Past DRI Seminars

This year’s seminar will bring together a superb lineup of medical and scientific experts, top-tier litigators, and timely topics. Plus, enjoy unforgettable events designed to promote insightful discussions and meaningful networking opportunities. This is a must-attend event that will also feature the debut of the new Asbestos Medicine Committee. With the introduction of our new committee, DRI is proud to show its commitment to this important area of practice. Don’t miss your chance to dive deep with other committee members into defense strategies and methods that will best serve your clients.

Join us in fabulous Las Vegas for a program that will benefit all attorneys involved in appeals. Sessions will include discussions on building an appellate practice, practical advice for presenting a persuasive appellate brief, and insights into judicial decision-making. Experienced appellate advocates from across the country, along with federal and state court judges, serve as speakers. Additionally, the committee collaborates with the Asbestos Medicine Committee for joint sessions on product liability and failure to warn, as well as the diversity initiative. Receptions and networking opportunities with other appellate attorneys and conference attendees are also part of the event.

Join us virtually for the Cannabis Law Seminar, September 19 for an up-to-date overview of the proposed rescheduling of cannabis from schedule I to schedule III, including a discussion of the rescheduling process, how it will change the cannabis market, and how it will impact the FDA’s regulation of cannabis companies and their products that use delta-9-THC, delta-8-THC, THCA, CBD, and synthetic cannabinoids.

The premier senior living and long-term care litigation seminar in the country returns to Chicago on September 18-20! Join us at the Hyatt Regency, just steps from the Chicago River Walk, for an event tailored specifically for defense counsel, in-house counsel, claims professionals, and industry insiders. Gain access to unparalleled insights, CLE, and networking opportunities. The exceptional faculty includes a neurosurgeon, jury consultant, wound care nurse, an expert in electronic medical records (EMR), and "Pepper," a robot that assists with therapy and care in the skilled nursing facility/assisted living facility setting. Reconnect with clients and colleagues alike during counsel meetings, an afternoon of networking, or other exciting program events. We look forward to seeing you in the Windy City in September!

Join us for a timely seminar focused on current issues affecting those who practice in the automotive space. Gain perspective from in-house counsel regarding their business and legal concerns. Increase your understanding of automotive safety regulations. Attain deeper knowledge from experienced trial counsel and experts about key litigation trends, plus best practices for defending various types of automotive claims.

The DRI Life, Health, and Disability Committee is once again sponsoring a program aimed at providing a basic understanding of the concepts applicable to life, health, and disability litigation. The program, which receives rave reviews each year it is held, will be taught by highly experienced attorneys who collectively have decades of experience litigating life, health, disability, and ERISA disputes throughout the United States. Even though the content is geared to lawyers who are new to the practice, lawyers of any age who wish to brush up on their skills are also encouraged to attend! Young lawyers in particular who want to meet colleagues practicing throughout the country will find this to be an excellent marketing opportunity.

DRI’s Insurance Bad Faith and Extra-Contractual Liability Seminar is the preeminent program for insurance executives, claims professionals, and outside counsel who specialize in bad faith insurance litigation. When bad faith litigation ensues, these claims are some of the most complex and highest exposure claims faced by insurers. Our featured speakers consist of some of the nation’s leading in-house and outside bad faith lawyers, who will share their valuable insights and strategies on evaluating and winning bad faith cases as well as how to avoid them in the first place.

Join us in Nashville for DRI’s Young Lawyers Seminar! If you are an attorney within your tenth year of practice, this seminar is designed for you. Gain expert insight into how the practice of law is, first and foremost, a business. You will discover that to grow your law practice, you need to hone your legal skills, and learn what it takes to run a successful business - from building and nurturing client relationships, to staying on top of current trends and developments and using technology to your advantage. In addition to exciting programming, there will be ample networking opportunities with attorneys and in-house counsel from across the country!

The DRI Diversity and Inclusion Committee invites you to the 19th annual Diversity for Success Seminar and Corporate Expo in Nashville, Tennessee. With the theme, "Fighting the Current of the Anti-Diversity Tide," this seminar is designed to address the recent legal decisions and lawsuits meant to stunt recent efforts to increase diversity in our educational and occupational settings. In addition to gaining insights from and networking with in-house counsel and potential referral sources, attendees will also find resources and tools to incorporate in their career and organization that will improve diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Join us for the next annual DRI International Seminar to reconnect with peers and make new connections in Madrid! The theme of this year's seminar is "Disruption." There have been several significant legal and regulatory developments which are impacting our global clients and disrupting business agendas. We expect more pressures in 2024, including the increasing risk of class actions and the rise of collective redress regimes across Europe; the maturing litigation funding market; the evolving regulation and liability frameworks around technology and artificial intelligence (AI); a growth in cybersecurity and data breach disputes; and the emergence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disputes and the dominance of AI. We will be joined by lawyers, in-house counsel, and other members of the legal industry to discuss how the disruption is intensifying and how global businesses need to keep pace or risk falling behind. There will also be a number of excellent opportunities to reconnect and network with friends and colleagues from around the world in the beautiful city of Madrid.

Join us in our nation’s capital as we reconnect at DRI’s 47th annual Employment and Labor Law Seminar. The nation’s best employment law seminar brings together leading management-side employment and labor attorneys, in-house counsel, human resources professionals, and employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) representatives from throughout the US and Canada. Always intensely practical, and accompanied by helpful written materials, this seminar is indispensable for experienced practitioners and those just getting started in labor and employment law. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from some of the best practitioners and professionals in the labor and employment arena.

Join us in Washington D.C. for the Drug and Medical Device industry’s premier event for learning, networking, and advancing the defense of life sciences clients! You’ll hear from heads of litigation from the world’s foremost drug and medical device companies and get the latest insight on jurors’ changing perceptions. Take advantage of new CLE opportunities and small group, off-site networking events, which provide more opportunities than ever to network with renowned industry experts while enjoying the best of the nation’s Capital.

In a litigation environment hallmarked by increasingly high jury verdicts, the time is now for the trucking industry to act and to re-evaluate what defense strategies and methods will best protect our clients and ensure the vitality of the industry moving forward. Learn practical strategies for trucking litigators, claims professionals, and industry representatives to get aggressive in the defense of cases in the face of new and changing plaintiff tactics. Plus, discover how to address the shift in jury pool demographics, ideals, and mentalities. Presentations include a forum discussion by jury consultants, speaking to what they are seeing nationally in the jury pool, what defense strategies are working, and what is no longer effective. There will also be a practical workshop for using consultants to best prepare your key defense witnesses. Attendees will learn to employ practical approaches aimed to counter emerging tactics leveraged by plaintiff attorneys meant to fuel excessive verdicts and settlements. This includes how to maximize the benefit of mock trials/focus groups and how to employ aggressive defense tactics early to get the edge and turn the tide in trucking litigation.

Business and intellectual property litigation are being pursued in an ever-evolving world impacted by social media, artificial intelligence, and other rapidly developing technologies. In this fast-paced litigation environment, attorneys face new challenges and pressures both in the courtroom and in their personal lives. This conference will provide strategies for successfully navigating these issues.

The nation’s best conference for toxic tort and environmental practitioners will be in the City of Brotherly Love, with best-in-class CLE, enhanced networking opportunities, and new ways to connect with your colleagues. Explore Philadelphia through networking events that offer something for everyone and earn CLE from top industry leaders and practitioners. This is the seminar you will not want to miss!

Whether you think of it as the City of Brotherly Love or the Cradle of Liberty, there can be no question that Philadelphia is the perfect venue for the nation’s premier Life, Health, Disability & ERISA (LHD&E) conference. Take a selfie with Rocky and then enjoy unparalleled CLEs from some of the country’s top LHD&E practitioners before heading out to network with colleagues, old acquaintances, and new friends. There will be plenty of time to soak up the local history, check out art museums, and maybe even enjoy a famous cheesesteak in between honing your knowledge on the latest legal trends your clients are facing. This is the seminar you will not want to miss!

Join us this March in Chicago at DRI’s flagship seminar for insurance executives, claim professionals, and outside counsel. The 2024 Insurance Coverage and Claims Institute promises to provide an array of outstanding speakers to keep you up to date on the latest developments in the industry and current trends in insurance coverage. The seminar will provide skills-based instruction and litigation guidance for coverage attorneys, as well as multiple opportunities to network. The Windy City welcomes you!

Get your Golden Ticket to this premier and exclusive opportunity to network and brainstorm with leaders of the insurance industry and defense bar. This program is designed to be one-to-one industry representatives to outside counsel and will allow for maximum networking opportunities for both industry and outside counsel. Discuss and debate important and significant challenges facing the industry and forge synergistic relationships with your peers.

Join us in Miami for a DRI seminar that is a first of its kind. DRI’s Litigation Skills Committee and DRI’s Center for Law & Public policy are joining forces to put on a program specially designed to discuss, combat, strategize and understand how verdicts skyrocket. We’ll open with a panel from the Center for Law & Public Policy’s Social Inflation Task Force to discuss how to combat critical plaintiff tactics and strategies. Then we will assess these concepts in the context of jury selection and watch as a real, impartial jury is seated for a mock case summation. The mock jury will hear argument from top defense attorneys on a disputed liability, high damages case. Attendees will watch as the jurors deliberate the verdict live and lead through a moderated discussion of their views on parties, facts, and overall claim value. Then, after the jury has deliberated, attendees will be allowed to engage with the jury in a group discussion to better understand the key arguments, facts, and positions that drove the jury to their verdict. On Friday we will have a round table discussion on these issues along with a fabulous session from David Mann, jury consultant and nationally-known story teller, to help us develop effective narratives that are persuasive to juries. We will end our seminar a discussion on the ethical issues encountered in joint representations. This seminar is truly unlike any other. Join us to experience a real mock jury setting, engage with colleagues on how we can combat nuclear verdicts, and learn from the nation’s leading jury psychologists and trial attorneys who will deliver a master class education on all things nuclear verdict.

Join us in Miami, Florida, for an engaging and exciting seminar that will address some of medicine’s most relevant and controversial issues. Topics include: a maternal fetal medicine and pediatric neurology “blockbuster” two-part series addressing common themes and countervailing claims in a birth injury case; the latest insight into gastroenterology and hepatology, including use and possible claims related to weight loss injectables; the newest concerns and claims in sports medicine and the problems facing treatment of elite athletes; and issues of social inflation and combating jury influence. Each day has dedicated time for networking opportunities in a variety of settings such as dine-arounds and an offsite event on Thursday night.