From the President Philip Michels
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
CAALA Vegas Convention 2011 Almost three decades ago, the Los
Angeles Trial Lawyers Association (raise your hand if you remember that name) had a terrific idea: Have a convention with the best trial lawyers and speakers to share their knowledge and insights, to make all of us better at representing our clients. And not just any convention. Put it in
a place that will attract the members, a place away from the office (before cell phones, laptops and tablets), where the lawyers can devote themselves to attend- ing the seminars, networking and Vegas fun afterwards. A few hundred lawyers from Los Angeles attended that first Convention. Twenty-nine years and one name
change later, the few hundred have become the few thousand; attendees now come not just from Los Angeles but from all over California and the country. The Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles’ Las Vegas Convention is the place to earn your MCLE credits by day and enjoy the non-stop excitement of shows, shopping and gaming by night. This year, the Convention is on September 8 through 11, at the Palazzo Hotel, one of the premier resorts and meeting centers in Las Vegas. CAALA is the largest local trial lawyer
organization in the country. It has an enormous pool of talent from which to draw speakers who are experts in their fields. Twenty of the speakers are past winners of CAALA’s prestigious Trial Lawyer of the Year Award.
Speakers The Convention offers 19 different
tracks from Thursday afternoon to 100— The Advocate Magazine JULY 2011
Sunday morning. Over 100 speakers cover diverse topics from Advanced Trial Skills to Web site Advertising (sorry, we just couldn’t come up with a topic that started with “Z”). The speakers include judges, consumer attorneys and, yes, defense counsel. You will get insights from the other side of counsel table and from the other side of the bench. Some of the masters of trial work will
be discussing jury selection, experts, admitting evidence, opening statements, and damages. Don’t miss the special ses- sion with some of CAALA’s most gifted trial lawyers, “Learning From My Mistakes”. CAALA is also featuring several sessions and speakers on topics that keep us up at night- summary judgment, appeals, and Medi-Cal, Medicare and ERISA liens.
Topics The topics cover the nuts and bolts
of case selection, development and trial. They also cover the more cutting edge ones as well-the latest developments in law and strategy. The Convention syllabus alone is
worth the price of admission. It contains hundreds of pages of articles by the speakers, as well as sample pleadings, motions, briefs, and ideas. The Convention is not just about
speakers; it’s about sharing ideas and con- cerns, problems and solutions. The most successful and innovative lawyers of the past 30 years, and all CAALA officers, board members and speakers are avail- able and eager to talk to you about your practice and your cases, “when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.” Need a
recommendation for an expert? Want the low down on a judge or defense attorney? Looking for transcripts of defense experts, the latest literature, proven trial tactics? It’s all at the Convention.
Hardware store of the civil trial bar CAALA Vegas is the hardware store
of the plaintiff’s civil trial bar. Get a ham- mer to nail down your case, the hack saw to cut off junk defenses, the duct tape to seal it tight on appeal. It is all there. Over three nights, CAALA has three
parties and receptions, including a Thursday night kickoff party, a Friday night judges’ reception, and the famous Saturday night cocktail party and dance. This year, we’ve added a Carnival of Games to test your skills and win prizes.
Last year the CAALA Vegas drew over
2000 attendees from all over California and the United States. Case referrals, potential job openings, joint venturing opportunities, better experts, prior depo- sitions, help with case costs, winning strategies and trial tips, all the MCLE you’ll want plus ethics, bias and substance abuse credits – all in one place, for less than what you spent at Starbucks this year. You’ve probably received the
Convention brochure in the mail by now but, if you haven’t, check out the adver- tisement in this issue of Advocate or on CAALA’s Web site,
www.caala.org.
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