Building a litigation team around the dispute
Most litigation teams are built around the firm. The lawyers who happen to work there are slotted into the hierarchy that happens to exist.
The better starting point is the dispute. What will it demand, in what order, and at what cost?
Start with what the case will require
What decides it? The wording of a contract, a technical question, a witness's credibility, an urgent motion.
What is the first real contest? Often it is an injunction or a jurisdiction motion, not the trial.
How much evidence is there, and in what form? Ten documents or ten million.
What is it worth to the client, in money and otherwise?
Which court, or courts?
The answers define the roles that need filling.
The roles
Lead counsel. One person accountable for strategy and for the client relationship.
Subject-matter counsel. Where a distinct body of law will decide an issue, such as intellectual property, tax, employment or a regulatory regime, someone who practises in it.
Agent or local counsel. For another province or another court.
Discovery and data. Someone who owns the document process: collection, the review platform, privilege calls.
Experts. Consulting or testifying, technical or financial.
The client's people. A decision-maker with authority, a point person who knows the facts, and in-house counsel if there is one.
On a small file, one lawyer fills several of these. On a large one, each may be a group. The roles exist either way.
The right size changes by phase
Assessment. Small. One or two lawyers, perhaps a consulting expert.
Urgent motions. A short surge. Evidence has to be gathered and tested in days.
Discovery. Process-heavy. Technology now does much of what teams of junior lawyers once did.
Trial. Advocacy and witness preparation.
A team that is right for one phase is wrong for the next. Build it to expand and contract.
Working principles
One strategist. Advice can come from many people. Decisions about direction need one owner.
Defined roles. No task with two owners, and no task with none.
A budget by phase, revisited at each transition.
Privilege by design. Experts and consultants are retained through counsel, and communications run through channels that protect them.
A reporting rhythm. Short, regular updates. The client hears bad news early.
No staffing for appearances. Some files need fewer people than a firm would assign. Some need more than one firm.
Across firms
A team does not have to sit inside one firm. Lead counsel at one firm, IP counsel at another, and an agent in a third province is a common shape for a national dispute.
It works on three conditions. Conflicts are cleared on all sides. The client understands and agrees to who does what and how each is paid. One person remains in charge.
The client's role
The client defines success. It is usually a business outcome: the product stays on the market, the partner is bought out, the debt is collected.
The team's job is to reach that outcome at a cost that makes sense. A client who knows who is on the team, why they are there and what each costs is in a position to make those calls.
This post is general information. It is not legal advice about your situation.
