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Trial Skills: Protecting the Record

Provided By: New York City Bar

Approved for CLE credit in: AK, AZ, CA, IL, ME, MO, ND, NJ, NY, WV

Effective advocacy can be like walking a tightrope. How do you maximize your prospects for victory at trial, at the same time laying the foundation for a successful appeal? This interactive program, featuring a mock malpractice trial, will teach you the nuts and bolts of making your record, from jury selection to verdict and beyond.

Our panelists, consisting of prominent members of the appellate and trial judiciary, experts in appellate practice, and accomplished trial lawyers, will grapple with a variety of fascinating and thorny trial record issues that can ambush the unwary practitioner. You will learn techniques applicable to any personal injury case. Audience participation will be encouraged.

This program was recorded in New York on Thursday, October 1, 2009.

Click on the state abbreviation to find the CLE Credit Information for your state.

This program is has been approved for credit in AK, AZ, CA, IL, ME, MO, ND, NJ, NY, WV

No related programs information available.

Ross N. Herman Claims Bureau Counsel New York State Attorney General's Office New York Ross N. Herman is Claims Bureau Counsel in the Office of New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. In that position, he is the legal advisor to the Chief of the Claims Bureau. The Claims Bureau defends the State of New York against medical malpractice and tort claims. From 2005-2007, he was the Chief of the Medical Malpractice Section in the Claims Bureau and from 2001-2005 he was a trial attorney in the Medical Malpractice Section. In 2003, he received a Louis J. Lefkowitz Memorial Award from Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for outstanding service to the Attorney General's Office. Before joining the Attorney General's Office, he was engaged in private practice in New York and New Jersey. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he was a Jacob Burns Scholar and a member of the Law Review. He also holds a Masters Degree in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago. He received his B.A. Summa Cum Laude from Hobart College.

Patricia Luca Partner Platzer Luca & Pearl, LLP New York Patricia A. Luca is a partner in the law firm of Platzer Luca & Pearl, LLP. She has extensive experience in medical malpractice litigation, asbestos litigation, construction litigation and premises litigation. She is a member of the Medical Malpractice Committee and a member of the Continuing Legal Education subcommittee in the medical malpractice arena. Ms. Luca has been a panelist at a number of Continuing Legal Education seminars on a variety of topics. She is a member of the Dispute Resolution Committee and the Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Courts for the NYSBA. She is as well a member of the Torts Insurance Practice Section of the NYSBA and sits on the Medicine and Law Committee. Ms. Luca is also a Solicitor and a member of the Law Society of England and Wales.

Joyce Morin Utz Attorney Radna & Androsiglio LLP New York Joyce Morin Utz is a lawyer at Radna & Androsigilio, LLP as well as a registered nurse and represents plaintiffs in litigation in the specialty areas of medical malpractice, premises liability, personal injury and civil rights. After graduating magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, she earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law Center as a Public Interest Scholar. She presently serves on the Center's National Alumni Board. Ms. Utz has lectured frequently in the area of medical malpractice for the Continuous Legal Education division of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, where she served as Chair of the Medical Malpractice Committee from 1997-2000. Joyce Morin Utz practices in federal and state courts, and is admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Jesse S. Waldinger Principal Waldinger Associates PC Garden City, New York Jesse S. Waldinger, previously chair of the Committee on Medical Malpractice, has dedicated his 35-year legal career to prosecuting medical malpractice cases. Formerly a partner at Kramer, Dillof, Tessel, Duffy & Moore and then at Bodner & Waldinger, he is presently the principal at Waldinger Associates, a malpractice firm based in Garden City, and has offered his services to the bar as a medical malpractice consultant. An occasional lecturer and writer, Mr. Waldinger is the author of The Knights of Mary Phagan, a dramatization of the Leo Frank trial.

Hon. Lucy Billings Judge New York State Supreme Court New York Justice Lucy Billings is a graduate of Smith College, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and the University of California at Berkeley School of Law with honors. She prepared for service on the New York State Supreme Court as a lawyer for 25 years at the ACLU National Headquarters and as Litigation Director in Legal Services, handling complex civil rights litigation to establish and enforce new rights for disenfranchised minority, disabled, and low-income persons of every background. She forged new legal remedies through litigation addressing issues not previously addressed in housing, environmental justice, including preventing lead poisoning, public health, child welfare, education, and employment. In 12 years as a judge, she has presided over complicated, high profile cases. They include Mayor Giuliani's unlawful attempts to prohibit street artists from selling their work, State agencies' unlawful procedures for collecting debts, major construction site disasters, repeated sexual abuse of schoolchildren under the Board of Education's watch, and real estate mogul Bernard Spitzer's racially discriminatory firing of his building employees. She has written over 200 published decisions, as well as published legal education materials. Examples of her decisions include prohibiting unlawful government practices, recognizing same sex marriages, finding new avenues to afford recovery to injured construction workers and pothole victims, reforming the standards and procedures for issuing business licenses and granting and revoking parole, and ridding the public markets of corruption and unsanitary conditions.

Andrew Barovick Attorney Steven E. North, P.C. New York, New York Andrew Barovick is a plaintiff's medical malpractice and personal injury attorney in Manhattan, and is Of Counsel to Steven E. North, P.C. He is a member of the New York City Bar's Medical Malpractice Committee, as well as it's CLE Subcommittee, and has written and lectured for NYSTLI's Decisions (CLE) Program on the subject of Damages. While serving as an assistant district attorney, Mr. Barovick wrote numerous appellate briefs, and argued before the Appellate Division, Second Dept., the New York Court of Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He has tried medical malpractice cases on behalf of both defendants and plaintiffs, and invariably creates a careful record of his objections during trials, just in case later on, there is an appeal.

Hon. Luis A. Gonzalez Judge New York Intermediate Appellate Court New York Honorable Luis A. Gonzalez was born in Manati, Puerto Rico in 1945. His parents migrated to New York in the 1950's seeking an opportunity to provide a better life for their children. Justice Gonzalez and his siblings were raised in Hells Kitchen where they attended New York City public schools. Justice Gonzalez attended and graduated from Eastern Mennonite College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Social Science. Thereafter, Justice Gonzalez was accepted at Columbia University School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor in 1975. Justice Gonzalez' legal career has been one primarily dedicated to public service. Upon his graduation from Columbia, Justice Gonzalez served as an Examining Attorney for the New York City Department of Investigation in 1975, charged with the responsibility of investigating allegations of official corruption and criminal activities in City Government. In 1978 he accepted a position as general counsel to the national director of the Government of Puerto Rico=s and worked in that agency's office from 1978 to 1980. Justice Gonzalez was also a Hearing Officer for the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal from 1981 to 1984. In 1985, Justice Gonzalez was appointed as a Housing Court Judge in the New York City Civil Court. Two years later Justice Gonzalez was elected as a Justice of the Civil Court in Bronx County, where he served with distinction until 1992. In 1992, he was elected to Justice of the Supreme Court in Bronx County and presided over and an Individual Assignment Part (IAS) until his elevation to the Appellate Term, First Department in 1998, the first Latino to hold that position. After serving in that capacity for one year, Justice Gonzalez was appointed the Administrative Justice of the Supreme Court, Bronx County. In March 2002, in recognition of his exceptional performance in his prior judicial posts, Governor George E. Pataki appointed Luis A. Gonzalez as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, one of only a few Latinos to sit on New York¿s intermediate appellate court. In addition to fulfilling his judicial duties, Justice Gonzalez is also a member of the Association of Justices of Hispanic Heritage, where he served as its President from 1989-1993. Previously, he has served as Chairman of the Judicial Hearing Officer Selection Advisory Committee for the First Judicial Department, a member of the Twelfth Judicial District's Task Force on Reducing Litigation Cost and Delay and as an Instructor at Lehman College. Justice Gonzalez's appointment as the Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division First Department is the culmination of his many years of selfless and dedicated service to the legal profession and the community at large.

John P. LoPresti, Jr. Attorney New York John P. LoPresti, Jr. is an active practitioner, with offices in Staten Island and Manhattan, whose primary area of practice, for the past 32 years, has been the defense of medical malpractice cases, although he has also been on the plaintiff's side of the litigation. He is a 1971 graduate of New York Law School and a former Appellate Division Law Clerk for the Second Department. From September of 1975 to June of 1981, he was an Adjunct Professor at New York Law School. Mr. LoPresti is a contributing author of a publication sponsored by the New York State Bar Association entitled: "Medical Malpractice: Strategic and Practical Principles". He is currently a member of the New York City Bar and serves on its Committee of Medical Malpractice. Mr. LoPresti has also been a lecturer at the New York State Bar Association's program on Medical Malpractice Litigation. He is also a member of the Richmond County Bar Association, the Columbian Lawyers Association and the New York State Medical Defense Bar Association. He has participated frequently in CLE programs sponsored by the New York City Bar.

Brian J. Shoot Attorney Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo P.C. New York Brian J. Shoot who specializes in appellate practice, has been a Member of the Firm since 2003. After having graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Union College in 1976, Mr. Shoot obtained his Juris Doctor degree from New York University Law School in 1979. Mr. Shoot was admitted to the New York bar the following year, in 1980. He was subsequently admitted to a variety of other courts, including the United States Supreme Court. He is also a member of the Office of Court Administration's Advisory Committee on Civil Practice, the committee which advises OCA as to the desirability of potential changes in matters of civil procedure. A frequent lecturer on the subjects of municipal liability, premises liability, tort damages, appellate practice, labor law, and procedural practice, Mr. Shoot has spoken at the behest of such organizations as the Office of Court Administration, the Civil Court Judge's Association, the Brooklyn Barrister Association, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the Bar Association of the City of New York, and the New York State Bar Association. Mr. Shoot has published numerous articles in Trial Lawyers Quarterly and other professional journals. His published writings have covered such subjects as interpretation and application of CPLR Articles 50-A and 50-B, interpretation and application of Section 15-108 of the General Obligations Law, prior written notice laws, and highway liability.

Trial Skills: Protecting the Record

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