Primerus Convocation De-Brief

Last week, I attended the Primerus Defense Institute (PDI) Convocation at the Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California.  As I have posted in the past, my firm is a member of the Primerus network of firms, and the Convocation is a yearly event held in the spring.  It is a unique event in that each law firm brings a client with them to join in the CLE presentations, networking, and social events.  It is a great dynamic.  The members of Primerus have the opportunity to meet Primerus attorneys in other states, and we also are able to introduce our clients to additional law firms that can potentially provide service if they ever have a need in our "neck of the woods."

I arrived late Wednesday evening, and I spent most of Thursday working since the practice group meetings did not begin until the middle of the afternoon.  I attended the Professional Liability and Insurance Bad Faith Practice Group meetings before attending the Products Liability Practice Group meeting later that afternoon.  Our practice group has been very active in the last year under the leadership of Rick Quinlivan, including the webinar we presented last year and a forthcoming state-by-state Compendium on indemnification and contribution law.  Later that evening, there was a nice reception to chat with all of the attorneys and clients in attendance.

On Friday morning, I attended various CLE presentations and breakout sessions.  The afternoon was reserved for free time, which I spent doing some work and also checking out Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.  I was fairly wiped out Friday evening and turned in after dinner.  (That west coast time change always mixes me up).

On Saturday, I attended more CLE presentations, including one on social media that was led in large part Jim Adler, the Chief Privacy Officer at Intelius.  I will be the first to admit that I am a little tired of hearing about social media, but the presentation was awesome.  It really drilled into privacy issues and where technology may be headed in the future for this area of the law.  Also on Saturday, I presented my piece of our practice group's breakout session on "Indemnity Rights - Avoiding Surprises."  During the course of about 45 minutes to an hour, Rick Quinlivan, Ray Lyons, Jeremy Cook, myself, and one of our client representatives discussed various aspects of indemnification issues, strategy, and case examples.  The presentation was well-received, and I enjoyed being a part of it.

Saturday afternoon was free time, and I used it as an opportunity to visit one of my graduate school friends from my IMBA program who lives about 20 miles away in Carlsbad.  It was nice to catch up with him.  Later that evening, I ended the Convocation with a dinner at the automobile museum in San Diego known as "Evans Garage."  Lots of classic cars on display, a great meal, and a fun time. 

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and I caught a taxi around 9:15 p.m. to the airport.  I took the "red eye" flight back, and was back home by 9 a.m. for a Sunday of chasing kids and grabbing cat naps when I could.  Always nice to get home.

I really enjoyed the Convocation, and I hope to make it a yearly event.  My only complaint?  It was overcast and cold!  I came to learn that this time of year is known as "May Gray" and "June Gloom" around the area because it tends to be overcast and cool.  It certainly was not beach weather, that is for sure.  I am told that next year's event will be at Amelia Island, so it will be nice to have it closer to home and within driving distance.