9:10 – 10:10 am
A Brief Overview of Working with Special Masters
This session will offer two special masters’ perspectives on:
• When and why special masters get appointed (and how that might change in the future)
• How special masters get appointed, operate and get paid
• Discovery disputes that arise
• Differences between working with special masters and judges
• Tips for making your experience with a special master a successful one
Presented by Maura R. Grossman, J.D., Ph.D., Special Master, Research Professor, Maura Grossman Law; School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, and David M. Tenner, Esq., Special Master, Ridley McGreevy, Winocur, P.C., and President, Academy of Court-Appointed Masters
10:10 – 10:30 am
Networking Break
10:30 – 11:30 am
The Basics of ESI Discovery
Presented by Daniel J. Culhane, Esq., Daniel J. Culhane LLC, and Kelly H. Twigger, Esq., ESI Attorneys, LLC
Moderated by Joy A. Woller, Esq., Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP
11:30 am – 12:40 pm
Lunch on your own
12:40 – 1:10 pm
How to Utilize Equity, Diversity, and Inclusiveness Factors in Discovery and Litigation to Better Advance Your Own Goals and Your Clients’ Goals
This presentation will focus on furthering equity, diversity, and inclusiveness goals within the discovery and litigation process, while being in harmony with benefit to clients and the litigator’s goals.
By providing successful examples of both beneficial conduct and less than ideal scenarios, we hope to address the challenges to EDI implementation. This will specifically focus on litigation and discovery phases. Discussions will include implicit bias with explanations of how these challenges and unconscious bias impact the system, including decisions relating to equity in the legal workplace, but also as it relates to serving diverse clients individually as well as our community. The presentation will have specific strategic recommendations for addressing these challenges and illustrate why EDI goals are not solely an aspiration, but tangibly benefit practitioners in litigation and discovery, if adhered to. The presentation will also cover how attendees may become more culturally competent, specific areas where those practicing in the legal field may grow to become more culturally competent, and how we may create a judicial system with litigators that are more culturally aware.
Presented by Porya Mansorian, Esq., Mansorian Law Group
Submitted for 0.6 EDI Credit
1:10 – 1:20 pm
Stretch Break
1:20 – 2:10 pm
Ethical Issues: Attorney-Client Privilege, Protective Orders, and More
This session will offer an overview of the rules, doctrines, and devices that can shield a client’s sensitive information from discovery or dissemination, what you need to tell your client about them, how to preserve and invoke them during the course of litigation, how they can be waived and the potential effect of waiver, how each side should handle an inadvertent disclosure, the ethical principles that come into play when attempting to navigate them, and methods for effectively challenging their application.
Presented by James “Jim” Fogg, Esq., Ogborn Mihm LLP
Submitted for 1 Ethics/Professionalism Credit
2:10 – 2:30 pm
Networking Break
2:50– 3:00 pm
Stretch Break
3:00 – 4:00 pm
Fireside Chat with Federal Magistrate Judges
Presented by: Honorable James M. Candelaria, The United States District Court, District of Colorado, Honorable Michael E. Hegarty, The United States District, Court, District of Colorado, Honorable N. Reid Neureiter, The United States District Court, District of Colorado, and Honorable Scott T. Varholak, The United States District Court, District of Colorado
Moderated by Kathryn A. Reilly, Esq., Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP
4:00 – 4:15 pm
Closing Remarks
4:15 pm
Adjourn
Registration Fees
| Non Member | $779.00 |
| CBA Member | $584.00 |
| Paralega/Support Staff | $292.00 |
| Public Service/Government | $292.00 |
| CLEACCESSPASS--ELITE Pass Holder | $0.00 |
| New Lawyer Edge Partner | $0.00 |
| Student Currently Enrolled in Law School | $0.00 |
- General Credits: 12.00
- Ethics Credits: 1.00
- EDI Credits: 0.60
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