2026 Senior Living and Long-Term Care Litigation Seminar

The Care Plan Playbook: Design, Discuss, Defend

Join us for robust round table discussions on a firsthand look at building a care plan. Learn directly from experienced clinical professionals on the various considerations involved for a better understanding and a new perspective. This session will explore and analyze real-world scenarios and strengthen your ability to both implement and defend care planning practices with clarity, consistency, and confidence.

Collette Mathern, Sanford Health/Good Samaritan Society, Sioux Falls, SD
Kim Elliott, Elliv8 Partners, Franklin, TN

First Time Attendee Meetup

Dine-Arounds

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

DRI for Life: Stroll Along San Antonio River Walk

Start your morning with a refreshing stroll along the scenic San Antonio River Walk. We will meet in the lobby of the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at 7:25 a.m. and depart at 7:30 a.m., heading out along the River Walk toward downtown. After a short, easy walk, we'll stop at Revolución to grab quick, healthy breakfast options like smoothies and acai bowls (grab-and-go). From there, you can enjoy a continued walk north along the River Walk, taking in the quieter morning views and public art installations. The group will continue to the River Walk Public Art Garden, a unique outdoor space featuring curated sculptures and riverfront greenery. We'll then return to the hotel, reaching around 8:30 a.m. This relaxed, one-hour outing is a great way to get some movement, fresh air, and a healthy start to your day before conference sessions begin. Anyone who wants a more vigorous start to the day is welcome to jog.

Welcome and Introductions

Seeing Is Believing? Navigating Video Evidence in Litigation

Video footage is increasingly central to modern litigation, from nanny cameras in private homes to motion-activated surveillance systems in care facilities and common-area security cameras in businesses and residential buildings. While such recordings can provide powerful evidence, they also present complex questions regarding authenticity, admissibility, privacy, and strategic use in court. It will also address key arguments for limiting or excluding video evidence, including authenticity issues, incomplete context, potential HIPAA violations, state laws regarding videos in long-term care settings, and unfair prejudice.

Jeffrey Heyman, Horne Rota Moos, Houston, TX
Darrell D. Zurovec, Touchstone Communities, Inc., San Antonio, TX

Arbitration in Long-Term Care: Silver Bullet or Double-Edged Sword

Arbitration is often promoted as a faster, more cost-effective alternative to litigation—but is it always? This dynamic panel examines the real-world advantages and drawbacks of arbitration from multiple perspectives, including arbitrators, counsel, and clients, alongside a discussion of key factors for consideration before deciding on arbitration versus litigation.

Erin Lunceford, Lunceford ADR, LLC, Houston, TX
Alice Oliver-Parrott, Alice Oliver-Parrott Mediator-Arbitrator, Houston, TX
Tim McVey, McVey Law, LLC, Chicago, IL
Jonathan Ohlsen, Prestige Healthcare, Louisville, KY

Captain of the Ship – or Just on Board? Navigating Medical Director and Attending Physician Liability

Long-term care litigation frequently names both the medical director and the attending physician as defendants, yet their roles, responsibilities, and legal exposures differ in critical ways. This session examines how those distinctions affect deposition preparation, litigation strategy, and ultimate defense outcomes. Participants will explore how plaintiffs’ counsel attempt to blur the lines between administrative oversight and direct patient care, and how defense counsel can effectively define and defend the scope of each role.

Matthew O. Riddle, Clement Rivers, LLP, Charleston, SC
Matthew Queen, Centaur Risk Partners, Rome, GA

DRI Networking Lunch

Defending Sepsis Claims in Long-Term Care Litigation

Sepsis allegations are among the most complex and high-stakes claims faced by long-term care providers. This session will focus on strategies for defending against claims that a facility caused or failed to prevent sepsis, including how to critically evaluate emergency department diagnoses and distinguish between multiple potential sources of infection. Participants will learn key factors to examine in medical records, such as vital signs, lab results, timing of symptom onset, and documentation of clinical decision-making, as well as techniques for demonstrating appropriate monitoring, timely transfers, and adherence to standard of care. Attendees will gain practical guidance for building a defense that accurately reflects the resident’s clinical course and the multifactorial nature of sepsis.

David P. Kaiser, Dinsmore, Lexington, KY
Cedric W. Spak, Clinical Infectious Disease Specialist, Provo, UT

Medical Ethics in Assisted End-of-Life Care in Long-Term Care

Assisted end-of-life decisions in the long-term care setting raise complex ethical, clinical, and legal considerations. This session will examine the critical role of capacity determinations when residents express wishes related to assisted end-of-life care, and the responsibilities of providers in evaluating and documenting decision-making ability. Participants will also explore key safeguards, policies, and procedures that facilities should have in place to ensure ethical compliance, protect vulnerable residents, and support care teams navigating these sensitive situations.

David N. Hoffman, Columbia University, New York, NY
Rima Badawiya, Lewis Brisbois, San Bernardino, CA

Committee Business Meeting

Small Group Networking

If you are interested in attending any of our small group networking events, please sign up first so we know who will be attending, and then purchase your tickets online in advance.

• The Alamo Grounds
• Hopscotch San Antonio
• San Antonio River Walk Self-Guided Audio Tour
• Briscoe Western Art Museum
• FlorVino

View Small Group Networking Info

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).

Women in the Law Breakfast

View breakfast details

Welcome and Announcements

LaDonna Boeckman, HeplerBroom, Chicago, IL

Understanding Alzheimer’s and Dementia Progression in Long-Term Care

This session will explore the clinical progression of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and how cognitive decline affects key aspects of resident care in the long-term care setting. Participants will review how disease progression can increase risks related to falls, nutrition and weight loss, skin integrity, and overall health outcomes. The program will also discuss how understanding and documenting the natural clinical course of these conditions can help providers contextualize resident decline and address allegations of negligence in litigation.

Ara Sayabalian, Assisted Living and Memory Care Experts, Los Angeles, CA

Quick Hits

• "Take This Job and Shove It:" Strategies for Handling when Your Key Witness Was Terminated
• Staffing Requirements in Skilled Nursing: Regulatory Updates and Emerging Litigation Risk
• Care Calendar: Turning Medical Records into Clear Visual Narratives

Phyllis McNicholas, RN, BSN, Excelas LLC, Cleveland, OH
Chase Zaputil, Excelas LLC, Cleveland, OH

Quick Hits
“Take This Job and Shove It”: Strategies for Handling when Your Key Witness Was Terminated

Former employees—particularly those with pending employment claims or who were terminated for cause—can present unique challenges when they are critical witnesses in ongoing litigation. This session will address practical strategies for communicating with, preparing, and evaluating testimony from former employees while managing potential conflicts, credibility concerns, and ethical considerations. Attendees will gain guidance on protecting the defense narrative when a key witness may also be an adversary.

Quick Hits
Staffing Requirements in Skilled Nursing: Regulatory Updates and Emerging Litigation Risk

Recent developments in federal nursing home staffing regulations have created uncertainty for providers, counsel, and risk professionals alike. As proposed staffing mandates have evolved and been revisited, questions remain about how current requirements should be interpreted and how staffing decisions may be scrutinized in litigation. This discussion will provide a practical update on where skilled nursing staffing requirements currently stand and how regulatory shifts may influence standards-of-care arguments in long-term care litigation. Attention will be given to how staffing levels, resident acuity, documentation practices, and clinical decision-making may be evaluated by plaintiffs’ experts and juries. This session will provide defense attorneys with practical insight into how staffing issues are likely to surface in claims and how thoughtful documentation, clinical analysis, and expert positioning can help build a defensible narrative in skilled nursing cases.

Quick Hits
Care Calendar: Turning Medical Records into Clear Visual Narratives

Medical records in long-term care cases are voluminous, repetitive, and hard to navigate. The Care Calendar (Touch Chart) converts thousands of pages into a concise, interactive visual timeline of care. This enables a clear picture of which discipline provided what type of care and when the care was rendered. In a short live demo, we’ll show how the tool highlights patterns, flags gaps, and links instantly to source documentation so attorneys and experts can find facts fast, focus on what matters, and communicate clinical timelines clearly to mediators, deponents, and juries. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how the Care Calendar can streamline record review, strengthen expert support, and turn complex documentation into a compelling story of care.

“Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under:" The Shuffle Between Independent Living & CCRC Duties

This session examines current legal and operational considerations surrounding independent living communities, focusing on the scope of duties owed (or not owed) to residents and how those duties differ from the assisted living or skilled nursing settings. Panelists will discuss emerging claims in independent living—such as negligence (alleged failure to provide care or supervision), premises liability, discrimination, and failure-to-accommodate allegations—and practical strategies for defending those claims. Through real-world examples and litigation perspectives, attendees will gain insight into risk management, documentation practices, and effective defense approaches when disputes arise in independent living settings.

Alexander Victor, Spectrum Retirement Communities, Denver, CO
Meghan M. McComas, Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, Orlando, FL