Below is the 2019 Professional Liability Roundtable conference agenda and meeting materials for your reference.
To view the Professional Liability Roundtable schedule and programming, click here.
To view the Medical Liability Program Track schedule and programming, click here.
To view speaker biographies, click here.
If you have any questions, please email Melisa Maisel Vanis, Director of Professional Development.
12:45 - 1:00 p.m.
Welcome and Introductions
Craig A. Thompson, IADC President, Venable LLP, Baltimore, MD
J. Calhoun Watson, Program Chair, Robinson Gray Stepp & Laffitte, LLC, Columbia, SC
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
A Sobering Look at Lawyer Impairment
This session will review the landmark 2016 ABA/Hazelden Betty Ford Study and the prevalence of impairment in the legal profession. The panel will address the sources and signs of impairment to help individuals identify potential warning signs in their colleagues. We will take a look at the effect impairment, and treatment, has on disciplinary and malpractice claims as well as the obligations under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct in relation to impaired lawyers and law firms. Recommendations for what law firms and other stakeholders in the justice system can, and should be, doing to address this issue will also be discussed.
Moderator
Timothy J. Gephart, Vice President – Claims, Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, Minneapolis, MN
Speakers
Melissa S. Demmon, Vice President, Claims Counsel, Sompo International, Purchase, NY
Molly (Eiden) Teigen, Claim Attorney, Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, Minneapolis, MN
Peggy A. Wilson, Morrow Willnauer Church, LLC, Kansas City, MO
Materials
2:00 - 2:15 p.m.
Refreshment Break
2:15 - 3:15 p.m.
Succession/Transition Planning: Preparing Law Firms and Carriers for the Next Generation
Succession planning has become a buzz phrase for law firms, insurance companies, and organizations of all types. This panel discussion, involving claims professionals and law firm leaders, will discuss how law firms and carriers have a mutual interest in preparing the next generation of trial lawyers and claims professionals. The panel will discuss how those interests can align, where the interests might differ, and how law firms and claims professionals can work together to ensure bright futures for both.
Moderator
Meredith Kaplan Stoma, Morgan Melhuish Abrutyn, Livingston, NJ
Speakers
Michael J. Severyn, ProAssurance Companies, Okemos, MI
Michael J. Sullivan, Collins Einhorn Farrell PC, Southfield, MI
Timothy F. Sullivan, NAMIC Insurance Company, Inc. (NAMICO), Indianapolis, IN
Materials
3:15 - 3:30 p.m.
Refreshment Break
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Ensuring That #METOO is Not You Too: Defending a #MeToo Claim, Including Practical Tips for Clients
The legal industry is not immune to the #MeToo movement as the country witnessed in last year’s Supreme Court hearings. This panel will discuss ways to prepare a defense of a #MeToo claim against a lawyer including how to approach a claimant as well as how to present a defense to a jury. The panel will also discuss practical ways law firms and lawyers can establish standards and policies to prevent #MeToo claims in the future but do not limit women and men from working together.
Moderator
Elizabeth Haecker Ryan, Coats Rose, New Orleans, LA
Speakers
Cynthia A. Carter, Berkley Select, Chicago, IL
Lisa Lupion, Orrick, New York, NY
Peter J. Woo, Goldberg Segalla, Los Angeles, CA
Materials
4:30 - 4:40 p.m.
Closing Remarks
J. Calhoun Watson, Program Chair, Robinson Gray Stepp & Laffitte, LLC, Columbia, SC
4:40 - 5:40 p.m.
Cocktail Reception
12:45 - 12:50 p.m.
Welcome and Introductions
Douglas Vaughn, Program Chair, Deutsch Kerrigan, LLP, Gulfport, MS
12:50 - 1:50 p.m.
Overcoming Sticker Prices: The Emergence of the Reasonable Value Approach
Increasingly, legal practitioners and insurance industry professionals encounter exorbitant life care plans in claims that contain future estimated medical charges for an injured plaintiff’s needs during his/her life expectancy. In most states, practitioners attempting to rebut medical charges with negotiated amounts actually paid by third-party payers encounter collateral source rule objections. However, there is an emerging body of case law recognizing a dynamic market rate rebuttal theory, the reasonable value approach, significantly minimizing exposure created by life care plans. This dynamic and engaging presentation will be given by an attorney, a seasoned insurance industry professional, and an industry expert witness who have significant experience in the development and application of the reasonable value approach in a variety of professional liability claims. The presenters will explore the economic and healthcare policy underpinnings and identify practical tools necessary to develop a market rate estimate to rebut healthcare sticker prices that are totally unmoored from the reality of arm’s-length transactions actually taking place within the marketplace. They will also include recent examples of the monetary impact the approach has had on life care plans and how this approach has altered the ultimate resolution of claims.
Speakers
Thomas J. Dawson, III, Chief Executive Officer, TD&P Consulting, Inc., Silver Spring, MD
Rick Farlow, Vice-President, BerkleyMed, Nashville, TN
Thomas Geroulo, Bardsley, Benedict + Cholden, LLP, Scranton, PA
J. Tyler Robinson, Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Springfield, IL
Materials
1:50 - 2:00 p.m.
IADC President’s Welcome
Craig A. Thompson, IADC President, Venable LLP, Baltimore, MD
2:00 - 2:15 p.m.
Refreshment Break
2:15 - 3:15 p.m.
Co-Defending the Physician and the Medical Product Manufacturer
When surgeons and medical device manufacturers find themselves as defendants in a lawsuit, blaming the other may be tempting but only serves to suggest agreement with the plaintiff’s contention that an error occurred and the net effect is to drive up the damages award. The speakers will share lessons learned in defending surgeons and medical device manufacturers in these complex cases involving large or even catastrophic damages in which each client’s belief was that the patient’s surgical complication was caused solely by another party, even while another defendant in the case looked to place fault squarely on them. This program offers practical suggestions for working collaboratively in the defense of the case to achieve the best outcome for your respective client under what can be extremely difficult and stressful circumstances for both the client and the defense attorney.
Speakers
Julie B. du Pont, Arnold & Porter, New York, NY
Andrew C. Hall, Senior Claims Examiner, Medmarc, Chantilly, VA
Robert P. (Bob) MacKenzie, III, Starnes Davis Florie, Birmingham, AL
Materials
3:15 - 3:30 p.m.
Refreshment Break
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Caught on Tape: Strategies for Mitigating Damages in the Age of Cell Phones and Granny Cams
A picture is worth a thousand words and in litigation it can translate to thousands, if not millions of dollars. With the everchanging laws and the increasing damages potential for plaintiffs and their attorneys, we can expect the number of claims supported by videographic evidence to continue to escalate. The panel will provide video examples of negligent and abusive behavior caught on tape, identify published verdicts and settlements, and address methods of damage control, all in effort to keep indemnity in check.
Speakers
Nona J. Bonanno, Head of Professional Liability Program Claims, AXIS Insurance, Berkeley Heights, NJ
Constance A. Endelicato, Wood Smith Henning & Berman, Los Angeles, CA
David Prisco, Senior Vice-President, Avalon Claims Management, Columbus, OH
Robert G. Smith, Lorance Thompson PC, Houston, TX
Materials
4:30 - 4:40 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Douglas Vaughn, Program Chair, Deutsch Kerrigan, LLP, Gulfport, MS
4:40 - 5:40 p.m.
Cocktail Reception