Unit 4 Discussion

Throughout this course, many discussion opportunities come up where you need to respond to other people's opinions and comments. Then respond to your Discussion topic after you have completed your Reading.

For Discussion Board requirements, refer to your course Syllabus or to the Discussion Board Rubric which is posted under Grading Rubrics.

By now you have chosen to include — or exclude — defendants by listing them in the complaint. In this Unit 4 you now work for the law firm representing the defendants charged in the complaint you drafted.

Interview of Defendants

Based on the knowledge gained in this unit, and reading Chapter 5 "Affirmative Defenses," answer the following questions on the Discussion Board. The instructor will then comment on your answers.

1. What affirmative defenses do you think are available to your client? (Provide a thorough discussion of each defense and why the defense applies in this case).
2. What facts would be important to help you prove each affirmative defense in your answer?
3. Which witnesses would you interview and what questions would you ask them?

Remember, as defense counsel your firm's objective is to prevent the plaintiff (Mr. King) from proving his cause of action/claim(s).

ASSIGNMENT:

You will now put yourself in the shoes of a paralegal working at a defense law firm. A defendant in the Justin King complaint has retained your law firm to represent it against Mr. King.

Your supervising attorney has asked you to do some preliminary research to determine what legal, affirmative defenses your client may have in this case.

You should conduct legal research on Westlaw to research cases. To access Westlaw, click on the Library under Academic Tools. No separate sign-on is required. You will then click on Westlaw Campus Research.

View a video tutorial on how to use Westlaw.

After viewing the tutorial, conduct research of cases of affirmative defenses on Westlaw. Select one case which you think is most relevant for the case. You should select a published or reported case for this Assignment. Do not select an unpublished case. Some courts prohibit using unpublished cases. Unpublished cases also carry less weight and authority than published cases. Go to the “Course Documents” section under Course Resources to access files to assist you in your Assignment.

Part 1. Research Strategy: In Part 1, explain your research strategy. Write this in first person. Make sure to write in complete sentences and paragraphs. You should state the database or sources of documents that you searched (e.g., Illinois state cases), the search method you used (e.g., "advanced search" or "easy search"), and the search terms you used. You should state how you used KeyCite to verify that the case has not been reversed or overruled. You should also explain the strategies you used to refine the search such as revising the initial search terms, limiting the search by date, and other search strategies.

Part 2. Case Citation and Summary: In Part 2, provide the citation for the case you selected in Bluebook citation format and provide a summary of the case and affirmative defense described in the case. The summary should provide a summary of the facts and holding in the case you select focusing on the affirmative defense.