Details:

DTCI 30th Annual Conference & Meeting of the Membership

Thursday, November 16th

8:00am – 9:00am Meeting of the Membership

9:00am Registration

10:00 – 11:30 – 1.5 CLE

Heath Care – Panel Discussion (90 Min)

The issues impacting settlement. Kori Chambers, IU Health and Bob Dignam, O’Neil McFadden & Willett; Ed Fujawa, IDOI/PFC and a mediator from the Mediation Group

Employment Law (60 min)  Crossing the English Channel on Foot: What You and Your Corporate Clients Need to Know about Generative AI

Generative AI exploded into the public consciousness shortly after last year’s DTCI annual conference. Since then, litigators have been sanctioned for its use, judges have issued standing orders forbidding its use, and law firms have built internal chatbots based on the same technology. Meanwhile, corporate clients are deploying it in too many ways to count. This hour will address generative AI and trade secrets, employee/applicant data privacy, ethical use in your practice, and more.  Hamish Cohen is a Co-Founder and General Counsel of Proteus Discovery Group.

Worker’s Compensation  (30 min) Workplace Violence: In Depth Analysis of Compensability and Benefits. 

Synopsis: Claims arising out of workplace violence have been increasing over the last few years and are anticipated to continue to rise through 2024 in the State of Indiana. These claims are unique and this discussion will lead you through how to prevent these claims, how to evaluate the compensability of these claims and if the claim is compensable, what are the available benefits to the claimant.

 11:40 – 12:40 – 1.0 CLE

Construction Law – Rapid Response to Construction Failures

This CLE is to outline the importance of scene investigatory practices in construction litigation.  In many cases, critical physical evidence necessary to recreate the events leading up to an accident can perish within a short period of time. This evidence may be critical to understanding how, what, and why an event occurred.  Accordingly, proper scene investigation and the collection and preservation of physical evidence can be the lynchpin of effective and successfully defending your client.  This seminar explains the purpose and overall goal of scene investigations, and helps explain scene investigation strategy.  This course will also go through some scene investigation practices from the point of receiving the case assignment through using scene investigation evidence at trial.  It also will discuss certain evidentiary issues and unique challenges that can arise in scene investigations, including the following:  balancing preserving evidence vs. creating potentially unfavorable evidence.  Lastly, this course will examine certain applicable trial rules and evidentiary rules in Indiana Courts and Federal Courts, which may affect how scene evidence is collected and preserved.  Overall, the purpose of this course is to highlight to attorneys how proper and timely scene investigation practices can be the key to successfully defending your client in construction lawsuits.

 

Insurance

Panel Discussion: “Dos and Dont’s” for insurance defense and coverage attorneys, and how we can better serve our client reps. The panelists will be able to shed light about their perspective in regards to how they best serve their employers, and naturally how we can help them do that. Larry Church, Lauren Dimmitt, Kayla Goodfellow, Betsy Greene, Sean Conley

12:45 – 2:15  LUNCH – 1.0 CLE

Legislative update (60 min) – Mark Palmer, Market Capitol Advocacy

2:20 – 3:20 – 1.0 CLE

Product Liability – Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again: Best Practices for a Failure Analysis Investigation

Learn how to start a failure analysis investigation and how to select proper tools and technology to solve mechanical problems. The “do’s and don’ts” of performing an unbiased failure analysis investigation will be highlighted to avoid the pitfalls of mistakenly equating correlation with causation. This session will be presented as three modules: (1) Examination of Physical Evidence and Identifying the Problem: figure out where to start, how to document failed or returned components, and how to frame and scope an investigation. (2) Testing Technology and Manufacturing: learn about material test methods to dive deep into the material history of a product. (3) Litigating Products Cases: ensure that the expert’s valuable opinions may be used in an impactful way during negotiations and at trial. Joseph C. Tucker, Ph.D., P.E., Exponent, Inc.; Jordan M. Slusher, Esq., Frost Brown Todd LLP

Business Litigation – The use of biomechanical and human factors experts in case investigation and the presentation of such evidence at trial.  This course will guide the participant through the biomechanical analysis methodology through the lens of a recent low-speed, rear-end disc herniation case example. Along with introducing relevant vehicle and spinal mechanics preliminaries, the course will present each step of the analysis with an emphasis on the factual information, physical evidence, and state-of-the-art research and tools utilized. Attention will also be given to how the biomechanical expert and the methodology fits within the framework of injury causation as set forth by the Federal Judicial Center.  Dr. Joseph Olberding, Explico

3:30 5:00 – 1.5 CLE

Trial Tactics – Informing Trial Practice with Jury Research

In a time of nuclear verdicts and social inflation, it is essential to understand the mind of your jury. Join Dennis Devine, PhD from ThemeVision as he guides us through an informative discussion on jury selection and the importance of mock jury research. Come prepared with questions for this interactive presentation.

Dennis Devine, ThemeVision

6.0 CLE

 

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17^th

7:45 – 8:45 am  Women in the Law Breakfast (ticketed event)

Panel Discussion – Taking a Case to Trial – 1.0 C:E

Kayla Goodfellow, Marian Drenth, Donna Fisher

9:00 – 10:00 – 1.0 CLE

Tips to Facilitate a Successful Mediation

A panel discussion with mediators: Michael Tolbert, Justice Steven David, Michelle Bryant-

 10:00 – 11:00 – 1.0 CLE

Lessons Learned: How to Dissect and Analyze Your Trial Wins and Losses

A panel discussion moderated Michele Bryant and featuring Jeff Powless and another defense attorney

11:00 – 11:15    BREAK

11:15 – 12:15 – 1.0 CLE

Implicit Bias in Jury Selection

A presentation on issues of implicit bias in the jury selection process by Andrea Miller, PhD., J.D., National Center for State Courts  – 

12:20 – 1:30   LUNCH – 1.0 ETHICS

Classrooms to Courtrooms Direct & Cross Examination Presentation followed by a panel discussion on pro-bono and volunteer opportunities in the community to be moderated by Norris Cunningham

1:30 – 2:30     – 1.0 CLE     

Practical Considerations in Navigating Implicit Bias in Jury Selection – 1.0 CLE

How one might reduce the impact of implicit bias by Phil James, J.D., PhD. Trial Solutions, Inc.

2:30 – 3:30     – 1.0 CLE     

Implicit Bias, Cultural Competence and Representation in Civil Juries – 1.0 CLE

A panel discussion moderated by Angela Rinehart and featuring Phil James, Andrea Miller and Michael Tolbert.

7.0 CLE – 13.0 TOTAL

 

HOTEL BLOCK – CODE: DTCI23