State of the Industry Speaker
Pamela Bracher, Deputy General Counsel, American Trucking Associations

Pam has 18 years of experience in the transportation industry, specializing in defending truck drivers and motor carriers in highway accident and cargo litigation. She has held leadership positions, managed claims teams, coached high-level claims examiners and paralegals for major transportation companies, and represented and defended trucking companies and drivers in tort litigation in most of the lower 48.

Stop Arguing and Start Negotiating
Presented by: William McKenzie, Norman Wood Kendrick & Turner

Join us for a transformative journey with "Stop Arguing, Start Negotiating," where national trial attorney William H. McKenzie, IV, unravels the secrets of effective negotiation strategies. This presentation will guide you through the nuances of persuading both logically and emotionally, emphasizing the importance of EQ over IQ in negotiations. Drawing from a wealth of resources including behavioral economics studies, this session offers practical insights into human psychology and cognitive biases. Whether you're resolving conflicts, steering through complex legal negotiations, or enhancing interpersonal communications, these principles are universally applicable. Prepare to 100% flip your perspective and embrace negotiation as a pivotal skill for professional and personal growth.

TIDA Talk: I Just Gave the Plaintiff What They Really Wanted
Presented by: Jeanne Givner, FedEx Freight, Inc.

This session will give you an opportunity to think through how you can lead the plaintiff to think they have won their objective in settling their claim. Through various methods of creative thinking, emotional intelligence, and communication strategies, you can leave the plaintiff thinking they “won”, while at the same time walking away from a case knowing that you won too.

TIDA Talk: No Good Dead Goes Unpunished: Collision Mitigation Systems in Commercial Vehicles
Presented by: Michael Johnson, McMickle, Kurey & Branch, LLP

Join Michael Johnson as he discusses a $16M Verdict to a Plaintiff who Rear-ended a Tractor-Trailer.  Michael will take you through the wreck from every angle.  He will discuss the Trial - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.  What were the lessons to be learned.

Plaintiff's Perspective: A Wide Open Dialog About How We Win Cases
Presented by: Joe Fried, Fried Goldberg

In this interactive session, Joe Fried will provide his unvarnished position on why the plaintiff bar has been succeeding as it has, including his perspective nuclear verdicts, what the plaintiff side is doing right, and what the defense could be doing better (case handling, mediation, and trial).  Joe promises to be an open book, so bring your tough questions!

Melissa Villasenor broke barriers by becoming the first-ever Latina cast member of Saturday Night Live. A comedic impressions expert, she got her start as a semifinalist on America’s Got Talent. Learn more.

Trial Ready? Building Comfort in Trying Cases
Presented by: Karla Eaves, Cardinal Logistics and Matt Hefflefinger, Chartwell Law

An interactive discussion of the do’s and don’ts associated with trial practice, the value of going to trial, thinking outside the box, and developing the skills of tomorrow’s trucking trial lawyers.

TIDA Talk: Lessons from A Legend
Presented by: Virginia Price, Price Pelletier, LLP

Virginia will talk about the litigation change over 25 years and a case handling philosophy (SPEAR) she developed to address clients’ and attorneys’ needs today in one of the toughest venues in the country leading to the best deal for the least cost to our clients, better trained and mentored younger attorneys, and a longer, healthier, more fulfilled life for attorneys.

TIDA Talk: How Drive Analytics Can Make or Break You
Presented by: Misti Ramirez, EMA Risk Services

It is important for carriers to identify at-risk drivers before they become a liability, but will driver analytics designed to help the industry instead help plaintiffs in building their case? It is a guarantee that the plaintiffs’ bar will know your driver data, so this presentation will discuss how knowledge and proactive steps in litigation can be the key to prevent a nuclear verdict.

TIDA Talk: Navigating Autonomous Trucking Commercialization in an Uncertain Regulatory Environment
Presented by: Michelle Chaka

Torc Robotics, an autonomous vehicle leader since 2007, is commercializing self-driving trucks for safe, sustained, long-haul innovation in the freight industry. As Torc works towards commercialization,it is navigating an uncertain regulatory landscape.This presentation will provide an overview of the current regulatory landscape for autonomous trucking and the collaborative efforts by industry and government to shape the future of autonomous regulation. Ms. Chaka will discuss Torc’s approach to compliance and how we are establishing certainty anchoring in the waves of uncertainty.

TIDA Talk: Collision Avoidance Systems
Presented by: Shawn Harrington

You have heard of them, you may even have cases involving them, but how are collision mitigation systems influencing cases involving heavy trucks? What are they designed to do and what foundation are they providing in the trucking industry? Comparisons, real world testing and case studies will be provided to the attendee.

TIDA Talk: Positive Disruption: AI in the Trucking Industry
Presented by: Myra Blanco, Ph.D., Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

New technologies disrupt the trucking industry for the positive –including AI. More than just “ChatGPT,” Artificial Intelligence can be used to complement human labor and improve productivity. From automated driving to dispatch and fuel impacts, AI has practical solutions and is a current factor in claims and litigation considerations.

TIDA Talk: Building Your Bunker: Drafting a Driver Manual that Cannot Be Used Against You
Presented by: Pam Hallford, Carr Allison

In this TIDA Talk we will explore how to safeguard your driver manual from being a nuclear weapon in litigation. Join Pam to gain valuable insights into upholding the integrity of your training while mitigating the risk of your driver manual turning into the smoking gun aimed squarely at your defense. Don’t miss the opportunity to explore practical strategies for drafting denuclearized manuals.

TIDA Talk: Damned if You Respond, Damned if You Don't
Presented by: Yaron Shaham, Kahana & Feld, LLP

This presentation will deal with how the trucking industry can respond to burdensome, oppressive, and disproportionate requests for production of documents pre-suit and during litigation. As much as the industry may wish it away, a proactive discovery posture is critical to dispel plaintiffs’ misconceptions that the industry only knows how to play defense and cannot be offensive minded while conducting itself lawfully and ethically.

TIDA Talk: Highway Robbery: Predatory Towing Practices and How to Combat Them
Presented by: Renee Bowen, Franklin & Prokopik

With increasing frequency, towing and recovery companies engaged by law enforcement are sticking motor carriers with inflated, excessive, and sometimes fraudulent invoices for these police-initiated towing and recovery services. Worse, oftentimes the towing and recovery companies are holding tractors, trailers, and cargo hostage unless and until excessive invoices are paid, all while continuing to increase the invoices by adding daily storage charges. We will explore strategies and best practices for both avoiding and combatting predatory towing practices.

Fight or Flight: Strategies for Early Exits of The Long Haul
Presented by: Lindsay Gorbach, Mayer LLP and Danielle Foster-Smith, Ruan Transportation Management Systems

This discussion will explore rationale and strategies for mapping the outcome of cases, in both pre-litigated and litigated matters.This presentation will discuss strategies for case file handling to assist in developing a case-specific, early exit strategy for a particular file, including, but not limited to, utilizing targeted discovery and motion practice.

A Strategy for "Self-Anchoring" as an Antidote for Nuclear Verdicts
Presented by: Charli Morris, Trial Prep and Noelle Natoli, Kahana & Feld, LLP

What if we had a data-driven approach to getting jurors anchored on damages before opening statements even begin? It's possible. Based on 30 years of jury research, Charli Morris recently conducted a pilot test of her hypothesis that getting jurors grounded in their own experiences and attitudes toward money could be the key to winning arguments about what is "fair and reasonable" in civil litigation. She'll share her initial results and some of the tools she developed as the basis for on-going research that could establish whether self-anchoring questions in voir dire are indeed effective for mitigating against nuclear verdicts. The "financial literacy" of prospective jurors may one day be a measurable trait with predictive potential.

Presented by: Darren Mulford, Gallagher Basset

TIDA Talk: Jurisdictional Jigsaw: Solving the Problem of Multi-Jurisdictional Accident Litigation from the Workers' Compensation Perspective
Presented by: Mary Beth Hughes, Scopelitis Garvin Light Hanson & Feary

It’s an all-too-common scenario. Driver lives in one state, operates out of anotherand is involved in an accident in yet another state. Which state decides the workers’ compensation benefits or even whether the driver is an employee? How can a company ensure it settles all possible workers’ compensation claims while also maximizing the third party reimbursement? We’ll examine some common issues and give you the tools to be sure your company comes out ahead.