Certificate in Criminal Litigation

Course Objectives
This course will provide practitioners with a comprehensive knowledge of commercial litigation and its practical impact on the commercial landscape in Ireland. The calibre of lecturers and the comprehensive course syllabus has ensured that this course is well recognised amongst the commercial litigation profession. The course has proved popular with a cross section of the profession including solicitors from large commercial firms to small general practices and also to a number of barristers. As a result of the economic downturn there has been significant growth in this area. The increasing importance of the Commercial Court and its strict rules and deadlines are examined. The rules of discovery and evidence are discussed, and litigation tools and procedures such as costs and the Superior Court rules will be analysed. Recent developments and case law for each of the areas will be reviewed. A session will focus on mediation and its increasing impact on litigation practice in light of recent High Court rules. The latter part of the course will examine discrete areas of commercial litigation including landlord and tenant, contractual disputes, insolvency and corporate recovery.

Course Structure
The course runs over six months and is divided into four modules:

Module One: Practice and Procedure
Module Two: The Commercial Court
Module Three: Commercial Litigation
Module Four: Discrete areas in Commercial Litigation

Workshops
Workshops are an important element of all our diploma courses. Workshops are ‘hands-on’ sessions conducted in smaller groups that consolidate the learning process and promote a deeper understanding of course materials. All students, regardless of their standard method of accessing the course, are strongly recommended to attend onsite for the following workshop sessions:

• Wednesday 16th November 2011, 6.00pm to 8.30pm
• Wednesday 18th January 2012, 6.00pm to 8.30pm
• Wednesday 7th March 2012, 6.00pm to 8.30pm

We also strongly recommend that you attend onsite for the introductory lectures on Wednesday, 5th October, 2011.

Who Should Attend
This course will be of interest to seasoned litigators in addition to those with a limited exposure to litigation practice who are keen to get a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of commercial litigation practice and procedure in this jurisdiction. This diploma is open to solicitors, barristers and trainees only.

Delivery Method: Blended learning via webcasting resource
All lectures will take place in the Education Centre in Blackhall Place. However to facilitate those students unable to attend onsite on a weekly basis, lectures will also be webcast ‘live’ on our secure internet site. This means that students can decide to attend the onsite lecture or, alternatively, to access the lecture online via the course website for such courses. In addition, lectures will be archived within the course website for the duration of the course and can be viewed at a later date on demand by all students. We encourage students to either attend onsite or watch the lectures live so they keep up with lectures and to only use the ‘catch up’ on demand facility as a default. We want to give the remote student an authentic lecture theatre experience therefore we have customized our design to include an instant message feature whereby those watching live webcasts can send messages via the webcast page to the course leader/course tutor in the lecture theatre and their question will be put to the lecturer. Courses that are running in the green hall will be podcast recordings, which mean that the audio recordings will be available on moodle.

If you intend to rely on the webcasting resource, we ask that you ensure prior to the application process that your home/office PC is compatible with the relevant software. This requires a very straightforward test, go to: http://diplomalaw.learnonline.ie/course/view.php

Username: testwebcast
Password: testwebcast

If you cannot view the webcast follow the instructions provided. There may be local factors such as 'firewalls' and we suggest that at first instance you check with your IT provider.

Lecturers
Previous lecturers have included the following:

• Conor Bass, Principal, Bass Solicitors
• Roddy Bourke, Partner, McCann FitzGerald
• Edmund Butler, Partner, LK Shields
• Tom Casey, Principal, Tom Casey Solicitors
• Barrett Chapman, Partner, McCann FitzGerald
• Hilary Coveney, Partner, Matheson Ormsby Prentice
• Sharon Daly, Partner, Matheson Ormsby Prentice
• Madeleine Delaney, Senior Associate, Beauchamps
• Stephen Dowling, BL
• St. John Dundon, Partner, Dundon Callanan
• Norman FitzGerald, Partner, Eversheds O’Donnell Sweeney
• Stephen Fitzpatrick, Legal Cost Accountant, Peter Fitzpatrick & Co
• Isabel Foley, Partner, Arthur Cox
• Aoife Gaughan, Partner, Fishburns Solicitors
• Liam Guidera, Partner, Frank Ward & Co
• Karyn Harty, Partner, McCann FitzGerald
• The Hon. Mr Justice Peter Kelly
• John Kennedy, BL
• Liam Kennedy, Partner, A&L Goodbody
• Padraig D. Lyons, BL
• Paul Anthony McDermott, BL
• Eve Mulconry, Partner, Arthur Cox
• Paula Mullooly, Partner, Simon McAleese
• Bríd Munnelly, Partner, Matheson Ormsby Prentice
• Owen O’Sullivan, Partner, William Fry
• Des Peelo, Chartered Accountant, Peelo & Partners
• Carol Plunkett, Partner, William Fry
• Eileen Roberts, Partner, A&L Goodbody
• Keith Smith, Partner, Arthur Cox
• Michael Tyrrell, Consultant, Matheson Ormsby Prentice
• Mark Woodcock, Partner, McDowell Purcell.

Please Note: If you are NOT a qualified solicitor, trainee or barrister – you must send a CV & cover letter for approval. Such applications are subject to a supplemental fee, which amounts to a supplement of €150 in respect of a diploma application and a supplement of €75 in respect of a certificate application.

For further information on this Diploma contact the Diploma team - diplomateam@lawsociety.ie