Advanced
Motor Vehicle
Litigation 2012

Whether it is a car wreck, a truck accident or a motorcycle crash - case preparation, discovery, settlement, mediation and trial are the critical steps in every case. And there are always new and creative practices and procedures that one must learn to stay ahead of the curve.

The faculty of 17 of the country’s best trial lawyers at Advanced Motor Vehicle Litigation 2012 will give you the knowledge to evaluate, prepare and resolve all aspects and all types of motor vehicle cases. For four days you will be the partner of these stellar trial lawyers, who will share their expertise through lecture, discussion, and demonstration to assure you have the knowledge to attack all types of vehicle cases and win.

Conference Faculty

• Steven Gursten

  Gursten, Koltonow, Gursten, Christensen & Raitt

  is recognized as one of the nation's top attorneys handling serious auto accident personal injury and wrongful death cases, and auto insurance No‐ Fault litigation. His firm is the state's largest law firm specializing in car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases. He is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Mr. Gursten has been named Lawyer of the Year by the Michigan Lawyers Weekly and the Best Lawyer/Best Law Firm in U.S. News & World Report.

• Joseph A. Fried

  Fried Rogers Goldberg

  is a known for thinking outside the box when it comes to case strategy, development and presentation. He is on the faculty of the prestigious Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College in Dubois, Wyoming. His work has been featured in major national media such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Detroit News, and hundreds of local and national television broadcasts.

• Michael Leizerman

  EJ Leizerman & Associates

  has served in the past as the Chairman of American Association for Justice (AAJ) Interstate Trucking Litigation Group and co-author of the West/AAJ joint publication Truck Accident Litigation. He is a frequent lecturer on how to handle truck accident cases across the country. Mr. Leizerman says his most educational experience was attending truck driving school – while in the middle of managing his practice.

• Steven "Woody" Igou

  Law Office of Steven Woody Igou

  has, for the past 12 years focused his practice on cases involving traumatic brain injury. He founded braininjury.com, the largest and most widely used traumatic brain injury website in the world. Mr. Igou has served as an Assistant State Attorney and as an Insurance Defense Attorney and now only represents injured plaintiffs. Mr. Igou has lectured on a wide variety of topics including – brain injury claims, the use of advance MRI, and MRI in litigation.

• Peter Kestner

  McEwen & Kestner

  worked for 10 years as a claims adjuster and litigation manager with one of the largest tractor trailer insurers in the U.S. before founding the firm in 2003. Through another insurer, he managed catastrophic claims nationwide for several notable trucking companies. In 2008, Peter was named a Rising Star by Minnesota Law & Politics Magazine for his outstanding work in personal injury law.

• Richard Holmes

  Holmes & Wiseley

  is one of the leading trucking defense lawyers in the country. In addition to defense work, he represents both truck drivers and trucking companies. Mr. Holmes served on the Council of the Negligence Section for the State Bar of Michigan. He is a frequent lecturer on the representation of parties in transportation claims as well as trial tactics and regulatory compliance in the United States and Canada.

• William W. Decker, Jr.

  Law Offices of William W. Decker

  began litigating motor vehicle accident cases in 1985 the year he became licensed to practice law. He is the author of Trying Motor Vehicle Accident Cases in Michigan as well as a contributor and speaker at the annual No-Fault Institute sponsored by Michigan's Institute for Continuing Legal Education. He is recognized as one of Michigan's Super Lawyers and one of Michigan's "Top Attorneys" listed by The New York Times.

• Thomas P. Harding

  Trial Lawyers Advocacy Group

  focuses on medical negligence and traumatic brain injury cases. He has been interviewed on CBC's Disclosure – In the Doctor's Corner. Mr. Harding routinely lectures on various legal topics and writes often for continuing lawyer education as a member of the Trial Lawyers Association. He is a member also active in the American Association for Justice.

• Tom Metier

  Metier Law Firm

  teaches trial skills at Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyers College in Wyoming and is often called upon by other trial attorneys to assist in the development and trial of their cases. Named to The Best Lawyers in America, Mr. Metier serves on the Executive Board of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and is a Board Certified Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has been listed as a Colorado Super Lawyer each year since 2006.

• Phillip Miller

  Phillip Miller & Associates

  is certified as both a civil trial specialist and a pre-trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy . Mr. Miller has been recognized as one of the "Best of the Bar" by the Nashville Business Journal, as a "Super Lawyer." He is the Past President of the Tennessee Association for Justice. As a sought after lecturer, he has spoken at the National Judicial College, Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School and Duke Law School

• R. Gene Odom

  Martinez-Odom Law Group

  earned his first million dollar verdict before the age of 30. A Board Certified Civil trial attorney, Mr. Odom, uses his experience as an auto accident reconstructionist and graduate education in biomedical engineering focusing on injury causation due to trauma, to earn multi-million dollars verdicts each year since. Since 2005, he has taught courses in legal issues in biomedical engineering in the University of South Florida's Department of Biomedical Engineering.

• Paul Scoptur

  Aiken & Scoptur

  has been named one of the Best Lawyers In America continuously since 2002 and is one of Wisconsin's Top 50 "Super Lawyers" in the area of personal injury. Mr. Scoptur is also a member of the American Society of Trial Consultants. Using strategic case planning and focus groups as both a trial lawyer and trial consultant, the cases in which he has been involved have recovered in excess of $100 million for the clients. He also is a Diplomate of the NCA and has completed the Advanced Studies in Trial Advocacy curriculum offered by the NCA.

• Lawrence M. Simon

  Law Offices of Lawrence M. Simon

  is the Chair of the Section Leaders Council of AAJ, Past Chair of the AAJ Small Firm and Sole Practitioner Section, and Newsletter Editor for the AAJ Interstate Trucking Litigation Group. He is an active member of the New Jersey Association for Justice and serves on its Board of Governors. He is also the author of the Library of the New York Personal Injury Firms, published by the New York Law Journal.

• Jason Studinski

  Studinski Law

  was awarded the F. Scott Baldwin Award for the "most outstanding young trial lawyer in the country" by the American Association for Justice in 2006. Mr. Studinski remains active in AAJ in the nursing home litigation group and has served on the board for the Wisconsin Associaiton for Justice. He has written numerous articles and lectured in the United States and Canada on nursing home abuse and neglect.

• Tom Vesper

  Westmoreland, Vesper & Quattrone

  has handled thousands of serious injury and death cases and tried more than 100 to jury verdicts. As a certified civil trial attorney by the New Jersey Supreme Court and the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Mr. Vesper has authored The Trial Notebook and The Deposition Notebook. He is a founding member of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice and a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

• Dianne Jay Weaver

  Weaver & Weaver

  has been twice named to the National Trial Lawyer "Top 10 Trial Lawyers." Board Certified as a Civil Trial Lawyer by the Florida Bar and the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification, Ms. Weaver has also been named in Best Lawyers in America in 1989. She clerked for the Honorable Peter T. Fay, District Court of Appeals, Southern District of Florida.

• Jeanmarie Whalen

  Slawson Cunningham Whalen & Gaspari

  has earned a total of $26 million at three mediations since January 2011. Ms. Whalen is a member of the Multi- Million Dollar Advocates Forum and past president of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. She has successfully litigated complex personal injury and wrongful death cases throughout Florida.