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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Class Action and Other Litigation

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, April 4, 2023

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$297.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will provide strategies for plaintiffs’ counsel to navigate class representative discovery. The panel will discuss best practices related to preparing for discovery, negotiating fair discovery protocols, responding to discovery requests, and defending class representative depositions.

Faculty

Phong-Chau G. Nguyen
Partner
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP

Mr. Nguyen is a partner in Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco office specializing in consumer and defective product cases, as well as personal injury/mass tort matters. He is part of the leadership team in the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions multidistrict litigation, which secured an unprecedented $14+ billion in settlements on behalf of U.S. owners and lessees of Volkswagen diesel vehicles, won the California Daily Journal’s “California Lawyer of the Year” award, and secured a finalist position for the 2017 Consumer Attorneys of California “Consumer Attorneys of the Year” award. Mr. Nguyen is also involved in similar work on Lieff Cabraser’s leadership team in the Fiat Chrysler diesel emissions case.

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David Fernandes
Attorney
Baron & Budd, P.C.

Mr. Fernandes represents clients across the United States in class action litigation involving automobile safety, negligent banking practices, and deceptive advertising.

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Description

Class representative discovery is an essential component of establishing Rule 23 class certification. Experienced plaintiffs' counsel will need to be well-versed in the many defense strategies for eliciting class representative testimony and discovery that could undermine the claims in a class action lawsuit and challenge class certification.

Preparing for discovery begins before the case is filed, and class representatives must thoroughly understand their obligations in the discovery process. Plaintiffs’ counsel must think through and negotiate protocols related to several topics that affect the scope of discovery, including protective orders ESI protocols. Plaintiffs’ counsel must also carefully guide their class representatives through written discovery and depositions, where the class representatives’ responses are critical to the case.

Listen as this panel of esteemed class action plaintiffs' lawyers shares strategies on how to best handle class representative discovery and avoid common issues that could present challenges at class certification.

Outline

  1. Selecting the named plaintiff with an eye to discovery
  2. Selecting and gathering documents before commencing the case
  3. Anticipating key defense strategies
    1. Precertification
    2. Merits
  4. Negotiating protocols and protective orders
    1. ESI
    2. Depositions
    3. Confidentiality
  5. Responding to written discovery requests
  6. Preparing for and defending depositions

Benefits

The panel will review these and other crucial questions:

  • What are the most difficult issues for plaintiffs to navigate during discovery?
  • What protocols are the most important?
  • What types of questioning techniques might be anticipated at depositions?
  • What can counsel do during and after a deposition if the deponent performs poorly?