Insurance Law: Making Effective Claims
& Understanding Bad Faith

Big Sky, Montana - February 2-3, 2007 - 7.75 Credits

Friday, February 2, 2007

Finding Coverage
Prof. Gregory S. Munro, Missoula

Making A Claim
Amy Poehling Eddy, Kalispell, & Jory Ruggiero, Bozeman

Filing Suit
Daniel P. Buckley, Bozeman, & Michael McKeon, Butte

Understanding Bad Faith and Building a Case That Moves Jurors
David J. Berardinelli, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Saturday, February 3, 2007

Trying the Bad Faith Case
David J. Berardinelli, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Ethical Issues and Recent Developments in Montana Bad Faith Law
James Molloy, Helena, and Hon. James Regnier, Lakeside

Panel Discussion
David J. Berardinelli, Daniel P. Buckley, Amy Poehling Eddy, Michael McKeon, James P. Molloy, Prof. Gregory S. Munro, Hon. James Regnier

Speakers

David J. Berardinelli graduated cum laude from Santa Clara School of Law in 1974. For the past 25 years he has devoted his practice primarily to personal injury and insurance law litigation matters. Mr. Berardinelli has tried numerous insurance coverage cases and written numerous appeals on insurance coverage issues. He frequently lectures at continuing legal education seminars on evidence, insurance law, UM/UIM coverage and medical payments coverage issues. David serves as Insurance and Bad Faith Law Editor for the New Mexico Trial Lawyer’s Journal and publishes a regular column on this subject. He has also published lead articles in the New Mexico Trial Lawyer’s Journal on issues of insurance law and UM/UIM coverage. He coauthored From "Good Hands" to Boxing Gloves: How Allstate Changed Casualty Insurance in America (Trial Guides LLC, 2006). He is a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association and Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. Berardinelli serves on the Board of Directors of New Mexico Trial Lawyers’ Association and the Board of Governors for the Western Trial Lawyers’ Association.

Daniel P. Buckley earned his law degree in 1994, with summa cum laude honors, graduating first in his class from Gonzaga University School of Law. Dan was a partner with his former law firm of Berg, Lilly & Tollefsen, P.C., before recently forming a new law firm with Lucas Foust. The firm of Foust Buckley Law Office, P.C., focuses on personal injury law. Dan has tried 31 cases, 21 to verdict. Dan is a member of MTLA, ATLA, Montana Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Mr. Buckley serves on the MTLA Board of Directors.

Amy Poehling Eddy is an associate attorney at Bottomly & Ellingson, PLLP, in Kalispell, MT. As an undergraduate Amy attended Cal Poly University, graduating cum laude in 1997 with a social science degree. She spent the next year working on issues before the Idaho State Land Board before attending the University of Montana School of Law, graduating in 2001. While in law school she was a member of the National Moot Court Team, and clerked for the Honorable Leif Erickson. Amy is on the Board of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, is a member of the MTLA Amicus and Education committees, and also serves on the Editorial Board for Trial Trends.

Michael McKeon earned his law degree from the University of Montana School of Law in 1971 and his undergraduate degree from Notre Dame. After graduating from law school, Mick began private practice in Anaconda and at the same time was elected to the Montana Constitutional Convention where he served as a delegate from Deer Lodge County and surrounding counties. In 1991 he formed a partnership with Rick Anderson in Butte; he and Rick have operated under the firm name McKeon & Anderson, PC since that time. Mick has tried more than 50 civil jury trials and has litigated numerous bad faith cases against Allstate and many other carriers. Mr. McKeon is a member of MTLA , ATLA and is certified as a civil trial specialist. In 1993 he earned MTLA’s Public Service Award.

James P. Molloy obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Montana and graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in 1984. He subsequently clerked on the D.C. Circuit. He has practiced in Oregon and Montana. Jim’s office is in Helena, with a practice focused on civil litigation. He and his wife, Casey, have three children, Conor, Seamus, and Caitlin. He currently serves as Vice President of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association.

Prof. Gregory S. Munro teaches Trial Practice, Insurance Law and Pretrial Advocacy at the University of Montana School of Law where he is a Professor and Director of Professional Skills. He has also taught Torts and Remedies and co-coached the law school’s national championship Trial Team for 10 years. He regularly teaches CLE for organizations of lawyers, judges and law professors. Munro is a past president and board member of MTLA. From 1998 through 2004, he researched and wrote the quarterly Insurance Consumer Counsel’s Column for Trial Trends. Prof. Munro has researched and published articles, a book and book chapters on topics of insurance, torts, medical-legal and legal education. He serves on the Montana Federal Local Rules Committee and the Montana State Uniform District Court Rules Committee. He practiced plaintiff’s civil litigation in Billings for 13 years before joining the UM School of Law in 1988.

Hon. Justice Jim Regnier, Montana Supreme Court, 1996-2004, earned his law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. As a practicing attorney, Justice Regnier represented a wide variety of clients with a primary emphasis in civil litigation. In his later years of private practice and again after retiring from the Court, he shifted his energies to mediation. Justice Regnier is a charter member and past president of the Montana Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and an adjunct professor at the University of Montana School of Law where he currently teaches Products Liability. While on the bench he was responsible for designing and developing a continuing education program for the Montana Judiciary. For several years Justice Regnier participated with other state and federal judges in the Einstein Institute for Science, Health and the Courts, developing educational models for training trial judges on genetic and privacy issues. In 2002, Justice Regnier was elected by his judicial colleagues to serve as president of the Montana Judges Association. He earned the Montana Trial Lawyer Association Public Service Award in 2005.

Jory Ruggiero is a partner in the Bozeman law firm Beck, Amsden & Ruggiero. His primary practice areas include environmental tort litigation, personal injury and insurance bad faith. Mr. Ruggiero holds a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors in Biology from the University of Wyoming as well as a Juris Doctorate and Masters of Science with high honors in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana. Prior to joining the Beck Law Firm in 1999, he did legal work for the United Nations Environmental Programme in Nairobi, Kenya; for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in Missoula, Montana; and for a host of other environmental protection groups. Mr. Ruggiero is the Western Montana Representative for the Natural Resources Section of the Montana Bar Association. He is an avid backpacker, skier, hunter and writer, publishing natural history writing and environmental law articles.