Michael Carbone – Director, Litigation, JetBlue Airways Corporation. Michael has more than 10 years experience in insurance defense and commercial litigation. He has expertise in the management of multi-party, complex insurance matters including past representation of both primary and secondary insurers.

During his time at JetBlue, Michael has been responsible for handling both insured and uninsured matters including allegations of wrongful death, major property loss, personal injury, commercial and employment actions. Michael is also responsible for coordinating all regulatory matters within the Legal Department which involve working closely with agencies as the DOT, FAA, TSA, CBP and the EPA on both compliance and enforcement issues.

Prior to joining JetBlue, Michael engaged in private practice at the New York City law firm of Gordon & Silber, PC, where he represented such clients as the NYCHHC and several large manufacturers against malpractice and product liability claims. In that capacity, Michael acted as primary trial counsel in numerous state and federal matters as well as in mediations and arbitrations. Michael obtained a JD from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a BA from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.

Tom Dover joined Gallagher Sharp upon his graduation from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1980 and became a partner in 1987. He is the firm’s Managing Partner, Chair of the Transportation Practice Group, and a member of the Executive Committee. He is a trial attorney with considerable experience in the transportation industry. He concentrates his practice defending railway carriers in claims involving grade crossings, condemnation, eminent domain, occupational exposure, property damage, personal injury and wrongful death. He also represents trucking, bus, and insurance companies, freight haulers and airlines, throughout Ohio, in all types of litigation. Tom has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America since 2003 and is the 2012 Cleveland Best Lawyers Mass Tort Litigation/Class Action-Defendants Lawyer of the Year. He is a Martindale-Hubbell AV® Peer Review Rated attorney and an Ohio SuperLawyer since 2004. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel, and is a member of the Defense Research Institute, Ohio State Bar Association, and Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys.

Patrick Dowd is a senior partner at Dowd and Dowd, a mid-sized defense firm founded in 1950, specializing in civil defense litigation.  The firm has satellite offices in Indiana and Wisconsin.  Mr. Dowd specializes in catastrophic loss.  He has 25 years experience handling cases in State and Federal courts throughout the United States.  He has been ranked by Crain’s Chicago Business and Chicago Lawyer as one of the top civil defense lawyers in the State of Illinois. He has also been elected to Illinois Super Lawyers and Leading Lawyer’s (Top 2 percent of all Illinois attorneys).

James A. Foster is a partner in the firm’s Chicago office and chair of the Transportation practice group. Jim focuses his practice on civil litigation, with an emphasis on transportation and product liability litigation. He leads immediate response teams for trucking companies on catastrophic losses and has published articles on punitive damages and spoliation of evidence. Jim also frequently presents at industry conferences on topics relating to the Reptile Theory, early case analysis, mediation and electronic discovery. Jim represents trucking companies in complex personal injury and in breach of contract matters. He has successfully defended product liability cases at trial involving the design of an automatic door and a milling machine.

Jim is actively involved and has held leadership roles with several industry organizations including, former chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Tort and Insurance Practice Section's Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee; former member of Board of Directors of the Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA) and editor of the State Law Summary of Illinois; former dean of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC) Graduate Program of Litigation Management College; former Chair of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) Hand and Power Tools Section; Chair of the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) Transportation Community;  and Co-Dean of CLM Claims College's School of Transportation.

Christa Hinckley has more than 25 years of experience in commercial transactions, aviation, claims, risk and insurance management issues, mass tort litigation, environmental, asbestos and other long tail claims, business interruption claims, as well as crisis management and response. Ms. Hinckley began her career with a major Denver based law firm before joining the Legal Department of American Airlines, Inc., in 1986. From 1986 to 1994, Ms. Hinckley held various positions in American’s Legal Department and, in 1994, she became Managing Director of Insurance and Risk Management for American and its affiliates, a position she held until late 2001. In that capacity Ms. Hinckley was on the “Go-Team” for four fatal accidents involving American Airlines and American Eagle and for 9/11.

She worked several years as an insurance claims consultant and then as an employee of GE’s Employers Reinsurance Corporation. She has been in private practice since 2004, and is currently Counsel to SNR Denton in its Dallas office. Ms. Hinckley’s practice is focused on providing legal advice to her aviation and aviation-related clients in the following areas: (1) general corporate matters, (2) domestic and international transactions, (3) regulatory issues, (4) claims management, (5) aviation insurance, and (6) risk assessment, emergency management and crisis response.

Rick Lifto, BNSF Railway Assistant Vice President, General Claims Department. Rick Lifto, B.A, J.D., 34 years with the railroad industry in Liability Claims. Rick is head of BNSF Railway self insured General Claims Department. BNSF Railway Company has railroad track in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. Lifto manages liability claims and litigation involving employee FELA personal injury cases, grade crossing, and vehicle and property damage incidents. Most recently, Lifto was featured in the New York Times for his investigation into abuses by the Railroad Retirement Board relating to disability awards which exceed 98% account the Boards failure to apply objective weighted standards when making disability awards. Lifto is the former Chairman of the Association of American Railroad General Claims Conference (2006). He has published multiple claims articles, taught for 10 years at the Association of American Railroad Claims School, and was featured for heading the BNSF program using video technology. He was most recently featured in the magazine "Marketplace", for spear heading the use of Chaplains with railroads.

Mr. Mensch is currently VP of Claims and Risk Management with American Trucking & Transportation Insurance Company. Formerly, he was with USA Truck, Inc. 5+ years and with Tyson Foods, Inc. for 17 years. He has experience in every aspect of claims and litigation handling and is licensed as a Casualty Adjuster in the state of Arkansas. He also has training in the areas of accident investigation, accident reconstruction, personal injury evaluation, and litigation preparedness. Mr. Mensch responsibilities at USA Truck included the management of all property damage, subrogation, and personal injury claims with his personal interaction in catastrophic cases, and in all litigation. He works closely with defense counsel in evaluating, negotiating and preparing cases for trial.

Michael L. Miller is a partner with the Atlanta law firm Drew, Eckl & Farnham. Mike practices primarily in the fields of commercial transportation, premise liability, construction defect, and general tort litigation. Mike is a Past Chairman of the American Bar Association's Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee, and is a frequent speaker at continuing education and industry conferences. Mike is a former Board Member of the American Bar Association's Publishing Committee. He is also a member of the Defense Research Institute, the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association and the Atlanta Claims Association. Mike received his Juris Doctor degree in 1994 from the University of Georgia School of Law. Mike graduated from the University of Alabama in 1990 as a Presidential Scholar, with a Bachelors of Science degree in Finance.

Education

University of Alabama, 1990 (B.S. Finance)
University of Georgia School of Law, 1994 (J.D.)

Court Admissions

All Georgia State and Superior Courts, Georgia Court of Appeals, Georgia Supreme Court, USDC - Northern District, Middle District and Southern District, and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Memberships

American Bar Association (Past Chair of the Commercial Transportation Litigation Section; Board Member of the Publishing Committee), Georgia Bar Association, Atlanta Bar Association, DRI, Georgia Defense Lawyers Association (Vice Chair of the Trucking Law Committee), Lawyer's Club

Practice Areas

Construction Litigation
Commercial Transportation Law
General Casualty Law
Insurance and Reinsurance Coverage

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Admissibility Issues In The Context Of Accident Reconstruction And Expert Witness Evidence
Michael L. Miller - mmiller@deflaw.com
 

Robert began working in the trucking industry as a front line supervisor in May of 1988 in Sacramento California where he was employed by Consolidated Freightways. He worked his way through various front line positions over the next 9 years. In 1997, he was promoted to Assistant Terminal Manager of the Seattle facility, and was later promoted to Terminal Manager. In August of 2000, he left CF to go to work for USF Reddaway as the Seattle Terminal Manager, and in 2003 was promoted to the Northern Division Vice President. His territory covered the state of Washington, parts of Idaho and western Canada. In 2006, he moved to the Texas Division VP role where he remained until USF Reddaway closed the Texas division in 2008. After that, Robert spent three years with a 3PL company called Uti Worldwide. In August of 2011, he accepted a position with Central Freight Lines, where he is currently the Director of Safety.

A lawyer at Gallagher Sharp since 1980 and a Partner since 1987, Joe Pappalardo is a trial attorney who represents public and private companies, insurance carriers, and individuals in cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, employer intentional torts, industrial accidents, cargo, and property damage.  He has litigated and tried cases in a wide variety of industries, including trucking, automobile, motorcycles, hand and power tools, aviation and automatic pedestrian doors. He concentrates his practice on trucking, motor coach, aviation and product liability matters.  Joe is admitted to all state and federal courts in Ohio, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Joe received his law degree from The Ohio State University and his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University. He is Martindale-Hubbell AV rated, listed as an Outstanding Lawyer of America, listed in the 2015-2021 editions of Best Lawyers in America® for Transportation Law (2021, 2018, 2016 Cleveland Transportation Lawyer of the Year), and an Ohio Super Lawyer since 2004. 

Joe is a member of and the 2018 recipient of the John T. Biezup Memorial Service Award from the Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA) (former Board of Directors, General Counsel), Transportation Lawyers Association, Ohio Trucking Association, (Legislative Committee), Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) (Co-Dean of the Claims College, School of Transportation, Co-Chair Transportation Committee), Federal Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association, a Life Member of the Judicial Conference of the Eighth Judicial District, and a Master Bencher, Judge John M. Manos Inn of Court.  He serves on the Board of Directors of Themis Advocates and the Cuyahoga Community College Truck Driving Academy Advisory Board.

Joe frequently speaks at national seminars regarding trucking, transportation, and litigation topics and is an author for national publications.