Advocacy at Deposition: Division 1's Advocacy Workshop (4/27/2016, Nashville, TN)

YOUNG LAWYERS CONSTRUCTION PRACTICUM – Advocacy at Deposition

April 27, 2016; 2:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.

Many construction cases are either won or lost during the deposition phase of discovery. Depositions provide an opportunity to not only learn about your opponent’s case, but also to establish the key facts you will need for dispositive motions and/or trial and to evaluate your clients and opponents testimonial demeanor. Please join us for a practicum with a team of nationally-recognized construction attorneys who will discuss the art of advocacy when taking and defending discovery depositions.

Topics will include:

• Preparing your client for deposition.

• Preparing to take the deposition of an adverse witness.

• “The Deposition Dance” – how to avoid using your outline as a crutch so you get what you need from a witness.

• Taking and defending Rule 30(b)(6) depositions.

• The ethical and legal boundaries relating to defending depositions.

• Special considerations for expert depositions.

• Closing the loop – What to do after the deposition has been concluded.

Speakers:

Leadership Circle: John Vento, Trenam Law, Tampa, Florida

Division 1: Rob Ruesch, Verrill Dana, LLP, Portland, Maine

YLD: Tamara Lindsay, Coates Rose, New Orleans, LA

Presented By: Division 1 – Litigation and Dispute Resolution; Young Lawyers Division; and the Forum Leadership Circle.

SEPARATE REGISTRATION FEE: $50/PERSON

Brochure: http://bit.ly/1R5qLim 
Register: http://bit.ly/1Kq0NEJ

2014 Cornerstone Award: Holt Gwyn

Every year at the Annual Meeting, the attendees convene for the Forum's Annual Business Meeting during our lunch on the Thursday of the meeting. This year was no different, of course, as we convened in a ballroom to install our new Governing Committee members and Division Chairs (including our new chair for Division 1) and hand out awards and thank yous for those people who edited books published in the past bar year or who chaired national or regional Forum events.

Here's a photo of outgoing Chair Terry Brookie leading the meeting this year.

From time to time, the Forum Governing Committee determines that an individual should be honored for his or her lifetime of achievements and contributions to the Forum.  This award is known as the Cornerstone Award.  It is not awarded every year, and it is only awarded to those who have truly given back to the construction law profession through their service, activity, and scholarship in the field.  Past winners of the Cornerstone Award are a veritable "Who's Who" of construction law; a list of the awardees through 2013 is available on the ABA Website here.

This year, Doug Oles of Oles Morrison Rinker Baker LLP in Seattle had the privilege to introduce the latest winner of the Cornerstone Award, A. Holt Gwyn of Conner Gwyn Schenck PLLC in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The video below is Doug's introduction and gentle roasting prior to Holt's acceptance of the award.  Doug could have continued on for much longer if he had chosen to mention all of the awards that Holt has earned through his distinguished career, but he did abbreviate somewhat.




Here is Holt's humble acceptance of the award.




And my apologies for the shakiness of the videos at times.

Workshop A: Labor Today, None Tomorrow

Danny Jarrett of Jackson Lewis LLP in Albuquerque and Christopher Whitney of Pierce Atwood LLP in both Boston and Providence are the speakers for Workshop A. All of us have seen picketing, bannering, and other labor union tactics. But, as construction lawyers, how do we handle issues raised by those behaviors -- or even strikes?

Danny and Chris are giving us the lowdown on these issues. 

Good Morning from New Orleans

Day 1, plenary 2: we are learning about the use of random sampling to deal with construction defect claims. Our speakers are Clifford Shapiro of Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Chicago, Clairmargaret Groover of Becker & Poliakoff in Orlando, and William Mazur of Rimkus Consulting Group in Houston. 

If you are missing out on the presentation, be sure to check the searchable knowledgebase on the Forum's website for the written materials.