I have been volunteered to present the �Pre-Trial Strategies� [Everying from the start of the lawsuit, to the time of trial] topic at the TDCAA�s Civil Seminar in San Antonio in May. In addition to my thoughts I am seeking input.

Do you have one procedural pre-trial strategy tool that seems to work well for you? If so, please share.

Do you have any quirky statutes, procedures or techniques that have served you well? I will try to incorporate them into a powerpoint giving credit to the architect (and the county) of the strategy.

This is for the common good. Your assistance is needed so that the TDCAA Brethren (and Sisteren?) in May can benefit from this collective brainstorm.

My direct email is les@bexar.org or 210-335-2925.

[This message was edited by Les on 03-27-07 at .]

Because governmental entity litigation has a high potential for pretrial dispositive motion practice, we have found that it is useful to develop an early discovery strategy and implement it forcefully. In doing so, we review all potentially applicable immunities, compliance with all requisite notice provisions (in light of the current sec. 311.034, Gov't Code), then we direct our discovery toward shoring those up those immunities. Specifically, we have found that we can better evaluate whether a case needs to be settled or fought tooth and nail to the Supremes if we can nail down what evidence (as opposed to speculation) the plaintiff has, such as what they can prove the sheriff actually knew or said (as an example in a custom or practice sec. 1983 case). Very rarely do we use canned discovery, though some standard questions are routine fare (generally the material found in RFDs or Rule 26(a) disclosures).

Another strategy we employ may find a number of strident dissidents in our audience. When a case comes in, we try to analyze the law as thoroughly as possible (duh!). If we have a strong position from a legal perspective, we will send our "buzz off" letter with inclusion of the leading case law and statutory provisions supporting our position, along with citation to State of Tex. v. City of Austin and art. 3, sec. 52(a) of the Constitution for the proposition that, unless a colorable ground for county liability can be advanced, we are precluded from throwing any money at the plaintiff. That sometimes scares off those lawyers who think the county is an easy target from whom to shake out a little money with very little work.

Scott: I would like to include your buzz off letter in the program. Would you email me a 'buzz-off' letter to les@bexar.org. Thanks Les