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Abusive Litigation, 03/23/2023, On Demand More info »
Livestream

Livestream - Abusive Litigation


CLE Hours: 6 including 6 General, 1 Ethics, 1 Professionalism, 3 Trial Practice


Dates


Description

 

Presiding:

 

Kim M. Jackson, Program Chair; Bovis, Kyle, Burch & Medlin, LLC, Atlanta, GA

 

 

8:15

Greeting

 

Julia, D. Neighbors ICLE Director, State Bar of Georgia, Atlanta, GA

 

 

8:16

Welcome and Program Overview

 

Kim M. Jackson

 

 

8:20

Abusive Litigation Trial Practice OCGA 9-15-14, 13-6-11, 51-7-80, 9-11-68, and Federal Rules (Trial Practice)

 

Christine L. Mast, Hawkins Parnell & Young, Atlanta, GA

 

James W. Penland, Law Offices of James W. Penland & Ruth Primm, Tucker, GA

 

 

9:50

Break

 

 

10:00

Abusive Litigation Trial Practice OCGA 9-15-14, 13-6-11, 51-7-80, 9-11-68, and Federal Rules (Trial Practice)

  ModeratorKim M. Jackson

 

William M. Davis, Bovis, Kyle, Burch & Medlin, LLC, Atlanta, GA

 

Andrew “Andy” W. Eaton, Lewis Brisbois, Atlanta, GA

   

11:30

Lunch

 

 

12:00

Defending Claims and Greivances and the ethics of dealing with Abusive Litigation (Ethics)

 

Douglas Chandler, Chandler Law, Alpharetta, GA

 

Warren Hinds, Warren R. Hinds, PC, Roswell, GA

 

 

1:00

Court of Appeals Judges: Frivolous Appeals and Other Misconduct Under Rule 7 (Professionalism)

 

Hon. Kenneth B. Hodges, Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, Atlanta, GA

 

Hon. Christopher McFadden, Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, Atlanta, GA

 

Hon. Brian Rickman, Judge, gEORGIA Court of Appeals, Atlanta, GA

 

 

2:00

Break

 

 

2:10

Perspectives from the Bench - OCGA 9-15-14 and OCGA 51-7-80 et seq.

 

Hon. Rachel R. Krause, Judge, Superior Court of Fulton County, Atlanta, GA

 

 

3:10

Adjourn

 

 

Handouts

Speaker

Ms. Christine Lupo Mast's Profile

Ms. Christine Lupo Mast Related Seminars and Products

Hawkins Parnell & Young LLP


Christine Mast is a senior partner at Hawkins Parnell & Young in Atlanta. She is a go-to attorney for legal professionals faced with malpractice claims, lawsuits, disciplinary, licensing, and ethics issues. 30 years’ experience defending lawyer claims gives Christine a unique Jack-of-all-trades knowledge base coupled with deep understanding of legal standards of care and ethical requirements, enabling her to swiftly assess each situation, drawing on her expertise in her clients’ specific practice area, to develop an effective and appropriate defense and resolution strategy. Her wide range of subject matter experience also specially positions Christine to provide skillful defense to insurance agents and brokers, appraisers, surveyors and real estate professionals. Christine creatively counsels and advises clients in diffusing, avoiding or mitigating claims, often persuading the opposition of the lack of a viable claim altogether. When litigation is inevitable, Christine is called upon for her strong advocacy on behalf of her clients, guiding them through trial while minimizing the impact on her clients’ reputations and livelihoods. Her candor and straightforward manner is a proven asset to Christine’s attorney clients in both trial and appellate advocacy and dispute resolution with party opponents.

 

Christine also devotes significant time to representation of clients in premises and products liability cases, commercial litigation disputes, and insurance coverage.  A testament to her skillful, pragmatic handling of serious and sensitive claims, Christine’s former litigation opponents seek out her advice, counsel, and when necessary, her defense when they find themselves on the wrong end of a claim. A natural complement to her defense of legal and other professionals, Christine defends litigants and their counsel against sanctions and protects professionals in licensing and disciplinary matters.

 

Her successful representation is evident in a long list of appellate decisions affirming favorable rulings for her clients. Most notably, Christine argued and won a landmark case before the Georgia Supreme Court in Leibel v. Johnson, resulting in a unanimous decision limiting expert testimony in legal malpractice cases and reversing a multi-million-dollar judgment against her lawyer-client.

 

Christine was included as one of Georgia’s top 100 lawyers in 2019, 2020 and 2021 by Super Lawyers and was selected by Best Lawyers as Lawyer of the Year for Legal Malpractice Defendants in 2015 and 2022 and for Professional Malpractice Law Defendants in 2021. 

 

Christine also dedicates herself to service within Hawkins Parnell and she has the distinction of being the first woman elected to the compensation committee, the executive committee, and in 2020 to the role as Hawkins Parnell’s managing partner. 


Mr. James W. Penland Related Seminars and Products

Law Offices of James W. Penland & Ruth Primm


Mr. Andrew Wood Eaton Related Seminars and Products

Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP



Mr. Douglas Vincent Chandler's Profile

Mr. Douglas Vincent Chandler Related Seminars and Products

Chandler Law LLC


Douglas Chandler of Chandler Law, LLC, is one of only three Board Certified legal malpractice specialists in Georgia certified by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. Douglas has been practicing law for 23 years. To his credit, Douglas has over 30 Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals reported opinions.  He recently joined the Miles Mediation and Arbitration panel of neutrals, and has been named as one of Georgia’s Top 100 lawyers by Super Lawyers, and also a Legal Elite by Georgia Trend Magazine for the past several years. Douglas regularly writes and speaks to attorneys and law firms throughout the state about legal ethics, professional liability avoidance, and risk management.  In 2021, Douglas published Minnows and Sharks-- Lawyers’ Quick Reference For Reducing Risk and Avoiding Trouble, BookLogix May 2021.  Minnows and Sharks is available in paperback on the Chandler Law website, and is also available as an E-Book through AmazonApple, and Barnes & Noble. When not practicing law, Douglas enjoys sailing, hunting, fishing, tennis, and just about any other outdoor activity you can think of with his wife and their three children. Learn more at www.chandler-law.net


 


Mr. Warren Raymond Hinds's Profile

Mr. Warren Raymond Hinds Related Seminars and Products

Warren R. Hinds PC


Warren R. Hinds has over 30 years of experience practicing in California and/or Georgia and is a member of various professional legal organizations.

A resident of Georgia since 1992, lawyer Hinds is committed to serving his community with excellent legal service. To stay current and networked in the legal community, Hinds is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association, the American Bar Association's Center for Professional Responsibility, the Lawyers' Club of Atlanta, and the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.

Prior to opening his own firm, Warren Hinds graduated cum laude from the Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida.

Warren R. Hinds, P.C., represents clients in cases of legal malpractice, bar complaints, malpractice insurance, and civil litigation.


Hon. Christopher J. McFadden's Profile

Hon. Christopher J. McFadden Related Seminars and Products

Georgia Court of Appeals


Presiding Judge Christopher J. McFadden was elected in November 2010 for a term beginning January 1, 2011 and reelected in 2016 and 2022. He is a son of the late Isabel McFadden and the late Judge Donald B. McFadden, who served for twenty years as a trial court judge in Akron, Ohio.

 

Judge McFadden graduated from Oglethorpe University in 1980 and from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1985. He opened his own law office in 1988 and remained a sole practitioner until he joined the Court of Appeals. For most of that time, he practiced in Decatur and focused on appellate litigation. Before joining the Court of Appeals as its 74th judge, he appeared as appellate counsel before 26 of the judges who preceded him.

 

In 1996, along with the late Professor Edward C. Brewer and attorney Charles R. Sheppard, he published Georgia Appellate Practice through the Harrison Company of Norcross, Georgia. With Mr. Sheppard and attorneys Charles M. Cork, III, David A. Webster, Kelly A Weathers, and formerly with the late attorney George W.K. Snyder, Jr., Judge McFadden continues to update it for West, which now publishes it in annual editions.

 

With attorney Laurie Webb Daniel, he is a founding past Chair of the Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of Georgia. For twelve years, Judge McFadden served as an officer or director of the Atlanta Bar Association. He is a past chair of its Sole Practitioner/Small Firm and Judicial Sections and is a recipient of the its Distinguished Service and Charles E. Watkins, Jr. Awards, as well as its Judicial Section’s Romae Turner Powell Judicial Service Award.

 

Judge McFadden is an elected member of The American Law Institute. He presently serves as Chair-elect of  the Appellate Judges Conference of the American Bar Association and chaired its 2018 Appellate Judges Education Institute, which was held in Atlanta. He has served as a volunteer attorney for the Innocence Project and the Election Protection Project. In addition to the Atlanta Bar Association and American Bar Association, he is a member of the DeKalb Bar Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Gate City Bar Association, Federalist Society, American Constitution Society, Saint Thomas More Society and of Oglethorpe University’s Stormy Petrel Bar Association. He served for more than six years on the State Bar of Georgia’s Committee on the Judiciary. He chaired a committee of the Judicial Council of Georgia that drafted the Superior and State Court Appellate Practice Act.

 

He is a parishioner at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Decatur, Georgia and has served as a lector since 1988. Judge McFadden is married to Dr. Linda Hyde, Professor of Biology at Gordon State College in Barnesville, Georgia. They have a son.


Hon. Brian M. Rickman's Profile

Hon. Brian M. Rickman Related Seminars and Products

Georgia Court of Appeals


2015 – Present

Chief Judge Brian M. Rickman was appointed to the Georgia Court of Appeals in November 2015 by Governor Nathan Deal and took office on January 1, 2016.

 

Born in Madison County, Georgia, Judge Rickman was a jailer working in the Rabun County Detention Center before entering Piedmont College where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in 1998. He earned his Juris Doctor from The University of Georgia School of Law in 2001. While in law school he was a member of the Mock Trial Board and was involved in the Prosecutorial Clinic. Judge Rickman was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia on October 29th, 2001. He began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney for the Alcovy Judicial Circuit and then the Mountain Judicial Circuit. In 2004 he left the District Attorney’s Office to become a partner in a small town law firm in Rabun County, Georgia. He was a partner at Stockton & Rickman. At Stockton & Rickman, in addition to taking on whatever clients came through the door, including several pro bono cases, he was involved in civil litigation and was defense counsel in several cases including murder cases. In 2008, Judge Rickman was appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue to be the District Attorney for the Mountain Judicial Circuit and this was the position Judge Rickman held prior to taking office at The Georgia Court of Appeals.

 

In 2004, Judge Rickman became an adjunct professor at Piedmont College. He has taught several courses, including, American Government, Criminal Law and Procedure, and Courts and Society. He is a member of the Piedmont College Board of Trustees.

 

Judge Rickman was involved in several Professional Organizations as District Attorney. He was a member of the Georgia Board of Public Safety. The Georgia Board of Public Safety has statutory oversight over the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia Department of Public Safety, and the Georgia Public Training Center. He was elected to be Secretary of the Georgia Board of Public Safety. Judge Rickman also served on the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council as the Board of Public Safety representative. Judge Rickman was elected by colleagues to serve on The Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia. The Prosecuting Attorney’s Council has statutory oversight over the State budget and training of Georgia’s District Attorney’s Offices. He served as chairman of the Personnel Committee.

 

In 2008, Judge Rickman was a recipient of the Piedmont College Alumni Association’s Pacesetter Award. In 2013 he was named by the Fulton Daily Report as a “40 under 40 On the Rise,” selection.

 

Judge Rickman’s most important role is as husband to his wife, Maggie, and father to his two young children.


Hon. Kenneth Bryant Hodges III's Profile

Hon. Kenneth Bryant Hodges III Related Seminars and Products

Georgia Court of Appeals


Kenneth (Ken) Bryant Hodges, III was elected to the Court of Appeals by the citizens of Georgia in 2018, winning every county in the state with wide bipartisan support in a contested election for a rare open seat on the Court. Judge Hodges took office on Jan. 1, 2019. With deep experience in diverse practice areas, Judge Hodges has served as a prosecutor, defended criminal cases, and been on both sides of a dispute in civil matters. He has been a court appointed receiver and a mediator. Judge Hodges is applying this experience on the bench to uphold the rule of law and ensure justice for all.

Judge Hodges was born and raised in Albany, GA. He graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA, and earned his B.A. from Emory University in Political Science and Sociology with a minor in English in 1988. While at the University of Georgia Law School, he participated in a clinical program with a public defender and was sworn in under the Third Year Student Practice Act to try cases. He earned his J.D. from UGA Law in 1991 and set out to become a litigator. After working with a litigation firm in Atlanta, he returned to Albany as an Assistant District Attorney.

Judge Hodges was elected District Attorney of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit in 1996 at the age of 30. Within the first two years, he cleared out a backlog of eight death penalty cases and took them to trial. He formed trial teams which effectively ended unnecessary delays in moving cases forward, and focused on laws and programs to better protect children in the county. This included a child prosecution unit, a child advocacy center, a truancy program to target unauthorized school absences, and he also established a sexual assault unit. In his second term, he was named District Attorney of the Year for the State of Georgia. During his 12 years as District Attorney, Ken was committed to managing an efficient office, which operated under budget every year. He was elected President of the DA’s Association and also served as Chairman of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council; he was appointed by Governor Roy Barnes as Chairman of the Legal Loan Forgiveness Task Force and as a member of the Certainty in Sentencing Commission.

In 2008, he returned to private practice, working in transactional law and then litigation. In 2015, Ken started his own law firm, Ken Hodges Law, based in Albany and Atlanta with a focus on commercial litigation. Judge Hodges was elected President of the State Bar of Georgia (2018-2019), the first judge to lead the organization in its history. He currently serves on the State Bar’s Office of General Counsel Oversight Committee, is Chairman of the Advisory Board for Truist-Albany, and is Vice-Chairman of the Albany-Dougherty Airport Commission. Ken also serves on the Board of Advisors of University of Georgia’s State Botanical Garden and the Board of Directors of the Southwest Georgia Legal Self-Help Center, a non-profit that works to improve access to justice for low-income people in the region. Ken is a member of the Atlanta Rotary Club, the Emory Board of Visitors, and is a member and past-President of the Dougherty County Bar Association.

Judge Hodges has published articles in various legal and main stream media outlets, he has been a legal commentator on local and national television and radio programs, and has lectured at every law school in Georgia. He is a frequent presenter at legal education courses for practicing attorneys, and teaches classes for law enforcement personnel across the state. He has been named a Legal Elite, a Super Lawyer, and has earned the highest possible rankings with AVVO and Martindale-Hubbell, the preeminent attorney rating organization. He is a past Trustee and graduate of Leadership Georgia, a graduate of Leadership Albany, past Secretary and board member of The Urban League of Greater Atlanta, past President of the Artesian City Sertoma Club, former member of the Albany Rotary Club, past Chairman of the Easter Seals of Southwest Georgia, past Chairman of the Southwest Georgia Chiefs and Sheriffs Association, past board member of the Albany Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and has served on the boards of the American Heart Association and the Albany Civil Rights Institute. Ken was named a “40 under 40” by Georgia Trend.

As an attorney, he was admitted to practice with the United States Supreme Court, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Northern and Middle Federal District Courts of Georgia, the Georgia Supreme Court, and the Georgia Court of Appeals. He is a Master with the Bleckly Inn of Court and the W. Louis Sands American Inn of Court, and is a Fellow with the Lawyer’s Foundation of Georgia. Judge Hodges has been widely recognized for his legal and civic accomplishments during his more than 27 years as a practicing attorney, including as the recipient of the State Bar’s Commitment to Equality Award, the Justice Benham Award for Community Service, and The Eagle Award from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council for his work on behalf of crime victims.

Ken and his wife, Melissa, married in 2004 and have two children, Margaret and Jack, and a field spaniel, Buzzy. They are parishioners at St. Teresa’s Catholic Church in Albany and remain active in their community. The family cherishes time together and enjoy being active, whether it’s time spent in the beautiful southwest Georgia outdoors or exploring the state, visiting friends and family. An avid pilot, Judge Hodges is commerical, instrument, and multi-engine rated and enjoys being up in the air, like his father and grandfather, a Naval aviator, before him.



Mr. Kim Monroe Jackson's Profile

Mr. Kim Monroe Jackson Related Seminars and Products

Bovis Kyle Burch & Medlin LLC


Kim Jackson is a partner with Bovis, Kyle, Burch, & Medlin, LLC. His practice primarily focuses on defending attorneys and other professionals in malpractice claims and handling all forms of insurance coverage and bad faith disputes, though he has experience in all types of litigation. As part of his professional liability practice, Kim advices other attorneys and clients on the prosecution and defense of attorney fee claims involving allegations of abusive litigation, defends bar grievances, and testifies as an expert witness in matters involving legal malpractice and ethics questions. Kim successfully defended the constitutionality of O.C.G.A. 9-11-9.1, Georgia’s Affidavit of Merit statute, which resulted in an opinion by the Georgia Supreme Court, and the denial of cert by the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Kim is a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, where is serves as the Chair of the Insurance Coverage Section and Vice-Chair of the Extra-Contractual Section. Kim is admitted to practice law in three states: Georgia, Kentucky, and Texas. Kim earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky in 1994, Order of Coif, and received his Bachelor of Arts from Wabash College, in economics & mathematics, magna cum laude, in 1991.

 


Important Information

Please be advised that your credit will not be reported to the State Bar of Georgia CLE Regulation Department until after you have completed the steps necessary to earn credit for that program. 

Self reporting is required for all other jurisdictions.

The information presented is solely for educational purposes. The opinions expressed by the faculty in their materials and presentations are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the State Bar of Georgia, its officers, directors and/or employees. The faculty is not engaged in rendering legal or other professional advice and these presentations and publications are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. All publications and presentations were created to serve the continuing legal education needs of practicing attorneys.

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