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 - 10:00, Brian P. Worthington
   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
   10:00 - 10:45, Leland Eugene Backus
   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
   11:00 - 12:00, Darren T. Brenner
   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
   1:00 - 1:30, Darren T. Brenner
   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
   1:30 - 2:15, Brian P. Worthington
   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, Leland Eugene Backus
   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, Darren T. Brenner
   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

LELAND EUGENE BACKUS is an attorney with the law firm of Backus, Carranza & Burden in Las Vegas, where he practices in the areas of professional liability, construction, hotel/casino, complex and insurance litigation, health care law and international law. Mr. Backus is an author for the Nevada Civil Practice Manual and has authored several articles in the field of litigation. He has lectured on an international basis on a variety of topics pertaining to mass disaster litigation, computer use in litigation, litigation practice, construction law, claims presentation, insurance law, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, and a variety of litigation and procedural areas of law. Mr. Backus was a trustee and past chairman of the Nevada Law Foundation; a past director of The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee; a past charter president of the Exchange Club of Las Vegas; and a former chairman of the State of Nevada Certified Court Reporters Board. He is a member of the ABA Forum Committee on the Construction Industry for Construction Management, Design/Build and Related Concepts, and a member of the Constructions Specifications Institute. Mr. Backus is also an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association for construction and commercial disputes. He has also been appointed as Nevada chairperson of the Defense Research Institute Construction Law Committee Marketing/Publicity Subcommittee. Mr. Backus is admitted to the State Bar of California; State Bar of Nevada; United States District Court, District of Nevada; United States District Court, Eastern District of California; United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit; and United States Supreme Court. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and his J.D. degree from the University of California at Los Angeles, with honors in the Order of Barristers and Moot Court.

DARREN T. BRENNER is an attorney in the Las Vegas law firm of Lewis and Roca LLP, where he practices in the areas of insurance coverage, personal injury and commercial litigation. Mr. Brenner earned his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and was a member of the Order of the Coif. Mr. Brenner is a member of the Defense Research Institute and was recently identified as a Rising Star in the 2009 edition of Mountain States Super Lawyers in the area of civil litigation defense.

BRIAN P. WORTHINGTON is a partner in the law firm of Ryan Mercaldo & Worthington LLP, where his practice is concentrated in the areas of civil litigation, insurance coverage and appellate practice. He has lectured for various professional groups on insurance coverage and appellate law. Mr. Worthington is admitted to practice in California, Illinois and Nevada. He is a member of the San Diego County (former chair, Appellate Court Committee) and Clark County bar associations. Mr. Worthington is the chair of the San Diego County Delegation to the California State Bar Conference. He earned his B.A. degree, with honors, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his J.D. degree from the University of San Diego.

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