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MTLA  Winter Seminar 
The Essentials to Winning
Seminar Chairs: Daniel B. Bidegaray & Michael P. Sand, Bozeman

Seminar Evaluation

January 22, 2010  
Hilton Garden Inn - Bozeman, MT
6 CLE Hours

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Seminar Chairs   Daniel B. Bidegaray & Michael P. Sand, Bozeman
     

7:30-8:25

  

Registration & Breakfast
     

8:25-8:30

  

Introduction & Welcome – Daniel B. Bidegaray, Bozeman
     

8:30-9:30

  

Third Party Recovery for Injured Workers:  Is Compatative Negligence Constitutional?
   

Mark M. Kovacich, Great Falls
     

9:30-10:30

  

The Five Essential Ingredients to Winning
   

William A. Trine, Boulder, CO
     

10:30-10:45

  

BREAK
     

10:45-11:45

  

Insurance  Bad Faith Schemes:  Little Cases With BIG Impact
    Michael C. Abourezk, Rapid City, SD
     

11:45-1:15

  

LUNCH (on your own)
     
 1:15-2:15   Story Telling in the Courtroom

 

  

Robert C. Caisley, Moscow, ID
     

2:15-2:30

  

BREAK                     
   

 
2:30-3:30   Story Telling (continued)

 

  

Robert C. Caisley, Moscow, ID
     

3:30-4:30

  

Electronic Discovery and Issues to Consider When Reviewing a Proposed Settlement Agreement
    Gregory G. Pinski, Great Falls 
     

4:30

   Adjourn
     

Speakers

Michael C. Abourezk practices in Rapid City, SD and has never had a "big case" in his life. But many of his little cases ended in jury verdicts exceeding five million dollars, the most recent is a $6.2 million verdict on June 12, 2009, after a company denied a claim of less than $10,000. The South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association gave him the South Dakota Trial Lawyer of the Year award in 2004, and in 2005 the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyer’s College named him Mid-West Warrior of the Year. The American Association for Justice gave him the Steven J. Sharp Award for his role in "the case that best tells the story of American civil justice," in which he obtained a class action recovery of insurance benefits for cancer patients nationwide. In 2009 the South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association presented Mike and his partner, Alicia Garcia, with the Toast of the Trial Lawyers Award, for working without a fee to litigate on behalf of a young cancer patient.

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Michael C. Abourezk practices in Rapid City, SD and has never had a "big case" in his life. But many of his little cases ended in jury verdicts exceeding five million dollars, the most recent is a $6.2 million verdict on June 12, 2009, after a company denied a claim of less than $10,000. The South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association gave him the South Dakota Trial Lawyer of the Year award in 2004, and in 2005 the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyer’s College named him Mid-West Warrior of the Year. The American Association for Justice gave him the Steven J. Sharp Award for his role in "the case that best tells the story of American civil justice," in which he obtained a class action recovery of insurance benefits for cancer patients nationwide. In 2009 the South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association presented Mike and his partner, Alicia Garcia, with the Toast of the Trial Lawyers Award, for working without a fee to litigate on behalf of a young cancer patient.

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Robert C. Caisley is Associate Professor of Theatre & Film and Head of the Dramatic Writing Program at the University of Idaho. He is a playwright, producer and director of theatre, and has worked in the entertainment industry as a Creative Consultant for The History Channel, Triage Entertainment, and for North by Northwest Productions, Netter Digital Entertainment and New Wave Entertainment. Robert has presented his trial storytelling workshops to many trial lawyer groups including Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, Washington State Trial Lawyer’s Association and University of Idaho School of Law. He has consulted on personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, legal malpractice, and criminal defense cases. Prof. Caisley’s article "On Universality Storytelling in the Courtroom" first appeared in the December 2007 issue of WSTLA’s Trial News and was most recently reprinted in the January 2008 edition of the Rhode Island Association for Justice News.
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Mark M. Kovacichgraduated, with honors, from Montana Tech of the University of Montana, with a degree in environmental engineering, in 1996. He graduated, with honors, from the University of Montana School of Law in 1999. He is a partner with Lewis, Slovak & Kovacich in Great Falls, Montana. Mark handles only civil litigation on behalf of plaintiffs. Mark's practice includes environmental litigation, toxic torts, product liability, workplace injury claims and general personal injury. Mr. Kovacich is a member of AAJ and MTLA. He received MTLA’s Trial Lawyer of the Year award in 2005 and its Appellate Advocacy award in 2008. Mark was listed as a Rising Star in the Mountain States Super Lawyers 2008 edition.

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Gregory G. Pinski is a fourth-generation Montanan. Greg earned his bachelor of arts degree, magna cum laude, in political science and journalism from the University of North Dakota in 1996. Before attending law school, Greg worked at the White House in the Office of Presidential Scheduling for President Bill Clinton. In 1999, Greg graduated with distinction from the University of North Dakota School of Law. While at UND, Greg was articles editor of the North Dakota Law Review. He was also named to the Order of the Barristers and won the school’s moot court competition, winning the best oralist and best legal brief awards. After law school, Greg joined the Minneapolis law firm of Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett. While at Gray Plant Mooty, Greg served as a special assistant county attorney handling various prosecution matters for the County of Anoka, Minnesota. Greg was also an adjunct instructor of legal writing at the University of Minnesota Law School. In 2005, Greg returned to Montana, joining his partner, mentor and friend, Dennis Conner, in the practice of law in the firm that has become Conner & Pinski.

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William A. Trine is a noted trial lawyer, author and teacher. He is listed in all editions of The Best Lawyers in America, and is a coauthor of the bestselling book, Winning Medical Negligence Cases. He is a past president and founder of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, a public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, DC, and a past president of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, which honored him with the first Norm Kripke Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. He was selected by his peers as a Colorado Super Lawyer in 2006 and 2007 and featured in LawDragon magazine’s list of 500 leading plaintiff’s lawyers in America (2007). He is an invited member of the Inner Circle of Advocates and the International Society of Barristers. Mr. Trine is also an invited member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Mr. Trine graduated from the University of Colorado School of Law and has been a trial lawyer since 1960. He has represented people in over 150 jury trials involving products liability, medical and legal malpractice, civil rights, business torts and wrongs, commercial litigation, and all other aspects of civil litigation. He chaired a national litigation group in the successful litigation against the Japanese manufacturer of contaminated L-Tryptophan. Mr. Trine served on the Colorado Supreme Court’s appointed committee on civil jury instructions for 23 years and chaired the subcommittee on product liability and professional malpractice. Mr. Trine comes from a family of coal miners and railroad workers and was the first in his family to attend college. His entire legal career has been devoted to representing people against corporations, insurance companies and the government.  
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