January 2011 - National Labor Relations Board

10330 GENERAL PREPARATIONimmediately to preserve documents, including electronically stored information, whichmay be related to pending or reasonably foreseeable litigation. See Sec. 11863 and inparticular GC Memo 07-09 and OM Memo 10-48.10330–10352 TRIAL PREPARATION10330 General PreparationAppropriate preparation, which should ordinarily begin no later than one monthprior to the trial, is critical to successful prosecution of a case. Accordingly, the periodimmediately preceding the hearing should be devoted to analyzing the pleadings,reviewing the evidence uncovered during the predecisional investigation, conductingfurther investigation of evidence relevant to the complaint, preparing the witnesses, anddiscussing trial strategy with supervision.10331 Guidance for High Quality LitigationIn order to consistently maintain the highest quality and success in litigation ofcases, Regional Offices and Board agents should routinely consult this manual, the Rulesand Regulations, Board and court decisions, the Pleadings Manual, the Division ofJudges Bench Book, and OM and GC memoranda. In particular, the Agency’s qualitycommittee periodically reviews field office performance in the various facets of litigationthroughout the country and issues memoranda recommending practices for ensuring thehighest quality litigation, starting with accurate and precise complaint drafting andcontinuing through trial preparation, presentation and briefing. See OM Memos 06-16,06-91, 07-84, and 08-76, and subsequent memoranda. Regional Offices and Boardagents should be guided by these recommendations in conjunction with their ownexperience and should follow the practices set forth in the memoranda.10332 Analysis of PleadingsThe trial attorney must carefully analyze the complaint(s) and answer(s) todetermine what is admitted and what must be proved at hearing. Additionally, suchreview will enable the trial attorney to organize pretrial preparation and plan theintroduction of evidence and arguments to be made at hearing.10334 Pretrial Preparation and InvestigationThe trial attorney has an initial obligation to become familiar with the contents ofall evidence in the investigative file. Moreover, the trial attorney should also seek anyadditional evidence bearing upon the allegations of the complaint. When such evidencearguably supports further complaint allegations, the trial attorney should bring suchevidence to the Regional Office’s attention. Likewise, when such evidence arguablyRevised 01/11