BRBC Schedule of Events & Topics
Join us for an action-packed day, earning CLE credits, networking with industry peers, and diving into the world of trucking litigation, to equip you with essential trucking litigation skills.
Weather and Other Adverse Conditions
Rain. Snow. Ice. Fog. Smoke. These conditions are not excuses; they are reasons that truck drivers must take extra precautions to avoid crashes. In this presentation Michael Cowen will give you the tools to turn adverse conditions from a defense to evidence of the defendant’s negligence.
Police officers are not trained on the rules truck drivers must follow. As a result, they often blame the wrong driver when investigating a truck crash. Michael will share his strategies for overcoming an adverse police report. This talk will cover both ways to exclude the police officer’s opinions and how to effectively cross-examine the officer when the opinion is admitted.
When The Police Get It Wrong: Winning cases when the police report blames your client
9:30 AM
Welcome & Continental Breakfast
Your Trucking Toolbox
The rules and anchors you need to win the most common types of trucking cases. In this series of talks, Michael will share his strategies for maximizing value on the most commonly occurring types of crashes. These include:
Rear End Collisions. While it is relatively easy to show a truck driver’s negligence in a rear-end crash, Michael will show you how to dig deeper and expose how the trucking company’s unsafe choices contributed to the collision. The presentation will include the rules that trucking companies and their drivers must follow to avoid rear-end collisions as well as the sources of those rules.
Backing Cases. Trucking companies cause crashes when they back into other vehicles and when they back across a roadway. Michael will share the rules for safe backing as well as the sources of the rules. He will also show why it is so dangerous to back across a roadway at night.
Sideswipe Cases. A tractor-trailer should never sideswipe another vehicle. But trucking companies try to evade responsibility by claiming that the injured party was in the truck’s blind spot. Michael will show the rules for safe lane changes and how to prove that the truck driver should have known there was a vehicle in the adjoining lane before starting the lane change.
Turning Cases. A tractor-trailer should never sideswipe another vehicle. But trucking companies try to evade responsibility by claiming that the injured party was in the truck’s blind spot. Michael will show the rules for safe lane changes and how to prove that the truck driver should have known there was a vehicle in the adjoining lane before starting the lane change.
U-Turns. A tractor-trailer should never make a u-turn on a public road. It is simply too dangerous. However, trucking companies try to defend these cases by blaming the oncoming driver. In this presentation, Michael will share the industry standards which prove that trucking companies should prevent u-turns.
Break
15 Minutes
Break for Lunch
15 Minutes
Being a plaintiffs’ lawyer can be hard. We not only have the stresses inherent in litigation and the financial risks we take financing contingent fee cases, but we also deal with our clients’ trauma. Michael will share his journey, including his past struggles and the tools he has used to create a positive mindset. This winning mindset not only reduces his daily stress, but also makes him more calm and dynamic in the courtroom.
Lunch presentation: Building a Resilient Mindset
Michael will share his strategies for how to most persuasively present a reconstructionist. Then he will do a live demonstration of a direct with a real reconstructionist.
Direct Exam of a Crash Reconstructionist
Michael will share his strategies on effectively examining truck drivers, both at trial and in deposition. Michael will show real-life examples of winning cross-examinations.
Cross-Examination of Truck Drivers
Break
15 Minutes
Michael will show how to effectively examine corporate representatives, safety directors, and other trucking company employees. He will show real-live examples.
Cross-Examinations of Trucking Company Personnel
Trucking companies attempt to hide their unsafe actions by stipulating that the company is vicariously liable for the driver’s negligence. Michael will share his strategies for admitting evidence of the trucking company’s negligence in cases where the defense files a stipulation. The presentation will cover both Texas law (Chapter 72) and the “McHaffierule” applied in some Texas federal courts and other states.
Overcoming Defense Attempts to Hide Corporate Conduct
If a picture is worth a thousand words a video is worth a million. Demonstrations and reenactments are powerful tools in the courtroom. But the defense will fight tooth and nail to attempt to exclude them from evidence. Michael will share some of the demonstrations and reenactments he has used in recent trials and will share the legal strategies to get them admitted in evidence.
Demonstrations and Reenactments
4:30 PM
Happy Hour
