Reuben A. Guttman, District of Columbia Fellow, Co-Publishes “Pretrial Advocacy”

Reuben Guttman Articles, Whistleblower Articles

District of Columbia Fellow Reuben A. Guttman has co-authored a new book, “Pretrial Advocacy,” to be released by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. (Now available in print and e-book here.) The volume, which was also written by Rutgers Professor J.C. Lore, discusses the “unwritten rules” of pre-trial preparation and grapples with the challenges of efficiently developing cases that can stand up to jury scrutiny in the face of overflowing demand, even though 90% of civil cases never make it to trial.

If anybody is qualified to talk about effective legal advocacy, its Reuben Guttman. The Guttman, Buschner & Brooks founding partner has spent his 36-year career releasing staggering sums of money from the grasps of oil refineries, pharmaceutical organizations, and prisons who have run afoul of laws such as the False Claims Act and the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Mr. Guttman, who started his legal career as counsel for the Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, is a whistleblower’s best friend—in 2015, he helped Florida’s Lynn Szymoniak gain an $18 million settlement after she uncovered a fraudulent foreclosure scheme that threatened to undermine her own housing and that of thousands of other homeowners.

In addition to being a legal superstar, Mr. Guttman is a familiar figure in the academy and the press. When he isn’t giving his time to Emory University School of Law as an adjunct professor, journal advisor, or board member, he’s writing for or being quoted in more than 30 journals and media outlets as varied as The New York Times and Peking University Public Interest Law Journal. Mr. Guttman’s international influence stretches from the U.S. federal government, where he has testified before Congress and advised President Clinton’s transition team, to as far away as China, where he has offered his thoughts on Chinese labor laws at the Dutch Embassy and lectured at universities in Shanghai and Beijing.

Source: American Bar Foundation.

Now Available in print and e-book here.

Book: New Pretrial Advocacy Book Addresses New Norms in Transformed Field of Litigation

Reuben Guttman Articles, Whistleblower News

A new book on pretrial advocacy, published this week by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and Wolters Kluwer, takes on a world of litigation that has been radically transformed in recent years by remote proceedings and other practice norms that often deliver resolution long before litigants face off in the courtroom. (Available in print and e-book here.)

In Pretrial Advocacy, authors Reuben A. Guttman and J.C. Lore address the challenges of litigating in a civil justice system that is overburdened yet essential to implementation of the rule of law. Even as nearly 90% of all civil matters never come before a jury, lawyers must nevertheless prepare cases as though they will. Because modern civil litigation is, the authors say, “front loaded,” lawyers are challenged early on in the pretrial process to consider the rules of evidence and civil procedure as they gather information to plead a plausible complaint.

“The pretrial process is laden with unwritten norms. All parties, from litigants to jurists, struggle to provide efficient resolutions while balancing due process,” said Lore, a Distinguished Clinical professor and Director of Trial Advocacy at Rutgers Law School. “We wanted to write something that explains it all.” The strategies and techniques outlined in Pretrial Advocacy put forward responsive new approaches to teaching advocacy in both law school and continuing legal education settings.

In addition to practical tips and insights from some of the nation’s foremost jurists and practitioners, Pretrial Advocacy features a foreword by retired U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Massachusetts and Harvard Law faculty member Nancy Gertner. “Pretrial Advocacy fills an important space for litigators,” Gertner said. “It teaches how to try cases from the moment  a client contacts the lawyer through the trial, encouraging lawyers to engage in strategic decisions about pretrial discovery and motion practice. Why depose this witness rather than another?  What is the purpose? What are the salient documents—not every single one, not just the few ‘gotcha’ documents, but those that build the narrative.”

Pretrial Advocacy closes with chapter dedicated to public interest litigation. “We thought a chapter on public interest litigation was necessary because there are too many people—from immigrants to victims of race and gender discrimination and whistleblowers—seeking to have their voice heard, and they need competent representation,” said Guttman. Guttman is a founding partner of the Washington, D.C. law firm of Guttman, Buschner & Brooks, PLLC, where he has represented clients in False Claims cases in matters returning more than $6 billion to the United States government.

Guttman and Lore are available to the media to comment on matters in civil litigation and the civil justice system.

Book Available HerePretrial Advocacy is the ideal textbook for law school clinics, law school  pretrial litigation courses, and practicing lawyers. Both practical and theoretical, it teaches litigation as a process informed by rules and cases, but also by strategic considerations. Its hands-on and accessible text makes it a perfect reference for learning skills and a continuing reference.

Learn more here.

On the Rule of Law: Now is the Time to Rethink the Role of Law Schools

Reuben Guttman Articles, Whistleblower Articles

In his opening remarks to a Senate Judiciary Committee charged with reviewing his nomination to be Attorney General of the United States, Judge Merrick Garland noted that “communities of color and other minorities still face discrimination in housing, in education, in employment and in the criminal justice system, and they bear the brunt of the harm caused by the pandemic . . . .” All of these problems still exist over 150 years since the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments; over sixty years since Brown v. Board of Education was decided; and over half a century since the civil rights legislation of the 1960s.

The truth is that we — as a mature nation — had a lot to overcome; today our nation remains tainted by an ugly upbringing, the history of which has too often been glossed over in palatable terms…

Read the full piece below.

https://medium.com/@rguttman/on-the-rule-of-law-now-is-the-time-to-rethink-the-role-of-law-schools-1f9e707ee4a1

With Biden Team Focused On Other Crises, Experts Say Drug Epidemic Is Exploding

Featured, Reuben Guttman Articles, Whistleblowers Blog

“It’s a front-burner issue on any day of the week but not on this day… And that’s a real problem,” says firm Partner Reuben Guttman of the Biden administration’s current handle on the nations uncontrolled drug overdose rates. Read the full article, from NPR and WAMU 88.5, here: https://wamu.org/story/21/01/29/with-biden-team-focused-on-other-crises-experts-say-drug-epidemic-is-exploding/

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