TIDA 30^th Annual Seminar Schedule

7:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Golf Outing
Location: Villas of Grand Cypress Golf Resort, Links Course. Plan to meet in hotel lobby for shuttle departure at 6:30 am.
*Registration is required and is within the attendee registration form.

7:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Service Project
Location: Plan to meet in hotel lobby at 7:00 a.m. for departure to the location.
*Registration is required and is within the attendee registration form.

1:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Registration Open

1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Exhibit Hall Set-up
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Judicial Fairness Roundtable Discussion - A Discussion of Recent Trial Successes and the Defense Strategies that Worked
Location:
*Registration is required and is within the attendee registration form.

3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

New Member Welcome

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Young Professional Symposium

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Exhibit Hall Open
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Welcome Reception
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.

Registration Open

7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.

Breakfast
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

7:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Exhibit Hall Open
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

State of the Industry
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Alix Miller, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Florida Trucking Association

8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

TIDA Talk - Getting (and Keeping) the Band Together: Tips to Keep Your Driver Engaged Throughout Litigation
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Korissa Zickrick, Roberts Perryman

In every truck claim, the driver is often the best and most critical witness to the events leading up to (and after) an accident. All too often, however, the driver feels out of the loop, disengaged, and overlooked once litigation commences. This talk will provide tips to keep the driver on the team and to maintain a productive relationship throughout the life of the claim.

TIDA Talk - Let Me Re-Introduce Myself: A Re-Branding and Personalization of the Trucking Industry
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Megan Early-Soppa, Moseley Marcinak Law Group

In the wake of COVID, the reputation of the trucking industry remains negative and detrimental to us an industry at trial. This talk will cover easy ways to personalize the trucking industry as whole, in everyday life, while handling claims and at trial.

TIDA Talk - Company Driver's Manuals: A Good Safety Message Weaponized by Plaintiffs' Counsel
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: P. Raul Alvarez, Alvarez, Winthrop, Thompson & Smoak, P.A.

Companies should be able to communicate with its drivers without fear of unwarranted recourse. But all too often well-intentioned language in a driver’s manual – between the driver and company – is used against a trucking company by a plaintiff’s attorney. This TIDA Talk explores why a company’s internal documents should not establish a higher legal standard of care, and explores some useful language in manuals that may be considered.

10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.

Morning Break
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

10:15 a.m. - 10:35 a.m.

TIDA Talk - Nuclear Verdicts or The New Norm? What We Can Learn From Recent Verdicts Post-Pandemic
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Brian Del Gatto and Sean McDonough, Wilson Elser

As our courts begin to re-implement trials across the country, what can we expect from jurors post-pandemic and national shut down? This talk will discuss observations made during trials since the shut down and lessons learned in a seemingly changed judicial world.

10:35 a.m. - 11:25 a.m.

Providing Stability or Confidence in an Otherwise Uncertain Situation: Anchoring Pain and Suffering During the Plaintiffs' Deposition
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: April Arnold, USA Truck a DB Schenker Company; Dr. Marissa Beyers, Trial Behavior Consulting; and Lesley Pfleging, Lewis Wagner

In a world where pain and suffering includes things such as mental anguish, pain, shock, anxiety, inconvenience, inability to sleep, emotional distress, grief, humiliation, loss of quality of life, loss of enjoyment of life, etc., this presentation will discuss ways to anchor or limit the plaintiff pursuant to his/her testimony about these alleged and unmeasurable damages.

11:25 a.m. - 12:40 p.m.

Lunch
Keynote Speaker: Captain Richard Phillips
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I

For five days in April 2009, the world was glued to their TV screens as Captain Richard Phillips became the center of an extraordinary international drama when he was captured by Somali pirates who hijacked his ship, the first hijacking of a U.S. ship in more than 200 years.

12:40 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Everything is Not a Brain Injury, No Matter What the Plaintiffs' Bar Says
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Dr. Douglas Gibson and John Messersmith, KPM Law

Anyone involved in motor carrier litigation routinely sees “brain injury” claims they recognize as bogus. This presentation focuses on early medical and legal strategies to anticipate such claims and identify which ones are legitimate in order to better enable industry professionals to assess which claims to fight while developing the tools to fight them.

1:30 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.

TIDA Talk - Effective Surveillance
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Glenn Cole, PI

Tips and tricks for what you and your private investigator need to know before attempting surveillance in order to get the most effective surveillance results.

1:50 p.m. - 2:10 p.m.

TIDA Talk - Fast Track Settlements: Strategies for Reducing Auto Liability Exposure
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Jeff Kaplan, UPS

We will review the Fast Track process.  Then we will review three examples of crashes and how they were handled before the implementation of the Fast Track process and their previous potential exposure. We will then review the same three examples of crashes with the application of the Fast Track process to demonstrate what was done differently using the new process and their new potential exposure.

2:10 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

TIDA Talk - Exposing Fraudulent Claims Asserted Against the Transportation Industry, Part 2: An Update from Louisiana
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Andrea Albert, Galloway Johnson Tompkins Burr & Smith; Louis Bonnaffons, Leake & Andersson; Jim Dill, The Dill Firm; and Guy Perrier, Perrier & Lacoste, LLC

By now, everyone in the industry has heard of the staged accident rings in Louisiana. You will hear from those intimately involved on the current status of the investigations and litigation, as well as get pointers for how to get out ahead of similar schemes in the future.

2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

With a Little Help from my Friends: Trial Court Strategies that Make Appellate Lawyers Cheer
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Jessica Barger and Brian Cathey, Wright Close & Barger LLP

It’s never too early to start preparing for an appeal! This session will discuss trends in the trial courts and appellate courts and will highlight the importance of preserving error for an effective appeal. The session will also address the timing of hiring appellate counsel and how appellate counsel can be most useful to the trial lawyer.

3:20 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Afternoon Break
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

TIDA Talk - Don't Just Sit There: Defending Depositions Against an Aggressive Plaintiffs' Attorney
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: David Senger, Coffey, Senger & Woodard, P.L.L.C.

How do you handle a plaintiff’s attorney who is overly confrontational and antagonistic to your witness? Hear from a seasoned litigator on effective strategies to prepare your driver, manager, and company representative for deposition questioning by a highly aggressive plaintiffs’ counsel. This session will touch on practical deposition strategies that you can use to protect your client from an “all out assault” by opposing counsel.

TIDA Talk - Using the Plaintiff's $1,599 Playbook Against Them
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Doug Marcello, Bluewire

We all know the book and the issues it may create if the strategy is allowed. This TIDA Talk will educate you on how to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of Reptile Theory. You will walk away from this TIDA Talk with a key understanding of how and why it’s important to mount a strategic defense rather than just a tactical response.

TIDA Talk - Life Care Planners and Future Care Opinions: Current Trends and Cross-Examination Approaches
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Greg Kendall, Porter Rennie Woodward Kendall, LLP

This presentation will address current trends with plaintiff life care planners and future care opinions, including jurors’ perceptions of nurses in the post-COVID era, scope of practice issues for non-physician life care planners, challenging impairment opinions relating to pain assessments, and approaches for cross-examination and establishing bases for exclusion of life care planners under the admissibility rules for expert witness opinions.

TIDA Talk - Keeping Your Mediation out of the Ditch
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: John Tarpley, Lewis, Thomason, King, Krieg & Waldrop, P.C.

It is profoundly clear that mediation today is more important than ever; yet, we find that all mediators are not created equally. Some mediators are just “numbers runners” and do not engage in the process. This can cause the mediation session to go sideways quickly. An experienced mediator will share tips on how to keep your mediation on track and moving forward... even when opposing counsel tries to highjack the effort and the mediator seems to be of no help. Do not despair; help is on the way in this informative and lively session.

Cocktail Reception
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.

Breakfast
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

7:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Exhibit Hall Open
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

8:00 a.m. - 8:50 a.m.

Busting Medical Bills, Referral Networks, and Their Financiers
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Nathan Lundquist, Protective Insurance Company; Zach Matthews, McMickle, Kurey & Branch, LLP; and Andrew Stephenson, Franklin & Prokopik

A significant issue facing our industry is the increasing prevalence of lien-based medical treatment and, specifically, medical financing. The lack of transparency and the inflated billing practices associated with medical financing need to be addressed, as an industry. However, it is not just inflated damages. The medical finance industry has created care coordination entities, referral networks of medical providers and attorneys, and generated a host of new discovery and evidentiary issues.  Through a refined discovery process, if the courts allow it, we are able to discover a host of communications between medical providers, attorneys, and finance companies that demonstrate care coordination among the parties. This presentation will focus on the efforts to combat the impact of lien based medical treatment, including medical financing, by exposing questionable practices. We will also discuss relevant legal updates.

8:50 a.m. - 9:10 a.m.

TIDA Talk - I Tell Stories for Juries - The Psychological Perspective
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Shari Belitz, Shari Belitz Communications, LLC

This course will teach the art of persuasion, rhetoric, and how to tell a captivating, compelling, and charismatic story for the jury.

9:10 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

From the Cheap Seats to Playing in the Game: State Legislation & Politics
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Shawn Yadon, Hyzon Motors

State legislative proposals aimed at your business are being drafted, considered and voted upon today, right now, and practically every day of the year from any corner of the country. Are you in a position to impact those decisions? Or are you on the tail end of reading about a new law coming onto the books? Step up your game in the legislative and political processes…engage, influence and impact.

10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.

Morning Break
Location: Grand Cypress Prefunction

10:15 a.m. - 10:35 a.m.

TIDA Talk - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Reserves, But Were Too Afraid to Ask
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Theresa Bratton, National Interstate Insurance

You’ve always heard that insurance companies hate surprises. This talk will explain why that is the case. At the end of this talk, you will understand what reserves are (and what they are not) from the perspective of those who actually set them, and why they matter.

10:35 a.m. - 10:55 a.m.

TIDA Talk - Your Insurance Adjuster, Friend or Foe? Best Practices to Ensure A United Defense
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Martha Frausto, CHUBB

Plaintiff attorneys engage in aggressive discovery tactics aimed at the production of insurance policies, which is required in many states. Once plaintiff attorneys are aware of the entire insurance tower, they make unreasonable demands, as a means of creating pressure and friction between the defense players. Plaintiff attorneys’ attempts to create havoc hinders collaboration and unification. An experienced insurance adjuster will share Best Practices for working collectively and equally with your insurers with the objective of creating a united front to deter in-fighting and overvalued settlements.

10:55 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

TIDA Talk - Give 'Em What They Want: An Effective Settlement Strategy Right Out of the Plaintiffs' Playbook
Location: Grand Cypress Ballroom D-I
Presented by: Byron Ames, Ames & Ames, LLP

In order for a settlement offer to have a chance of success the offer must check a number of practical and emotional boxes for the plaintiff. The problem is that the boxes to be checked are usually a mystery to the defense. We will discuss what to do with the valuable information you’ve learned about the plaintiff’s needs and how to present an offer in a way that checks all the required boxes. You’ll see how this approach can increase your chance of securing a reasonable settlement amount while saving significant money in the process.