Personal Injury Litigation for Plaintiff’s Attorneys: Negotiation Tactics, client assessments, strategies, and relationships between adjusters and defense counsel

Peter Richard, Partner & Trial Attorney | Garmey Law

Peter Richard is a Partner & Trial Attorney with Garmey Law in Portland, Maine. Peter’s current practice includes Civil Plaintiff’s Litigation in Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, Motor Vehicle Accident, Product Liability, Financial Fraud Plaintiff’s Litigation, and Pro Bono Criminal Litigation. Peter has tried over fifty cases in his six years of practice including three homicide cases and many complex civil cases.

He is a SuperLawyer Rising Star and a National Trial Lawyers Association Top 100 Civil Plaintiff’s Trial Lawyer. Peter has obtained millions of dollars for his clients as a zealous advocate for what they deserve, and leverages his experience from trying cases to teach other attorney’s the tips and tools that have worked for him along the way. Peter is passionate about sharing real-life examples and experiences of how the tips and techniques used in previous trials or negotiations have worked so that others can benefit from that experience.

Dan Schiavetta | Russo & Gould LLP

Dan Schiavetta, of counsel to Russo & Gould LLP in New York City, has been a litigator for 30 years and is admitted in all New York and New Jersey state and federal courts and the Second and Third Circuit Courts of Appeals. For 20 years he defended the Catholic Church in sexual abuse cases and other matters. He also has wide experience in insurance coverage litigation, nursing home defense, and appellate practice.

He is a 1992 graduate of the University of California, Davis School of Law where he was a law review editor and moot court judge. In his previous career as a social worker he was the director of a crisis center and 24-hour hotline. He is also the author of “The Supreme Court for Short Attention Spans: 2000 Tiny Case Summaries Too Short to Bore You”, available on Amazon.

Session I – Personal Injury Litigation for Plaintiff’s Attorneys: What insurance companies hope you don’t know | 11:00am – 1:10pm

• Negotiation Tactics | 11:00am – 11:30am

o Overage counsel
o Insured’s rights to defense & indemnify
o Liability through facts and statutes
o Effective negotiation tactics

• Empathy
• Diminishing demands
• Finite numbers
• Understanding their approval and checks/balances process
• Setting high reserves

• Client Assessments | 11:30am – 12:00pm

o Comprehensive summary of medical records
o Social media research
o Revocation of all prior authorizations before counsel was engaged
o Defendant/Respondent research
o FOAA and Public Information

• Police reports
• Bodycam
• 911 call transcripts

Break | 12:00pm – 12:10pm

• Trial Tips & Strategy | 12:10pm – 1:10pm

o Litigation does not equal trial advocacy
o Being extremely proficient in trial advocacy
o Revocation of demands upon filing suit
o Proficiency in depositions
o Client preparation
o Trial strategies that every trial must have

• Theme
• 3 points
• short & direct cross examinations
• story-telling direct examinations that keep the jury’s attention

o Passionate closing argument

Break | 1:10pm – 1:20pm

Session II – The Delicate Relationship Between Adjusters and Defense | 1:20pm – 3:30pm

• How reservation of rights letters and partial disclaimers affect what counsel does and how they report | 1:20pm – 1:50pm

• The pressures that adjusters are under to settle claims versus the desire of attorneys to provide the best defense possible | 1:50pm – 2:20pm

Break | 2:20pm – 2:30pm

• What counsel must do if there is a danger of loss of coverage or even rescission of the policy | 2:30pm – 2:50pm

• Things that defense counsel prefer to avoid in settling a case that adjusters like to do | 2:50pm – 3:10pm

• Creative ways to gain cooperation of the insured without alienating the adjuster | 3:10pm – 3:30pm