56th Annual Convention and Seminar Faculty
Featured National Speakers
Patrick A. Malone
Patrick Malone learned how to ask questions and get answers as an award-winning investigative journalist. Now he is a leading patient safety advocate and attorney who represents seriously injured people in medical malpractice lawsuits, product liability cases and other types of lawsuits. Over the last three decades, he has won a long string of exceptional verdicts and settlements on behalf of his clients. His law firm, Patrick A. Malone and Associates is in Washington, D. C., and he and his staff represent clients throughout Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Patrick is the co-author of the acclaimed best seller, Rules of the Road: A Plaintiffs’ Lawyer’s Guide to Proving Liability, and he authored Winning Medical Malpractice Cases with the Rules of the Road Technique. He appeared on the Today Show to discuss his book for patients, The Life You Save: Nine Steps to Finding the Best Medical Care – and Avoiding the Worst. Patrick is invited frequently to give educational lectures to lawyer groups around the country on topics including how to use the “Rules of the Road” in different types of civil cases. He also speaks publicly to patients and health care providers about improving the safety of our health care system. He is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates and a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has been recognized as a leader in the law by Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America and 500 Leading Plaintiff Lawyers in America. He is a graduate of the Yale Law School.
Phillip H. Miller
Phillip Miller is a trial lawyer who practices in Nashville, and he is a certified civil trial specialist. His firm has been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell as one of the “preeminent firms in the United States.” Phillip limits his practice to no more than 20 personal injury cases and spends 50 percent of his time doing deposition and trial strategy for firms throughout the United States. He is recognized nationally for his work as a deposition and trial strategists and is frequently hired by firms to help them prepare their biggest, most significant cases. Over the last 14 years, he has worked with firms in more than 20 states and helped those plaintiffs recover hundreds of millions of dollars. This strategy has also included focus groups and interviewing thousands of focus group jurors. Phillip has written, published and presented papers on trial practice nationwide. He has been published in Trial, The American Journal of Trial Advocacy and in other trial lawyer publications. He has been a repeat speaker at programs for Harvard University, the National Judicial College, and other national and state trial lawyer education programs. He is the co-author, with Paul Scoptur, of Advanced Deposition Strategy and Practice. Phillip and Paul also have a DVD series featuring the book’s strategies.
Lisa Blue
Lisa Blue is a partner with the Dallas firm Baron and Blue and president-elect of the American Association for Justice. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and two Masters degrees in counseling psychology from the University of Virginia. After a brief teaching career, she returned to school and earned a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from North Texas State University and a J. D. from the South Texas College of Law. She began her legal practice in the Dallas County District Attorney’s office. In 1985, she moved to the law firm of Baron and Budd, where she specialized in environmental and toxic tort law. Lisa and her late husband, Fred Baron, managed all aspects of Baron and Budd, the largest environmental law firm in the United States. Lisa has been named one of the Top 50 Women Litigators in the U.S. by the National Law Journal, Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Texas Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, as well as receiving the Honorary Barrister Award from the University of Texas Law School and the Distinguished Alumni Award from South Texas College of Law. Blue was named Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2006 by the Dallas Bar Association. In 2007, she received the Louise Raggio Women’s Legal Advocate Award from Legal Aid of Northwest Texas and was awarded the Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award from the Texas Bar Foundation in 2008. In 2009, she received Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “Know Your Power” Award. In addition to her legal practice, Lisa provides consulting as a forensic psychologist and is a nationally-recognized expert in jury selection. She is the co-author of several books including ATLA’s Blue Guide to Jury Selection and The Little Blue Books: Preparing for Voir Dire. She has authored articles for several publications on jury selection, psychology, effective communication and substance abuse.
Additional Seminar Faculty
Martin H. Abo
Marty Abo is a certified public accountant and the owner of Abo and Company, an accounting firm with offices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The firm also provides litigation and forensic consulting. Marty has comprehensive experience in individual and corporate financial, business and tax planning. His previous experience includes several years with the tax department and audit staff of a Big Four CPA firm as well as regional firms before he founded the present enterprise. He was elected to serve as a New Jersey delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business under two U.S. Presidents. The Small Business Administration also named Marty Accountant Advocate of the Year. A graduate of Syracuse University, Marty is an active member and has chaired for two years the Litigation Services Committee of the New Jersey Society of CPAs and serves on the Litigation Support & Forensic Accounting Interest Group of NJSCPA. Marty holds the professional designation of Certified Valuation Analyst from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts. He has developed a specific expertise in performing litigation support and other consulting services. He has operated in a supportive capacity to attorneys, judges, adjusters and/or clients in providing ongoing facilitation in the negotiation and/or litigation process. Marty assists attorneys to strengthen their cases by clarifying language and economic concepts, preparing useful exhibits and reports, and testifying as an expert witness.
Scott S. Blass
Scott Blass is a partner in the Wheeling firm of Bordas and Bordas. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of West Virginia University with a B. A. in political science, and he earned his J. D. from the WVU College of Law in 1987, and he received the Order of Barristers Award. After completing law school, he served first as an associate and then as a partner with the Wheeling law firm of Bachmann, Hess, Bachmann and Garden. He also served as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ohio County. He joined Bordas and Bordas in 1992, and he is admitted to practice in state and federal courts in West Virginia and Ohio. He has represented clients in a variety of personal injury cases including medical malpractice, products liability, premises liability, insurance disputes and bad faith, automobile collisions, tractor-trailer accidents and motorcycle accidents. He has served on the West Virginia Association for Justice Board of Governors for more than a decade and on the executive committee since 2005. Scott is the immediate past president of WVAJ.
James G. Bordas III
Jamie Bordas is the managing partner of Bordas & Bordas in Wheeling. He has tried numerous cases and obtained record results including a $10 million verdict in an insurance bad faith case. Jamie also serves as the lead negotiator for many of the firm’s complex cases, many of which have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements. He has argued appeals successfully in both West Virginia and Ohio on issues including insurance bad faith, arbitration, jury selection, and attorney fee awards. Licensed to practice law in both West Virginia and Ohio, Jamie has also been involved in cases in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Texas, New Mexico, and Florida. He is on the Board of Governors of the West Virginia Association for Justice. He is also a member of the American Association for Justice, the Ohio Association for Justice and Public Justice. He has lectured extensively on wide variety of litigation topics including insurance bad faith, discovery, trial strategy, and negotiation strategies. Jamie graduated with honors from both the University of Notre Dame Business School and the Notre Dame Law School.
Rachael Fletcher Cipoletti
Rachael Cipoletti has served as counsel in the West Virginia Office of Disciplinary Counsel since 2002, serving as assistant disciplinary counsel for more than five years prior to being named interim chief counsel in January 2008. In April 2008, she was named Chief Lawyer Disciplinary Counsel. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from West Virginia University and is a graduate of the WVU College of Law. After completing law school, she worked for Legal Aid of West Virginia as a Violence Against Women Act attorney. Her admissions include West Virginia, the U. S. District Court – Northern District of West Virginia, U. S. District Court – Southern District of West Virginia, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
Barbara A. Core
Barbara Core served as Circuit Clerk of Marion County for 26 years before retiring in August 2013. Less than a year after taking office, she had software written specifically for the day to day operation of the Marion County Circuit Clerk’s office. That software was later adopted by 12 counties throughout West Virginia and was selected to be the software that will be used statewide in conjunction with the implementation of the West Virginia Circuit Court’s new e-filing system. She was selected by On-Line Information Services (OLIS) from Mobile, Alabama to be the consultant for West Virginia’s e-filing project, coordinating services between Software Systems of Morgantown, the West Virginia Supreme Court, circuit clerks’ offices and staff, attorneys and judges. Barbara is a 1975 graduate of Fairmont State. She has served on numerous committees for the West Virginia Supreme Court and served twice as president of the West Virginia Association of Counties.
Lynn Eldridge
Lynn Eldridge is the clinical manager and a therapist for Process Strategies in Charleston, and she is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker. She earned her B.A. from California State University – San Bernardino and her Master of Social Work from West Virginia University. She began her professional career in medical social work with Charleston Area Medical Center. She also worked for the State of West Virginia as a social work coordinator and training and development coordinator. As training coordinator, she provided courses to both employees and elected and appointed officials on subjects including leadership essentials, employee appraisals and grievance procedures, sexual harassment and drug-free workplace. She worked for six years in Colorado before returning to West Virginia in 2011 as director of clinical services for KVC Behavioral HealthCare. Lynn is a certified family court mediator for the West Virginia Supreme Court.
Troy Giatras
Troy Giatras earned a B. A. from Duquesne University and is a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law. He is the owner of Charleston’s Giatras Law Firm, and his practice includes both civil and criminal cases. He civil litigation practice includes personal injury; wrongful death; truck, automobile and motorcycle accidents; products liability; nursing home injury; and construction accidents. His court admissions include the states of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia; the Northern and Southern West Virginia districts for the U. S. District Court; the U. S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals; and the United States Supreme Court. Troy is a member of the West Virginia Association for Justice and serves on its board. He is also one of WVAJ’s state delegates to the American Association for Justice. He serves of AAJ’s Membership Oversight Committee and its PAC Task Force. Troy is the West Virginia representative for Public Justice and the state chair for the U. S. Supreme Court Historical Society. In addition, he is a life member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He has lectured to several state and national trial lawyer organizations on subjects includes trial skills, law office management and handling auto cases in trial.
Truman Griffith
Truman Griffith is an attorney with Warner Law Offices in Charleston. He has been highly successful in the auto accident and slip and fall practice areas. His civil litigation practice includes auto accidents, insurance litigation, workplace accidents and deliberate intent, premises liability and other personal injury areas. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Kanawha County Bar Association, and is on the board of governors for the West Virginia Association for Justice. He earned his B. A. from Hampden-Sydney College and is a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law.
Yvette Hourigan
Yvette Hourigan is the director of the Kentucky Bar Association’s Kentucky Lawyer Assistance Program. The program was developed to provide information and confidential support to lawyers impairment that may result from addiction to intoxication or drugs, chemical dependency, substance abuse, mental health disorders, psychological or emotional illness that impairs, or may forseeably impair, a person’s ability to practice law or serve on the bench. She has lectured extensively on the issues of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, the rise depression and suicide in the legal community and other mental and emotional health issues. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Yvette graduated from Murray State University and earned her J. D. from the University of Kentucky College of Law. She began her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Justice Joseph Lambert in the Kentucky Supreme Court. She began her private practice at Landrum & Shouse in Lexington, where she practiced primarily in automobile product liability defense. In 1997, she opened the Law Office of Yvette Hourigan, also in Lexington. Her practice has been focused primarily on plaintiff’s personal injury work, including nursing home negligence, automobile wrecks, and other civil litigation. She has also dedicated time to both domestic matters and pro bono work for indigent clients.
The Honorable Menis E. Ketchum, Justice
Justice Menis Ketchum was elected to a twelve-year term of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia on November 4, 2008. He served as Chief Justice in 2012. Justice Ketchum was born in Huntington and raised in Wayne County. He earned his undergraduate degree from Ohio University, where he played varsity baseball and was a member of the university’s 1964 Mid-American Conference Championship Baseball team. He earned his J. D. from the West Virginia University College of Law and returned to Huntington to practice with his father, Chad W. Ketchum, with the firm of Greene, Ketchum and Baker. Justice Ketchum’s law practice included insurance defense, personal injury, and criminal defense. He practiced at that firm and its successors, eventually becoming the senior partner, until his election to the Court. He was recognized continuously from 1989 to 2008 in The Best Lawyers in America and was a member of the Leading Honoraries, the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the American Board of Trial Advocates. Throughout his legal career he published legal articles and presented numerous continuing legal education seminars. Justice Ketchum also served as a member of the Board of Governors of Marshall University from 2002 until his campaign for the Court, and served as Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Board from 2003 until 2008. At the time of his election to the Court, he served on the Boards of the Public Defender Corporations for the Sixth and Twenty-Fourth Judicial Circuits. He previously served on the Huntington Urban Renewal Authority, participated in the statewide Vision Shared Health Care Team, and the Governor’s Mine Safety Task Force.
Charles M. Love IV
Chad Love graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1997 and was a member of The Masters Law Firm until 2014. Early this year, he established The Love Law Firm. His extensive trial experience includes the areas of nursing home abuse and neglect, product liability, injuries in the workplace, commercial truck accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful termination, and premises liability. A member of the West Virginia State Bar, Mr. Love is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court for the United States of America, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and Eighth Circuit and in the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia. Chad is a member of the West Virginia Association for Justice and serves on the organization’s board of governors. In March, he was elected to the board of the West Virginia Bar, and he is a member of the West Virginia Law Institute. Chad is earned his undergraduate degree from Dennison University.
Michael L. Manley
Michael Manley is the president and CEO of Software Systems Inc. The Morgantown company was established nearly 40 years ago and specializes in software solutions and support for West Virginia’s county governments, including tax collection and accounting software as well as records management for county clerks and circuit court clerks. Mike earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Computer Science from West Virginia University. While pursuing his degrees, he was employed by the university in several positions including working as a senior systems programmer for WVU/WVNET, by the WVU President’s Office as its first administrative systems specialist and as unit coordinator of the Administrative Information Group, which is now WVU Computer Services. He also taught both undergraduate and graduate courses for the Department of Industrial Engineering. He served the university as its assistant director of computing services until 1979, when he left to pursue his career with Software Systems Inc. Mike regularly advises state officials on the impact of rules and legislation on computer systems and serves as a liaison between county and state officials. Mike also works as a consultant with a number of law firms, providing data analysis for large volumes of data. One of Mike’s most recent projects with the state is the development and implementation of the new statewide e-filing system for the West Virginia Circuit Courts.
Todd E. Phillips
Todd Phillips is a Member in Caplin & Drysdale’s Washington, D.C. office. He is an Order of the Coif graduate of UCLA School of Law, and joined the firm as an associate in 2008 after practicing with international law firms in Los Angeles. Todd focuses his practice on complex litigation, with particular emphasis on creditors’ rights and bankruptcy litigation, commercial litigation, and class actions. In bankruptcy proceedings, he protects the rights and interests of creditors, tort claimants, official creditors’ committees, and labor organizations. Notable representations include those in the following bankruptcies: W.R. Grace & Co. (Bankr. D. Del.); Motors Liquidation Company (formerly, General Motors) (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.); The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.); Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC (Bankr. W.D.N.C.); AMR Corporation (American Airlines) (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.); New England Compounding Pharmacy, Inc. (Bankr. D. Mass.); and City Homes (Bankr. D. Md.).
Kelly R. Reed
Kelly Reed earned her bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University and is a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law. After beginning her legal career with a defense firm, Kelly transitioned to her practice as a plaintiffs’ attorney. The Law Offices of Kelly R. Reed represents plaintiffs in several litigation areas including medical malpractice and personal injury; employment law including sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliatory discharge; wrongful death; automobile, tractor trailer and motorcycle accidents; and workplace injury. She is admitted to practice before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, the U. S. District Court for both the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia and the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She is a member of the West Virginia Association for Justice and serves on its board of governors.
James P. Wehner
James Wehner is a member in Caplin & Drysdale’s Washington, D.C. office. A 1995 cum laude graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, his principal practice area is complex civil litigation, with a focus on creditors’ rights litigation, class actions, and financial products and services. He has extensive experience with disputes arising from mergers and acquisitions, financial products, intellectual property, and fraud. His bankruptcy work encompasses fraudulent conveyance lawsuits, claims estimation, and Rule 2004 investigations. Jim’s cases span a variety of industries, including banking, insurance, telecommunications, information technology services, auto parts, and steel. Recently, on behalf of the official committee of asbestos claimants in a large Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, he tried the case estimating the debtors’ global liability for asbestos personal injury. In 2013, The Legal 500 recommended Jim for his work in the fields of corporate restructuring and bankruptcy.
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