An injury can impact the quality of someone's life for years to come - or permanently. Representing an injured party is an enormous responsibility. The techniques you use during a case will impact both your client's future well-being and your viability as a competent practitioner. Do you have the knowledge you need to ensure a favorable outcome?

Build your skills from the convenience of your desk! You'll learn best practices for assessing a variety of personal injury cases. Take a closer look at the statutes that affect liability evaluation, as well as the laws of damages. Walk through the basics of civil practice and procedure, so you'll know what to do. Discover when it's in your client's best interest to settle, and when you'll need to go to trial. Order today!

1. Statutes Which Affect Liability Evaluation
2. Understanding the Law of Damages
3. Basics of Civil Practice and Procedure
4. Ethical Considerations for the Plaintiff's Attorney
5. Personal Injury Settlements - A Defense Practitioner's Perspective
6. Trial of the Plaintiff's Personal Injury Case

1. STATUTES WHICH AFFECT LIABILITY EVALUATION
   8:30 - 9:30, John B. Gaidies
   1. Statutes of Limitation
   2. Automobile Accident Statutes
   3. Injuries on Recreational Lands
   4. Sovereign Immunity
2. UNDERSTANDING THE LAW OF DAMAGES
   9:30 - 10:30, Jonathan L. Thornton
   1. Economic Damages
   2. Non-Economic Damages
   3. Wrongful Death and Survival Claims
3. BASICS OF CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
   10:45 - 12:15, Panel Discussion: A. William Charters, John R. Fletcher and Jonathan L. Thornton (NBI supplies materials for this topic)
   1. Assessment of Particular Case Types - Interviews and Investigation
      1. Automobile Accident Cases
      2. Slip and Fall Cases
      3. Product Liability Cases
      4. Others
   2. The Discovery Process
      1. Written Discovery
      2. Informal Discovery Including Public Sources of Information
      3. Taking and Defending Depositions
   3. Initial Court Filings
   4. Preparing Evidence Prior to Trial
      1. Understanding the Rules of Evidence
      2. Documentary Evidence
      3. Testamentary Evidence
      4. Demonstrative Evidence
4. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY
   1:15 - 2:15, John R. Fletcher
   1. The Contingent Fee
   2. The Costs of Litigation - What is a Legitimate Cost?
   3. Advertising Legal Services
   4. Candor Toward the Tribunal
   5. Meritorious Claims and Contentions
5. PERSONAL INJURY SETTLEMENTS - A DEFENSE PRACTITIONER'S PERSPECTIVE
   2:15 - 3:15, A. William Charters
   1. Negotiation Techniques
   2. Mediation as a Settlement Tool
   3. Subrogation Interests
   4. Structured Settlements
   5. Understanding the Joint Tortfeasor Release and Other Releases
6. TRIAL OF THE PLAINTIFF'S PERSONAL INJURY CASE
   3:30 - 4:40, John B. Gaidies
   1. How to Avoid the Most Common Mistakes Made by New Attorneys
   2. Jury Selection - Voir Dire and Jury Questionnaires
   3. The Basics of an Opening Statement
   4. Presentation of Evidence
   5. Direct and Cross-Examination of Witnesses
   6. Proving Economic and Non-Economic Damages
   7. Delivering a Powerful Closing Argument
   8. Post-Trial Relief

A. WILLIAM CHARTERS is a member of the Norfolk law firm of Goodman, Allen & Filetti, PLLC, where he practices primarily in professional malpractice. He has been practicing law since 1980. He has spoken for professional groups on civil trial prep and medical malpractice issues, and for local hospitals and various medical societies, as well as for the Virginia State Bar. Mr. Charters earned his A.B. degree, cum laude, with high distinction, from Dartmouth College, his J.D. degree from Syracuse University, his LL.M. degree from The Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville and his M.L.T. degree from Georgetown University. Mr. Charters is a member of the American Bar Association, the Norfolk-Portsmouth, Virginia and North Carolina bar associations, the Virginia State Bar, the North Carolina State Bar and the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys.

JOHN R. FLETCHER is a shareholder in the firm of Tavss Fletcher, where he concentrates in representing plaintiffs in personal injury litigation and in criminal defense. He received his J.D. degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary and he was admitted to practice in Virginia and North Carolina. Mr. Fletcher has served on the faculty of numerous seminars on professional responsibility and trial practice relating to civil and criminal litigation and has served on the faculty of the Virginia State Bar course on professionalism. He is a past member of the Board of Directors and past president of the Virginia Law Foundation, a member of the American Association for Justice, the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and Virginia College of Criminal Defense Attorneys. He was elected as a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Virginia Law Foundation. He is a member of the Boyd-Graves Conference and the Steering Committee of the Virginia Criminal Justice Conference. He has been named to the Virginia Business Magazine's Legal Elite since its inception. Mr. Fletcher is a past member of the Virginia State Bar Council, the Executive Committee of the Virginia Bar Association and past member and chair for the Second District Disciplinary Committee. He is a past chairman of the Criminal Law Section of the Virginia Bar Association and sits on the Virginia Model Jury Instruction Committee.

JOHN B. GAIDIES is a principal in The Joynes & Gaidies Law Group, P.C., in Virginia Beach, where he practices in the area of personal injury law. Mr. Gaidies has practiced law for more than 40 years. He has spent approximately half of his legal career as an insurance defense counsel and the last half as a plaintiff attorney. Mr. Gaidies is a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, the Virginia State Bar, and the Norfolk & Portsmouth and Virginia bar associations. He earned his B.A. degree from the College of William & Mary and his J.D. degree from Marshall-Wythe School of Law.

JONATHAN L. THORNTON has been a trial lawyer in Virginia for 20 years. His practice focuses on serious auto and truck accidents and medical negligence cases. Mr. Thornton is licensed to practice in Virginia and in North Carolina. He earned his B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Washington & Lee University. Mr. Thornton graduated from the University of Virginia Law School and was then appointed as a law clerk to United States District Judge John A. McKenzie. He practiced law for six years with the largest law firm in Southeastern Virginia where he handled primarily personal injury cases and business litigation. In 1997, he co-founded Pierce & Thornton, PLC, a law firm dedicated solely to representing the rights of the severely injured. Mr. Thornton was nominated by his peers to the Etheridge Society, which is an inner circle of leading attorneys who represent patients and their families in medical negligence cases in Virginia. He has also been an active member in the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, where he has previously served on the Board of Governors. Mr. Thornton was selected by his peers to serve on the Executive Board of the Virginia Beach Bar Association for 2010-2011.

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