Beginning in the fall of 2018, Baylor Law will offer the first Executive LL.M. in Litigation Management in the nation.
The Master’s Degree program was created to address a critical problem facing professionals in the legal field: how to strategically manage litigation to control the continued escalation of litigation costs.
Open only to attorneys with a minimum of three years in practice, the online and in-person program is led by a group of the nation’s top experts in litigation management, leading attorneys and judges. Courses provide instruction on the fundamentals of 21st century litigation management and strategy, proving and attacking damages, managing complex arbitration and ADR issues, data analytics and cyber security, managing e-discovery, regulatory issues, and practical strategies for successfully navigating through trial.
“Litigation is a fact of life for businesses in America,” said David Dial, name partner at Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial. “Generally, I inform clients that litigation is ‘bad for business.’ However, the negative impact can be minimized by effectively managing cases. Doing that necessarily involves understanding the process, procedures and tactics of litigation and developing a working relationship with your attorneys. Successfully and efficiently managing litigation involves teamwork between the client and the attorneys. This cannot happen unless one truly understands the process and has the tools necessary for managing litigation. I believe the Baylor Executive LL.M. in Litigation Management will provide that understanding and equip its participants with the necessary tools.”
Baylor Law’s Executive LL.M. in Litigation Management was designed with the working legal professional in mind. Over the course of 14 months, attorneys will spend approximately 10 hours each week working on the LL.M. through interactive online learning. Attorneys will gather in Waco at Baylor Law three times throughout the program for intense, two-week residential learning experiences, where they will work closely with experts to synthesize and master the course materials.
“Graduates of the program will leave with an agile sense of both the business and the strategy of litigation,” said Liz Fraley, Baylor Law Professor and co-creator of the degree plan. “We’re addressing a key issue both for clients and for attorneys: how to manage complex and expensive litigation in a way that is both cost-effective and goal-oriented.”
Throughout the program, students will learn from national leaders in the field.
“We have been talking almost every day to people from around the nation who are the cream of the crop and who are already doing litigation management well,” said Jim Wren, Baylor Law Professor and creative drive behind the degree. “We’re going out there and finding the people doing various aspects in the very best way and we’re bringing them in. It’s going to be a melting pot of the best of practices out there.”
Baylor Law is now accepting applications for the inaugural class, set to begin class in Fall 2018.
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Tyler Roberts is an editor for The National Jurist. You can follow him on Twitter at @wtylerroberts.
