The Weaponized Jury – Kill or be Killed (January, 2023)

Type: Panel Conference Presentation
Description:

Times are changing and so is our jury pool. The voir dire methods of yesterday fail to address today’s reality that we are a nation growing in diversity and our society’s ideals are shifting. Social inflation is at an all-time high amidst increasing erosion in corporate trust, the rise of third party litigation funding, a wave of populism, and evolving views of social responsibility, among other factors that are contributing to the public’s desensitization to “nuclear verdicts.” The plaintiff’s bar, speaking “for the people,” is using this paradigm shift to their advantage by weaponizing the jury against the defendant. How are you responding?

This panel discussion features experienced trial counsel who will take a deep dive into the myriad ways opposing counsel is arming the jury to attack your defense. The panel will explore effective strategies to combat these tactics and reduce the overall implicit bias towards defendants. The presenters will highlight recent trial case studies, consider opposing counsel’s approach and examine successful defense strategies to speak “to the people” in a manner sensitive to our changing world. The panel will also share suitable objections to overcome plaintiff’s tactics, and highlight key considerations for corporate defendants facing sensitive damages issues, including catastrophic damages that will advance the defendant’s overall case presentation speaking to the jury from panel to verdict.

Location: Key Largo, FL.
Date: January 16, 2023

Medicare Compliance Webinar

Type: Webinar
Description: The webinar will contribute to an adjuster’s understanding of the specific areas, rules, risks and penalties (42 U.S.C. § 1395y(b)(3)(A)) of Medicare compliance and protecting Medicare from future Medical treatment. The webinar discusses the fundamentals of Medicare, the Medicare Secondary Payer Act and Medicare Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act, from facts and history to the need for Medicare compliance. The course covers the three prongs to the Medicare Compliance Triangle: reporting, conditional payments and Medicare Set-Asides. Strategies from early detection to risk analysis to reducing conditional payments are reviewed to help the parties negotiate the twist and turns and the evolving landscape that is Medicare Secondary Payer. Best practices tips for the practitioner and responsible reporting entities are provided.
Location: Live Webcast with Attorneys Reinaldo Alvarez and Edgardo Ferreyra
Date: March 31, 2021

Exploiting Artificial Intelligence and Technology in Construction Claims of Tomorrow”

Type: Conference Presentation
Description: Society as a whole is rapidly changing thanks to innovative ideas, creative solutions, and the emergence of new technologies, with advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) being a common thread.  The construction industry has been a major draw for such new technology.  With software developed to learn and adapt, see things we can’t see, or perform everyday duties, construction is no longer completed with an engineer and a slide rule, brick walls built by, or oversight by an actual person.  We have predictive design software performing the engineering, robots taking the place of masons, and software evaluating and computing live feeds of the work being performed.  The uses for such data output that exists, but has not been exploited to-date.  Tomorrow is today.  Resultantly, the desks of claims professionals, attorneys, and experts should expect an increased volume of claims that involve such technological innovations, data produced from such innovations, and technology itself.  As an industry, we must pivot our thinking and align ourselves with such technological innovations by having the foresight to see what’s next, while exploiting the data more effectively and efficiently.  Soon the insurance industry will openly embrace technology and leverage its use in design and construction with advances in adjusting claims, making legal arguments, and providing experts untapped data to present to the jury.
Location: The Gavel National Conference V - Key Largo, FL.  Presentation with Hayley Newman, Esq., of Luks, Santaniello, Michael Hinojosa of National Claim Services and Terence Kadlec of Envista Forensics. 
Date: May 19, 2021

New Virtual Initiatives Reshaping and Innovating Litigation

Type: General Session
Description: As the pandemic accelerates the workforce into a virtual world, new initiatives are reshaping and innovating litigation.  The panel session will discuss several impacted areas from the insurer’s perspective and the panel firm. It will examine how courts have expanded practices to virtual initiatives, recommendations on evidence sharing in virtual hearings and consider the unknowns of virtual effects on exposure. Panelists will opine on how virtual platforms (Microsoft teams, Zoom among others) are being used effectively to reduce spend for depositions and mediations, and expanded areas for summary jury trials, real-time investigations, scene surveys, witness interrogation and preparation.  The session will conclude with discussion on emerging exposures presented by Telemedicine. 
Location: The Gavel National Conference V - Key Largo, FL. General Session with Daniel J. Santaniello, Esq., of Luks, Santaniello, Lincoln LeVarge, Esq., and AVP of Tower Hill Insurance Group and Ted J. McDonald, Esq., of McDonald Veon, P.A.  
Date: May 20, 2021

Negligent Security Trends: Risks | Challenges | Reducing Exposure Webinar 

Type: Webinar
Description: The webinar will acquaint the claims representative or attorney with the risks, challenges and trends surrounding negligent security. The course will cover three main objectives: identifying the current problems and trends, ways to minimize your risk and exposure, and ways to mitigate your loss.  The webinar will contribute to an adjuster’s understanding of Legal Standards to Impose Liability Against Owners and Businesses and the ways to minimize risk and exposure and ways to mitigate your loss.
Location: Live Webcast presented by Dan Santaniello
Date: May 26, 2021

Ding Dong, It’s Bacteria: Avoiding Food Safety Litigation During The Covid-19 Pandemic Webinar

Register Here for the Avoiding Food Safety Litigation Webinar

Type: Webinar
Description: The webinar will acquaint the claims representative or attorney with the risks, challenges and trends surrounding food safety and avoiding food poisoning litigation during the pandemic. The session will focus on third party delivery services like DoorDash and GrubHub and will cover food safety litigation and the multiple theories of recovery that can be utilized in pursuing a food safety case, as well as a case study and tips for protecting restauranteurs expanding into the delivery market.  The webinar will also acquaint the claims representative or attorney with the risks, challenges and trends surrounding food safety and avoiding litigation during the pandemic. The session will cover food safety litigation and the law surrounding the multiple theories of recovery that can be utilized in pursuing a food safety case.  This course will also assist attorneys and claims representatives in issue identification when evaluating food poisoning claims by discussing a case study and educating regarding practical protective measures for restaurants to avoid food poisoning litigation.
Location: Live Webcast with Attorneys L. Paige Hall of Engles, Ketcham, Olson and Keith, P.C. , Franklin Sato and Tabitha Jackson of Luks, Santaniello, Petrillo & Cohen. 
Date: June 4, 2021