Navigating Summary Judgment and Keeping Your Case on the Right Course Through Trial and Beyond

Christopher M. Drury | Drury Law Firm

Chris has handled complex personal injury and commercial cases in state and federal court in multiple jurisdictions. Chris focuses his practice on the prosecution of serious personal injury cases, as well as complex business and commercial disputes, including class actions. Chris also enjoys a wealth of experience in the defense of a wide variety of banking and insurance-related matters. Chris speaks Spanish and German fluently.

• Education & Credentials

Christopher M. Drury graduated with honors from both Davidson College and the University of Miami School of Law. Chris is a member of The Florida Bar, the South Carolina Bar, and the Law Society of England and Wales.

• Recognition & Leadership

Chris is a Life Member in the “Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum”. Chris was named to the Florida Super Lawyers list by Super Lawyers in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. Chris was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2026 for work in Admiralty and Maritime Law. Chris received the Miami-Dade Bar’s Circle of Excellence Award for work in Civil Litigation in 2025. Chris was recognized by Florida Trend magazine as a Florida Legal Elite Winner in the area of Civil Trial in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Chris was named to the Florida Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers for 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. Chris was recognized as one the top “40 Under 40 Outstanding Lawyers of South Florida” by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in 2015. Chris was invited to become a member of “The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 under 40” in 2014, and then a member of “The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 Civil Plaintiff” in 2017, as well as every year thereafter. Chris was recognized by Florida Trend magazine as a 2014 Florida Legal Elite “Up and Comer” in the area of Civil Trial.

• Professional Involvement

Chris served as President of the Miami-Dade Trial Lawyers Association in 2022. Chris has served as Co-Chair of the Personal Injury Committee of the Miami-Dade Bar since 2024.

• Experience

Chris has helped clients obtain multi-million dollar recoveries in personal injury and wrongful death cases, business litigation, and securities litigation. Additionally, Chris has obtained multi-million dollar jury verdicts for clients in cases arising out of maritime personal injury, a rollover motor vehicle crash, a trip and fall involving eye and face injuries, and a motorcycle crash resulting in a judgment of over $66,000,000.00. Chris has prosecuted multiple catastrophic personal injury cases resulting in 8-figure recoveries, including a boating accident case culminating in a court-approved $12,000,000.00 settlement for a father and son.

Allen Bonner | South Florida Appeals, PA

Wm. Allen Bonner heads South Florida Appeals, P.A., a solo appellate practice based in Miami, Florida. He handles appeals and works alongside trial lawyers on civil cases, including personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, product defect, commercial contract, class action, and insurance matters. He is licensed to practice law in Florida, Georgia, and the District of Columbia.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Bonner earned his A.B. from Brown University, graduating magna cum laude, and his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where he was named a Harlen Fisk Stone Scholar, Charles Evans Hughes Fellow, and Jacob Berger Fellow. He also studied at Mansfield College, Oxford University.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Bonner received the Miami Dade Bar Association’s Circle of Excellence for appellate practice in 2023 and its Above and Beyond Award in 2022. He is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been listed in Super Lawyers Magazine from 2024 through 2026. The Florida Cystic Fibrosis Foundation named him to its 40 Under 40 in 2017.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Bonner serves on the Executive Council of the Florida Bar’s Appellate Practice Section (2024–27 term) and Co-Chairs its CLE Committee (2025–27), where he leads the Section’s webinar programming, having previously served as the committee’s Vice-Chair (2023–2025) and as the Appellate Practice Section’s liaison to the Florida Bar’s Continuing Legal Education Committee (2024–2026). He chaired the Miami-Dade Bar Association’s Appellate Courts Committee for five appointed terms (2020–2025), sits on the Board of Directors of the Third District Court of Appeal Historical Society (2025–26 term) and serves as its Treasurer (2026–27 term), and served on the Board of Directors of the Miami Dade Trial Lawyers in 2022.

• Experience

Mr. Bonner was a partner at Colson Hicks Eidson, where he led the firm’s appellate division, and earlier practiced as an associate at Ver Ploeg & Lumpkin (now Ver Ploeg & Marino) and as a trial lawyer at the Miami Public Defender’s Office. His published work includes “Five Simple Writing Tips For Busy Trial Lawyers” in the ABA Appellate Practice Journal; “The Book on Daubert: Three Key Strategies for Preparing Your Witness, and Three for he Attack” on the ABA Litigation Section’s Sound Advice podcast series; “The Economic Loss Rule: Is a Building a ‘Product?’ — Another View” in the University of Miami Law Review; “Court Lets Insured Pursue Bad Faith after Favorable Appraisal Award” in the Daily Business Review; and “Learning from Katrina, Preparing for Litigation over Irene” in the Westlaw Journal of Insurance Coverage.

SESSION 1 – Navigating Summary Judgment and Keeping Your Case on the Right Course Through Trial and Beyond | 11:00am – 1:10pm ET

Winning at summary judgment—or successfully defeating it—requires more than mastering the governing legal standard. Effective summary-judgment advocacy begins well before the motion is filed and depends on developing a clear theory of the issue, building the evidentiary record to support it, and presenting that record in a way that makes the path to the desired ruling easy for the court to follow. This program presents five universal keys for approaching summary judgment as an integrated process extending from the pleadings and discovery through briefing and argument. Attendees will learn a practical, repeatable method for organizing the issues and evidence, demonstrating how the record satisfies or fails to satisfy the governing legal requirements, and keeping the strongest affirmative case at the center of the presentation rather than allowing an opponent’s arguments to dictate its structure.

Upon completion of this program, attendees will be able to develop a summary-judgment strategy early in the litigation by identifying the legal and factual propositions that ultimately must be established or contested; build an evidentiary record with summary judgment in mind, using pleadings, written discovery, depositions, and other record evidence strategically to support or defeat dispositive issues; organize and present a summary-judgment brief persuasively, giving the court a clear account of the relevant evidence and a readily understandable path from that evidence to the requested ruling; and integrate facts, evidence, and governing law into a cohesive argument that addresses the necessary components of the dispositive issue while effectively anticipating and responding to the opposing party’s position.

BREAK | 12:00pm – 12:10pm