Upcoming CLE: SCDTAA Products Liability Seminar

I am the Co-Chairman of the Products Liability Substantive Law Committee for the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association ("SCDTAA"), and I have been working with SCDTAA on some programming ideas (which I alluded to in this post).  Specifically, I wanted to do the first ever Continuing Legal Education ("CLE") seminar devoted entirely to South Carolina products liability law and offered through SCDTAA.  I reached out to members to gauge interest and solicited ideas for topics.  I am pleased to report that this CLE has come together and registration is now "open."  (Thanks to the Collins & Lacy, P.C. Marketing Department and Aimee Hiers at SCDTAA for all their assistance!) 

On August 24, 2012, we will have an entire day of speakers and topics devoted to South Carolina's products liability law and defending these claims.  This CLE is available to members of SCDTAA, attorneys associated with a firm that is a member of SCDTAA, and individuals who work in claims management.  All of the information and registration can be found at this link.  A cut and paste of the agenda and speakers is below.

2012 SCDTAA Products Liability Continuing Legal Education Program:

Defending Products Liability Claims and the

Future of South Carolina’s Products Liability Law

August 24, 2012

Marriott Columbia

8:00 to 9:00 a.m.          Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 to 9:15 a.m.          Welcome and Introduction

Brian A. Comer, Collins & Lacy, P.C.

Molly Craig, President of SCDTAA

9:15 to 10:00 a.m.        Defending the “Defective Condition, Unreasonably Dangerous” Requirement in South Carolina Products Liability Cases

Sam Sammataro and Curtis Ott

Turner Padget Graham & Laney, P.A.

Columbia, South Carolina

·        Manufacturing Defect: Consumer Expectations Test

·        Design Defect: Risk Utility Test and Necessity of Feasible Alternative Design after Branham v. Ford Motor Co.

·        Proof of Defect in Warnings Cases

10:00 to 10:45  a.m.     Expert Issues in Products Liability Cases

Michael Freeman

Griffith Sadler & Sharp, P.A.

Beaufort, South Carolina

·        Do I have to have an expert in a products liability case?  Implications of Watson v. Ford Motor Co., 5-Star v. Ford Motor Co., and the role of expert testimony in warnings cases.

·        South Carolina Law Concerning Expert Testimony Generally

·        Qualification and Reliability of Opinions post-Watson

10:45 to 11:00  a.m.      Morning Break

11:00 to 11:45  a.m.     Using the Evidentiary Rules to Your Advantage

Angela Strickland and Richard H. Willis

Bowman and Brooke, LLP

Columbia, South Carolina

·        Keeping Out Post-Distribution Evidence

·        Admissibility of Other Similar Incident Evidence

·        Dealing with Recalls

·        Advancing Safety Themes        

11:45 to 12:30 p.m.      The Power of Demonstrative Evidence in the Products Liability Case: A Demonstration of Trial Graphics and How to Teach the Jury Visually

                                    Stephen G. Morrison and John F. Kuppens

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, L.L.P.

                                    Columbia, South Carolina

12:30 to 1:30 p.m.        Lunch and Speaker

                                    The Latest from the Consumer Product Safety Commission: What’s Going On and How it Impacts Products Liability Defendants

Kenneth R. Hinson, Executive Director

United States Consumer Product Safety Division

Washington, D.C.  

1:30 to 2:15 p.m.          How the Second and Third Restatements of Torts Affect Product Liability Law in South Carolina

Professor David Owen

USC School of Law

Columbia, South Carolina

·        Restatement (2d) of Torts § 402A and the South Carolina Defective Product Act         

·        Branham v. Ford Motor Co.’s Movement Toward Restatement (Third) of Torts

·        Differences in the Restatements and Implications for Litigation

2:15 to 3:00 p.m.          The Economic Loss Rule in South Carolina Products Liability Law

Robert E. Sumner, IV

Moore and Van Allen PLLC

Charleston, South Carolina

3:00 to 3:15 p.m.          Afternoon Break

3:15 to 4:00 p.m.          Jury Selection and Cross Examination of Experts in the Products Liability Case

                                    Richard A. Bowman

Bowman and Brooke, LLP

                                    Minneapolis, Minnesota

4:00 to 4:30 p.m.          Apportioning Liability in South Carolina Products Liability

                                     Cases

                                    Elizabeth M. McMillan and Andrew L. Richardson, Jr.

McAngus Goudelock & Courie, LLC

                                    Columbia, South Carolina

·        Apportioning Liability Between Strictly Liable Sellers

·        Apportioning Liability Between a Strictly Liable Retailer(s)/Distributor(s) and Negligent Manufacturer(s)

·        Application of Comparative Negligence in the Strict Liability Setting After Berberich v. Jack, 392 S.C. 278, 286, 709 S.E.2d 607 (2011)

   

4:30 to 5 p.m.   TBD

I am hoping to have a great turnout because we have a "superstar" group of speakers from a cross section of the legal profession.  I am also looking for potential sponsors for the event, so if you have any interest in sponsorship, please contact me for details.

Hope to see you there!