Click here to register.

SCHEDULE
Thursday, December 10, 2020

11:am Virtual Platform Opens

 

11:30am - 11:45am Welcome & General Business Meeting

 

11:45am - 1:15pm
2020 Year in Review
Worried you may have missed an important new precedent? In your own practice area or another important to defense work? The ADC has you covered, with this review of key legal developments. Top attorneys Michael Brady, Don Willenburg and Jill Lifter will lead the presentation – with a little help from our special guests! Be there to see and learn. (MCLE - 1.5 hours general credit)
 
Speakers:
       
       
  Michael Brady
Ropers Majeski
Kohn & Bentley
ADR Services
 

Don Willenburg
Gordon Rees Scully 
Mansukhani, LLP

  Jill Lifter
Ryan & Lifter

 

1:15pm - 1:30pm Break

 

1:30pm - 2:30pm
Arguing Non-Economic Damages
A lively theatrical presentation by Randy Andrada, Chris Beeman, and Cynthia McGuinn. "Judge" Andrada presides over closing arguments by Beeman and McGuinn.
(MCLE - 1.0 hour general credit)
  Sponsored by:  
      


   

 
Speakers:
        
       
  Randall Andrada
Andrada &
Associates
  Christopher Beeman
Clapp Moroney
Vucinich Beeman
Scheley
  Cynthia McGuinn
Rouda Feder
Tietjen & McGuinn

 

1:30pm - 2:30pm The ADC Confessional - Coverage Disasters I Have Known

The world of insurance coverage is sometimes unpredictable. In this presentation, you will hear two practicing coverage attorneys describe their experience with the good -- and the bad -- that can come from insurance coverage litigation. (MCLE - 1.0 hour general credit)

 
Speakers:
   
    
  Mark Bonino
Hayes, Scott,
Bonino, Ellingson,
Guslani
  Maria Quintero
Hinshaw &
Culbertson

 

2:30pm - 2:45pm Break

 

2:45pm - 3:45pm Police and the Use of Force in 2020 (Part 1)
Never has one year provided so much focus on the role of police in our society. Our panel of 4 experienced attorneys, including one current and two former peace officers, analyze the legal issues which confronted law enforcement and our society in 2020. (MCLE - 1.0 hour general credit)
 
Speakers:
         
              
  Moderator:
David Levy

Law Office of 
David Levy
James Arendt
Weakley & Arendt
  Edward Obayashi
Plumas County
Sheriff's Office
  Michael Rains
Rains Lucia
Stern, PC

 

2:45pm - 3:45pm

Achieving the Work/Life Balance
The demands of a career in the legal profession can make it difficult to create balance in your life. It can place a strain on relationships, family, friendships, and can impair your ability to perform legal services with competence. If you wait until problems exist to try to fix things, it is often too late. Learn how to identify imbalances and some concrete, proactive skills to correct those issues for you, your firm, and your law practice. (MCLE - 1.0 hour competence issues credit)

  Speaker:   

 

 

        
  Dr. Patricia Bay   Click Here for Info on Dr. Bay's Books

2:45pm - 3:45pm There's an Employee Complaint! Do We Investigate? What managing partners, business owners, and counsel for employers need to know about workplace complaints and the duty to invesigate.

This presentation will walk attendees through a variety of common employee complaints, with a focus on determining whether an investigation is required by law or otherwise warranted in each situation, and if so, what a prompt, thorough, and effective investigation looks like. Finally, this presentation will address how to efficiently conclude the investigation process and get back to focusing on business. (MCLE - 1.0 hour general credit)

  Speaker:
   
  Christina Bucci Hamilton
Duggan McHugh

 

3:45pm - 4:00pm Break

 

4:00pm - 5:00pm Police and the Use of Force in 2020 (Part 2)
See 2:45pm session for details. (MCLE - 1.0 hour general credit)

 

4:00pm - 5:00pm COVID Update - Current Status and Where We Go From Here
Dr. Michele Carbone, MD, PhD, a professor of pathology and the Director of Thoracic Oncology at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, will bring us up-to-date on the latest developments surrounding COVID-19, including what we have learned about a vaccine, treatment, and contraction of the disease. 
 
Speaker:
   
  Dr. Michele Carbone

 

4:00pm - 5:00pm Equitable Subrogation RE-Revisited

Kim Arnal and Jill Lifter will provide the latest on equitable subrogation issues, moderated by Wakako Uritani.(MCLE - 1.0 hour general credit)

  Speakers:        
         
 

Jill Lifter
Ryan & Lifter

  Kimberly Arnal
The Aguilera 
Law Group
  Wakako Uritani
Lorber, Greenfield
& Polito

 

5:00pm - 5:30pm Cocktail Party/Trivia Contest
Who will be declared the "smartest" ADC member?

 

Friday, December 11, 2020

8:00am Virtual Platform Opens

 

8:15am - 9:15am Women's Section Meeting
Breakfast meeting for ADC's women's section.

 

9:30am - 10:30am Young Attorneys' Meet & Greet
Breakfast meeting for ADC's young lawyers.

 

11:30am - 12:00pm Day Two Welcome with New ADC President, Chris Johnson
 
  Christopher Johnson
Morgenstern Law
Group

 

12:00pm - 12:30pm Keynote Address
Don't miss Judge Janice Rogers Brown's keynote address, when she will share her inspiring views on "Making a Living or Making a Life." Judge Janice Rogers Brown, former United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (ret. 2017), former Associate Justice of the Third District Court of Appeal, and former Associate Justice on the California Supreme Court.  Judge Brown, who grew up in rural Alabama and attended college in California during the turbulent 1960’s, is known as an expert on constitutional law and judicial restraint. During her 23 years as a judge, her rulings were not easily pigeonholed, and her passionately written dissents are well-known.  
 
Speaker:
 
  Hon. Janice Rogers Brown (Ret.)
United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (2005-2017)
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1996-2005)

 

12:30pm - 12:45pm Break

 

12:45pm - 1:30pm Legislative Update
In addition to providing great education, your ADC membership gives you and your clients a voice in government. Other than the plaintiff personal injury bar, the only other attorney group that has a voice in Sacramento is the ADC. Among other things, the ADC provides input into proposed Code of Civil Procedure changes as well as jury instructions. California Defense Counsel Legislative Advocate, Mike Belote, will present an interesting review of legislation impacting defense practice in California. Mike will bring you up-to-date on what has happened over the past year and what may surprise us in 2021. (MCLE - 0.75 hours general credit)
 
Speaker:
 
  Michael D. Belote
California Advocates, Inc.

 

1:30pm - 1:45pm Break

 

1:45pm - 3:15pm

Civility Matters
A dynamic panel of ABOTA trial attorneys from the Sacramento and San Francisco Chapters will present “Civility Matters”, first-hand lessons and experiences intended to instill values and standards that promote high regard for the legal profession.  This entertaining and educational seminar will feature the Honorable Angela M. Bradstreet, Judge of the Superior Court, County of San Francisco, Wilma J. Gray, Partner, McNamara, Ney, Beatty, Slattery, Borges & Ambacher, LLP, and Niall P. McCarthy, Principal, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP.  The panel will be moderated by Dominique A. Pollara, Principal, Pollara Law Group and Jesse M. Rivera, Partner, Rivera Hewitt Paul, LLP.  Special thanks to attorney Letty Litchfield for organizing this event for our members. (MCLE - 1.5 hours legal ethics credit)

 

  Speakers:        
       
  Hon. Angela
Bradstreet
San Francisco
Superior Court
  Wilma Gray
McNamara Ney
Beatty Slattery
Borges &
Ambacher
  Niall McCarthy
Cotchett Pitre
& McCarthy LLP
       
   
  Moderator:
Dominique Pollara
Pollara Law Group
  

Moderator:
Jesse Rivera
Rivera Hewitt
Paul LLP

 

MCLE Credit Information

This Annual Meeting has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education Credit by the State Bars of California and Nevada. The total available credit is 6.75 hours, including 1.5 hour specialty credits sufficient to satisfy the California Triennial Specialty Credit Requirement for 1.5 hours of legal ethics and 1 hour specialty credits sufficient to satisfy the California Triennial Specialty Credit Requirement for 1 hours of competence issues.