Over the Fourth of July weekend, myself and other plaintiff trial attorneys from throughout the United States, Canada and England traveled to Boston to attend the Association of Trial Lawyers of America’s (ATLA) annual convention. Throughout the six days, we were treated to hundreds of presentations by the country’s top trial attorneys on various topics and themes including traumatic brain injury litigation, motor vehicle and highway collisions, construction accidents and medical negligence, to name but a few.
On Monday July 5 I gave a presentation at the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group (TBILG) seminar. My topic was the Admissibility of Expert Testimony and included a discussion of PET scans, life-care plans, economic vocational opinions and neuropsychology testimony.
I was also fortunate enough to attend seminars conducted by some notable experts including Anthony Gamboa, Ph.D., M.B.A., a forensic vocational economist, Robert Voogt, Ph.D., Chairman of IBIA and NABIS as well as Professor Mariusz Ziejewski, Ph.D. Each of these notable people in the field of traumatic brain injuries gave very informative presentations on economic losses, life care planning and biomechanical engineering.
The convention also had some interesting moments which were not related to traumatic brain injuries. One of these moments was at Saturday’s opening plenary session. Kenneth Feinberg, the national mediator who headed the 9/11 Compensation Fund was honored for his outstanding work over the past three years for his handling of the fund. Honored with him was his Massachusetts colleague, Justice Stephen Beyer of the United States Supreme Court.
Another moment took place on Sunday, July 4, when ATLA held a town meeting with invited guest Mark Shields, the noted PBS commentator and moderator of the PBS show “The Capital Gang”. Mr. Shields confided insightful and humorous commentary on both the Bush administration and the upcoming Presidential election. Senator John Edwards was supposed to be the invited speaker at a public justice dinner on Tuesday, but was forced to cancel when Democratic nominee Senator John Kerry selected him to be his Vice Presidential running mate. While Senator Edwards’ cancellation was disappointing, his nomination as Vice President electrified the convention.
Once again this year’s ATLA convention was a great success. I am already looking forward to the winter convention which will be held in Palm Springs California.