Carolyne I. Albert, PhD is a Mechanical Engineer with over 15 years of experience in biomedical and materials engineering research. She is an adjunct research professor at Marquette University's Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Engineering Center and has a scientific staff appointment at Shriners Hospital in Chicago. Her research is focused on bone fracture, joint and implant mechanics, and biomechanics of human motion.

Olivia Barney serves as an animator in the Imaging Sciences and Animation group of S-E-A Limited. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Animation with a minor in Character Technical Direction from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Barney has an array of skills including animation, rigging, 3-D modeling, lighting, rendering, video editing, and processing 3-D laser scan data.

Robert F. Bettler, Jr. Senior Consultant and head of the Atlanta office of DecisionQuest, has 20 years' experience in trial consulting, along with experience in the military, engineering, business, education, and neuropsychology. This diverse background has benefitted a variety of clients in hundreds of focus groups, mock trials, juror profiling surveys, change of venue studies, and post-trial juror interviews. As an expert statistician, he has introduced innovations in juror profiling that have contributed to the success of numerous cases.

Sheila S. Boston partner at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, is a trial lawyer and litigation strategist. She has litigated before both state and federal courts, and has significant MDL and class action experience. Passionate about diversity, Sheila received the inaugural "Private Practice" award of the Chambers Diversity Awards USA 2016 and serves on her firm's Hiring and Pro Bono Committees. Sheila also serves on DRI's Drug & Medical Device Steering Committee and is the Chair of its annual seminar.

Christopher A. (Chris) Bottcher handles a variety of business, corporate, and commercial disputes, with an emphasis on bank and lender representation. Chris has extensive experience representing banks and lenders defending fraud claims and real estate disputes. In addition to representing business owners in dissolution proceedings, Chris advises clients on the protection of trade secrets, the enforcement of restrictive covenants, and toxic tort and product liability matters. Chris is an active DRI member and was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® 2019.

Ashley H. Campbell is an experienced trial lawyer whose accomplishments in commercial and real estate litigation have been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, the North Carolina Bar Association and North Carolina Super Lawyers. Ashley is also an adjunct professor at Campbell Law School where she directs a clinical program that provides legal services to low income people in the community. She is currently on a quest to hike the entire Appalachian Trail.

Patrick M. Causey is civil trial lawyer at Trenam Law. He represents clients in commercial matters including non-competition and confidentiality agreements, breach of contract, class actions, fraud, commercial torts, and trade secrets litigation. Patrick also dedicates a significant portion of his practice to defending lawyers in legal malpractice cases. Additionally, Patrick's experience includes assisting clients obtain and protect intellectual property rights in Federal Court and in front of the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office, with a particular emphasis on trademarks.

Norris Cunningham concentrates his practice in healthcare dispute resolution including trial practice, regulatory advocacy, and arbitration. He has tried and arbitrated numerous long-term care and medical malpractice cases throughout the nation. Mr. Cunningham is a certified arbitrator by the American Arbitration Association and the American Health Lawyers Association. He has made numerous national and regional presentations regarding litigation and regulatory advocacy for the Defense Research Institute, the National Business Institute, and the American Conference Institute.

Rachel A. Duchon, MS, MBA, CRC, FVE, LMHC, ABVE/D, IPEC owner, Duchon Vocational & Economic Consulting provides economic damage calculations in addition to employability and earning capacity evaluations, provides expert testimony on behalf of plaintiff and defendants in various legal matters including personal injury, medical malpractice, matrimonial, child support, rail road retirement, and SSDI determinations. She has been instrumental with determining employability and earning capacity of combat veterans. She is currently under taking studies to become a certified life care planner.

Eric P. Eckhardt is Vice President of Legal Solutions at Exigent, a global analytics consulting, technology and alternative legal services firm. In his role at Exigent, Eric works with corporations and law firms around the world to implement strategies that create efficient, cost-effective and technology supported operations. Eric holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas – Arlington and an MS in Business Analytics from Syracuse University. He lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife and two children.

Brandon W. Ehrie is a partner at Lewis Wagner, LLP in Indianapolis where he concentrates his practice defending a variety of civil litigation matters; including wrongful death, catastrophic personal injury, premises liability, product liability and various insurance defense cases. Brandon also specializes in dram shop litigation representing restaurants, bars & taverns and hotels & hospitality clients in liquor liability actions. He also has substantial experience representing Indiana governmental entities and municipalities as well as Hoosier farmers in the defense of lawsuits.

Elizabeth Ganiere requested bio

Pamela B. Goldsmith partner at Harris Beach in NYC, is a trial attorney representing a diverse range of clients in complex litigation throughout New York and New Jersey. She concentrates in malpractice, product liability, mass torts and toxic tort litigation. Her extensive experience is evident in each step of the litigation, and this tenacity has translated to multiple summary judgment dismissals and defense verdicts. Pamela has also served as national, local and trial counsel in all phases of complex litigation.

Jennifer Snyder Heis is a partner in the Cincinnati office of Ulmer & Berne, where she represents product manufacturers and sellers, including drug and medical device companies and dietary supplement manufacturers. She defends clients both locally and nationally, in multidistrict litigation and coordinated state proceedings. Ms. Heis is actively involved with DRI's Drug and Medical Device and Product liability Committees, and serves on the Law Institute.

Esther P. Holm is a partner in the Orange County office of Lewis Brisbois and Co-Chair of the Professional Liability Practice. She specializes in Trial Practice in Professional, General, Employment, Transportation, and Product Liability matters. She is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and FDCC. Ms. Holm is a frequent lecturer on a variety of topics including Traumatic Brain Injury and evaluation of damages. She is the creator, director, producer, and moderator of Lewis Brisbois' Webinar Series.

Guy E. Hughes is a partner with Casey Bailey & Maines PLLC in Lexington, Kentucky where he has a broad based litigation practice handling matters in the areas of products liability, fire loss, trucking law, premises liability as well as the defense of professional liability claims. Mr. Hughes work has also included representation of recreational product, automobile and motorcycle manufactures as well as work for a Class I Railroad with trials throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Mr. Hughes is a member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) and currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Trial Tactics Committee.

Carol Hyland is a rehabilitation counselor and consultant, a Certified Life Care Planner, and a Certified Disability Management Specialist with more than 40 years of experience working with individuals with disabilities, assisting them in living as independently as possible in the community and in obtaining, retaining and preparing for employment. In addition to a private practice, she has worked for the State of California Department of Rehabilitation. She has testified in more than 150 trials in state and federal courts.

Sidney K. (Sid) Kanazawaa Los Angeles McGuireWoods partner, is a frequent speaker/writer on crisis leadership, trials, depositions, negotiations, and diversity/inclusion and is a graduate of the University of Hawaii (B.Ed.), the University of Southern California (J.D.) and the Pepperdine and Harvard mediation and negotiation programs. He is also a former Chair of the DRI Trial Tactics Committee, a former General Counsel of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and the author of "Apologies and Lunch.".

Kyle A. Lansberry is a litigator and trial attorney with Lewis Wagner LLP in Indianapolis, focusing on personal injury, product liability and premises liability cases. He also represents insurance companies nationwide in environmental and agricultural insurance coverage matters. He is the program-chair of this seminar.

Pamela Newsom Lee is a partner in Swift Currie's litigation section, devoting her entire practice to litigation, including various tort liability litigation, insurance coverage disputes and the defense of insurance bad faith matters. She has experience in trial and appellate work and secured a victory at the Court of Appeals on a premises liability matter. Ms. Lee is the vice president of Georgia Defense Lawyers Association and received her J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University..

Kathryn S. (Katy) Lehman is a litigator at King & Spalding in Atlanta, where her trial practice focuses on product liability and mass torts. She has represented a wide range of companies in the tobacco, construction, medical, food service, and transportation industries. She brings a strategic focus to discovery and trial. Ms. Lehman has worked on more than two dozen trial teams that have tried cases to verdict in the last five years.

Renée Welze Livingston Founding Member of Livingston Law Firm in California, is an accomplished trial lawyer and member of ABOTA. She handles catastrophic injury‚ wrongful death and other high-exposure product liability‚ trucking and premises liability cases. Renée currently serves as First Vice President of the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada and on the Steering Committee of the DRI Women in the Law. She is A-V (5.0) rated by Martindale-Hubbell and a multi-year Northern California Super Lawyer.

The Honorable Johnnie B. Rawlinson was appointed to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2000. Before her appointment to the Ninth Circuit, Judge Rawlinson served as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Nevada. Prior to her judicial service, Judge Rawlinson spent 18 years with the Office of District Attorney, Clark County, Nevada. She rose from deputy district attorney to chief deputy district attorney to assistant district attorney, where she supervised civil, family support and administrative divisions.

Abigail (Abby) Rossman represents and advises a wide variety of corporate clients in complex civil litigation matters involving several diverse areas of law, including construction litigation, product liability, mass tort, privacy violations, commercial trucking, consumer fraud and general negligence in both state and federal court. Ms. Rossman regularly represents owners/developers, construction managers, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors and telecommunications carriers and their contractors in both personal injury and property damage matters arising out of allegations of construction defect, New York Labor Law and negligence. Ms. Rossman also represents commercial trucking clients in personal injury and property damage matters as well as manufacturers, distributors and retailers of industrial machinery, cosmetics and beauty products, textiles, exercise equipment and children's products in product liability and consumer fraud individual and class actions.

Mary E. Sharp practices law in Beaufort, SC, and is the founder of Sharp Law Firm, LLC. Mary is an experienced litigator and represents clients in civil trial and appellate proceedings in South Carolina state and federal courts. She is a certified mediator and serves as a Municipal Court Judge for the City of Beaufort. Mary currently serves as Secretary of the South Carolina Bar, and is a former Chair of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee.

Mark K. Suzumoto serves as general counsel to a group of companies engaged in the multi-channel sale and distribution of consumer products in over eighty countries. Mr. Suzumoto directs his clients' intellectual property and brand protection activities, regulatory and legal affairs, and litigation. Prior to "going in-house" in 2014, Mr. Suzumoto practiced law in Los Angeles for thirty-years representing and advising consumer product manufacturers and distributors. For a decade Mr. Suzumoto served as national counsel for a client beset with product liability litigation, directing and resolving nearly 300 lawsuits across the country.

Joshua H. Threadcraft is a partner at Burr & Forman, LLP, admitted to practice law in the five Southern states that the firm has offices (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee). Joshua routinely defends individual and multi-plaintiff actions in state and federal courts across the country, frequently involving financial institutions and servicers. Joshua also frequently speaks and writes on various topics, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227, serving as the author of the firm's TCPA Blog

Heather Dawn Wiltshire Clement is Director of Claims and Risk Management at Sovereign Claims LLC. She has over 25 years of experience in the insurance industry with a concentration in the areas of claims management, litigation management, compliance and regulatory. Heather earned her B.A. from Rutgers College, Rutgers University and her J.D. from New York Law School where she was a member of NYLS Moot Court Honor Society. She is admitted in New York State Courts, New Jersey State Courts, and the United States District Court of the District of New Jersey. Heather is the immediate Past President and Board Chair of the Defense Association of New York, Inc. and serves as a Board member for the New York Claims Association. She is a member of the National African American Insurance Association ("NAAIA") and served as the Vice President of the NAAIA New York Chapter from 2010-2012 and Board member from 2012-2014. Heather is also a member of the Defense Research Institute, the New York State Bar Association, and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.