February 5, 2016
Great Northern Hotel
835 Great Northern Blvd.
Helena, MT

Seminar Co-Chairs:
J. Ben Everett, Anaconda

Scott Peterson, Helena
 

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Speaker Bios

Schedule
Brochure

Live Interactive OPTION - Problems with driving winter roads, hotel costs, time away from office? MTLA and Fisher Video Conferencing have a solution.

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During online registration use the COMMENTS box to enter the remote location site nearest to you.

Breaking Bad (Faith): Discovery and 
Evidentiary Issues in Bad Faith Cases
Paul M. Leisher, Missoula

Parameters of Admissible Evidence in 
Bad Faith Litigation - Known and Unknown
Randall G. Nelson, Billings

9:45

BREAK

Protecting Insurance Consumers:  
A Perspective from the Office of the Insurance Commissioner
Jesse Laslovich, Helena                                               

11:30

LUNCH (on your own)

If Not Us, Then Who?: The Ethical Imperative for Holding
Insurers Accountable - 1 ethics credit
John C. Heenan, Billings

Quid Pro Whoa!:  Identifying Bad Faith and Unfair Claims                
Settlement Practices in Montana Workers’ Compensation Claims          

Matthew Tourtlotte, Billings

2:15

BREAK

“Corporations are people, my friend:”  
Rule 30(b)(6) Deposition Strategies
Randy Bishop, Billings

Speaker Bios

Randy Bishop practices civil trial and appellate law as a member of the firm of Bishop & Heenan in Billings, and is Of Counsel to Seattle-based Friedman/Rubin.  His practice emphasizes cases involving unfair insurance claims practices and dangerous products. Randy earned his law degree at the University of Montana School of Law in 1977 and has served as a member of the Supreme Court Commission on Civil Jury Instructions (MPI Commission) since its inception in 1985. He is a sustaining member of MTLA, has served the Association both as a Board member (1995-2005) and as its President (2000-2001), and has been honored to receive its Public Service (1996), Appellate Advocacy (2003) and Lifetime Achievement (2014) Awards.

John Heenan practices in Billings, focusing his practice on consumer law, including consumer class actions, bank misconduct, debt collection harassment, identity theft, and unfair trade practices. He has served as co-lead counsel on several successful consumer class action cases.   John serves on MTLA’s Board of Directors and as Chair of the Education Committee. Mr. Heenan's presentation will discuss and consider lawyers obligations and ability to assist consumers who are being treated unfairly by insurers.  The Montana Unfair Trade Practices Act stems from an acknowledgment by the Montana legislature that insurers can and do abuse consumers.

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Jesse Laslovich is Chief Legal Counsel for Monica J. Lindeen, Montana’s Commissioner of Securities and Insurance. With Lindeen termed out in 2016, Jesse is currently a candidate for Montana State Auditor.  Previously, he worked as an Assistant Attorney General defending criminal convictions before the Montana Supreme Court and was the lead attorney in the office of Consumer Protection.  He represented Anaconda for four years in the Montana House of Representatives and six years in the Senate, serving as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2007 and as Assistant Democratic Leader in 2009..

Paul M. Leisher is the new associate at Paoli Law Firm.  Born and raised in the mountains of New Mexico, Paul came to Montana ten years ago for a two-week visit and has called Montana home since.  Paul decided to become an attorney after working as a contract paralegal for small practices in Albuquerque focused on federal criminal defense, § 1983, and personal injury.  Paul graduated with honors from the University of Montana School of Law and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Montana Law Review.  Paul clerked for Justice Jim Shea of the Montana Supreme Court from 2014-2015 and has received awards and recognition from the ABA’s Section of Antitrust Law and the Montana Innocence Project.   

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John Morrison is a past MTLA president and received MTLA’s 2015 Appellate Advocacy Award. He served as the Montana State Auditor and Insurance and Securities Commissioner 2001-2008, and chaired the Health Insurance, Market Conduct and Consumer Protection committees of the NAIC. He is Vice Chair of the National Academy of State Health Policy and serves on the boards of four insurance companies. He has given invited testimony in both houses of Congress and is a consultant to the US Department of Labor on ERISA issues. John led the national ban of discretionary clauses, upheld by the Ninth Circuit in Standard Insurance v Morrison. John is the senior partner of Morrison Sherwood Wilson Deola PLLP.  

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Randall Nelson is listed in Best Lawyers in America® in the specialty areas of insurance law and personal injury litigation, as well as being named the Best Lawyers’® 2014 Billings Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year."   He is mentioned in the Chambers USA® 2008 directory of recommended attorneys, and has also been recognized in Mountain States Super Lawyers® every year since 2010 based on peer recognition and professional achievement in the area of general personal injury defense. Mr. Nelson is an associate member of American Board of Trial Advocates, having tried 46 jury trials in state and federal district courts. 

Matt Tourtlotte graduated from the University of Montana School of Law in 1999.  He spent the first fifteen years of his career working in a defense litigation practice, primarily  focused on defending insurance bad faith claims.  In 2014, Matt resigned his partnership with Brown Law Firm and opened the Tourtlotte Law Firm.  His practice now focuses on representing injured claimants in workers compensation and personal injury claims.  Matt devotes a large part of his practice to representing claimants in first party and third party claims against insurance companies.    Outside of his law practice, Matt dedicates a significant amount of time to Montana sportsmen and sportswomen, serving as the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commissioner.