BRANSTETTER
LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROGRAM FAST FACTS
Faculty
Prepare for Real-World Litigation Practice Vanderbilt Law School’s Branstetter Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program prepares students for the real world of litigation practice by acquainting them with the wide variety of ways that disputes are resolved, including arbitration, court-supervised settlement, mediation, negotiation and trial. The program offers students an advanced legal curriculum designed to enable them to step immediately into sophisticated litigation practice. The program’s name underscores a simple fact: The vast majority of litigation in the U.S. today results in settlements rather than trials. As a result, litigation practice today primarily involves the management and resolution of disputes. Students who complete Vanderbilt’s program are prepared to enter legal practice with both a practical and conceptual understanding of the different methods of dispute resolution. A Faculty of Internationally Renowned Scholars Vanderbilt’s law faculty includes experts in all aspects of litigation, including civil procedure, evidence, trials, juries, sentencing, appeals, transnational litigation, federal courts, the judiciary and judicial selection. Adjunct faculty who teach LDR-related courses include federal judges, assistant U.S. attorneys, vice chancellors of the Delaware Court of Chancery, Metro Nashville public defenders, and high-profile corporate and criminal defense lawyers.
Develop the Competencies Litigators Need Students in the LDR Program develop the core competencies essential to succeed as a litigator, including strong analytical, communication, negotiation and writing skills. The program also teaches students what litigators do, how they interact with clients and other involved parties, and how litigation really works. Students learn to deal effectively with litigation starting in the pretrial stage, when cases may involve complicated discovery disputes and pretrial motions as well as strategy, finance and ethics. A Curriculum That Integrates Theory and Practice The program’s carefully designed curriculum combines a thorough background in the legal doctrines and theories underlying modern litigation with courses approaching the various aspects of litigation from a variety of perspectives, including psychological and economic. Students learn all of the methods our justice system uses to resolve disputes, including conventional trials, private agreements, court-approved settlements, class actions, multidistrict litigation, mediation, negotiation, arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. They also gain a practical understanding of the structure of the court system, the theory and practice of settlement negotiation, and how conventional trials work. Learn more about the Branstetter Litigation & Dispute Resolution Program.
“No one really thinks companies ought to be able to do whatever they can get away with. But someone has to enforce the rules. Who will do it if there are no class action lawsuits?” BRIAN FITZPATRICK
| Milton R. Underwood Chair in Free Enterprise
Fitzpatrick’s book, The Conservative Case for Class Actions (University of Chicago Press, 2019), offers a robust defense of class actions, which he argues serve the important role of deterring corporate wrongdoing, along with proposals for class action reforms to reduce the potential for abuse.
LDR Program faculty often receive the student-selected Hall-Hartman Award for Outstanding Teaching. Ingrid Wuerth directs the program and is associate dean for research. She is an expert on transnational litigation and international dispute resolution. She teaches Transnational Law and Public International Law. Michael Bressman directs Vanderbilt Law School’s judicial clerkship program, which supports students and graduates applying for judicial clerkships. He teaches the Intellectual Property and the Arts clinic. Edward Cheng’s research explores evidence law from an empirical and statistical perspective. He teaches Evidence and produces the “Excited Utterance” podcast, which features current evidence scholarship. Jessica Clarke’s current work focuses on constitutional and statutory guarantees of non-discrimination. She teaches Sex Discrimination. Paul Edelman studies judicial decision making and public choice. He teaches Introduction to Law and Economics. Brian Fitzpatrick’s research focuses on class action litigation, federal courts and judicial selection. He teaches Advanced Litigation, Complex Litigation, and Federal Courts and the Federal System.
Tracey George examines how institutional design influences actions and outcomes in federal and state courts. She teaches Evidence. Chris Guthrie has served as dean of Vanderbilt Law School since 2009. He is a leading expert on behavioral law and economics, dispute resolution, negotiation and judicial decisionmaking. He teaches Negotiation. G.S. Hans directs the Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic, which represents pro bono clients in cases involving freedom of speech, press and association.
Karla McKanders directs the Immigration Practice Clinic. Students in her classes have drafted amicus briefs covering case law relating to asylum requests. Timothy Meyer is an expert on international law issues in litigation in U.S. courts. He teaches International Arbitration. Spring Miller is a former legal services attorney who began her career with Southern Migrant Legal Services. She serves as assistant dean for public interest. Amanda Rose focuses on complex corporate and securities litigation and the institutional design of enforcement regimes. She teaches Securities Regulation.
Susan Kay directs the Criminal Practice Clinic and heads the law school’s clinical and experiential education programs. Nancy King is an expert in criminal procedure whose recent book, Habeas for the Twenty-First Century, co-authored with Joseph Hoffmann, offers important recommendations for habeas reform. She teaches Criminal Procedure and the White-Collar Crime Seminar. Terry Maroney’s recent research explores the impact of emotion on judicial decision-making. She teaches Actual Innocence.
Suzanna Sherry writes extensively on federal courts and federal court procedures. She teaches the Judicial Activism Seminar. Kevin Stack’s recent work has examined how courts interpret regulations. He teaches Administrative Law. Cara Suvall directs the Youth Opportunity Clinic, which supports youth at risk for criminal involvement.
Gerard Stranch ’03 of Branstetter Stranch & Jennings (far left) and Aubrey Harwell Jr. ’67 of Neal & Harwell (center) discussed their work representing plaintiffs and defendants in litigation related to the opioid epidemic as part of a fall 2021 panel discussion moderated by Professor Suzanna Sherry. The panel also featured Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery and product liability attorney Sheila Birnbaum of Dechert. The LDR Program frequently hosts prominent scholars and litigators who talk about their work.
Prominent federal judges visit Vanderbilt and meet with students each year through the Branstetter Judicial Speaker Series. The LDR Program brings prominent judges to VLS each year to discuss important cases. Speakers in recent years have included Judges Diana Gribbon Motz of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, who wrote the majority opinion in McCrory, a voting rights case; Michael Y. Scudder of the Seventh Circuit, who discussed Justice Anthony Kennedy’s Seventh Amendment jurisprudence; Bernice Donald of the Sixth Circuit, who discussed voter disenfranchisement; and Robert L. Wilkins of the D.C. Circuit, who discussed his book Long Road to Hard Truth. District Court Judges Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California, Waverly Crenshaw ’81 of the Middle District of Tennessee and Brian Morris of the District of Montana discussed the challenges common to all federal judges and those unique to their districts.
The Branstetter LDR Program provides summer stipends each year to help defray the living expenses of students who work in litigationrelated internships in federal and state judicial chambers and law offices. During summer 2021, Branstetter LDR summer stipend recipients worked as interns in the chambers of federal Judges Robin Meriweather of the D.C. District, Wendy Berger of the Middle District of Florida, Donald Cavell of the District of Massachusetts, Laurie Michelson of the Eastern District of Michigan, Michael Hammer of the District of New Jersey and Karen Immergut of the District of Oregon; in U.S. Attorney’s offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of Puerto Rico; and in the 13th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.
As a senior appellate counsel in the JAG Corps, Clayton Wiggins ’17 argues cases before the U.S. Court of Military Appeals, where his workload includes appeals of convictions for crimes ranging from misdemeanors to assault, murder and larceny. He recently won an important case, U.S. v. Begoni, that addressed the constitutional limits of Congress’s authority to define military service.
“My experience with Judge Robin Meriweather was invaluable. I did substantive work for real cases and improved my writing and research skills. The perspective of receiving two competing briefs and digesting the arguments to articulate a measured opinion helped me understand what a court looks at and finds compelling when reading filings.” TIFENN DROUAUD | Class of 2023 2021 Branstetter Summer Fellow
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