12:30

Registration 

1:00 - 2:30

Preparing For and Positioning a Case for Mediation

Moderated by: Amanda Zink, Lipe Lyons Murphy Nahrstadt & Pontikis, Ltd.

Panelists: Hon. Diane Joan Larsen (Ret.), JAMS, Joseph Sheahan, MedPro Group - a Berkshire Hathaway company, and Faustin Pipal, Esq., Resolute Systems, Vicky Rasmussen, Gallagher Bassett

Our first panel will address the steps to take to obtain the best possible outcome at the mediation, including preparing the client for what to expect, setting appropriate expectations, preparing mediation statements, considerations of whether those statements should be confidential or not, ethical considerations, and whether and to what extent an offer should be made prior to the mediation.

2:30 - 4:00

Negotiating at Mediation and Beyond

Moderated by: Adam C. Carter, Esp Kreuzer & Cores LLP

Panelists: Hon. Keith Brown (Ret.), ADR Systems, Hon. Jennifer Duncan-Brice (Ret.), Resolute Systems, Julie A. Kus, ProAssurance, and Jamie Flowers, Illinois Casualty Company

In this presentation, our panel will address the conduct of the mediation itself and the negotiations including whether to have an opening session, the manner to communicate offers, when, whether, and how to use bracketed offers, when to consider terminating the mediation, ethical considerations and efforts to resolve the matter after the mediation has ended by continuing to negotiate.

4:00 - 5:00

Cocktails & Bowling

Adam C. Carter is a partner with Esp Kreuzer Cores LLP in Wheaton where he has a diverse practice representing corporations and individuals in the defense of complex tort and commercial litigation, including construction injury and defect litigation, catastrophic loss, product liability, and professional liability litigation. He is experienced in state and federal courts and has been admitted pro hac vice in numerous courts across the country. He has written and presented on professional liability topics and civil procedure issues, including personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens principles, proximate cause analysis, Illinois legislation, electronic discovery, and expert discovery. He was selected to receive the IDC’s Distinguished Member Award in 2021 and previously was selected as one of the Emerging Lawyers in Illinois by Leading Lawyers Network.

Adam earned his Juris Doctor degree cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law and his Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Augustana College. He has been an active member of the IDC since 2007. He currently serves on the IDC Board of Directors and as a member of the Civil Practice Committee and Legislative Committee. He is a former Chair of the Civil Practice Committee.

Hon. Jennifer Duncan-Brice (Ret.) of Resolute Systems, serves as a mediator, arbitrator, Discovery Facilitator and Case Evaluator in substantial civil tort litigation. She has resolved thousands of civil matters through the mediation and pre-trial mediation process. Judge Duncan-Brice is a certified e-Discovery mediator by the American College of e-Neutrals. Judge Jennifer Duncan-Brice developed a reputation for settling cases as a highly successful pre-trial judge during her 18½-year tenure in the Cook County Law Division. She spent her entire judicial career in the Law Division, presiding over a General Calendar Call for the last 15 years of her career. Prior to that she presided over a Motion Call. She has extensive experience trying, managing and mediating personal injury, professional malpractice, wrongful death, construction, products, premises and toxic tort litigation among others. Prior to being elected to the Circuit Court of Cook County, Judge Duncan-Brice was Deputy Corporation Counsel (DCC) of the Torts Division for the City of Chicago.

Jamie Flowers received her Bachelor’s Degree from Bradley University. Thereafter, Ms. Flowers attended Valparaiso University School of Law where she received her Juris Doctorate Degree. During law school, Ms. Flowers clerked for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division. She also served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Andrew P. Rodovich, Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court, Northern District of Indiana. After law school, Ms. Flowers worked as a contract attorney for State Farm.

In 2011, she joined Illinois Casualty Company as Litigation Counsel, supervising a variety of litigated claims including dram shop, food contamination, premises liability, negligence, employment practices liability, and property cases. Ms. Flowers has served as Associate Legal Counsel, Legal Counsel, and Associate Litigation Manager, before being promoted to Litigation Manager for Illinois Casualty Company. She heads up the Litigation Unit in supervising the handling of all litigated claims, and has served as the Legal Department’s representative on the Product Development Committee, Internal Reinsurance Committee, and State Expansion Committee. She currently chairs the Company’s Mergers & Acquisitions Committee.

Ms. Flowers has spoken at national industry conferences on the following topics: Handling High Exposure Casualty Claims, Restaurant Liability, and Multiple Claimants/Minimizing Exposures. She also serves on the Property Liability Research Bureau’s Claims Conference Planning Committee. Most recently, she was nominated and selected to attend the 2019 PCI Emerging Leaders Conference.

Hon. Diane Joan Larsen (Ret.) is a retired Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, having served for more than 20 years including six years in the General Chancery Section of the Chancery Division and 14 years in the Law Division.

Before being elected, she was Chief of Policy Litigation at the City of Chicago’s Law Department. During her 15 year career at the City, she specialized in the defense of civil rights policy challenges and class actions in both federal and state court. She has participated in the implementation of several law enforcement and criminal law procedures, including development of probable cause hearings for the local courts.

Judge Larsen graduated summa cum laude from De Paul University with a B.A. in psychology and holds a law degree from Loyola University of Chicago. She has lectured on various constitutional, civil, and criminal law procedure issues at the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Police Foundation in Washington, D.C., the Chicago Police Academy, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Hispanic Institute of Law.

Judge Larsen has been an adjunct professor for 31 years at Loyola University Chicago Law School, where she teaches Illinois Civil Litigation Practice and Appellate Advocacy. She has also taught classes for the Police Training Institute of the University of Illinois. Judge Larsen served as a Judicial Education Faculty Member throughout her career on the bench. She is the current author and editor of the Illinois Judges’ Civil Motion Practice Manual, and she serves as a peer reviewer for the Illinois Judges’ Civil Procedure Bench book.

Judge Larsen is a past Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Civil Justice Committee. She has served on the Board of Managers for the Chicago Bar Association and on the Board of Directors for Women Everywhere Partners in Service Project, Inc., where she has been a volunteer for the past 20 years. She has also served on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Judges Foundation, where she was Chair of the Harold Sullivan Scholarship Committee.

Judge Larsen was a 2008 recipient of the Hooten Award given by the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. Judge Larsen was also honored as the 2019 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award given by the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel.

As a retired judge, Judge Larsen is a mediator and arbitrator with JAMS, the largest private provider of alternative dispute resolution services worldwide. She recently lectured on medical monitoring claims at the ABA Litigation Section Insurance Committee’s 2022 Seminar.

Faustin A. Pipal Esq. of Resolute Systems concentrates his mediation practice on the resolution of wrongful death, substantial personal injury, professional malpractice, construction and employment disputes. Additionally, he has served as a court-approved mediator in mass-tort product liability matters, and has mediated national class action litigation. Mr. Pipal conducted one of Chicago's very first virtual mediations when the stay-at-home order was issued in March, 2020, and the case settled. Since thenhe has successfully mediated and arbitrated dozens of cases using Zoom, Resolute's eMediate Platform, GoToMeetings, and other virtual platforms.

Since 1993, he has mediated over 3,300 cases, and over 90 percent of these cases settled as a result of his efforts. He draws on his experience as a litigator, representing both plaintiffs and defendants since 1980. His experience litigating civil matters instills confidence in his clients during the mediation process. In 2019, Mr. Pipal was inducted into The National Law Journal Hall of Fame for Midwestern mediators, for being ranked among the top 3 mediators in the Midwest three straight years. He was ranked number 1 mediator once and the number 2 mediator twice over the last three years.

Vicky Rasmussen, Gallagher Bassett

Joseph Sheahan is a claims attorney with MedPro Group handling all facets of professional liability/medical malpractice claims. He obtained his JD, magna cum laude, from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago in 2013. He is admitted to practice law in all Illinois and Wisconsin state courts, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the District of Colorado. Before joining MedPro, he had an active defense practice, focusing on healthcare and professional liability defense, as well as insurance coverage, extra-contractual liability defense and bad-faith litigation.

Amanda L. Zink is a Partner at Lipe Lyons Murphy Nahrstadt & Pontikis, Ltd., a Chicago Defense firm. Ms. Zink has been a successful trial attorney for over 18 years. Her practice concentrates in the defense of multi-million dollar personal injury, wrongful death and complex construction litigation. Ms. Zink has exceptional research and writing skills, having won over 23 motions for summary judgment for her clients. Her high attention to detail, organization, and clear and concise arguments give her clients a distinct advantage in the courtroom. Ms. Zink was peer selected as a Leading Lawyer in 2020, 2021, and 2022.