MONDAY (DAY 1)

INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

·         Introduction of instructors & attendees
·         Course objectives
·         Materials and teaching methods
·         Schedule and assignments
·         Time management for the week
·          Small group assignments
·         Case assignments

OVERVIEW OF POST HEARING
BRIEF WRITING

·         Labor arbitration brief v. legal brief
·         Reasons for writing a brief
·         Reasons for not writing a brief
·         Filing the brief- traps to avoid

BRIEF FORMAT

·         Letter briefs
·         Full briefs
·         Elements of a full brief

PERSUASIVE WRITING DEVICES

·         Selection/ omission
·         Ordering
·         Repetition
·         Subordination
·         Word choice
·         Active voice
·         Concrete facts v. abstraction
·         Issue, rule, application, conclusion
·         Reasoning by analogy
·         Point headings
·         Deconstructing opponent’s argument

STANDARDS FOR INTERPRETING LABOR CONTRACTS

·         Clear & unambiguous
·         Objective v. subjective ambiguity
·         Causes of ambiguity
·         Interpretation when ambiguous
·         Legislation v. interpretation
·         Intent of the parties
·         Construing the agreement “as a whole”
·         Giving effect to all clauses
·         Not treating word as surplus
·         Implying words
·         Normal v. technical language
·         Dictionary definitions
·         Interpretation in a trade or technical sense
·         Consistency of meaning
·         Interpretation in light of the law
·         Construction in light of context
·         Avoiding absurd results
·         Expression of one thing is the exclusion of another
·         Of the same kind, class or nature
·         Specific v. general language
·         Avoiding a forfeiture
·         Custom and past practice
·         Construing language against the proposer
·         Industry practice
·         Pre-contract negotiations
·         Prior settlements
·         Reason and equity
·         Ancient interpretive maxims
·         External law
·         Handbook and manuals
·         Filling gaps in incomplete contracts
·         Good faith bargaining 

(Preparation time for arbitration)

TUESDAY (DAY 2)

WRITING THE BRIEF’S INTRODUCTION

·         Time, date & place of arbitration
·         Parties/ advocates
·         References to record

WRITING CONTRACT INTERPRETATION ISSUES

·         Establishing arbitrator boundaries
·         Broad v. narrow issue
·         Managing multiple issues
·         Elements of an effective issue
·         Utilizing facts to drive the decision
·         The “did-when” format
·         The “whether-when” format
·         The “under-does-when” format

WRITING THE FACTUAL STATEMENT

·        Establishing credibility
·         Selection/ omission of facts
·         Accuracy/ honesty/ completeness
·         Ordering the facts
·         Clarity/ forcefulness
·         Critiquing the facts 

WRITING THE POSITION STATEMENT

·         Purpose of position statement
·         Formulating the argument
·         Organizing the argument
·         Structure of position statement
Remedy
·         Critiquing the position

WRITING THE ARGUMENT

·         Arguing v. restating the evidence
·         Organizing the argument
·         Integrated v. script format
·         Burden of proof
·         Using standards of contract interpretation
·         Employing “issue, rule, application,       conclusion”
·         Interpreting facts
·         Linking to contract language
·         Arguing against opponent’s case
·         Deductive reasoning
·         Reasoning by analogy
·         Other arbitration awards
·         Fairness and equity
·         Witness credibility
·         Arguing in the alternative
·         Arguing from the transcript
·         Common sense
·         Arguing outcome/ remedy
·         Disassembling opposing argument

WRITING THE CONCLUSION

·         Importance of conclusion
·         Persuasive final statements
·         Stating the remedy

Preparation time for arbitration)

WEDNESDAY (DAY 3)

ARBITRATIONS OF CONTRACT INTERPRETATION CASES

·         Each attendee will be an advocate in a contract interpretation case. Some attendees will be arbitrators. Instructors will critique the presentations.

Cocktail party for attendees and guests

THURSDAY (DAY 4)

PREPARATION OF FULL POST-HEARING BRIEF

·         Each attendee will prepare a post-hearing brief

FRIDAY (DAY 5)  

PRESENTATION AND CRITIQUES
OF BRIEFS

·         Each participant will present their brief and receive critique from instructors

Course Concludes