Past DRI Seminars

DRI's Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium is the flagship educational and networking program for insurance executives, claims professionals, and outside counsel who specialize in insurance coverage. This year's symposium will once again offer the unparalleled opportunity to engage with a distinguished faculty of insurance industry leaders and coverage lawyers on emerging and cutting-edge issues such as the impact of artificial intelligence, the future for coverage issues involved in "forever chemical" environmental claims, and the continuing impact of nuclear verdicts on coverage and excess insurance issues. As always, the symposium will provide exceptional networking events and will offer the opportunity to build relationships with other professionals who share your interests.

The last three years have launched unprecedented changes in the world as we knew it. These changes carry over into issues faced by professionals in multiple disciplines. With advancements in technology like ChatGPT and other AI products come a myriad of unique ethical issues. And when professional negligence results in potential licensure exposure, the stakes can be particularly high. Soaring costs of litigation, particularly e-discovery, present real and logistical challenges with eroding limits policies. The stresses of practice, while always significant, are magnified as insurers, lawyers, and clients return to the new real world as if blinking into the sunlight after recent years of remote work, quarantine, and remote meetings. Effective communication both within and outside the office, self-care, employment, and retention issues, including aging professionals have become pressing concerns. Join us as we explore this new landscape with dynamic speakers and thought-provoking topics, all in the heart of New York City.

Join us in Austin, Texas, for the DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, where you will learn about the biggest challenges and opportunities facing practitioners in asbestos litigation. This year’s educational focus will involve taking lawyers on a journey through all aspects of a case with a fact pattern involving a young, living, female, mesothelioma plaintiff with a genetic mutation, direct talc exposure and bystander friction exposure. Plus, you'll have an unparalleled opportunity to engage with distinguished faculty on timely topics and national trends, as well as network at various breakout sessions.

Join us for the 2023 Retail and Hospitality Litigation Seminar in Austin, Texas—a vibrant and eclectic city with a thriving music scene, a diverse population, and a beautiful downtown with a wide variety of dining and entertainment options! The seminar will feature insight by leading experts on the latest legal issues facing the retail and hospitality industries. This is a great opportunity for lawyers, retail and hospitality operators, vendors, claims professionals, and insurers to stay up to date on the latest trends and developments in the law, as well as learn how to effectively manage risk in their practice.

Join the Law Practice Management Committee in Austin for a look at the new “Wild West” of issues facing law firm leaders in defense firms around the country. Law Firm Practice Management has entered a new frontier with fast-changing technology, evolving client claims management philosophies, an uber-competitive job market, novel post-pandemic employment law issues, and ongoing generational differences in the practice of law. This seminar is packed with cutting-edge presentations to arm law firm leaders on how to respond to and handle new and novel issues we face on a daily basis.

Join us in our nation’s capital for the 2023 Senior Living and Long-Term Care Litigation Seminar, taking place on August 16–18 at the Washington Hilton in the heart of the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Our annual seminar will include panel counsel meetings, enhanced networking opportunities, and, as always, timely education sessions from leading industry experts on the latest topics impacting the senior living industry. In addition to exceptional speakers, the new seminar schedule offers more time for networking and collaboration, including a new attendee meetup, small group networking opportunities including a tour of the US Supreme Court, the DRI Cares Blessings in a Backpack project, and an on-site lunch and premier networking reception (both included in the registration fee)! Register now to secure your spot for these special events.

Join us for a timely seminar focused on current issues affecting those who practice in the automotive space. Stay up to date on emerging technologies, electric vehicles (EV), Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), and supply chain developments. Gain perspective from in-house counsel regarding their business and legal concerns. Additionally, attain deeper knowledge from experienced trial counsel and experts about key litigation trends and best practices for defending various types of automotive claims.

DRI’s Fire Science and Litigation Seminar is returning to Washington, D.C.! The seminar will provide cutting-edge education, including a live burn demonstration, which provides a rare opportunity for participants to go off-site to a facility where experts—with the assistance of the great folks at D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS)—will have multiple live burn stations. After observing actual fire suppressions and inspections, attendees will be walked through what they observed and how to best use this evidence in the courtroom. With a number of other excellent speaker sessions and premier networking events, this is a seminar you won’t want to miss!

Join us in our nation’s capital for the 2023 DRI Talc Litigation Seminar, taking place on August 16-18 at the Washington Hilton in the beautiful Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. This seminar will include panel counsel meetings, a Premier Networking Reception, and timely education sessions from industry experts from across the nation. If you are interested in the strategies of plaintiffs’ firms in trying talc cases, the scientific issues of cosmetic talc litigation, and new and evolving challenges to plaintiffs’ experts and their theories, this is a seminar you will not want to miss!

Join us for the first DRI International Seminar in four years to reconnect with members and new contacts in Zürich. The international disputes landscape is becoming more complex, and there are significant changes ahead, particularly for tech companies operating in Europe, as well as the rapid growth of class action regimes globally. We will be joined by lawyers and in-house counsel to discuss the hot topics and current legal developments in cross-border litigation with a focus on class actions, product liability, developments in e-discovery, and the use of legal tech in litigation. We will end with a lively and interactive panel session discussing the future of work in law firms and the seminal topic of preserving well-being in the new world of hybrid working.

The DRI Diversity and Inclusion Committee invites you to the 18th annual Diversity for Success Seminar and Corporate Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to gain insights from and network with in-house counsel and potential referral sources. This seminar is designed to address diversity-related issues in the legal profession and provide resources and tools to incorporate in your career and organization to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion.

DRI’s Insurance Bad Faith and Extra-Contractual Liability Seminar is the preeminent program for insurance executives, claims professionals, and outside counsel who specialize in bad faith insurance litigation. Bad faith issues and concerns permeate many aspects of insurance claims handling. When bad faith litigation ensues, these claims are some of the most complex and highest exposure claims faced by insurers. Our faculty, consisting of some of the nation’s leading in-house and outside bad faith lawyers, will share their valuable insights and strategies on evaluating and winning bad faith cases, as well as how to avoid them in the first place.

Come visit the Queen City for DRI’s Young Lawyers Seminar! If you are an attorney within your tenth year of practice, this seminar is for you. Join us as we explore how the practice of law is, first and foremost, a business. To grow your law practice, you not only need to hone and perfect your legal skills, but you also need to learn what it takes to run a successful business - from building and maintaining client relationships, to staying on top of current trends and developments and using technology to your advantage. In addition to exciting programming, there will be ample networking opportunities with attorneys and in-house counsel from across the country.

In today's high-stakes trucking litigation, a complete set of comprehensive strategies is essential to laying the groundwork for the defense of your case. Attendees will be shown how to handle an emergency call and how to thoroughly investigate an accident at the earliest stage. Experienced attorneys, claims professionals, and industry experts will discuss evidence preservation, pre-suit discovery, and effective strategies for early resolution.

The national energy landscape is rapidly evolving, demonstrated by the increasing emergence of both onshore and offshore wind energy projects. At the 2023 Wind Energy Litigation Seminar, attendees will gain an in-depth understanding about the onshore and offshore wind sector from experienced attorneys and directly from the industry itself. Join us in Chicago to gain valuable insight into existing litigation surrounding the industry as well as potential future litigation.

Join us in historic New Orleans for the Drug and Medical Device industry’s premier event for learning, networking, and advancing the defense of life sciences clients! You’ll hear from heads of litigation from the world’s foremost drug and medical device companies, get the latest insight on jurors’ changing perceptions, and celebrate Daubert’s 30th anniversary. This year, take advantage of new CLE opportunities on Wednesday afternoon and small group, off-site networking events on Thursday afternoon, which provide more opportunities than ever to network with renowned industry experts while enjoying the best of New Orleans.

Join us in the Big Easy as we reconnect at DRI’s 46th annual Employment and Labor Law Seminar. The nation’s best employment law seminar brings together leading management-side employment and labor attorneys, in-house counsel, human resources professionals, and EPLI representatives from throughout the U.S. and Canada. Always intensely practical and accompanied by helpful written materials, this seminar is indispensable for experienced practitioners as well as those who are just getting started in labor and employment law. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from some of the best practitioners and professionals in the labor and employment arena.

Wondering why cannabis is considered a Schedule I drug by the DEA and what efforts are being made to reschedule it? Or how the increased legalization and use of cannabis for medicinal purposes has paved the path for other drugs with potentially therapeutic qualities? What about how wholesalers, retailers, and consumers complete monetary transactions for a federally illegal substance in this age of digital banking?

If these are top of mind in your practice, then the 2023 DRI Cannabis Seminar is the place to be! Join us in New Orleans to listen to thought leaders from across the industry – from businesses to bankers to scientists to lawyers to insurers – as they present on exciting subjects such as recent efforts to research and reschedule cannabis; privacy concerns for businesses and consumers engaged in cannabis transactions; fintech infrastructure specific to cannabis transactions; insurance concerns facing those involved in the cannabis industry; cannabis toxicology; and evolving rules and regulations of psychedelic and psychedelic-adjacent drugs in light of success with medicinal cannabis. Plus, don’t miss the cross-seminar presentation with the DRI Employment Law Seminar on the state of cannabis in the workplace.

The nation’s best conference for Life, Health, and Disability practitioners is making its long-awaited appearance in the Big Easy, with best-in-class CLE, enhanced networking opportunities, and new ways to connect with your colleagues in a setting unlike anywhere else. Explore New Orleans with networking events that offer something for everyone and earn CLE from top industry leaders and practitioners. Plus, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival kicks off on April 28; come for the seminar and stay for a weekend of world class music and celebration. This is the seminar you will not want to miss!

The practice of law is changing, from where we practice to how we preserve and present evidence. At DRI’s Business Litigation and Intellectual Property Super Conference, you will learn about generational differences impacting the practice of law, issues in front of the Supreme Court and the anticipated effects of future rulings, the sweeping changes affecting restrictive covenants, and much, much more. Our featured experts will cover a wide range of issues affecting the modern litigator in an informative and interactive setting. Come reconnect, recharge, and leave reenergized about your practice.