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2024 Annual Conference - Santa Fe New Mexico - 08/01/2024 to 08/03/2024


CLE Sessions

Events & Activities

Presenters

Sponsors
08/01/2024
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Mountain Bike Trail Ride


4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
New Lawyer Greeting Party


Sarah Andrzejcak
Buchalter


Matt W. Cecil
Sutton | Booker

6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Thursday Night Opening Reception


New Mexico History Museum and Palace of the Govenors

08/02/2024
7:00 am - 8:00 am
Breakfast


8:00 am - 8:30 am
Welcome & Announcements


Robert Hinckley, Jr.
Buchalter

8:30 am - 9:30 am
Our AI Future and the Law - Jonathan Brill


Jonathan Brill is an expert on strategic foresight and technology innovation. He writes, speaks and advises startups, the Fortune 50 and the Secret Service on how to create and take advantage of uncertainty. His warm style, compelling stories, and intellectual rigor inspire visionaries and open even the most hard-boiled executives to new ways of thinking and doing.

Jonathan Brill, Business Futurist
CV

9:30 am - 10:20 am
Please Don't Silence Your Cell Phones: Effective Trial Techniques in the Tech Age


Judge Susan Blanco and Judge Jon Olafson will discuss effective storytelling in the courtroom and some common problems with storytelling they have encountered. They will address the incorporation of technology with effective storytelling to best reach modern jurors, and speak to some common fears associated with using technology in the courtroom.

Susan Blanco
8th Judicial District Chief Judge


Jon J. Olafson
2nd Judicial District Court Judge


Kirk Whitehead
Martinez, Dieterich & Zarcone Legal Group
CV

9:30 am - 10:20 am
Insurance Bad Faith Update


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Katherine K Kust
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
CV


Rebecca K. Wagner
Campbell, Wagner and Frazier, LLC
CV


Sandy Eloranto
Sutton | Booker
CV

10:20 am - 10:30 am
Break


10:30 am - 11:25 am
Presenting Your Case In A Bench Trial: Lessons from the Perspective of the Trier of Fact


Workshop Materials

Many attorneys mistakenly approach a bench trial like a jury trial. But successful attorneys know that a bench trial must be prepared for and presented very differently than a jury trial. In November 2023, Denver District Court Judge Sarah B. Wallace presided over the most watched and consequential bench trial in Colorado history – Anderson, et al. v. Griswold, et al. (a/k/a the case to keep former President Donald J. Trump off the Colorado primary ballot). Judge Wallace will provide tips and tactics, as well as some cautionary tales, to help you persuade the court at your next bench trial. Topics will include pre-trial briefing, tailoring your opening statement and closing argument, evidence and objections, and what not to do in a bench trial that you might normally do in a jury trial.

Sarah B Wallace
Sarah B. Wallace - 2nd Judicial District Court Judge


Billy-George Hertzke
SGR, LLC

11:30 am - 12:20 am
Whiplash! Keeping Up with the Ever-Changing Landscape of Employment Law


Melisa Panagakos
Jackson Lewis


Meredith L McDonald
O'Hagan Meyer

11:30 am - 12:20 am
Is Your Court Reporter a Robot?


Workshop Materials

Is Your Court Reporter a Robot?: it’s a one-hour discussion of the introduction of artificial intelligence to the court reporting industry. The presentation starts with an analysis of the history of court, reporting, including pin writers, stenographers, voice, writers, digital reporters, and ultimately artificial intelligence assisted reporting, I’ll also include a discussion of overall trend in artificial intelligence, and what limitations and standards lawyers need to set for their introduction into litigation. This will also include a 10-minute demo of CaseTestify, the AI platform.

Mike McDonner, President, Pike Reporting Company
Pike Reporting
CV

11:30 am - 12:20 am
Best Practices for Preserving Trial Issues for Appeal


Workshop Materials

A review of case law and helpful tools in terms of preserving appellate issues related to making objections, motions practice, pretrial motions, jury selection, jury instructions, and motions for directed verdict.

Gillian Fahlsing, Senior Assistant City Attorney
Aurora City Attorney’s Office Civil Division – Litigation Unit


Eric Ziporin
SGR, LLC

12:30 am - 1:30 pm
Lunch and Learn - Case Law Update


Workshop Materials

Jeffrey C Ruebel
Ruebel & Quillen

1:35 pm - 2:25 pm
Current Trends in Workers’ Compensation Penalties


Workshop Materials
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JP Moon, Senior Assistant City Attorney
City and County of Denver
CV

1:35 pm - 2:25 pm
Evaluating Personal Injuries: Considerations from Construction Codes/Standards and Human Factors Perspectives - Young Bui, Nathan Mayercsik, Exponent and Ashley Larson, Sutton Booker


Workshop Materials

When encountering a premises case (i.e., trip/slip and fall), the primary focus is often on the relevant codes/standards. Though important, that approach can be limited in explaining why the fall event occurred. And while there are various disciplines that can help assess how and/or why a fall event occurred, human factors can uniquely provide an understanding of whether a given fall incident can be explained by typical human behavior, which in turn is informed by a wealth of scientific studies. This presentation will discuss the visual perceptual cues, looking behavior, and avoidance responses that not only help pedestrians safely navigate their physical environment, but also aid in predicting the likelihood of a fall event. We will also address issues related to codes and warnings that are often seen in these types of cases, as well as common claims made by experts in relation to human factors.

Young Bui, Ph.D., Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, 2015
Exponent
CV


Nathan Mayercsik, Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015
Exponent
CV


Ashley R Larson
Sutton Booker

1:35 pm - 2:25 pm
Your Changing World - Transitioning from New Lawyer to Seasoned Litigator


Workshop Materials

Join our panel of young associates and partners discuss tips and tricks for new attorneys to get ahead at work, navigate age and experience gaps, and become a better lawyer.

Sarah Andrzejcak
Buchalter


Matt W. Cecil
Sutton | Booker


Emily Miller
Nathan Dumm & Mayer

2:25 pm - 2:35 pm
Break


2:35 pm - 3:25 pm
A Brief History of AI


I. What Is Artificial Intelligence II. A Brief History of Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence ? Turing and Chomsky’s Early Contributions III. Narrow v. General AI ? Deep Blue v. Gary Kasparov (1997) ? Alpha Go (2017) IV. Large Language Models (LLM) and Neural Networks ? Attention is All You Need (2017) V. Creating Generative AI ? What is a Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) VI. A Discussion of AI Tools and Capabilities ? Open AI’s ChatGPT 4 ? Anthropic’s Claude ? Facebook’s Llama 3 VII. Risks Associated with Using Generative AI as a Lawyer ? J. Castle – Order re: Mata v. Avianca (NY) ? People v. Zachariah Crabill – 23PDJ067 VIII. Ethical Obligations ? ABA Rule 1.1 – Competent Representation ? ABA Rule 1.3 – Reasonable Diligence ? ABA Rule 1.6 – Confidentiality ? Rule 3.3 – Candor to the Court ? Rule 8.4 – Misconduct IX. Predictions for Generative AI in Business and Law X. Business Use Cases For Attorneys and Law Practices XI. Questions

Daniel Pietragallo
Senior Assistant Attorney General at the Colorado Attorney General

3:25 pm - 4:15 pm
EDI - Diversity in the Law: Persons with Disabilities


Workshop Materials

This session will provide an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act, discuss the four models of disability, highlight skills and traits that lawyers with disabilities bring to the workplace, give an update on the formation of the Colorado Disability Bar Association, and report on the Colorado judiciary’s efforts to diversity the bench

Sueanna P Johnson
Colorado Court of Appeals

6:00 pm - 9:00 am
Friday Night Soiree - Convention Center


08/03/2024
7:00 am - 8:00 am
Breakfast


8:00 am - 8:10 am
Welcome & Announcements


Robert Hinckley, Jr.
Buchalter

8:10 am - 9:00 am
Growing Up With Heroes: A Daughter’s Journey with the Navajo Code Talkers


Zonnie Gorman
CV

9:00 am - 9:50 am
Judges Panel - Susan Blanco, LaQunya Baker, Andrew Luxen, Jon Olafson, Sarah Wallace, Sueanna Johnson


Susan Blanco
8th Judicial District Chief Judge


Jon J. Olafson
2nd Judicial District Court Judge


Sarah B Wallace
Sarah B. Wallace - 2nd Judicial District Court Judge


Sueanna P Johnson
Colorado Court of Appeals


LaQunya Baker
18th Judicial District Judge


Andrew Luxen
2nd Judicial District Court Judge

9:50 am - 10:00 am
Break


10:00 am - 10:50 am
The Trump Trial – Defending Racketeering Cases in a Civil Environment


Michael Melito
Melito Law LLC

11:00 am - 11:50 am
Beat the Drum for Justice: How the 19th Century Supreme Court Shaped Racial Issues in the 21st Century.


Workshop Materials

A historical examination of racial injustice in America and the hope created by emancipation, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and Reconstruction. Our speaker will explore the demise of Reconstruction, with an emphasis on the Supreme Court cases that failed to protect the rights embodied in the War Amendments, leading to Jim Crow, segregation, and the racial issues we have today.

Hon. Christopher Cross, Retired
JAMS

11:00 am - 11:50 am
Top 5 Appellate Tips for Civil Practitioners


Workshop Materials

During this presentation, Judge Johnson and Fred Yarger will discuss top tips for a successful appeal, including the importance of appellate standards of review, effective writing, and tips for a winning oral argument.

Sueanna P Johnson
Colorado Court of Appeals


Fred Yarger
Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell

11:00 am - 11:50 am
Impacting Your Case with ESI & Cellular Investigations


Attorneys will learn why ESI and cellular analysis is important. Vestige will go over a cellular tower case study, showing how location data can be used, along with the process of collecting email and cloud accounts. The presentation will also cover the volatility of electronic evidence and the need to collect it, as soon as possible. A demonstration on location mapping from social media applications is also included.

Chris Mammarella, EnCE, Senior Forensic Analyst
CV

12:00 am - 1:20 pm
Lunch & Learn: Legislative Update


Recent legislation has aimed to change the practice of construction litigation in our state. While some legislators have focused on expanding the rights of homeowners, other legislators are pushing to protect the construction industry. Come hear what is happening under the dome and how the practice of construction defect litigation is being directly affected.

Melissa A Ogburn
Montgomery | Amatuzio
CV


Adam M Royval
Messner Reeves

1:25 pm - 2:15 pm
How Legislation is Changing the Construction Defect Practice


Melissa A Ogburn
Montgomery | Amatuzio
CV


Adam M Royval
Messner Reeves

1:25 pm - 2:15 pm
Finding, Retaining, and Working with Expert Witnesses


Rachel T. Jennings
Sutton | Booker


Christopher Unger
American Family Insurance
CV

1:25 pm - 2:15 pm
AI Powered Legal Tools Transforming the Practice of Law


Workshop Materials

Juliette Faraone, Prompt Engineer
Filevine

2:20 pm - 2:50 pm
Vendor Raffle Drawing


2:50 pm - 3:40 pm
War Stories


Workshop Materials

Jeffrey C Ruebel
Ruebel & Quillen


Brendan O Powers
Spies Powers & Robinson

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