Upcoming Events & Programs

2023 SCCTLA / Belli Trial Skills Seminar

September 29th, 9 am to 1 pm, San Jose Country Inn & Suites by Radisson

In the spirit of the late Melvin Belli, our plaintiff-oriented program shares winning tactics and strategies with fellow trial lawyers. The four-hour seminar is fast-paced and follows the format pioneered by the late Mr. Belli. Each of the presenters is given 15 minutes, 10 for the presentation and 5 for Q & A. Our seminar is moderated by Melvin Caesar Belli and SCCTLA President Andrea Justo.

This year, learn about:

▪	AI Legal Software,

▪	Litigating Autonomous Vehicle & Robotaxi cases,

▪	Title IX & Fighting Sex Discrimination in College Sports,

▪	Traumatic Brain Injuries,

▪	Deposition Strategies,

▪	Exposing the Defense’s Use of Psychological Warfare in Trial,

▪	Demonstratives,

▪	Mediation Strategies,

▪	Nuclear verdicts

CLICK TO REGISTER

Presenters (more presenters TBA):

Arthur H. Bryant: “Title IX & Fighting Sex Discrimination in College Sports” 

Mr. Bryant is the former Chairman and Executive Director of Public Justice, has spent his career using the law to make a difference. As part of his work, he has successfully represented more female (and male) student-athletes in Title IX litigation against colleges and universities than any lawyer in the country. Since he joined Bailey Glasser in 2020, he and his co-counsel have won settlements preserving women's (and men's) teams and advancing gender equity at nearly a dozen schools nationwide. He will explain how Title IX works, what it requires, and how you, too, can use Title IX to fight sex discrimination in college sports.

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Donald H. Slavik is one of the preeminent attorneys in the United States with a long-time record litigating cases involving motor vehicle software and autonomous vehicle systems.

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Jennifer Fiore has been named Trial Lawyer of the Year three times, in 2022 by SFTLA, in 2021 by the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association and in 2014 by Public Justice.

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Claire Plotkin is a jury consultant in Los Angeles who has consulted in all types of civil ligation, including employment, personal injury, and business disputes. She selects juries, mock-tests cases, preps witnesses to testify, and gives advice on how best to present your case in trials, from large to small. As a consultant, Claire worked with attorneys who achieved 6 of the top 100 verdicts in California last year.

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Hon. Paul Burdick (Ret.):

"Mediating Cases Involving Emerging Technologies and Evolving Legal Theories"

Hon. Paul Burdick (Ret.) will discuss best practices for educating your mediator on complex technologies and presenting your theories of liability.

Judge Burdick (Ret.) is a former Presiding Judge of the Santa Cruz County Superior Court and is now a neutral at ADR Services, Inc. He is widely regarded as a highly skilled, experienced, and even-handed trial judge. He is recognized by the legal community as an extremely effective mediator due to his extensive experience in case evaluation, both from his judicial perspective and from his many years as a civil litigation practitioner. Additionally, his exceptional people skills serve to further enhance his effectiveness as a mediator. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Burdick was a trial lawyer in private practice for 27 years specializing in personal injury, insurance coverage, and insurance bad faith litigation. He tried 35 cases to jury verdict throughout California.

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Karman Guadagni is the Managing Partner at Stebner Gertler Guadagni & Kawamoto. Her practice primarily focuses on institutional elder abuse litigation. Karman is committed to advocating on behalf of the elderly, dependent adults and their families to compensate them for wrongs they have suffered. She is also dedicated to fighting for reform within the long term care industry. She has achieved successful results for plaintiffs in trial, mediation and arbitration throughout California.

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Jayme L. Walker: “Using Video Mediation Briefs” 

Attorneys will learn how to effectively use video to enhance the value of a case for mediation.  I will show examples of low to no cost video briefs using zoom and powerpoint to more expensive day in the life documentaries.

Ms. Walker is a partner at Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer in Oakland, California and former President of Alameda Contra Costa County Trial Lawyers Association. Ms. Walker represents plaintiffs in employment, civil rights, and wrongful death, and personal injury cases.  She has been named by California Super Lawyers as a Rising Star every year since 2014 and in 2020 was named Top Women Lawyers to Watch.

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Frederick Shelton:

"How Defense Counsel is About to Crush You with AI & What You Can Do About It"

Mr. Shelton will summarize how corporate and insurance defense firms are using AI and how plaintiff's attorneys can use their own AI to counter those strategies. At the end of his presentation, Frederick will give away a free, 90 minute AI consulting webinar to one of the attendees and their entire firm.

He is the CEO of Shelton & Steele and has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg Law, American Lawyer and Success Magazine. Mr. Shelton predicted AI would have a game-changing impact on the practice of law in 2019 and is now among the most published authors and best known consultants on Legal AI in the country. Mr. Shelton has been invited to lecture on "AI & the Law" at UCLA and American University, and writes about the subject in his "Shelton Shares" column for Attorney at Law Magazine. 

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Alejandro D. Blanco is a trial lawyer with over 100 civil trials. He will share his insights into how the defense uses psychological warfare at trial to defeat your evidence of duty, breach, and causation by using cutting-edge linguistic tricks to paint a picture for the jury that your client’s case is about “frivolous lawsuits,” “greedy lawyers,” and a “litigation lottery.” Find out how to expose those tactics as the false flags they are and reframe the narrative of your client’s case, so the jury can return a verdict based on the truth.

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Dr. Harpreet Singh is one of few select physicians in the country that are triple Board Certified by American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN), American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and has Board Certification for Interventional Pain Management with certification in Addiction medicine. He is a pain & brain injury specialist, and has served as an expert witness for plaintiff attorneys. He most recently was a panelist on TBI at the TBI Med Legal Conference.

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Kael Briski is now a mediator and has developed the reputation as being especially knowledgeable in employment law. His substantial experience litigating a wide variety of matters with his primary focus on employment law since 2002 has shaped his ability to resolve difficult disputes effectively, efficiently, and affordably via the mediation process.

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Audrey Murray, Cogent Legal, powerful and impactful demonstratives for any size personal injury case.

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CLICK TO REGISTER

Continental breakfast provided beginning at 8:15 am.

Friday, September 29, 2023

9;00 AM - 1:00 PM

Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, San Jose International Airport

1350 N 4th St.

San Jose, CA 95112

This activity is approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of California. This program qualifies for four hours of General MCLE credit.