A defense steering committee organizes common defense activities including coordinated discovery responses, joint expert development, common briefing, and shared vendor arrangements. It operates under a joint defense or common interest agreement.
Appointment may be by the court or by defendant agreement.
Alternative Names:
DSC, Defense Leadership Committee
Why it Matters?
Coordination is efficient where defendants share interests and problematic where they diverge, which happens as soon as one defendant considers settling or blaming another. The joint defense agreement governing the committee should address that divergence explicitly, including what happens to shared work product and whether a departing defendant may use it. Cost allocation among defendants of differing size is the other recurring negotiation.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What should the governing agreement address?
How are costs allocated?
