Commercial Litigation

This module will explore, from academic and practical perspectives, the practice of commercial litigation. Taking the Irish Commercial Court as the paradigm example, the module will focus on understanding the life cycle of litigation through the various procedural stages as well as engaging in critical analysis of the various rules, norms and procedures that govern commercial litigation. This will include the issuing of proceedings, interlocutory stages such as discovery up to the delivery of judgment. The Module will focus on issues which are of particular significance to commercial practice such as large scale ediscovery and the use of expert witnesses.

The module will be of interest to anyone planning to practice in the commercial law area whether in Ireland or elsewhere.

The module will have strong skills component with students learning the basics of preparing and understanding key elements of drafting. There will also be an opportunity to develop advocacy – both written and oral – towards the end of the module. A court visit will be built into the module time allocation.

The aim of the module is to enable students to understand the life cycle of a typical commercial matter, to think critically about the rules and norms of the court system in this area and to develop skills related to the practice of litigation. While the focus of the course will be the Irish legal system, the skills will be of general application including the interpretation and application of rules of court and pleadings, oral and written advocacy and presentation skills.

At the end of the module, students will prepare some drafting based on a set of written instructions.

The topics of the seminars will include:

1. The special features of commercial litigation
2. Transferring cases to the Commercial Court
3. Corporate litigants – Security for Costs
4. Pleadings – their function and drafting samples
5. The use of Particulars, Interrogatories and Notices to Admit Facts
6. Discovery and the use of ediscovery in commercial matters
7. Expert witnesses – their function and engagement
8. Advocacy – written and oral

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the module,  students should be able:

• To formulate their own account of the life cycle of a typical commercial case
• To understand the use of interlocutory procedures such as discovery and interrogatories
• To understand the role of expert witnesses
• To assess critically the rules, norms and practices that govern commercial litigation
• To engage in drafting and both oral and written advocacy

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