Litigation Management and Pleading Skills: Case Assessment, Outside Counsel and Reporting – Paris, 15–19 Feb 2027

Programme overview

Introduction:

Litigation management inside an organisation often breaks down long before a hearing: cases sit in scattered files with no single register, merits are judged by instinct, records are lost because no legal hold was issued, outside counsel work without a budget, and management hears about exposure only when a judgment arrives. This Core Concept course equips in-house legal teams to run a disputes portfolio from first notice to closure, assess and decide each matter, draft and argue the pleadings, and report risk upward. Participants build a Litigation Management Toolkit covering the case register, assessment template, pleading checklists and reporting dashboard.

Course Objectives:

• Set up and maintain a litigation case register that tracks every matter, deadline, owner, exposure and status across the legal department
• Conduct an early case assessment that rates merits, evidence strength, cost and time risk and recommends whether to pursue, defend or settle
• Build a litigation strategy and settlement decision for a matter using decision tree and expected value analysis
• Draft statements of claim, defences, replies and appeal memoranda that frame the issues and requests clearly and in the correct sequence
• Organise evidence collection, legal hold notices and case document management, and brief experts on the questions the case requires
• Instruct, budget and monitor outside counsel and report the disputes portfolio and its exposure to senior management

Target Audience:

• In-house counsel who carry responsibility for claims brought by or against the organisation
• Legal department staff who prepare pleadings, memoranda and case files for hearings
• Legal case managers who track deadlines, hearings and case status across a portfolio of disputes
• Heads of legal units who supervise litigation teams and approve settlement recommendations
• Legal affairs staff in public and private bodies who coordinate with outside law firms on active cases

Course Outline:

Day 1: The In-House Litigation Function and the Disputes Portfolio

• Litigation Lifecycle Map: Pre-Action, Filing, Hearings, Judgment, Appeal and Enforcement
• Legal Department Litigation Operating Model: Roles, Approval Authorities and Escalation
• Litigation Case Register Design: Matter Fields, Deadlines, Exposure and Status Codes
• Pre-Action Notice Intake Form and Matter Opening Checklist
• Current Disputes Portfolio Health Check Against a Maturity Scorecard

Day 2: Early Case Assessment, Merits Evaluation and Litigation Strategy

• Early Case Assessment Lifecycle: Risk Analysis, Information Gathering, Review and Decision
• Merits and Evidence Strength Rating Matrix for Claims and Defences
• Litigation Cost and Duration Estimate Worksheet
• Decision Tree and Expected Value Analysis for Pursue, Defend or Settle Choices
• ADR Options Overview: Negotiation, Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration Compared With Litigation

Day 3: Drafting Pleadings, Litigation Memoranda and Oral Advocacy

• Statement of Claim Drafting: Parties, Facts, Causes of Action and Relief Sought
• Defence and Counterclaim Drafting: Admissions, Denials and Procedural Objections
• Reply and Appeal Memorandum Drafting Using an Issue-by-Issue Response Grid
• Litigation Opinion Memo to Management: Prospects, Risk Range and Recommendation
• Oral Pleading Technique: Case Theory, Opening Submission and Answering Bench Questions

Day 4: Evidence, Legal Hold, Experts and Outside Counsel Control

• Legal Hold Notice Procedure for Paper Records and Electronically Stored Information
• Evidence Collection Plan and Case Document Index With Version Control
• Expert Engagement Brief: Questions, Documents Supplied and Timetable
• Outside Counsel Instruction Letter, Litigation Budget and Invoice Review Rules
• Common Litigation Failures Review: Missed Deadlines, Spoliation and Unapproved Spend

Day 5: Case Study Workshop, Management Reporting and the Litigation Toolkit

• Multi-Sector Case File Exercise: Supplier Claim and Employee Claim Assessment
• Mock Hearing Round on a Drafted Defence With Peer Challenge
• Litigation Reporting Dashboard: Exposure, Provisions Input, Trends and Closed Matter Lessons
• Settlement Recommendation Paper Presented to a Simulated Management Committee
• Litigation Management Toolkit Assembly and Personal Action Plan

Skills You Will Gain:

• Case Portfolio Tracking
• Early Case Assessment
• Settlement Decision Analysis
• Pleadings Drafting
• Oral Advocacy
• Legal Hold Management
• Outside Counsel Budget Control
• Litigation Risk Reporting

Why Attend This Course:

• Leave with a Litigation Management Toolkit: case register, early case assessment template, pleading checklists, outside counsel budget sheet and reporting dashboard
• Replace instinct with a documented merits, cost and settlement analysis that management can approve or challenge
• Practise pleading orally on a defence you drafted and receive feedback from peers and the trainer
• Compare how legal departments in manufacturing, construction, banking, services and public bodies run their disputes

Conclusion:

Well-run litigation starts with knowing what cases the organisation has and what each could cost. The course moves from the litigation lifecycle and the case register, through early case assessment, merits rating and settlement analysis, to drafting claims, defences, replies and appeals and pleading orally. It then covers legal hold, evidence, experts and outside counsel budgets, and closes with case work, management reporting and a Litigation Management Toolkit each participant applies to their own portfolio.