AGENDA:
- 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. - Registration/Breakfast
- 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. - Session I (Blank Rome)
- 9:10 a.m. to 10:10 a.m. - Session II (Reed Smith)
- 10:20 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. - Session III (Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Shiller)
- 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Lunch Served
- 12:40 p.m. to 1:40 p.m. - Session IV (Baker Hostetler)
- 1:50 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. - Session V (Obermayer)
- 3:00 p.m. - Conclusion
Session I—How to Limit the Possibility That Your Contract Ends Up Under the Litigation Microscope
Every day in-house counsel draft agreements that may have inherent risks that they may not aware of. There are new laws, rules and regulations across different jurisdictions. There are ambiguities or loopholes that even in the most well-intentioned contract provisions can cause reputational or financial harm. In this presentation, two expert commercial litigators from Blank Rome and a General Counsel will discuss various way to mitigate drafting risks so your company does not end up in court.
Session II—Out of the Shadows: Strategies for Addressing Common, But Seldom Discussed, Mass Tort Litigation Irritants
Discovery abuse abounds in mass tort litigation. We discuss two aspects that often fly under the radar. Expert depositions are routine in high-stakes litigation, but the process is disrupted by exorbitant fee demands by opposing experts, often exceeding $1,000 per hour. This session will teach how to resist and overcome such demands. Third parties are also targets of discovery abuse in complex litigation, receiving extravagant document subpoenas, compliance with which would disrupt their document retention policies. This session will also address how non-parties can quash or narrow such fishing expeditions. Third Party Payor litigation also follows mass tort litigation as night follows day, and we will discuss recent trends and developments.
Session III—Who Can Bind the Company? Litigating Authority Issues
As businesses become larger and more decentralized, and as the use of senior-sounding employee titles becomes more prevalent (e.g., Senior Vice President; Managing Director), it is increasingly important to monitor how employees’ authority to act on behalf of the business is presented to third parties. This presentation will provide an overview of the doctrines of (1) apparent authority of agents and (2) ratification of agents’ conduct. It will then describe how businesses can minimize the risk that an agent without actual authority can bind the business, and it will detail litigation strategies on how to prevail on this fact-intensive issue before trial.
Session IV—In Case You Haven’t Heard, Diversity Matters. Now What?
There have been a slew of articles and presentations lately on why diversity in the legal field matters. In addition to discussing why having diverse outside counsel is good for business, this presentation will focus on how in-house counsel can make the goal of creating diverse teams a reality. It will include practical tips for identifying diverse talent, developing a pipeline of diverse lawyers for future matters and ensuring teams provide meaningful opportunities to diverse lawyers. It will also focus on having diverse litigation teams all the way through trial and what that means for judges and juries.
Session V—How to Avoid a 30(b)(6) Disaster: Smart Strategies for Witness Selection and Education
During this presentation, we will discuss how to select the appropriate 30(b)(6) witness to best represent the entity at a deposition, and how avoid consequences for failure to present and/or prepare a corporate representative.