Liability in the Public Sector

“Can they do that to me?”

Your private sector clients — individuals and corporations — are increasingly critical of government actions and policies affecting their lives and businesses. Your public sector clients — whether local, state or federal government officials — are increasingly embroiled in lawsuits contesting their decisions or conduct.

This nationally-acclaimed program has been carefully designed to provide you with the essential tools to evaluate whether government action is vulnerable to legal challenge or defensible. Utilize and refine your skills on how to develop government liability claims effectively.

Government litigation cannot be handled as routine litigation... diverse immunities and unique procedural defenses may insulate defendants from liability. Discovery is subject to special rules and timetables. And unlike ‘routine’ litigation, both defendants and plaintiffs wrap their claims and defenses in the Constitution, for every suit against the government raises a fundamental constitutional issue: can the plaintiff seek judicial remedies to challenge the policies, decisions and actions of the political branches of the government?

Clifford M. Greene is a seasoned trial lawyer with more than 30 years of courtroom experience in federal practice and government liability litigation. He is also a scholar and a teacher who combines his academic and practical insights into an entertaining and stimulating presentation. This innovative and compelling multi-media program introduces key legal principles, presents leading cases and demonstrates strategies and tactics which can be immediately implemented.

Highlights:

• Who is my client, anyway? (Whom do I sue, anyway?)
• Issues of representation, ethics & accountability in public sector litigation
• Should you make a federal case out of it?
• Pros and cons of federal and state forums, procedures & laws
• They can’t take that away from me ... or can they?
• Challenges to employment, land use & administrative decisions
• The buck stops here
• Advantages and disadvantages of suing the boss or the wrongdoer
• Section 1983 Immunities
• An analysis of the newest cases
• Uncle Sam v. Big Brother: battles for juror sympathy
• Trial strategies to overcome juror prejudices

Program Outline & Schedule (6 hours)

[Part I: 90 minutes]

The Essence at the Outset: A Government Liability Overview

• “A New Attitude”: Why government litigation demands a different attitude toward case evaluation, preparation and presentation
• Sovereign Immunity: Discredited anachronism or vital constitutional principle?
• Section 1983: A very graphic primer

[15 minute break]

[Part II: 90 minutes]

Special Immunity and Liability Scenarios

• Immunities Involving:
• Prosecutors, judges & witnesses, elected officials, government employees & police personnel
• Claims asserting liability for third party acts
• The President of the United States — Clinton v. Jones (1997)
• Special Scenarios
• Defamation: a strategy for avoiding government immunities?
• Wrongful internal investigation

[Lunch]

[Part III: 90 minutes]

Litigation Strategies

• Who is my client, anyway?
• Case evaluation and settlement options
• Forum Shopping: should you make a federal case out of it?
• Privacy interests and privileges in government litigation: the rights of third parties and public interest in confidentiality or disclosure

[15 minute break]

[Part IV: 90 minutes]

Government in the Courtroom

• Summary Judgment: pre-trial dismissals, bona fide fact disputes, interlocutory appeals
• Experts in government litigation
• Messages to juries: overcoming prejudices & fostering empathy

[Adjourn]