|
Seminar Co-Chairs: |
Live Interactive OPTION - Problems with driving winter roads, hotel costs, time away from office? MTLA and Fisher Video Conferencing have a solution. |
|
|
Pay Online with Credit Card
|
| Seminar Sponsors FISHER - Video Conferencing | Court Reporting | Video Services | Trial Presentation Consultation |
||
 |
||
| Schedule | ||
| 7:30 | Registration & Continental Breakfast | |
| 8:25 | Introduction & Welcome Ben A. Snipes, Great Falls |
|
| 8:30 |
Work Comp - New Strategies |
|
| 9:30 | Coordination of Remedies – Strategy & Development J. David Slovak, Great Falls |
|
| 10:15 | BREAK | |
| 10:30 | Perspectives from the Bench Hon. Brian M. Morris, U.S. District Court of Montana Hon. Gregory G. Pinski, Montana 8th Judicial District |
|
| 11:45 | LUNCH (on your own) | |
| 1:15 | Strategies on Conveying Damages Kurt Jackson, Great Falls |
|
| 2:15 | BREAK | |
| 2:30 | Mediating Personal Injury Claims Ward "Mick" Taleff, Great Falls |
|
| 3:30 | Demonstrative Evidence – Where’s Your Proof? A products liability case example. Dennis P. Conner, Great Falls |
|
| 4:30 | SEMINAR ADJOURNS | |
| Back to Top | ||
| Speaker Bios |
| Dennis P. Conner is a University of Montana Law School graduate of 1974. His practice specializes in plaintiff’s litigation involving claims of product liability, general negligence, insurance law and personal injury with his partner, Keith Marr. Mr. Conner has served on the Montana Trial Lawyers Board of Directors and was awarded MTLA's Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in 1991 and its Career Achievement Award in 2010. He is a member of Montana Trial Lawyers Association, American Association for Justice, American Board of Trial Advocates and American College of Trial Lawyers. Mr. Conner is a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America. |
| Back to Top |
|
Kurt M. Jackson earned his law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law and was admitted to the Montana Bar in 1981. He has practiced with the Great Falls firm of Hoyt and Blewett for over 30 years and has been instrumental in several trials which resulted in verdicts in excess of $1,000,000. In 2003 Mr. Jackson earned Montana Trial Lawyers Association’s Trial Lawyer of the Year award. Kurt focuses his practice on catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death and complex damage cases including automobile accidents, medical negligence/malpractice, product liability, railroad law and insurance bad faith. He serves on MTLA’s Board of Directors as a State Delegate to the American Association for Justice.
|
| Back to Top |
|
Hon. Brian M. Morris was commissioned to the U.S. District Court of Montana in December 2013. Judge Morris graduated with distinction from Stanford Law School in 1992. He clerked for Justice Rehnquist and Judge Noonan Jr. before working in private practice in Bozeman from 1995 through 1999. Judge Morris also served as a legal assistant at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, as a legal officer at the UN Compensation Commission in Geneva and Solicitor for the MT Department of Justice. Judge Morris served on the Montana Supreme Court from 2005 through 2013.
|
| Back to Top |
|
Thomas J. Murphy has provided outstanding legal representation to thousands of injured people in Montana. Tom graduated from the UM School of Law in 1985. After 12 years of litigation practice with a large law firm in Great Falls, Tom began Murphy Law Firm in 1998. Mr. Murphy serves on MTLA's Board of Directors and is a Co-Chair of MTLA's Workers Compensation Section. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the national Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG). Mr. Murphy is the recipient of the 2005 MTLA Appellate Advocacy Award.
|
| Back to Top |
|
Hon. Gregory G. Pinski is the Chief District Judge for the State of Montana Eighth Judicial District Court. Judge Pinski earned his undergraduate degree in political science and journalism from the University of North Dakota and worked at the White House in the Office of Presidential Scheduling for President Bill Clinton. In 1999, Judge Pinski graduated from the University of North Dakota School of Law. Upon graduation from law school, Judge Pinski entered private practice in Minneapolis, while teaching at the University of Minnesota Law School. Judge Pinski returned to Great Falls in 2004, joining his partner, mentor and friend, Dennis Conner, in the practice of law. In 2013, Judge Pinski took office as the youngest sitting District Judge in Montana. He founded a Veterans Treatment Court and also presides over an Adult Drug Treatment Court. He has sat by designation on the Montana Supreme Court and he serves on the Montana Uniform District Court Rules Committee. |
| Back to Top |
|
J. David Slovak graduated from University of Montana School of Law in 1980. He is a partner with Lewis, Slovak & Kovacich of Great Falls, Montana. The firm has a state-wide trial practice exclusively limited to plaintiff’s civil litigation. The firm’s work emphasizes toxic tort, product liability, safe place to work, and environmental litigation. Mr. Slovak is a sustaining member of Montana Trial Lawyers Association and currently serves on its Board of Directors. He is annually listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Mountain States Super Lawyers for plaintiff’s personal injury litigation and is AV Peer Review Rated. Slovak received MTLA’s Trial Lawyer of the Year Award along with Tom Lewis and Mark Kovacich in 2005, and in 2008 the three partners also earned MTLA’s Appellate Advocacy Award. |
| Back to Top |
| Ward "Mick" Taleff earned his law degree from the UM School of Law in 1976. He has practiced in Great Falls since then including two years with the Cascade County Attorney’s Office. His current firm, Taleff Law Office, was established in October 2004. Prior to that he practiced with the firm of Alexander, Baucus, Taleff, Paul & Young. Mr. Taleff’s practice primarily emphasizes commercial, insurance and bankruptcy issues. Mick is an appellate mediator for the Montana Supreme Court. He is also a Neutral Early Evaluator for the United States District Court for the District of Montana. He has acted as a mediator or arbitrator in more than 700 cases, of which approximately one third involve personal injury and wrongful death claims. Taleff has served as a visiting faculty member at the UM School of Law and University of San Francisco trial academies. He is a member of MTLA, MDTLA and American College of Trial Lawyers. |
| Back to Top |