Insurance litigation procedures and challenges are as diverse as they are extensive. Do you have the all the knowledge you need to effectively navigate the system? This engaging overview will walk you through the litigation process step-by-step and simplify some of the more confusing issues of coverage and settlement strategy. Order today!

1. Insurance Coverage Contract Language 101
2. Case Evaluation and Pre-Litigation Steps
3. Initial Pleadings/Motions - Filing the Suit
4. Discovery of the Insurance Case - Quantifying Damages/Loss
5. Settlement Strategies
6. Taking Your Insurance Claim to Trial and Further
7. Ethical Considerations

1. INSURANCE COVERAGE CONTRACT LANGUAGE 101
   9:00 - 9:45, Ted A. Donner
   1. Common Terms, Coverage Limits and Exclusions
   2. Spotting Red Flags – Clauses to Look out For
   3. Insurer's Duty to Defend Standard
   4. Insurer's Duty to Indemnify
   5. Triggers of Coverage
   6. Insured's Rights and Protections – Standard Policy Provisions
   7. Insurance Coverage Case Law Update
2. CASE EVALUATION AND PRE-LITIGATION STEPS
   9:45 - 10:30, Ted A. Donner
   1. Case Intake and Informal Investigation Tactics
   2. Finding Sources and Limits of Coverage
   3. Negotiating the Claim With the Claimant/Insurance Company
   4. Tendering a Claim for Defense
   5. Insurance Company Claim Investigation
   6. Denial of Coverage and its Potential Consequences for Both Sides
3. INITIAL PLEADINGS/MOTIONS – FILING THE SUIT
   10:45 - 11:30, Robert Chemers
   1. Venue, Jurisdiction, Choice of Law
   2. Notice of Suit to the Insurance Company
   3. What to Include With Your Initial Filing
   4. Filing a Dispositive Motion (Summary Judgment or Dismissal)
   5. Action for Declaratory Relief
4. DISCOVERY OF THE INSURANCE CASE – QUANTIFYING DAMAGES/LOSS
   11:30 - 12:15, Richard I. Levin
   1. Statutory Standards
   2. Obtaining Records – What, Where and How
   3. Preservation and Spoliation of Evidence
   4. Witnesses – Lay and Expert
   5. Insurer's Right to the Documents of the Case in Which its Insured is the Defendant
   6. Using Experts to Calculate Past and Future Losses
   7. Punitive Damages
   8. Proving the Presence or Absence of Bad Faith
5. SETTLEMENT STRATEGIES
   1:15 - 2:15, Richard I. Levin
   1. Mandatory Mediation/Arbitration and Weighing the Pros and Cons of Optional Arbitration/Mediation
   2. Settlement vs. Mediation Tactics
   3. Effective Motion Strategies
   4. Arguing “Actual Controversy”
   5. Arguing “Ambiguity in Policy”
   6. Settlement Conference Tactics
   7. Subrogation of Recoveries to Medical and Third Party Liens
6. TAKING YOUR INSURANCE CLAIM TO TRIAL AND FURTHER
   2:30 - 3:30, David A. Sorensen
   1. Jury Selection
   2. Effective Opening Statements
   3. Testimony – Whom to Choose for Your Side and How to Handle the Cross-Examination
   4. Introducing Evidence and Expert Reports
   5. Objections – Substance, Timing, Phrasing
   6. Closings
   7. Appeals
7. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
   3:30 - 4:30, David A. Sorensen
   1. Conflicts of Interest
      1. Representing Adverse Interests
      2. Loyalty to a Client vs. Conflicts of Interest That Arise After Engagement Agreement's Signed
      3. Consultation and Consent
      4. Ethical Traps in Representing the Insured at the Insurer's Expense
      5. Conflicts of Interest With Former Clients – Defining “Substantially Related” Matters
      6. Principles of Imputed Disqualification
      7. Conflicts Arising From Witness Contacts
      8. Resolving Conflicts of Interest
   2. Confidentiality
   3. Ethical Traps When Lawyers Change Firms
   4. When a Lawyer May Testify (The Dangers of Combining the Roles of Advocate and Witness)
   5. Communicating With Unrepresented Interested Parties
   6. Attorneys' Fees

ROBERT CHEMERS is a senior equity partner in the firm of Pretzel & Stouffer, Chartered. His practice is devoted to insurance and re-insurance coverage, declaratory judgment, professional liability, appellate and commercial litigation. Mr. Chemers has lectured on insurance law and trial practice for the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of Southern California and his J.D. degree from Indiana University School of Law. Mr. Chemers is a member of the Chicago, DuPage County and American bar associations, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Appellate Lawyers Association and the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel.

TED A. DONNER is a sole practitioner in the Donner & Company Law Offices in Wheaton, Illinois, where his areas of practice include insurance coverage, antitrust and general litigation. Mr. Donner frequently lectures on his areas of practice and has written for West Group Publishing. He is an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Mr. Donner is a member of the American Society of Trial Consultants, the International Platform Association, and the DuPage County and American bar associations. He was recently named the DuPage County Bar Association's Lawyer of the Year. He also is a life member of the American Bar Foundation. Mr. Donner earned his B.A. degree from Roosevelt University and his J.D. degree from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

RICHARD I. LEVIN is an attorney with Levin Riback Law Group, P.C. Mr. Levin has tried more than 30 cases through to jury verdicts and settlements and has arbitrated and mediated more than 75 cases to successful judgments and settlements. He is an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern University. Mr. Levin began teaching there in 1998, where he teaches trial advocacy to law students. From 2000 - 2003, he was selected by the student body as the school's "Most Outstanding Adjunct Professor." Mr. Levin was selected as one of the top five percent of Illinois Super Lawyers by Chicago Magazine. He has contributed to the Chicago Bar Association Record, The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and the Chicago Bar Association Journal. Mr. Levin is a member of the Chicago and Illinois State bar associations, The Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. He earned his B.B.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his J.D. degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law. (Chicago location)

DAVID A. SORENSEN is a partner in the Chicago office of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, where he focuses his practice in the areas of professional liability and products liability defense with particular emphasis on the representation of lawyers; physicians and hospitals; medical device; and toxic tort matters. Mr. Sorensen also practices in the area of toxic tort defense and complex tort litigation, including personal injury, insurance coverage, bad faith and commercial litigation. His professional associations include the Chicago Hospital Risk Management Society and the Defense Research Institute. He is also a member of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, the American Bar Association, the Illinois Association of Defense Counsel and the Chicago Bar Association. Mr. Sorensen has made numerous presentations to legal and industry groups on many topics. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of Michigan and his J.D. degree from Indiana University School of Law.

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