PRESENTED BY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION TORT TRIAL & INSURANCE PRACTICE SECTION'S PRODUCTS, GENERAL LIABILITY AND CONSUMER LAW COMMITTEE AND AUTOMOBILE LAW COMMITTEE

April 9-11, 2008
Arizona Biltmore
Resort and Spa
Phoenix, Arizona

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

Be sure to set aside April 9th through April 11th, 2008, to attend the premiere national CLE event in automotive products liability litigation. This annual program will once again take place at the legendary Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa. This is a must-attend event if you practice products liability law, whether for the plaintiffs, the defendants, in-house, or for insurance companies.

This year’s program includes some of the top trial and appellate lawyers in the business, including our featured presenter, former Solicitor General and current Dean of Pepperdine Law School, Kenneth Starr. Dean Starr will discuss the most recent trends in punitive damage awards.

The program also features ten in-house counsel from seven automotive manufacturers, as well as, nationally recognized experts in biomechanics, accident reconstruction, animations, rollover testing, materials sciences, and FMVSS regulations.

As a special treat this year, on April 9th, Exponent (Failure Analysis Associates) is opening the doors to its Phoenix facility for a live demonstration of one of its state-of-the-art test apparatuses. Exponent will provide round-trip transportation from the Biltmore, and lunch at the site. This event is open to all ABA program attendees.

Some of the other topics to be covered include; The inside view from in-house counsel on whether to settle or try cases; Women in the role of first chair trial lawyer, case-handler, and expert witness; FMVSS regulatory update; Rollover and roof crush analysis and much more! In addition to the excellent substance and spectacular locale, the TIPS Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Program will be held at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa concurrently with our program. This allows us to offer you the double networking opportunities and twice the CLE credits all in one place! We will host a joint cocktail reception on Thursday evening for all attendees.

The ABA offers a special discount for anyone interested in attending both programs. In addition, law firms and companies that register two or more lawyers for our Emerging Issues in Motor Vehicle Product Liability Litigation Program and the Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Program will receive a $100 discount for each registrant. As well, TIPS members who have registered for either program may purchase the materials for the other program at the substantially reduced rate of $85.

It’s a great program, attended by great people in a great venue! So mark your calendars for April 9-11, 2008 and you won’t be disappointed!

H. Grant Law, Program Co-Chair
Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP
San Francisco,CA

Gary M. Pappas, Program Co-Chair
Carlton Fields PA
Miami, FL

Return to Top

CLE

“PUNISH FOR WHAT?”: MAKING SENSE OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES AFTER CAMPBELL AND WILLIAMS
Twice in the last five years the U.S. Supreme Court has provided guidance as to the law of punitive damages. Or has it? Especially given that almost half of the justices themselves seem to disagree on what due process now requires, practitioners can be forgiven for feeling uncertain as well. This discussion, led by one experienced corporate litigator and one former Solicitor General, will provide a comprehensive update on this rapidly changing area of law.

ON AND OFF-ROAD ROLLOVERS; A DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF ROOF CRUSH ENERGY AND DEFORMATION
Are there significant differences in the amount of energy developed in an off-road vs. on-road rollover? And what is the influence on vehicle? Deformation? And more importantly, how does this impact the decisions of the experts? Exponent engineer Robert Larson, a “Rising Star,” with special expertise in analyzing vehicle dynamics in testing and real-world environments, will tackle the challenges arising out of “trip terrain” disputes and why Exponent’s recent testing and analysis may finally shed light on the calculation of drag factor in a rollover crash involving uneven terrain.

FMVSS REGULATORY UPDATES: WHAT’S GOING TO BE STRONGER, WHAT’S GOING TO BE BETTER, AND WHAT’S PREEMPTED
Hear from two former NHTSA in-house counsel as they team up to give you the latest information on NHTSA rulemaking and enforcement, including roof and seat strength requirements, ESC, tire-pressure monitoring, bumper compatibility, side-impact protection, “smart airbags”, and more.

DOES BIOMECHANICS PASS THE DAUBERT (AND FRYE) REQUIREMENTS?
More and more experts in biomechanics are being challenged in pre-trial Daubert and Frye hearings. Some are being criticized for being an engineer with no medical degree, while others are called to task for being a medical doctor with little or no engineering background. Hear how some experts are no longer relying on just retaining attorneys to respond to admissibility challenges, but rather are putting together their own “Daubert packages” to ensure that the trial judge has all the information she/he needs to reach the right decision.

“WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?” TOP TEN TRIAL BLUNDERS
We have all heard our share of “top ten” lists, but probably not one quite like this. Jim Yukevich, who has tried cases involving a diverse array of products such as automobiles, ATVs, tires, industrial machines and roller coasters, is as experienced a storyteller as he is a trial lawyer. He will share stories of some of the more notable trial blunders he has observed over the course of his career. Some stories will make you laugh, some will make you cringe, but they all will make you wonder, “what were they thinking?”

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SEVERITY OF REAL-WORLD ROLLOVERS:
Kineticorp’s SAE paper, “Image Analysis of Rollover Crash Tests Using Photogrammetry” was recently selected to receive the Arch T. Colwell Merit Award, to be presented at the SAE 2008 World Congress. Mr. Fenton’s ABA program is the “visual version” of that paper and includes video analysis of several real-world rollovers and a dolly rollover, as well as mathematical modeling to determine which characteristics of these crashes contributed to their severity.

MARS VS. VENUS: THE WOMAN’S ROLE AS A FIRST CHAIR TRIAL LAWYER, CASE-HANDLER AND EXPERT WITNESS; WITH PERSPECTIVES FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TABLE
Hear from three nationally recognized attorneys about the challenges women face in litigation, how they are responding to those challenges, and what it is like for a male trial lawyer to adapt to dealing with women in a practice area that has been historically dominated by men.

BLOWOUT! SORTING OUT LIABILITY AND CAUSATION WHEN BOTH TIRE DESIGN AND TIRE REPAIRS ARE AT ISSUE
What do you when the source of a tire failure appears to be a bad repair, but the tire design itself is not immune from criticism? And then what if the manufacturer declines to point the finger at the sales/repair facility, which also happens to be a customer of the manufacturer? Hear a first-hand account from two plaintiff’s attorneys who faced just such a situation, and find out how it all turned out.

FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS IN PRODUCTS LITIGATION: WHAT YOU SEE IS NICE, WHAT’S COVERED IS VITAL . . . HOW TO CROSS AND COUNTER
A mechanical engineer and experienced trial counsel team up on this interesting and stimulating presentation that will examine the issue of Finite Element Analysis and its current and historical usage in automotive product design. With more mention of FEA in design documents and discovery, understanding the subject and its implications in handling automotive design cases is of growing importance.

RECENT TRENDS IN AUTOMOTIVE CLASS ACTIONS
Class action lawsuits, particularly those grounded in alleged consumer protection act violations, have continued to thrive despite recent legislative reforms. This program will provide an overview of developments in the class actions arena as they relate to automobile manufacturers.

“WE'RE HOPELESSLY DEADLOCKED YOUR HONOR” — NOW WHAT? HUNG JURIES IN AUTO PRODUCTS CASES
From compelling statistics on hung juries, to the law that trial judges must follow, to competing interests when juries are deadlocked, this presentation gets to the heart of hung juries and offers practical strategies for dealing with deadlocks.

RECENT VERDICTS IN AUTO PRODUCTS TRIALS
These top plaintiff and defense trial lawyers will update you with highlights from the most important and most recent automotive products liability trial verdicts. Scott Nealey will cover the big-ticket plaintiffs’ verdicts, letting you know what worked with judges and juries so that the defendants were held responsible and the plaintiffs were justly compensated. David Rogers will cover the blockbuster defense verdicts, highlighting the winning strategies that protected the deep-pocket defendants from “jackpot justice.”

APPELLATE CASE LAW UPDATE
Mr. Rice will get you current on all the latest appellate developments in the world of auto products liability, including what claims are and aren’t preempted, which states are moving towards adoption of the Consumer Expectations Test, and what evidence exclusions are and aren’t being sustained on appeal.

SUPERSIZE MY SEATBELT! WAIT, WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS?
How is the automotive industry responding to claims that it is not designing restraint systems to accommodate our “growing” population? What risks to children and small-statured adults may be created by building a bigger seatbelt? These questions and more will be answered in this informative presentation by experienced trial counsel in automotive restraint design cases.

IN HOUSE COUNSEL PANEL: “SHOULD WE TRY IT OR BUY IT”?
This esteemed panel of in-house counsel from seven different manufacturers will provide their insights into the decision-making process for trying and settling cases. They will discuss issues such as: “Do we get more long-term value from trying a case against a known plaintiff attorney, even if we lose?”; “How do we convince the other side that the money we offer today is going to be the same or more than we offer on the court-house steps?”; and, “At what point is a confidentiality clause a deal breaker?” This is a must-attend program for anyone interested in knowing the ins and outs of case evaluation from the manufacturer’s side.

Hotel

Hotel Deadline: March 7 , 2008
Advance Registration Deadline: March 14, 2008

For Reservations call 602/955-6600. A limited number of rooms have been blocked for program registrants of the ABA 2008 Emerging Issues in Motor Vehicle Product Liability Litigation Program at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, 24 Street and Missouri, Phoenix, AZ 85016, for a hotel room rate of $295 single/double plus 12.07% tax, identify yourself as attending the American Bar Association 2008 Emerging Issues in Motor Vehicle Product Liability Litigation Program when making reservations. For reservations, please call the hotel directly at 602/955-6600. The room block will be held until exhausted or until Wednesday, March 12, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. (CST). After the meeting specified hotel deadline, reservations will be confirmed based on availability. Hotel check-in is 4:00 p.m. and checkout is 12:00 p.m. (noon). All reservations must be guaranteed by credit card or deposit check. Individuals with guaranteed reservations must cancel their reservations seven (7) days prior to the scheduled day of arrival to avoid a two-night cancellation charge.

Return to Top

Registration

You can Register online or download the registration form in the brochure and mail, or fax to 312/988-6230 by March 14, 2008, for the 2008 Emerging Issues in Motor Vehicle Product Liability Litigation Program to be held at the beautiful Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona. The registration fee includes admission to the program, course materials, continental breakfast, breaks, and welcome reception. If you wish to have your name appear on the pre-registration list distributed at the program, ALL registration forms must be received no later than the registration deadline of March 14, 2008. Registration reservations will be confirmed in writing within 10 business days.

Register Online Today!