Iowa Legal Aid has created the Intense Preparation for Appeals and Trials (IPAT) system to ensure that experienced litigators provide direct assistance to staff attorneys during the critical litigation stages. The IPAT system requires the reviewing of certain cases through a Deputy Director for Litigation to determine whether they contain sufficient merit to proceed to trial. IPAT further allows attorneys the opportunity to discuss an appeal, jury trial, or other complex case issues with a director of litigation before any action is taken on the case. Once the Litigation Director approves the representation, the Litigation Director may decide to co-counsel the case, appoint another attorney to co-counsel or act as second chair. Also, certain specialized training sessions such as assistance with briefs and pleadings, appellate argument presentation, witness preparation assistance and trial preparation may be conducted.
Contact Information:
Jim Elliott Iowa Legal Aid 1111 9th Street, Suite 230 Des Moines, Iowa 50314 Phone: (515) 243-2151 Fax: (515) 246-6075 jelliot@iowalaw.org
LSC:
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