Pain and Suffering Damages in Personal Injury: Plaintiff and Defense Tactics

Agenda / Content Covered

1. Doctor Insights on Pain, Suffering, and Causation
   10:00 — 11:00, David Cooper
   1. Interplay of Physical and Mental Pain and Suffering
   2. Measuring Pain: Objective vs. Subjective Diagnosis and Testing
   3. Acute Pain vs. Chronic Pain
   4. Pain Over Time
   5. Cause of Pain: Injury, Aging, or Prior/Subsequent Conditions?
   6. How Pain Can Exacerbate or Trigger Other Conditions
   7. Indicators of Exaggeration or Malingering
   8. Medical Records, Notes, and Medication Records - Practical Tips for Attorneys
2. An Inside Look: How Insurance Companies Evaluate Pain and Suffering Damages
   11:15 — 11:45, Daniel Torrens
3. Strategies for Quantifying and Negotiating Pain and Suffering Damages
   11:45 — 12:30, Robert Kasieta
   1. Calculating Pain and Suffering Damages Quickly and Accurately
   2. Tips for Quantifying Future Pain and Suffering
   3. Overcoming Colossus
   4. Tricks to Finding Policy Limits and Increasing Reserves
   5. Powerful Pointers for Demand Packages
   6. Creative Techniques for Negotiating With Insurance Adjusters
   7. Calculating and Ensuring Maximum Recovery of Lost Earning Capacity
   8. Negotiating Down Medical Bills and Liens
4. Creatively Using Doctors and Medical Records
   1:00 — 1:45, David Cooper
   1. Getting the Most Out of Emergency Room and Scene of Accident Evidence
   2. A Strategic Look at Medical Records and Reports
   3. Tactical Tips for Addressing Pre-Existing Conditions
   4. Veteran Insights on Using Medical Experts
   5. Doctor Deposition Pointers and Questioning Techniques
   6. Techniques for Attacking the Opposing Party's Medical Expert
   7. Substantiating Psychological Impacts and PTSD
   8. Deposing Mental Health Experts - Powerful Questions
5. Techniques for Proving Conscious Pain and Suffering
   1:45 — 2:15, Robert Kasieta
6. Plaintiffs' Trial Tactics: Maximizing Pain and Suffering Damages
   2:15 — 3:00, Robert Kasieta
   1. Getting Your Evidence Admitted (and Keeping Theirs Out)
   2. Picking the Best Jury
      1. Strategically Introducing Case Information
      2. Eliminating Unfavorable Jurors
   3. Conditioning the Jury to Award Significant Damages From the Start
   4. Strategically Working Up the Medical Issues
   5. Creatively Using Exhibits and Other Demonstrative Aids
   6. Photograph and Personal Journal Evidence Strategies
   7. Maximizing Witness Testimony: Family, Neighbors, Friends, and Coworkers
   8. Tactically Addressing Pre-Existing Injuries and Other Case Weaknesses
   9. Keys to Powerful Closing Arguments
7. Defense Power Tips for Minimizing Pain and Suffering Damages
   3:15 — 4:00, Daniel Torrens
   1. Creating Effective Discovery - Work, School, and Activities
   2. Social Media Strategies
   3. Leveraging Defense Doctors and Medical Reports
   4. Plaintiff Deposition Tactics: Eliciting Concessions and Inconsistencies
   5. Evidence Admission and Exclusion Strategies
   6. Forming Powerful Arguments
   7. Jury Selection - Asking the Right Questions and Conditioning Jurors
   8. Keys to Effective Opening Statements
   9. Counteracting Sympathy Ploys and Graphic Displays at Trial
   10. The Secrets to Winning Closing Arguments
8. Legal Ethics
   4:00 — 5:00, Daniel Torrens
   1. Avoiding Conflicts
   2. Attorney's Fees
   3. Managing Client Expectations
   4. Preserving Confidentiality and Privilege
   5. Ethics of Litigation

Accreditation Details:

David Cooper owns and operates The Knee Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and the Jefferson Orthopedic residency. Dr. Cooper entered private practice as a general orthopedic surgeon in Lansdale, Pennsylvania after serving our country for eight years as a U.S. Navy Reserve medical officer. For four years, Dr. Cooper performed all types of orthopedic surgery, including neck and low back laminectomies and fusions, along with extensive open and closed fracture care. In 1980, he was recruited by Geisinger to open the orthopedic department at the Geisinger Wyoming Valley Hospital in Wilkes-Barre, where he was one of the first orthopedic surgeons in the valley to introduce knee replacements and arthroscopic surgery. In 1981, Dr. Cooper opened The Knee Center in Wilkes-Barre to further specialize in the care and treatment of knee and lower extremity disorders. He has personally performed more than 6,000 arthroscopic surgeries, ligament repairs and knee replacements. In terms of actually performing surgeries, as opposed to having interns and residents handle the cases, Dr. Cooper is one of the most experienced knee surgeons in the world, as well as being board certified for life by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, the highest honor that any medical specialist practicing in the U.S. can obtain. As a sought after speaker by many national organizations, he has spoken at the national conferences of the American Bar Association, and the Risk Insurance Management Society national meetings in New Orleans and Atlanta. Dr. Cooper is an adjunct professor at Binghamton University and Kings University. He is also a frequent guest lecturer at Binghamton University, Kings University and the University of Scranton. Dr. Cooper has been a private pilot for over 30 years, and enjoys flying his turbine Bonanza to conferences and lectures.

Robert J Kasieta is the founder of Kasieta Legal Group, LLC, in Madison, Wisconsin. He is a certified civil pretrial and trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocates. Mr. Kasieta practices in civil litigation, with an emphasis on plaintiff personal injury and employment cases, as well as commercial litigation. He has written and taught extensively in the areas of trial practice, personal injury law and insurance law, and is an instructor of trial practice at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Mr. Kasieta is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and all Wisconsin courts. He is a member of the Dane County Bar Association, State Bar of Wisconsin, and the American Association for Justice. Mr. Kasieta earned his B.S. degree, summa cum laude, from Northern Michigan University and his J.D. degree from Marquette University Law School.

 

Daniel Torrens is an attorney with Portmeirion Law Offices in Phoenix where he practices in the areas of personal injury litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and commercial litigation. Mr. Torrens lectures nationally in the areas of contracts, personal injury, and trial advocacy. He is a faculty member of the Arizona College of Trial Advocacy and a graduate of the State Bar of Arizona's CLE Institute. Mr. Torrens is a member of the State Bar of Arizona and the Colorado Bar Association. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and is a judge pro tem with the Maricopa County Superior Court. Mr. Torrens earned his B.A. degree from Arizona State University and his J.D. degree from the University of Nebraska.