For The Defense, November 2012 - DRI Today

Alabama
Affiliates in Action
IDCA Honors Reynolds; Updates from AL, KS
The annual meeting of the Alabama
Defense Lawyers Association (ADLA)
was held June 14–17, 2012, at the Sandestin
Golf & Beach Resort with outgoing
president David K. Howard
of Florence presiding. At the
annual business meeting of the
members on June 16, the election
process resulted in the following
slate of new Officers and
Board Members:
• Melody H. Eagan of Birmingham,
President
• Joseph J. “Jay” Minus, Jr. of
Mobile, President-Elect
• W. Dudley Motlow,
Jr. of Birmingham,
Secretary-Treasurer
• Gary K. Grace of Huntsville,
District I Director
• Christie J. Strange of Birmingham,
District II
Director
• Robert C. Ward, Jr. of Montgomery,
District III Director
• Ricardo A. Woods of Mobile,
District IV Director
• John P. Browning of Mobile, President—Young
Lawyers’ Section
8 ■ For The Defense ■ November 2012
Melody H. Eagan
Joseph J. “Jay”
Minus, Jr.
Iowa
Member Kevin M. Reynolds was awarded
the Ed Seitzinger Award by the Iowa
Defense Counsel Association (IDCA) at its
annual meeting and dinner on September
13, 2012. This honor is bestowed annually
on the IDCA member who has contributed
the most to the organization over the past
year. Mr. Seitzinger, for whom the award
is named, was in-house counsel for Farm
Bureau Insurance Company. He was one
of the founders and first presidents of the
IDCA when it was formed in 1969.
Whitfield & Eddy has had a close relationship
with the IDCA from
its inception. Firm members
David Phipps, Jaki Samuelson,
and Megan Antenucci are all former
presidents of the IDCA. Mr.
Reynolds was also appointed to
the IDCA Board of Directors and
will be serving in that capacity
during 2012–2013. The IDCA is
the largest association of lawyers
in Iowa who are committed
to the pursuit of justice and
the representation of defendants
in litigation. It is one of the oldest
and most active state defense
organizations in the United
States.
As a product liability defense
attorney, Mr. Reynolds has tried
dozens of cases to jury verdict
in state and federal courts for
over 30 years. He is
sensitive to the needs
of self- insured manufacturers
and insurers who
underwrite these unique risks,
and has represented wholesalers,
distributors, and retailers
in product cases as well. He is
intimately familiar with such
issues as product recalls; conducting
evidentiary Daubert
hearings in federal court; spoliation
of evidence; defenses based on federal
preemption; protective orders against
the dissemination of internal, confidential,
and proprietary trade- secret type design
information; and keeping proof of other
accidents, claims or lawsuits out of evidence.
Mr. Reynolds is also an experienced
instrument- rated private pilot, with over
1,700 flight hours since 1989. His flying
experience gives him a distinct advantage
when he works on aviation- related matters.
His extensive jury trial, litigation and
appellate- court experience provides him
with a solid background when litigating
commercial cases. Mr. Reynolds is a past
Kevin M. Reynolds
chair of the DRI Product Liability Committee
and a current member of its steering
committee.
Kansas
The Kansas Association of Defense Counsel
(KADC) annual conference is set for
December 7–8, 2012, at the Marriott
Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri.
Highlights this year include Kansas
Supreme Court Justice Dan Biles, a
highly entertaining presentation by Malcolm
Kushner on persuasiveness and use
of humor to make your point, illustrated
by video clips of U.S. Presidents, a panel
discussion led by USDC Magistrate Judge
David Waxse and Johnson County Judge
David Hauber on electronic discovery in
federal and state court, and Steve Kerwick
and Sarah Warner’s ever- popular case law
update. In conjunction with the annual
meeting, the KADC will again hold a trial
skills workshop on December 6, which will
focus on cross examination of the plaintiff
and plaintiff’s expert witness. A full year’s
worth of CLE credits, including
two hours of ethics, are available
at this single conference,
where you can also mingle with
colleagues, network with clients
and enjoy all the Plaza has to
offer during the holidays. Registration
and additional information
is available at http://www.
kadc.org/.
In other news, in an effort to
bolster membership, the KADC
Board of Directors recently adopted new
membership incentives, as follows:
• Lawyers admitted to the bar five years or
less who join KADC will receive one free
registration to the annual conference in
their first year of KADC membership (a
value of up to $410).
• Lawyers who are members of DRI, but
who have never been a KADC member,
will receive a free one-year membership
in KADC (a value of up to $190).
• Law students who are members of
KADC will receive free registration to
the annual conference while they are full
time students.