2026 Strictly Automotive Seminar

Off-Site Interactive Presentations at BRC

Click the blue tab "Off-Site Interactive Presentations" below for full schedule.

Dine-Arounds

Join colleagues and friends at selected restaurants for dinner (on your own).

Welcome and Introductions

Managing Reputational Risk in High Profile Product Events

Automotive product events can quickly become reputational crises driven by regulators, media attention, and real-time public reaction. This session offers practical strategies for in-house counsel to manage exposure before, during, and after product issues make headlines. Drawing on real-world automotive experience, speakers will address cross-functional coordination, transparency and risk mitigation, executive preparation, narrative management, trust preservation, and common crisis-response pitfalls.

Rustam Juma, Volkswagen Group Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
Dave Fleet, Edelman, Toronto, ON, Canada

Garbage In, Garbage Out: Effective AI Prompting as Ethical Practice

Effective AI prompting is both a practical skill and an ethical obligation. Attendees will learn a repeatable framework for using generative AI while managing risks such as fabricated citations, confidentiality breaches, inadequate supervision, and incomplete work product.

Navigating Tariffs: Advising OEMs on Regulatory and Contractual Exposure

A cross-border panel will address U.S. and Canadian tariffs and their practical impact on OEMs, with guidance on regulatory obligations, contractual exposure, and strategies for advising clients in a shifting trade environment.

Cameras, Radar, LiDAR, and Ultrasonics: How Modern Vehicles See the World

Modern vehicles rely on cameras, radar, LiDAR, ultrasonics, and sensor fusion to detect objects, measure distance and speed, and support ADAS and autonomous-driving decisions. Building on the interactive session, this panel will explain how these technologies work together, current limitations and future improvements, and how related claims are evolving for in-house and outside counsel.

Amar Awale, ESi, Ann Arbor, MI

DRI Networking Lunch

Hot Takes from the Bench: Rulings on Emerging Automotive Technology, Experts, and Recent Holdings

Courts are increasingly asked to evaluate claims involving emerging automotive technologies—and the outcomes are shaping litigation strategy. In this interactive session, you’ll act as judge and jury, and rule on recent case scenarios involving verdicts, dispositive decisions, and expert qualification challenges, then compare their analysis to the court’s approach and key takeaways.

Amy B. Larson, Bush Seyferth PLLC, Houston, TX
Marc Carlton, Daimler Truck North America LLC, Portland, OR

ADAS in the Real World: What Drivers Prioritize, Understand, and Disable—and How Those Choices Are Evaluated in Litigation

Driver choices around ADAS—what they select, understand, use, or disable—can significantly affect product liability litigation. Drawing on survey research and human factors analysis, the panel will explore how evidence of feature awareness, purchase priorities, and real-world use can shape design defect, failure-to-warn, failure-to-equip, causation, and consumer-expectation arguments.

Advancements in Large Occupant Testing: ATD Biofidelic Ballasting System

New biofidelic ballasting components are designed to make Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATDs) better reflect the shape, mass distribution, and tissue properties of higher-BMI occupants. Speakers will discuss development, materials, validation, and how improved ATD responses may affect crash and rollover testing.

Matt King, IMMI, Westfield, IN

Seat Structures in Rear Impact: Regulation Review & Useable Test Results

Although FMVSS 207's seatback strength requirements have remained largely unchanged since 1968, automotive seats have become significantly safer through decades of engineering and testing advancements. With rear-end collisions still accounting for nearly 30% of crashes, seatback litigation remains common. This quick-hit presentation will focus on two key issues in rear-impact sled testing: occupant "ride-up" and the biofidelity limitations of crash test dummies, and how both can affect test results and their interpretation in litigation.

Eric Welp, CAPE Testing, Westfield, IN

Networking Reception

Join fellow seminar attendees at our Networking Reception. More details to come.
Sponsored by: FBT Gibbons, Sheppard

Dine-Arounds

Join colleagues and friends at selected restaurants for dinner (on your own).

Welcome and Announcements

Caught in the Middle: Ethical Obligations and Privilege for In-House Counsel in a Complex Industry

In-house lawyers in complex, regulated industries must balance legal, business, and regulatory demands while protecting privilege under pressure. This panel will offer practical guidance for managing conflicting obligations, preserving privilege in multi-party and cross-jurisdictional matters, and working effectively with outside counsel in high-stakes environments.

Mike Gentine, Arnold & Porter LLP, Washington, D.C.
Jeffrey Warren, Bowman and Brooke LLP, Phoenix, AZ

Colleague, Take the Wheel: Collaborating Regulatory and Litigation Counsel

Whenever a crash happens, both litigation and regulatory involvement are real possibilities. While different attorneys may handle each of these venues based on their own specializations, it is critical that they collaborate to ensure the company presents a consistent, accurate message that plays in all time zones and won’t cause problems as it moves from one to another.

Defending ADAS Claims Through Accident Reconstruction

Highlighting four key points reconstructionists can use to help defend their case: time to collision, vehicle offset, approach speed, and whether the plaintiff’s analysis matches their own reconstruction.

Morgan Turner, Huie, Birmingham, AL