Litigation Management Supercourse
Kiawah 2000 Edition

Winning the Civil Litigation War
and
Preserving the Corporate Union

a multi-media CLE experience
presented by

The Network of Trial Law Firms

at

Arrive Thursday late afternoon, Oct. 26, 2000
Depart Sunday morning, Oct. 29, 2000

Register On-Line Here

Agenda

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2000

About Kiawah

About Charleston

Sit high atop a horse-drawn carriage as candy-colored homes glide by, admire elaborate gardens, and dine Lowcountry style; this is Charleston, a remarkable journey through time, mere minutes from Kiawah Island.

Enjoy a carriage, boat, bicycle or walking tour of nearby Charleston -- rated fourth top choice for domestic travel by readers of Condé Nast Traveler -- to an extraordinary off-island meal at places only the locals can name.

Places of Interest in Charleston, South Carolina

Dinner alongside the Oceanside Pool at Dusk

Cocktails and small talk followed by a fabulous buffet dinner at 8:00 p.m. featuring home-style South Carolina delicacies served at dusk as the sun sets over the ocean horizon.  Silhouettes of out-rigged shrimp boats bobbing in the ocean offshore against the setting sun.  It doesn't get much better than this.

Hospitality Suite

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2000

BREAKFAST

Welcome and Introduction

The First Shot:  Government Investigations -- Responding, Negotiating and Settling

• What to do and what not to do when Uncle Sam targets your company for investigation.

Stephen Gannon
LeClair & Ryan 
Richmond, VA

Another Round Fired:  Onslaught of ADA Litigation

• Ten years in the ADA Zone

• 1999 Supreme Court Trilogy---Sutton, Murphy and Albertsons

• "Regarded As Disabled" Litigation 

Madeline Sherry
Hecker Brown Sherry and Johnson
Philadelphia, PA

The Troops Muster:  Temporary Employees and Independent Contractors

• Making sure your treatment sticks; pitfalls and guidelines.

Employer Alert Paper

Lonnie Williams
Snell & Wilmer
Phoenix, AZ

The Officers Meet:  Protecting Key Employees from Being Raided

• Balancing environmental and contractual bonds; pre- and post-departure solutions.

Steve Hankins
Morgenstein & Jubelirer
San Francisco, CA

Keep the Peace:  Top 10 Tips to Outside Counsel on How to Succeed with In- House Counsel

Harold Decker
Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc.

BREAK

Spouses' and Significant Others' Special Event -- Plantation Tour

Middleton Place, on the banks of the Ashley River, is a carefully preserved 18th century plantation that has survived revolution, civil war and earthquake. It was the home of Henry Middleton, President of the First Continental Congress, and his son, Arthur, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Today the National Historic Landmark encompasses America's oldest landscaped Gardens, the Middleton Place House, and the Plantation Stableyards. 

America's Oldest Landscaped Gardens -- The Gardens reflect the elegant symmetry of 17th-century European design. Rare camellias bloom in the winter and azaleas blaze on the hillside above the Rice Mill Pond in the spring. In summer, kalmia, magnolias, crepe myrtle and roses accent a landscape magnificent throughout the year. Paths lead from the Reflection Pool, past the ancient Middleton Oak and the family tomb to the House.  In 1941, the Garden Club of America awarded Middleton Place the prestigious Bulkley Medal and proclaimed Middleton Place to be "the most interesting and important Garden in America." Since then, the plantings have matured and the Gardens are even more beautiful than ever before.  Garden Map   

The Middleton Place House -- Built in 1755 as a gentlemen's guest wing, the House became the family residence after the plantation was burned during the Civil War. Guided tours interpret the Middleton's vital role in American history. Collections include portraits by Benjamin West and Thomas Sully, Charleston rice beds, fine silver and rare first editions by Catesby and Audobon. 

The Plantation Stableyards -- The blacksmith, potter, carpenter, and weaver recreate the activities of a self-sustaining Low Country plantation.  Agricultural displays, together with horses and mules, hogs and milking cows, sheep, goats and guinea hens, bring to life the rice and cotton eras.

 Lunch will be served, return to Kiawah Island by 3:00 p.m.

Protect the Fort:  Protecting Trade Secrets and Other Confidential Information

• Guidelines to assure protection; the Internet and trade secret protection; easy ways to destroy confidentiality.

Glenn Coe
Rome McGuigan Sabanosh
Hartford, CT

Send the Alarm:  Putting Limits on the Duty to Warn -- The Rebirth of Affirmative Defenses

• Preemption

• State-of-the-Art Defense

• Learned Intermediary and Sophisticated User Defenses

• Idiosyncratic Reaction Defense

Joe Ortego
Nixon Peabody
New York, NY

The Signal Corps:  Ethical Obligations and Post-Sale Duty to Warn and Disclose Product Test Results

• Lawyers' Obligations and the Discovery of Harmful Information About a Client's Products

• Attorney-Client Responsibilities and Privilege Issues During In-house Investigations

• Ethical Obligations to Disclose Investigation Results Bearing on Damages

• Re-opening Settled Cases with After-acquired Information

Mike Dore
Lowenstein Sandler
Rosedale, NJ

Protecting Generals:  Protecting Senior Executives During Litigation

• Senior executives as defendants, corporate representatives and witnesses, can make or break your case.  Preparing them to take the heat and dish out some of their own.

Warren Platt
Snell & Wilmer
Phoenix, AZ

Defense Initiatives:  Victory Through Changes in Court Rules and Law

The mission of the Lawyers for Civil Justice is to restore and maintain balance in the civil justice system, and goals include class action reform, discovery process reform, reasonable tort reform and the protection of the privacy of litigants.

To further these ends, the organization is engaged in a wide range of legislative and judicial rulemaking activities. Recently, LCJ members testified in a series of public hearings sponsored by the Federal Judicial Conference; they presented testimony in support of the discovery reform and expert evidence reform proposals.  Over the past three years, the group has rallied support for fundamental changes in procedural rules governing litigation and successfully opposed federal legislative efforts by the plaintiffs' bar to restrict judges from issuing protective orders. LCJ has been active in supporting efforts to reform the Class Action Jurisdictional provisions designed to liberalize class action cases qualified for removal to federal courts. 

Jack Trigg
Wheeler Trigg & Kennedy
Denver, CO
and
President
Lawyers for Civil Justice

Protecting the Flank:  Developments in Class Action Litigation

• Proposed reforms in the works in class action litigation

• Efforts to reduce the required amount in controversy for federal jurisdiction

• Federal Judicial Conference considering rules for settlement class actions

Ian Gallacher
Goodell, DeVries, Leech & Gray
Baltimore, MD

LUNCH

Break-out Sessions 

Client Counsel as Field Generals:  Litigation Management Break-out Sessions

• Managing the spillover effects of escalating law firm salaries (e.g, negative demand from clients for entry-level associates);

• Multi-state practice initiative of the ABA

Announcements and Recreation

Dinner at Hibernian Hall in Downtown Charleston

Hospitality Suite

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2000

Breakfast

Welcome Back

Mental Conquest:  Jury Management for Winning Trial Results

• Getting Great Results is no Accident

• Avoiding Punitive Damages

• Preparing for Victory

• Telling a Story

• Knowing the Audience

• Credibility

Roger McCleary
Beirne, Maynard & Parsons
Houston, TX

Exchanging Fire:  Protection and Production of Electronic Documents

• Fundamentals of Electronic Discovery and Use of E-mail in Litigation -- Duties to Preserve, Requests for Production, Court Orders Requiring Preservation, Sanctions for Failure to Follow, etc.

Tracy Van Steenburgh
Halleland Lewis Nilan Sipkins & Johnson
Minneapolis, MN

Technological Blockades:  Use of Secure Private Extranet Technology in Large Cases and Pattern Litigation

• Centralized Document and Information Management

• Uniform Discovery Responses

• National Programs with a Local Flavor

• Bringing Everyone Up to the Highest Level

Paul Hultin
Wheeler, Trigg & Kennedy
Denver, CO

Building Alliances:  Fundamentals of Litigating in Canada -- an overview

• Importance of U.S. - Canada Trade Relations

• Canada's Court System

• Progress of a Typical Civil Case

• Class Action Litigation in Canada

• Major Differences in the Law

Paul Morrison and Mike Barrack
McCarthy Tetrault
Toronto, Ontario

A New Battleground:  Retooling Your Trial Lawyers for Mediation Advocacy

• Cost of Litiation

• Dispute Resolution Options

• Adapting to ADR, Mediation

• Mediation Stages, Planning, Briefing Books, Client Attendance

• Arbitration Advocacy

Rod Heard
Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon
Chicago, IL

BREAK  

Spouses' and Significant Others' Special Event -- Cooking Demonstration by Kiawah's own Low Country Culinary Artiste, Chef Neissner  -- limited to 30 hungry souls

Matthew Neissner, Executive Chef of the Kiawah Island Inn, teaches this cooking class for us on Saturday from 10 to12 pm.  Includes 3 courses of Low country food paired with wines and held in the Atlantic Private Room.

Generals Under Fire:  Senior Executive Meltdown, Its Causes and Cures

• Do's and Don'ts with Video-Tape Examples of Some of the Most Notorious Gaffes by World-class Executive Luminaries.

Steve Kravit
Kravit, Gass, Hovel & Leitner
Milwaukee, WI

The Press Arrive:  Handling Media in High Profile Cases

Examples from high profile cases in the press and on television, including this month's hearing before the United States Supreme Court of the Crack Baby cases:

• Fending off low-blow questions

• Neutralizing negativity

• Taking the high road

• Avoiding the spotlight

Robert Hood
Hood Law Firm
Charleston, SC

Doing Battle:  Withering Cross-Examination Techniques

• Finding the flaws in your adversary's direct testimony

• Handling attractive witnesses

• Winning cases with effective cross-examination

Kelly Corr
Corr Cronin
Seattle, WA

Watching the Battle:  A View from the Bench

• Practical experience of federal judges who had been trial lawyers.  What they see in the courtroom and how cases are tried.

Shifting Rules of Engagement:  Implementing the Changes to FRCP and FRE

• Coming to a Federal Court Near you December 1, 2000.

Linda Woolf
Goodell, DeVries, Leech & Gray
Baltimore, MD

4 Concurrent One Hour Break-out Sessions

SATURDAY 12:00 NOON

Section A -- New Ideas:  Litigation Strategy and Tactics

Discussion of developments and trends in mass tort litigation, problems facing courts and parties, and possible directions for the future.

Section B -- New Issues:  Employment Litigation

Discussion of developments and trends in employment litigation, as well as practical and innovative methods to minimize risk and loss.

Section C -- New Technology:  Extranets and Online Case and Trial Management

Discussion of experience with and use of secure private extranets to manage information in multi-jurisdiction law suits.

Section D -- New Methods:  Mediation and ADR Experience

Discussion of experience with mediation and other ADR processes.

 Recreation

Hospitality Suite