Complex Litigation: A Practical Guide to Case Management and Decision Making

"I found the Complex Litigation Guide to be an enormously insightful treatise for effective case management by in-house counsel and trial counsel. The guide comprehensively addresses the litigation management process with straight forward observations for a truly reader friendly experience. Thoughtful ideas are provided on the myriad of concerns confronting case managers. Practical observations review the need for management of client expectations in the often emotional litigation process. Telling a story and how to tell it helps the reader appreciate the value of effectively communicating to a jury. The guide impresses me as essential reading for all professional decision makers involved in litigation management.”—Harry Cibak, Esq., Former Senior Vice President, Head of Manufacturers Liability for Global Aerospace

“There are lots of practice aids that provide the basics of what to do in complex litigation. Don Rushing’s treatise on Complex Litigation goes beyond the basics and delves into how to successfully litigate a complicated case, including addressing critical areas such as client interactions, case analysis, the art of advocacy, choosing and leading winning teams, and organizing the case to maximize success. In an era when mentors and time for mentoring are hard to find, Complex Litigation provides the guidance and insight to help navigate difficult cases successfully. As a former in-house counsel responsible for managing large, high stakes litigation, I encourage anyone involved in complex litigation - whether in-house or outside counsel - to read and digest the seemingly simple but ultimately elegant roadmap for litigation success.”—William B. Sailer, Retired Senior Vice President, Legal Counsel - Qualcomm Incorporated

“Complex Litigation: A Practical Guide to Case Management and Decision Making is an invaluable resource for both law students and practitioners. Reading it feels like sitting across the desk from a seasoned mentor who offers clear, practical strategies grounded in real experience. Mr. Rushing’s guidance is war-tested and immediately useful, filling a crucial gap for those without this kind of mentorship and offering immense help to anyone navigating demanding litigation.”—Linda L. Lane, Professor of Practice, University of San Diego School of Law

“Nationally known big-case trial lawyer and litigator Don Rushing has published a remarkable new book, Complex Litigation: A Practical Guide to Case Management and Decision Making. It belongs on or beside the desk of every lawyer who already works on or aspires to work on class actions, multidistrict litigation, or high-stakes individual cases, regardless of whether the stakesare dollars, personal freedoms, or government policies. It’s remarkable because in just 163 pages it provides basic principles that every lawyer from rookie solo practitioner to big-firm managing partner needs to know and that many never learn.

Unlike the vast majority of “how-to” books, this one begins where it should and where other “how-to” books rarely do: the lawyer’s responsibilities to the client(s), how best to fulfill them, and how best to communicate with client(s) about them ethically, efficiently, and effectively. It shows why the key task for lawyers in the biggest, most complex litigation is the same as it is in a hit-and-run auto accident: to condense the massive, complex evidence into a simple story that will register with every type of judge and jury. And it shows how to do it.

Based on his background as a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, five years as an officer reporting up and commanding down, followed by several decades of working on large litigation teams from rookie status to chief counsel and lead trial counsel on similar teams, Rushing details the different roles of team leaders and various team troops. Equally importantly, he describes the goals and roles that all team members share.

But the most unprecedented, insightful, and valuable part of this book is Rushing’s chapter on optimal and suboptimal thinking processes in litigation decision-making. He draws not only on his own experiences leading military troops and litigation troops, but on the scientific insights of Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winning economist Richard Thaler, and MIT/Harvard cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker. That chapter alone is a master class that every lawyer should, and is quite likely to, find fascinating, filled with new, helpful insights, and, as a bonus, fun to read.”—Malcolm E. Wheeler, Counsel Emeritus, Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell LLP

“Don Rushing’s Complex Litigation offers a thoughtful, concrete look at what leading and managing a complex case actually entails—client communication, team leadership, storytelling, and the judgment calls that shape major litigation. It goes well beyond civil procedure or basic trial-practice courses and exposes students to important aspects of practice they rarely see in law school. That’s why I recommend it to students before they begin practice as litigators: it gives them a sense of how complex cases really function and helps them enter their first litigation teams with the context and vocabulary to contribute meaningfully from day one.”—Kimberly Gosling, Professor of Practice, University of San Diego School of Law