Speakers

Speakers

SUPREME COURT UPDATE

It’s a new day for a new Court. Learn what cases are on the docket and how the new alignment of Justices is likely to affect their outcome. Nobody has a better focus on the Court and how it will impact your practice.

Linda Coberly

Linda Coberly, Esq.
Winston & Strawn LLP

CA UPDATE ON PROP 65 & PAGA

Josh Cools


Joshua D. Cools, Esq.
Evans Fears Schuttert McNulty & Mickus

Liz McNulty


Elizabeth V. McNulty, Esq.
Evans Fears Schuttert McNulty & Mickus

USING AI TO IMPROVE LEGAL CASE VALUATIONS

Pricing risk is difficult for complex cases. AI can help, but only if it is used in the right way. This talk will discuss how AI needs to enhance, not replace lawyer insight, and how companies can extract more value from the legal advice they are already paying for.”

Jonathan Judge


Jonathan Judge, Esq.
ArentFox Schif

PLAC – 40 YEARS IN RETROSPECT

PLAC is turning 40 this year. This panel will discuss the legal landscape that existed in 1983, and the issues facing manufacturers at that time which ultimately resulted in the creation of the Product Liability Advisory Council. They will examine PLAC’s role in shaping product liability law over the last four decades through its advocacy in the courts; and finally, will look forward and address what the panelists see as the legal challenges of the future for manufacturers today.

Hildy Bowbeer


Hon. Hildy Bowbeer (Ret.)
U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota

Mike Brooks

L. Michael Brooks Jr., Esq.
Wells, Anderson & Race, LLC

John Thomas


John M. Thomas, Esq.
Dykema Gossett PLLC

Franklin Sacha


John F. Sacha, Jr., Esq.
Dykema Gossett PLLC

Mal Wheeler


Malcolm E. Wheeler, Esq.
Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell LLP

AI AND PRODUCT LITIGATION

Pricing risk is difficult for complex cases. AI can help, but only if it is used in the right way. This talk will discuss how AI needs to enhance, not replace lawyer insight, and how companies can extract more value from the legal advice they are already paying for.

Casey Flaherty


D. Casey Flaherty
Chief Strategy Officer
LexFusion

Aaron Boersma


Aaron Boersma
Google

Darth Vaughn


Darth D. Vaughn, Esq.
Ford Motor Company

Jim Frederick


Jim Frederick, Esq. - Moderator
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath

AI IN EUROPE – The AI Act and Beyond

Learn about implications of the AI Act proposal for devices and services productizing AI (both high risk and otherwise), how the Data Act might help or hinder devices productizing AI, and the developing antitrust approach to AI.  Learn more.

Miranda Cole


Miranda Cole, Esq.
Norton Rose Fulbright

PFAS UPDATE

This panel will cover emerging issues impacting product liability for per- and poly- fluorinated substances, more commonly known as PFAS. More industries are seeing the impact of bans and restricted uses, as the litigation is rapidly growing and the science continues to evolve.

Libby Stennes


Libby Stennes, Esq.
Greenberg Traurig, LLP

LUDDITE OR TECHNOPHILE: Stark Warnings of Technology Competency

In 2012, the ABA amended the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to make clear that lawyers have a duty to be competent not only in the law and its practice, but also in technology. Since that time, at least 39 states have adopted the ABA’s competency requirement. What is does it mean to have technology competence? What is required? This 60-minute ethics presentation will answer those questions and more. Seminar participants will gain an understanding of what technology competence requires, how to become competent, and common pitfalls along the way.

Baxter Drennon

Baxter D. Drennon, Esq.
Hall Booth Smith, P.C.

ARE YOU DOING EVERYTHING YOU SHOULD TO PRESERVE RELEVANT CHAT MESSAGES?

A significant Federal Court opinion regarding preservation of data and transparency in discovery was released in late March of this year. This decision highlights several important aspects of civil discovery as it relates to modern communication tools, principally the litigants’ obligation to preserve and produce those documents and the attorneys’ duty of candor to the Court.

Chat messages, and other short messaging platforms, have become a common form of business communication, especially during the pandemic when many workers were forced to work remotely. Microsoft Teams saw an 800% increase in daily use between March and June 2020. There are now an estimated 300 million daily users of Microsoft Teams. This ruling highlights the need to take appropriate steps to identify and preserve responsive documents and ESI in whatever form they are generated, and may require the preservation of data that may previously have been considered entirely transient and irrelevant. Read More.

Janell Adams


Janell M. Adams, Esq.
Bowman and Brooke LLP

INNOVATION AND THE DUTY TO IMPROVE

Is the absence of new tech a design defect? A California COA seems to suggest it is.

Thomas Branigan


Thomas P. Branigan, Esq.
Bowman and Brooke LLP

Alex DeGuire

Alexander M. DeGuire, Esq.
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP

Jamison Power


Jamison Power, Esq.
Hyundai Motor America

IP 101 FOR PRODUCTS ATTORNEYS

Niky Bagley

Niky R. Bagley, Esq.
Toyota Motor North America, Inc.

Bobbie Hooper

Bobbie Hooper, Esq.
Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP

Chris Strobel

Chris Strobel, Esq..
Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP

I Think, Therefore I Am … Biased How Implicit Biases Manifest in the Legal Profession

Sean Carter

Sean Carter, Esq.
Founder and Chief Humorist
Mesa CLE