Wednesday, October 23, 2019

6:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Golf Outing
*Separate registration required
Location: Meet in hotel lobby. Bus will depart at 6:00 a.m.

8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Service Project
*Separate registration required.
Location: Meet in hotel lobby. Bus will depart at 8:00 a.m.

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

Registration Open
Location: Registration Desk, 2nd Floor

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

Exhibit Hall Set-up
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer

3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

New Members & Young Professional Symposium
Location: Meeting Room 8, 9, 10

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

Exhibit Hall Open
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. 

Welcome Cocktail Reception
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer

Thursday, October 24, 2019

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

Registration Open
Location: Registration Desk, 2nd Floor

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

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

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

Exhibit Hall Open
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer

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

State of the Industry
Location: Grand Ballroom
Presented by:

Randy Guillot, American Trucking Associations

When planning for victory, we have to understand how the siege began and the current litigation climate facing our industry.  The challenges we face must be set forth clearly in order to move forward.

9:00 a.m. - 9:25 a.m.

9:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.

The Disappearing Jury Trial
Location: Grand Ballroom
Panelists:

Jerry Craig, Protective Insurance
Ryan T. Hand, Lorance Thompson, PC
Jeffrey D. Stupp, Cardinal Logistics
Brian Wymer, The Kenan Advantage Group, Inc.

Case evaluations are supposedly based upon what juries are likely to do.  But with fewer and fewer cases being tried, fog obscures our vision and the helm is unresponsive. Too often the predictive model is based upon worse case scenarios and nuclear verdicts. Has risk avoidance become irrational? Have lawyer advertising and “victim” culture irreversibly changed juror attitudes against the trucking industry? We don’t believe so. We’ll explore the origins of the problem, why we almost always forgo our 7th Amendment rights when it comes to litigation, and whether it’s time to try more cases.

10:20 a.m. - 10:35 a.m.

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

Shark Bites and Blood in the Water: Lessons from the Plaintiffs’ Bar
Location: Grand Ballroom
Panelists:

Zach Mayer, Mayer LLP
Les McFatter, Perry & Young

Lessons from the Plaintiffs’ Bar. The common errors of the Defense Bar in handling trucking litigation will be highlighted during an in-depth interview with a renowned plaintiff’s attorney.

11:35 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Luncheon Speaker
Location: Grand Ballroom
Presented by: James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Technology: Our servant or master?
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer
Panelists:

Ken C. Crippen, American Trucking and Transportation Insurance Co.
Mark Edwards, Ph.D., Human Factors Expert and Statistician
David L. Ortega, Naman Howell

Embrace or back away? Have we gone too far?  How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb? Are we creating new standards of care harmful to our defenses? Both sides of the issue will be vetted in a lively debate format.

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Safety vs. Claims
Location: Grand Ballroom
Panelists:

Andrea Albert, Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith
Pamela Blass Bracher, U.S. Xpress, Inc.
Greg McQuagge, U.S. Xpress, Inc.

Do we know all the dangers lurking in troubled waters?  In the wag, who’s the dog and who’s the tail? We’ll explore the often competing priorities of the safety and claims departments, from evidence preservation to preventability determinations.

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

Regulatory Compliance
Location: Grand Ballroom
Panelists:

T.J. England, C.R. England & Sons
John Seidl, Reliance Partners

The stars to navigate by.  The rules are set out even if they don’t always give clear guidance.  One way to make a good catch is not to harpoon your own ship.  This panel will feature a first for TIDA—a radio call in program to allow truckers from all over the U.S. and Canada to call in with questions for our expert panel, and share concerns from the front lines of a regulated industry.

Commitment to Collaboration
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer
Panelists:

Robert D. Boroff, Gallagher Sharp LLP
Paul Greene, Canal Insurance Company

It is no secret that some of the success of the Plaintiffs’ Bar can be attributed to their sophisticated networking practices.  Defense attorneys, trucking companies, and their insurance carriers have been reluctant to share information on the same level, which is counterproductive to the ultimate goal of reasonable and fair resolution of trucking claims.  The goal of this presentation is to provide an open forum so that we as an industry can identify ways we can better share information and collaborate.

Cocktail Reception
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer

Friday, October 25, 2019

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

Breakfast
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer

7:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Exhibit Hall Open
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer

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

Damages Potpourri
Location: Grand Ballroom
Panelists:

Kenneth Davis, Waste Connections
Kelly Milam, Gordon & Rees

Rocks in the water can run your ship aground. Strategies for realistic assessment and evaluation of significant injuries based upon real cases, including the soft tissue claim that turns into the high exposure case. How best to deal with potential punitive exposure? We’ll discuss early resolution where liability is not favorable, how and when the “empathetic” approach works best, and the other approaches that have proven successful.

8:50 a.m. - 9:40 a.m.

Proactivity by the Defense Bar
Location: Grand Ballroom
Panelists:

Carrie Foris, Prime Insurance
Karen Ludden, Dean & Fulkerson
Kelly Yates, Topa Insurance Company

How counsel can better help carriers (including smaller ones) with risk mitigation and best practices before unwittingly sailing into a squall.

9:40 a.m. - 9:55 a.m.

Morning Break
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer

9:55 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

The Anti-Reptile
Location: Grand Ballroom
Panelists:

Jarrod Crouse, Baylor Evnen, LLP
Mike Dargel, Melton Truck Lines
Kelly Lowery, CR England & Sons
Larry Warren, Naman Howell

The human faces of the trucking industry and tools for talking. We’ll see video clips of “day in the life” videos and other ways to help jurors understand the dedication and hard work of our drivers.  Should our industry up its game when it comes to public relations and community citizenship.

10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Good News Verdicts and Outcomes
Location: Grand Ballroom
Panelists:

Art Kirkner, NBIS
Darryl S. Vereen, Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxson & Galatzan, PC

Examining what went RIGHT and why hope is alive.  We’ll consider how comparative fault defenses don’t mean “blaming the victim”, how the underwater mines were avoided, and what messages resonated the best during the case.  How rational bravery, the right strategies, and commitment translated into wins for the good guys.