MTLA Spring Seminar — DAMAGES - Order DVDs
| Seminar Co-Chairs: Randy Bishop, Billings Ben Sather, Billings April 8, 2011 |
NEW OPTION - Problems with driving Montana roads, hotel costs, time away from office? MTLA and Fisher Video Conferencing have a solution. Attend MTLA Seminars Via Live Interactive Video At Remote Locations in: |
| Seminar Sponsor FISHER - Video Conferencing | Court Reporting | Video Services | Trial Presentation Consultation |
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| Speakers & Topics | ||
| 8:30 | Insult to Injury: The Challenge of Watching the Plaintiff's Back while Proving Damages in the Liability Case Elizabeth A. Best, Great Falls |
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| 9:10 | Perspective from the Bench Hon. Richard F. Cebull, Chief Judge U.S. District Court, District of Montana |
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| 9:50 | BREAK | |
| 10:05 | Damages: It's So Much Better When They're Big A. Clifford Edwards, Billings |
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| 10:45 | Perspectives of a New Justice Montana Supreme Court, Helena
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| 11:25 |
Fear and Loathing in the Jury Box: Getting Tea Partiers,
Conservatives and Their Friends to Award Big Damages
Michael D. Cok, Bozeman |
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| 12:05 | LUNCH (on your own) | |
| 1:20 | Sticky Stories Lay Foundation for Success Melinda C. Tilton, Billings |
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| 2:00 | Is the Quid Pro Quo on the Ropes? Valuing a Work Comp Claim David T. Lighthall, Missoula |
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| 2:40 |
Don't Be Scared of the Science |
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| 3:20 | BREAK | |
| 3:35 |
Damages: Beginning to End |
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| 4:15 | Restoration Damages in Environmental Tort and Property Loss Claims Jory C. Ruggiero, Bozeman |
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| 4:55 | SEMINAR ADJOURNS | |
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| Speaker Bios | ||
| Hon. Justice Beth Baker was elected to the Montana Supreme Court on November 2, 2010, and was sworn into office January 3, 2011. Following graduation from UM School of Law in 1985, Justice Baker served four years as a law clerk for the Hon. Charles C. Lovell. She worked as an Assistant Attorney General for the Montana Department of Justice from 1989-2000. She spent the next 10 years in the private practice of law with the firm of Hughes, Kellner, Sullivan and Alke. Justice Baker served 10 years on the State Bar of Montana’s Access to Justice Committee and currently serves as Vice President of the Montana Justice Foundation. In 2006, she received the State Bar of Montana’s Professionalism Award. | ||
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| Elizabeth A. Best graduated in 1981 from UM School of Law and practices in Great Falls, Montana, with her husband, Mike. She represents only people who have been harmed as the result of the conduct or omissions of corporations or other people. She represents people before the Human Rights Bureau, and in State and Federal Courts. After law school, she served in the U.S. Army JAGC; upon return to Montana, she clerked for U.S. District Judge Paul Hatfield. Elizabeth is a past president of MTLA and has served on the Board of Directors since 1995. She is a member of ABOTA and AAJ. Ms. Best serves on two Montana Supreme Court commissions and a U.S. District Court of Montana committee. In 2008, she was named MTLA Trial Lawyer of the Year. | ||
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| Hon. Richard F. Cebull, Chief Judge, U.S. District Courts in Montana, earned his law degree from UM School of Law in 1969 and practiced in Billings until 1998. While in private practice Judge Cebull specialized in defense work and, in particular, medical malpractice defense. His professional affiliations have been with the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group; American Board of Trial Advocates; American College of Trial Lawyers; and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He was listed in Best Lawyers in America from 1987-1997. From 1998 through 2001, Judge Cebull was a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Great Falls Division; he was appointed by President Bush in 2001 to the position of U.S. District Court Judge for the Billings Division. | ||
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| Michael D. Cok graduated with honors from the University of Montana School of Law in 1978. He is a partner of Cok Kinzler, a five attorney law firm in Bozeman, Montana. He is an active trial lawyer, specializing in civil litigation, primarily representing individuals in personal injury, products liability, medical negligence and insurance related claims. Recent verdicts and settlements include a $22,000,000 damage award against the managers of a coal mine in Wyoming. He is a past president of MTLA and presently a Board member. He is a member of AAJ and TLPJ; a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers; and listed in The Best Lawyers in America. | ||
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| A. Clifford Edwards has had considerable success in the courtroom, and in the negotiation room, and has been able to significantly help many Montanans all over the state remedy wrongs that have been done to them. Cliff was named MTLA Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1996 and has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America since 1987. He was selected as a delegate to a People to People-Professional Trial Lawyers Delegation to China in the fall of 2007. He has also been listed in the Top 75 Mountain States “Super Lawyers,” and Edwards has obtained 2 of the 4 highest jury verdicts ever in Montana’s history on behalf of Montanans against major U. S. Corporations. Cliff grew up in the small central Montana town of Denton and earned his law degree from UM School of Law. | ||
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| Michael G. Eiselein is a partner in the Billings firm of Eiselein & Grubbs. While contemplating the future on the beach of Sidi Bouzid in Morocco in 1977, he decided to apply to law school after ruling out additional studies and a possible career in the sciences or foreign language. He graduated from the University of Montana School of Law in 1982. Since that time he has focused his practice on plaintiff’s personal injury with an emphasis in the last 15 years on medical malpractice cases. He enjoys the many challenging medical and scientific issues that arise in these cases and enjoys the opportunity to work with leading experts in various scientific and medical fields. | ||
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| Steven J. Harman is a partner in Harman, Warren & Harris, in Billings, Montana. For the past decade he has tried plaintiff's cases involving medical malpractice and personal injury. Prior to becoming a plaintiff’s attorney he spent a quarter of a century trying such cases on behalf of doctors and hospitals, corporations, and insurance companies. He serves on the faculty of UM's School of Law Advanced Trial Advocacy Program which is presented for a week each spring. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, member of MTLA and ABOTA, and listed in Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Harman has lectured at numerous seminars. He has suffered verdicts over $1 million against his clients; and enjoyed verdicts over $1 million in favor of his clients. He is a 1975 honors graduate of the UM School of Law. | ||
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| David T. Lighthall earned his law degree from UM School of Law in 2006 where he was a member of the Environmental Moot Court team, served as President of the Environmental Law Group, and was a member of the Student Trial Lawyers Association. He also served as an intern with Carey Law Firm where he was hired full-time after graduating. Dave’s practice with the firm involves litigation in workers’ compensation law, personal injury and medical malpractice, products liability, wrongful discharge, insurance coverage, and contract disputes. He is a member of MTLA, ABA, and Western Montana Bar Association. Dave has co-authored two articles addressing issues in workers’ compensation for the MTLA publication, Trial Trends, and works with MTLA as an advocate for injured workers’ rights before the Montana Legislature. | ||
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| Jory C. Ruggiero practices in Bozeman emphasizing environmental tort, insurance bad faith and personal injury litigation. Formerly a partner at the Bozeman law firm of Beck, Amsden and Ruggiero, Jory formed Western Justice Associates in 2008. He is a member of MTLA’s Board of Directors where he serves as chair of the environmental and education committees. Jory earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Montana where he served as Editor of the Public Land and Resources Law Review and as a member of the negotiation team. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Wyoming and a Master of Science degree with an emphasis in Aquatic Ecology from the University of Montana. | ||
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| Melinda C. Tilton is a university lecturer at Montana State University Billings, Department of Communication and Theatre. For the past thirty years she has taught a range of courses at the university level among them are: Public Speaking, Group Dynamics, Interpersonal Communication, and Intercultural Communication. She participates in the National Communication Association through presentations and panels; provides communication training and leadership seminars for organizations such as the Billings Fire Department, KOA, MT-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, and Hospice. Ms. Tilton is a faculty member and lecturer at the University of Montana, Advanced Trial Advocacy program, 1985-present. | ||
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