Summer student field trips at McCague Borlack can range from examinations of discoveries to mediations, pre-trials, arbitration and motions – all key parts of civil litigation.
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An examination of discovery is a procedural part of litigation when the parties get to see what the other side’s facts, evidence and defence are.
- Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution where an unbiased third party helps resolve the dispute between the two parties to reach a resolution.
Both an examination of discovery and a mediation happen outside of the court.
- A motion is a process by which one party submits a request to make an order to a Judge. The length of which varies, as it really depends on what is at issue and whether on consent. A basic consent motion can be less than 5 minutes, whereas a complicated multi-party motion can take up the better part of a day.
Recently, I attended a motion where we were trying to get an adjournment. When we realized an adjournment would not be granted, instead, our lawyer had to make submissions (which are oral arguments) on the main issue. I did not expect submissions to be done during a motion, and that amped up the excitement of the field trip. Although this unpredictability seemed stressful at first, I learned from the lawyer on the file that litigators must be prepared for anything. As he stated, “Hope for the best but expect and plan for the worst!” Of course, he had the full submissions prepared and ready in case.
Getting to hear litigators be zealous advocates in real-time, while also having my notes used for the client’s report makes me feel like I am contributing in a meaningful way and allows me to harness my own professional development.
That’s litigation – the learning curve is high, and the work is truly one of a kind.
That’s litigation – the learning curve is high, and the work is truly one of a kind.
by Rotem F.