Preface

• Jurisdiction: United States

Preface

In the early 1990s, I was thrust into the position of COO (Chief Operating Officer, a.k.a. the director) on a high-risk, trade secrets case heading for trial in a federal district court. I had never served in such a role. The case met the definition of a high-risk, complex case: it involved myriad legal and factual issues, relatively complex technology and industry practices, a vast amount of documents, and a large cast of witnesses (including many expert witnesses). With a damages claim against our client for $100 million, it was definitely a high-risk, complex case. My new role as the director was to manage the deadlines, the team, and, ultimately, our courtroom presentation—while also taking on a significant role as trial counsel.

I had received no training in law school concerning how to manage a complex, high-risk case or a large team. The formal training I had received from my law firm, which provided great legal training, had focused on substantive topics, not soft stuff, like how to run a team meeting. I had a lot of experience running my own smaller cases, sometimes with another lawyer and a paralegal helping on a part-time basis. I also had a good number of jury trials on smaller cases under my belt. I was competent at managing myself and my cases and preparing my smaller cases for trial. But those past experiences didn’t ready me for managing a much larger team of lawyers and directing the presentation of a high-risk, complex case.

The trial of the trade secrets case lasted for more than three weeks, and it involved about thirty witnesses. After I was appointed to the COO position, I felt like Robert Redford in...