Avoiding Hidden Catastrophes – The Healthcare Professional as a Witness

Mar 3, 2020

Despite significant differences in personalities and emotional expression between healthcare professionals, physician and nursing witnesses are repeatedly dealt with in a universal manner when preparing for depositions in medical malpractice cases, resulting in ineffective, and often damaging, testimony. Amongst physicians, two primary personalities can be identified while nursing staff can similarly be broken down into distinct personalities. Individual healthcare personalities must be identified and uniquely addressed early on from both a cognitive and emotional perspective to avoid destructive testimony that will unnecessarily increase both the value and exposure of the case.

The Ghost of Treatment Past: Phantom Medical Bills, Medical Litigation Funding, and How to Fight Them

Mar 5, 2020

Attendees will hear from two seasoned trucking attorneys and an experienced medical billing professional with an extensive background in analyzing medical billing procedures and determining the reasonable value of medical services regarding medical funding utilized in personal injury and trucking litigation. Specifically, attendees will hear about the different types of medical funding models (doctors who self-finance, factoring, medical funding companies, etc.), discovery tactics that can be utilized by defense lawyers to obtain relevant and critical medical funding information, and an overview of case law addressing the relevance of medical funding discovery and admissibility of medical funding information at trial. Additionally, attendees will learn examples of questionable billing practices (i.e., overcharging, upcoding, unbundling, etc.) and how billing experts can be utilized to help defense attorneys analyze whether the medical expenses incurred by a plaintiff were reasonable.

Mental Health and the Practice of Law

Mar 11, 2020 - Mar 18, 2020

Join us for this two-part webinar series on mental health.

Part 1- A Challenge to Our Profession

This webinar is an in-depth discussion of the mental health challenges facing the legal profession. Lawyers experience mental illness issues and suicide far beyond those experienced by the general population. These issues take a toll not only on attorneys but on their clients as well, as made evident by the frequency with which mental health issues are discussed in disciplinary opinions. Learn how to recognize these issues in yourself and others, and how to respond to them when they arise through the presentation of facts and law, and the discussion of hypothetical situations.

Part 2- Legal and Ethical Considerations

This webinar discusses the legal and ethical principles relating to mental health issues in the legal profession. Even before they start their careers, lawyers are faced with mental health disclosure obligations on their bar applications. These obligations follow the attorneys, though perhaps only by implication, for their entire careers. Lawyers’ duties in this regard do not, however, end with self-inquiry, as issues arise concerning the mental health of both colleagues and opponents. Learn here what legal and ethical obligations exist, and how to fulfill them.

Predicting Jurors’ Verdict Leanings in the Trump Era

Mar 26, 2020

Increasing polarization in American politics has led to a substantial shift in civil juror decision-making and jury verdicts. This webinar examines the effects of political beliefs on trial outcomes. Research results indicating the extent to which individual jurors’ political orientation affects verdict preference will be presented, followed by discussion of how case characteristics and juror political orientation can interact to produce unexpected outcomes. Attendees will learn how socio-political changes can impact deliberation dynamics and how to evaluate the composition of a jury. Finally, presenters will review evidenced-based strategies for identifying favorable and unfavorable jurors.

“What the Heck is Going on?”: The Evolution of the Nuclear Verdict

Apr 10, 2020

Defense attorneys across the nation are being bombarded with calls from their clients asking, “What the heck is going on with these crazy verdicts?” The emergence of the nuclear verdict is currently the hottest topic of discussion in civil litigation for both the plaintiff and defense bars. There are several factors to blame, including: 1) juror psychosocial factors, 2) growing litigation funding for plaintiff attorneys, 3) slow development of young defense attorneys, 4) political influences, 5) growth of Reptile tactics, 6) distrust of corporations, and 7) generational factors. This program will outline the influence of these factors on nuclear verdicts and provide practical solutions to avoid nuclear fallout for defendants.

Juror Confirmation Bias: Powerful, Perilous, Preventable

Apr 28, 2020

Over the course of a civil trial, jurors are presented with several pieces of information. At the conclusion of the attorney presentations, counsel places their client’s case in the hands of jurors and have faith that the jurors will objectively view all of the evidence. However, this is far from what happens in the deliberation room. Instead, jurors often “cherry-pick” the information that supports their preconceived attitudes and beliefs. This webinar will explain why jurors fall victim to such behavior and how this decision-making process can be perilous to a client’s case.