Firm News

On April 12th, Levinson and Stefani’s own Ken Levinson will be giving a presentation at the American Association for Justice’s new program, New Lawyers Boot Camp.

AAJ has collaborated with its New Lawyers Division for this six-part series taking place each Monday, from 2 to 4 p.m., today until May 10th. Today’s focus will be ‘Oral and Written Advocacy Skills,’ April 12th’s will ‘Pre-trial Essentials,’ April 19th’s will be ‘Making Yourself Essential to Your Firm,’ April 26th’s will be ‘The Economics of a Case,’ May 3rd’s will be ‘Trial Teamwork–How to Create an Effective Trial Team,’ and May 10th’s will be ‘Playing Offense.’

The six-part boot camp, which Ken helped develop, aims to help new lawyers better understand the best ways to grow within their firms and become as successful and profitable as possible. It expects to do so by providing these up-and-coming attorneys with insight into how to best develop extraordinary pre-trial skills and how to boost their abilities to work efficiently with a pre-trial team.

“I am always honored to help teach fellow trial lawyers and am even more excited to help new attorneys,” Levinson said of his participation in this series.

Levinson’s presentation will take place on April 12th at 2:00 p.m. and will focus on the best methods for conducting a successful client interview and what the essential aspects taken away from such an interview should be.

Levinson will be working with Gordon and Partners’ Jennifer Lipinski on discussion topics such as: proper protocol when first meeting a client, how to be a top-notch questioner and investigator, and the best ways to find landmines during the interview.

Other discussions taking place on April 12th will be regarding witness preparation, led by Miller Weisbrod’s Luke Metzler; expert research and background checks for the plaintiff and the defense, led by Herman Herman & Katz’ Stephen Herman; and a sponsored presentation to close out the day.

AAJ hopes program participants will gain important insight regarding how to create personal marketing plans, persuade judges with pre-trial motions, and keep cases moving forward effectively. 

To attend the six-part boot camp, AAJ members can register here.

In recent firm news, Ken Levinson has joined as a guest on the new podcast, Consult the Negotiator, hosted by attorney Marc Siegel.

“I believe that the power to negotiate effectively, thoughtfully, and strategically is the single most important and distinguishing characteristic of great attorneys and other professionals,” said Siegel. “I launched the Consult the Negotiator Podcast because I was troubled by the fact that this critical skill set inexplicably gets short shrift in both professional education and practice.”

Siegel aims to bring on guest attorneys to discuss leveraging negotiation skills in regards to trademark matters, business discussions, and employment disputes, and will work to provide practical strategies and tips for listeners to become the strongest negotiators possible.

“Lawyers spend every day negotiating to meet and exceed our clients’ goals and expectations,” Siegel explained. “Yet, some lawyers don’t think about the negotiation process itself or how to negotiate differently and more effectively.”

Siegel notes that throughout his years as a practicing attorney, he has taught thousands of lawyers and law students how to best negotiate. He currently provides training in areas like “testing a final offer,” “advocating in mediation,” “getting past impasse,” and “how to deal with a bully.”

Siegel believes that negotiation is a skill and a tool in its own right that can be “honed and refined to improve your overall success in practice.” Levinson’s episode of the podcast is available now on Spotify.

To check out Siegel’s negotiation training, you can visit his website here.

The firm’s managing partner, Jay Stefani, spoke on yesterday’s American Association for Justice‘s webinar, “The Next Step in Law Firm Tech.” Jay’s presentation, “Investing & Implementing the Right Law Firm Tech,” discussed various technologies personal injury firms should be using to improve efficiency and productivity, while better helping clients in today’s law firm environment.

“The past twelve months have required a lot of adaptations for lawyers. We’ve been fortunate in that our use of technology helped ease the pivot to working remotely, but there are always new and updated resources out there,” Jay noted.

Also presenting on the webinar were Christopher Nace of Paulson & Nace (“Setting Up a Zoom Room in Your Office”); and Jamie Goldstein of Arias Sanguinetti Wang Torrijos and Carla Aikens of Carla D. Aikens, P.C. (“Keys to Success in a Virtual Setting No Matter the Platform”). The webinar was moderated by Stephanie Luzzi of The Luzzi Law Firm.

In recent firm news, Ken Levinson gave a lecture at the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association‘s Next Level Deposition Clinic, a virtual panel event held on February 19th.

“The goal of the event is to make sure trial lawyers obtain all the necessary information during the discovery process to either get the best possible settlement for their clients or succeed at trial,” Levinson said. “A missed question or issue during sworn testimony can be harmful for our clients.”

Levinson’s lecture was titled, “Using Focus Groups to Develop a Discovery Plan,” and discussed the importance and benefits of using focus groups ahead of trial.

“Focus groups are oftentimes only considered if the case isn’t settled on the eve of a jury trial,” Levinson explained. “I’m hoping trial attorneys will consider employing focus groups far earlier in their case preparation. These early focus groups can help tailor your discovery plan to what a jury would like to hear or learn. A focus group after depositions are completed can reveal that you didn’t obtain all the necessary information a jury needs to decide key issues in the case.”

Other lectures included “Deposition Preparation Strategy: Finishing your Case in One Deposition,” given by Mark Kosieradzki of Kosieradzki Smith, “Mastering Zoom Depositions” by Zoe Litlepage of Littlepage Booth Leckman, and “Depositions: Getting Everything the Witness Has to Offer” by Chris O’Brien of O’Brien and Ford. Heidi DiLorenzo of Alexander Shunnarah and Sach Oliver of Bailey and Oliver also gave lectures regarding their deposition process specialties.

“In all honesty, I was excited to learn from all the speakers,” Levinson said. “They are truly top notch and each of their topics will be extraordinarily helpful for my cases and to best help my clients.”

Levinson also knew he would have a variety of takeaways from the virtual event, and believes everyone who tuned in must have had a similar experience.

“After attending the program, all the trial attorneys will be able to better prepare their clients’ cases,” he explained. “Obtaining vital information at depositions, often from reluctant witnesses, means the difference between winning and losing.”

On February 15th, the firm’s own Ken Levinson will serve as the keynote speaker at the Maryland Association for Justice’s 2021 Auto Negligence Virtual Seminar.

This seminar–held virtually this year–aims to provide attendees with examples of the best possible trial-tested practices to win their cases and maximize their verdicts, whether or not they are seasoned attorneys or newcomers in their fields.

Levinson’s keynote is entitled, “Enhance Your Case with Focus Groups,” and will focus on the benefit of utilizing a focus group in preparation for a trial. He plans to detail his highly successful methods in using focus groups to understand what would persuade a jury most easily.

“Focus groups help trial lawyers understand the best way to present their client’s case,” Levinson explained. “They’re a great way to see what would resonate with a jury. Oftentimes, attorneys get so deep in the weeds of the case that we need an objective outsider’s perspective. Focus groups can also reveal how jurors would respond to an insurance defense lawyer’s excuses about how an auto crash occurred. This helps make sure our clients’ cases are presented in the most effective way at trial.”

Because the key to a successful case is to test ways of framing and messaging, Levinson also dedicates time to reading, publishing, and, of course, employing the latest decision-making methods within cognitive science in regards to focus groups and their usefulness in any given case.

Other speakers at the seminar include MAJ President Amy Orsi and her partner, Stephen Markey of Markey and Orsi, who will be explaining the basis of bad faith claims through tutorials and real-life examples, and will demonstrate how they can be used to boost overall case value. Additionally, David Tompkins and Sharon Tompkins of Lewis & Tompkins, PC will discuss insurance coverage in regards to ride-sharing services and the best ways to get a client the compensation they deserve.

Finally, a panel of trial judges will be sharing their perspectives on courtroom damage presentations and what arguments and techniques they find the most effective. Moderating the seminar will be Jon Everett of ChasenBoscolo Injury Lawyers and David A. Muncy of Plaxen Adler Muncy, PA.

Levinson said he is honored to be presenting at this event among “such an outstanding panel of trial lawyers and judges,” noting that they are all “top-notch.” He’s also thrilled to be sharing the passion that drives the work he does for his clients.

“Many people are killed or seriously injured as a result of a car crash,” he explained. “Large insurance companies and their corporate lawyers have unlimited resources to deny survivors the justice they deserve. It is vitally important we trial attorneys help each other combat the unfair insurance tactics so we are able to best represent our clients. Sharing the latest ideas and legal methods to counter corporate maneuvers is what helps us get justice.”

To register for this virtual seminar, click here.

Managing partner, Jay Stefani, and associate attorney, Dan Terleckyj, were panel speakers for the Chicago Bar Association’s Law Practice Management and Technology Committee & Solo/Small Firm Committees’ Annual Tech Review on December 17, 2020.  The webcast focused on new technology to assist firms during COVID, as well as recommendations and looking forward to 2021 and beyond.  

Jay is the vice chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Solo & Small Firm Committee.  Dan is the current co-chair of the Law Practice Management and Technology Committee.