The Voice^TM

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• Learn More About the Partnership
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• Visit Millennium Park & Cloud Gate – Stroll through this iconic park and snap a photo with "The Bean" while enjoying the crisp fall air and vibrant colors.
• Cruise the Chicago River – Take a scenic architecture river cruise and marvel at Chicago’s world-renowned skyline as the city’s buildings glow in the autumn light.
• Explore the Art Institute of Chicago – Get lost in one of the world’s finest art collections, with incredible works from all eras and cultures.
• Taste the Best of Chicago’s Restaurants – From Michelin-starred fine dining to cozy neighborhood gems, Chicago’s culinary scene has something for every palate. Don’t miss out on seasonal menus featuring autumn-inspired dishes!
• Lincoln Park Zoo & Fall Foliage – Take a leisurely stroll through the historic Lincoln Park Zoo, surrounded by beautiful fall colors that make for the perfect outdoor escape.
• Sip Seasonal Brews – Chicago’s craft breweries come alive in the fall! Taste unique seasonal beers and enjoy cozy pub vibes throughout the city.

Be the first to know! Sign up for updates on the 2025 DRI Annual Meeting to get early registration discounts, sneak peeks at programming, details on networking opportunities, and much more!

Amicus Chair Quoted in Law360

On February 14, 2025, Lisa M. Baird (Reed Smith LLP), Chair of the DRI Center for Law and Public Policy’s Amicus Committee, offered testimony before the Advisory Committee on the Federal Appellate Rules’ hearing to discuss proposed amendments to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 29. The amendment would require court permission and greater financial disclosures for amici in circuit courts. The proposed changes offered a rare opportunity for advocates on both sides of the “v.” to present a unified reaction to the proposed rule changes. As quoted in a Law360 article published after the hearings, Ms. Baird testified that "We find it notable that so many groups, with varying interests and political perspectives, in the written comments were united in raising concerns with these proposed amendments." See “Almost Everyone Hates the Judiciary's Amicus Rule Revamp,” Law360, February 14, 2025 (registration required).;

Holmstrand Now L&R Vice Chair

DRI and the Center for Law and Public Policy are pleased to announce that longtime DRI member Jeff Holmstrand has accepted a two-year appointment to serve as vice chair of the Center’s Legislation and Rules Committee. Based in Wheeling, West Virginia, Jeff is a name partner in his firm, Grove Holmstrand & Delk PLLC, where he focuses his practice on defending product liability, mass torts/class action, and complex insurance disputes, as well as maintaining an active appellate practice. He is an active member of the DRI Product Liability and Drug and Medical Device Committees, as well as a past president of the Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia. He is a frequent author and speaker, particularly in the area of mass torts and class actions.

New Leaders, Members for Two Center Task Forces

Bruce Cranner, Greg Farkas, Kenneth Whittle

The Center is also pleased to announce new leaders and several new members for two important groups within the Legislation and Rules Committee. Bruce Cranner of Milling Benson Woodward LLP in Mandeville, Louisiana, is now chair of the Center’s Federal Rules Task Force. A former DRI National Director, Bruce has previously served and remains a member of the Center’s MSP Task Force. Greg Farkas of Franz Ward LLP in Cleveland has been tapped to serve as the vice chair of the Federal Rules Task Force. Joining Bruce and Greg is new task force member Kenneth Whittle (Milling Benson Woodward LLP).

The Federal Rules Task Force evaluates issues involving the Federal Appellate, Civil, and Evidence Rules. It drafts appropriate changes to rules and drafts comments on proposed changes to rules and, through the Litigation and Rules Committee, recommends action on those to the Center Management Council.

Nicole Marklein, Brandon Hull, Doug Abraham, Allison Beaulieu, Brian Cuevas, Mandy Good, and Nick Tompson

Similarly, the Center is excited to welcome new leadership to one of its newest and fastest growing groups, the State Legislation and Rules Task Force. After serving as task force vice chair, Nicole Marklein of Cross Jenks Mercer in Baraboo, Wisconsin, will now serve a two-year term as task force chair. Nicole is a past president of the Wisconsin Defense Counsel. She is joined by new task force vice chair Brandon Hull of Overturf McGath Hull in Denver. Brandon also currently serves as the DRI Colorado State Representative. Joining Nicole and Brandon are new task force members Doug Abraham (May Adam Gerdes LLP – Pierre, SD), Allison Beaulieu (Jones Skelton & Hochuli PLC – Albuquerque, NM), Brian Cuevas (U-Haul International Inc. – Phoenix, AZ), Mandy Good (Crowley Fleck PLLP – Cheyenne, WY), and Nick Thompson (Copeland Cook Taylor – Hattiesburg, MS).

The State Legislation and Rules Task Force assists, upon request, State and Local Defense Organization (SLDOs) concerned about a legislative or rule issue in their state. The task force assists in a variety of ways, such as sharing information about the issue from other jurisdictions or, through the Legislation and Rules Committee, recommending action to the Center Management Council (e.g., by providing comments supporting the SLDO positions to legislative committees or rule making bodies). The task force may also alert other SLDOs of issues arising in one jurisdiction which may spread to others, a sort of early-warning system for members and SLDOs.

The State Legislation and Rules Task Force is requesting members from the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Vermont, and Virginia.

If you're interested in joining, please contact TheCenter@dri.org.

Luckily for me, one of my favorite seminars, DRI’s Women in the Law, was on the horizon and in San Antonio, Texas. I was certainly looking forward to some nicer weather than what we get in the Midwest! For a few years now, I have been participating in and coordinating the DRI Cares events at the DRI’s Women in the Law Seminar. This year, DRI’s Women in the Law Seminar, along with DRI’s Civil Rights and Governmental Tort Liability Seminar hosted not one but two DRI Cares events.

Our first event benefited Haven for Hope, a local San Antonio charity working to empower individuals and families experiencing homelessness to transform their lives. Our fellow DRI members from both seminars came together and assembled around 500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Haven for Hope to distribute in the community. Our second project supported Blessings in a Backpack. This is an organization that mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for school-aged children across America who might otherwise go hungry. Blessings in a Backpack is a charity that DRI has been working with for some time now. If you have attended any DRI meeting or seminar in the last couple of years, you have no doubt assembled these bags for the local community.

I highly encourage you to participate in our DRI Cares projects at your next seminar! I am always amazed and uplifted by the amount of support and the generosity of DRI’s members to participate in these projects. Volunteers (along with DRI staff) set up, assist in running the event, participate in the events themselves and then clean-up. Overall, the projects are designed to allow attendees of the seminars to spend just a few minutes of their day doing something to benefit the local community that has so graciously welcomed our members into their city for a short time. For me, these projects are gentle reminders of all the things we have to be grateful for and provide a sense of hope that we often need. It was such a pleasure working with Megan Silver and Elena Boop, my DRI Cares counterparts for the Civil Rights and Governmental Tort Liability Seminar. I am so grateful to all the individuals that assisted in any way, large or small, in both of these projects – THANK YOU! The hope you all inspired was truly felt. My wish for all of you was that you felt just a little of the same hope and inspiration as well, or will as we transition into Spring.

Our DRI Cares projects, and the hope and inspiration they provide, are at the center of what the DRI Foundation strives to achieve. By volunteering, donating or participating in these DRI Cares projects, everyone benefits from the hope provided – the individuals participating in the service projects directly and the individuals receiving the fruits of the service projects. I can’t think of a better way to bring in the Hope of Spring!

Carolyn Husmann is a partner in the St. Louis office of Sinars Slowikowski LLC with nearly 20 years of experience defending companies in Illinois and Missouri.

To address this specific issue, on January 8, 2025, the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 514, titled "A Lawyer's Obligations When Advising an Organization About Conduct that May Create Legal Risks for the Organization's Constituents."

The Committee describes the scope of the Opinion this way:

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct set forth a general standard of competent representation under Rule 1.1, necessary communication under Rule 1.4, and candid advice under Rule 2.1. Where a lawyer-in­ house or outside counsel-is giving advice to an organization client about future action of the organization, these provisions may require the lawyer to advise the organization when its actions pose a legal risk to the organization's constituents.

When an organization's lawyer provides advice to the organization about proposed conduct that may have legal implications for individual constituents, the constituents through whom the lawyer conveys advice may misperceive the lawyer's role and mistakenly believe that they can rely personally on the lawyer's advice. Rules 4.1, 4.3, and l.13(f) require an organization's lawyer to take reasonable measures to avoid or dispel constituents' misunderstandings about the lawyer's role.

An organization's lawyer may want to instruct or remind an organization's constituents about the lawyer's role early and often during the relationship, not only at times when constituents might rely to their detriment on a misunderstanding of the lawyers' role. Educating an organization's constituents who may receive the lawyer's advice in the future will lay the groundwork for later situations where lawyers may be advising the organization on matters with legal implications for the organization's constituents.

For lawyers who represent organizations, this 13-page Opinion is a must-read. Note that while all states have adopted the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, many states have adopted slightly different language, and all have their own ethics opinions. While this Opinion does not govern any state's application of the state's own Rules of Professional Conduct, ABA Opinions provide helpful guidance to lawyers and bar associations. Check your own jurisdiction's rules and ethics opinions for more detail.

The Opinion con useful guidance for lawyers who represent organizations:

[T]he lawyer for an organization would be well advised to instruct constituents about the lawyer's role on other occasions when the lawyer interacts with constituents, and not only at times when constituents might rely to their detriment on a misunderstanding of the lawyer's role. Educating the organization's constituents who may receive the lawyer's advice in the future will lay the groundwork for later situations where the lawyer is advising the organization on matters with legal implications for constituents. Among other things, lawyers for the organization should avoid referring to individual constituents as their clients, and these lawyers should correct individual constituents who refer to the organization's lawyers as the constituent's own lawyers. When an organization's lawyers interact with the organization's decision makers in settings in which the lawyers are not conveying advice, the lawyers can nevertheless take the opportunity to clarify their role, such as by explaining that they represent the organization, not the individual constituents, and that the individuals cannot rely on the lawyers to look out for their individual interests, even when those interests may appear to coincide with those of the organization.

For further or more specific guidance on this topic, don't hesitate to get in touch with our senior risk management attorneys. To obtain a consultation, you should log in to Attorneys Risk Management, and click on the "Request a Risk Management Consultation" button.

Gregory J. Bennici was elected as Partner at Robinson & Cole LLP in Stamford, CT. His legal practice includes managed care and ERISA litigation, health and welfare plans, and ERISA benefits litigation. Greg has been a DRI member since 2017.

Fred E. “Trey” Bourn III joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Jackson, MS as a Partner. He joined Bradley’s Litigation Practice Group with his trial experience representing product manufacturers. Trey has been a DRI member since 2006 and currently serves as DRI’s Chair of the Product Liability Committee.

Raymond J. Carta was promoted to Counsel at Robinson & Cole LLP in Stamford, CT. He litigates disputes related to group welfare benefits, ERISA, health insurance, disability insurance, and life insurance coverage. Raymond has been a DRI member since 2022.

John Taylor Densberger joined Kidd Laflin Kilburg Johnson as an attorney in Omaha, NE. He practices law in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. John has been a DRI member since 2023.

Ericka Esposito joined SIG Sauer in Newington, NH as Assistant General Counsel. She was most recently a Partner at Littleton Joyce Ughetta & Kelly LLP. Ericka has been a DRI member since 2021 and serves as a leader for DRI’s Women in the Law Committee as the Online Community Chair.

Kelly Ann Hodges joined Darger Errante Yavitz & Blau LLP as Counsel in New York, NY. She is an experienced litigator who represents multinational corporations and municipalities in many matters such as product liability, mass torts, municipal defense, and general litigation. Kelly has been a DRI member since 2014.

Scott Miller has opened his own firm, L.S. Miller Law Firm, PLLC in Lexington, KY. He was previously a litigation attorney at Sturgill Turner Barker & Moloney PLLC, a DRI Enterprise Member law firm. Scott has been a DRI member since 2016.

Aleksandra Rybicki has been promoted to Partner at Hollingsworth LLP located in Washington, DC. She represents individual and corporate clients in complex commercial litigation, antitrust, employment, and professional liability matters. Aleksandra has been a DRI member since 2024.

Frederick H. Wen joined Germer PLLC as Senior Trial Counsel located in Houston, TX. His practice areas include personal injury defense, transportation and trucking litigation, premises liability, construction law, commercial litigation, and appellate law. Fred has been a DRI member since 2022.

Margot Wilensky was added as a new member to the Executive Committee for the 2025 leadership team at Connell Foley LLP. She is a Partner in the Complex Casualty Litigation Group. Margot has been a DRI member since 2013.

2025 Life, Health, Disability and ERISA Seminar
April 9–11, 2025 | Denver, CO

Join us in the vibrant city of Denver for an unparalleled conference that brings together the brightest minds in the industry. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, this event offers a unique opportunity to network with top professionals, gain insights from thought leaders, and explore the latest trends shaping the Life, Health, Disability & ERISA landscape. Whether you are looking to sharpen your skills, expand your professional network, or stay ahead of the curve in your practice, this conference is designed to empower you with the knowledge and connections you need to succeed. Save up to $500 when you register by April 8!

2025 Drug and Medical Device Seminar
May 7–9, 2025 | Nashville, TN

Join us in Nashville for the 2025 Drug and Medical Device Seminar. Enjoy numerous opportunities to network with clients, potential referral sources, and colleagues and to learn about the latest developments in drug and medical device litigation. Hear a jury consultant and lawyers provide the latest insight into jury selection in a post-pandemic world. Learn from experienced in-house and outside counsel what the Loper Bright decision may mean for drug and medical device litigation as we head into the post-Chevron world. Participate in practical discussions concerning the latest on the effective use and management of remote testimony at trial and data driven MDL management. This seminar is an amazing opportunity to hear from in-house counsel, outside counsel, and industry experts as it continues to be the go-to event for lawyers working in this field of litigation. Save up to $500 when you register by May 6!

2025 Employment and Labor Law Seminar
May 7–9, 2025 | Nashville, TN

Get ready to experience the vibrant energy of Music City at DRI’s 48^th annual Employment and Labor Law Seminar! This premier event is the ultimate gathering for top-tier management-side employment and labor attorneys, in-house counsel, human resources professionals, and employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) representatives from across the US and Canada. Immerse yourself in intensely practical sessions, complete with invaluable written materials, designed to benefit both seasoned practitioners and those new to the field. Don’t miss out on our dynamic networking events, perfectly situated near Nashville’s iconic Broadway Historic District. This is your chance to connect, learn, and grow with the best in the business. Join us for an unforgettable seminar that promises to elevate your expertise and expand your professional network! Save up to $500 when you register by May 6!

2025 Retail and Hospitality Litigation Seminar
May 15, 2025 | Chicago, IL

Join us for the 2025 DRI Retail and Hospitality Litigation Seminar in Chicago—a dynamic city known for its iconic architecture, rich cultural history, and vibrant food scene! The 2025 seminar offers valuable insights from leading experts on the latest legal challenges facing the retail and hospitality industries. This is an excellent opportunity for lawyers, retail and hospitality operators, vendors, claims professionals, and insurers to stay informed on the latest legal trends, developments, and strategies for effectively managing risk in their practices. Plus, experience the energy and innovation that Chicago has to offer! Save up to $400 when you register by May 14!

2025 Law Firm Leaders and Managing Partners Conference
June 5, 2025 | Chicago, IL

Join the Law Practice Management Committee in Chicago for lessons on technological, personnel, and business issues facing law firm leaders in defense firms around the country. Law practice management has entered a new frontier with fast-changing technology, evolving client claims management philosophies, a competitive job market, post-pandemic inflation, and ongoing generational differences in the practice of law. Equip yourself with modern solutions at this seminar, featuring dynamic presentations tailored to help law firm leaders tackle daily industry challenges Save up to $400 when you register by June 4!

2025 Diversity for Success Seminar
June 11–13, 2025 | New Orleans, LA

The Diversity and Inclusion Committee invites you to its Annual Diversity for Success Seminar and Corporate Expo in New Orleans, Louisiana! With the theme, “Embracing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the New Normal,” this seminar is designed to address the recent scaling back of corporate DEI initiatives, the continuing evolution of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the legal profession and educational spaces, and how attendees can continue to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the current landscape. Attendees will also receive resources and tools to incorporate into their career and organization that will improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. Save up to $700 when you register by April 28!

2025 Trucking Litigation Essentials
June 25–26, 2025 | Denver, CO

Elevate your skills, unlock your potential, and gain valuable insights from top industry leaders and experienced trucking attorneys from across the country at this dynamic event. Become an indispensable asset to the trucking industry as you master how to ethically navigate toxic personalities, plan your trial presentation from day one, and hone your skills to create and utilize leverage in settlement negotiations.Save up to $700 when you register by May 12!