Trial Magazine

AAJ’s more than 100 Litigation Groups offer practical information and the collective wisdom of experienced colleagues on specific subjects ranging from asbestos to Zantac. Groups have document libraries containing sample complaints, briefs, discovery demands, intake questionnaires, medical studies, and more. Group list servers offer a quick way for members to network and stay up-to-date on litigation developments through specialized education programs and business meetings.

This information sharing allows members to reduce the time and expense of trial preparation, anticipate defenses, and structure discovery and legal arguments for a favorable verdict or settlement—possibly allowing members to accept cases that otherwise might be too complex or costly.

Members with a strong interest in a particular area can propose a new Litigation Group, which will be open to AAJ Regular, President’s Club, Sustaining, and Life members. Some groups also allow paralegals to join. Members interested in starting a Litigation Group should visit AAJ’s website at www.justice.org/litgroups and email litgroups@justice.org to request the application form.

AAJ’s Section and Litigation Group Coordination Committee (SLGCC), which meets throughout the year, approves new groups. The SLGCC evaluates a Litigation Group proposal based on the recommendation of the director of AAJ’s Sections and Litigation Groups department, the level of interest among the membership, the nature of the underlying litigation, and any other relevant factors.

The proposed interim chair or cochairs of the group then must appear in person before the SLGCC and should have

• a willingness and ability to carry out an acting chair’s responsibilities
• a commitment to Litigation Group objectives
• demonstrated leadership experience, including with other Litigation Groups or similar organizations
• expertise in cases involving the group’s topic
• a good reputation within AAJ, his or her state trial lawyer association (TLA), and the legal profession generally
• a record of service supporting AAJ and state TLA goals, evaluated on factors such as: length of membership; past experience running a Section, Litigation Group, or Caucus; attendance at conventions and education programs; and PAC and Leaders Forum participation.

The SLGCC and AAJ recognize the importance of promoting diversity. To that end, proposed chairs should be as inclusive as possible. Particularly when a proposed Litigation Group involves subject matter that disproportionately impacts a particular group, the proposed cochairs ideally will include members of that group.

Once a Litigation Group is formally approved, the interim chair and any other officers must convene an in-person meeting at the next annual convention and elect a chair and other leaders as needed. The interim chair also must draft group bylaws, which the group’s members vote on at their first in-person meeting. A Litigation Group can elect officers (treasurer, secretary, committee heads) annually, if the group’s bylaws include provisions for doing so.

The SLGCC appoints a liaison for first-time Litigation Group chairs and provides mandatory leadership training. AAJ staff provide administrative support in creating and maintaining Litigation Groups, and AAJ Education and the National College of Advocacy approve and assist with the groups’ education programs and seminars.

Hot Topic Litigation Groups

3M Combat Earplugs
Anti-Human Trafficking
Birth Trauma
Bus
Child Sex Abuse
Class Action
Climate Change
Consumer Privacy/Data Breach
Electronic Discovery
Elevator & Escalator Injury
ERISA Benefits
Herbicides and Pesticides
Hernia Mesh  
Jury Bias
JUUL
Nursing Homes
PFC Water Contamination
Police Misconduct
Qui Tam
Ride Share
Sexual Assault
Substance Use Disorder
Talcum Powder/Ovarian Cancer
Taxotere
Tenofovir
Trampoline Injury
Traumatic Brain Injury
Trucking
Valsartan
Zantac

Find a list of all Litigation Groups on AAJ’s website at www.justice.org/litgroups. In advance of each annual convention, the names of proposed Litigation Groups will be posted on this page.

Members interested in starting a Litigation Group should visit www.justice.org/litgroups and email litgroups@justice.org to request the application form.

For more information or to propose a group, contact David Ciesla, director of Sections and Litigation Groups, at david.ciesla@justice.org.

Lori E. Andrus is a partner at Andrus Anderson in San Francisco and can be reached at lori.andrus@andrusanderson.com. This article is an updated version of one that appeared in the May 2016 issue of Trial.