Access to Justice
Friday, September 29, 2006
Girardi Advocacy Center (Robinson Courtroom) - Loyola Law School
8:30am - 4:30pm
Symposim topics include:
9:10-10:40am-
Panel I -Key Themes in the Relation between Law, Literature
and Film
Moderator/Commentator-Prof. Tom Goldstein, Berkeley School of Journalism
Anthony Chase,
Nova Southeastern University
Yxta Murray, Loyola
Law School
Michael Asimow, University of California
Los Angeles School of Law
10:40am-11:00am -BREAK
11:00am-12:30pm --Panel II-How
Popular Culture Shapes Images of Lawyers
Moderator/Commentator-Chris
Hawthorne, Loyola Law School
Richard Sherwin, New York Law School
Valerie Hans, Cornell Law School
12:30-1:45pm --Luncheon -Student
Lounge
Short Film-What Children "Know" about Law and Lawyers
Produced by Civil Justice Program, Loyola Law School
Molly Murphy-Director
1:45pm - 3:30pm -Panel III-What
Does Popular Culture Miss?
Moderator/Commentator-John T. Nockleby, Loyola Law School
Regina Austin, University of Pennsylvania Law School
Susan Bandes, DePaul University College of Law
James Elkins, West Virginia University College of Law
Commentator - Lawrence Friedman, Stanford University School of Law
3:30pm -RECEPTION -Patio area of Robinson Courtroom
Mock Trial
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Girardi Advocacy Center (Robinson Courtroom) - Loyola Law School
Private Investigators have been criminally charged with invading their target's privacy. Meanwhile, the lawyers who hired the PI have now been sued by the targets. The plaintiffs claim the lawyers should have supervised the PI more carefully. What wil happen if and when you hire a PI? Are you civilly liable for the PI's acts if the PI steps over the line in conducting an investigation?
This Mock Trial will explore these questions. What lessons can lawyers learn from this mock trial?
MODERATOR:
Jack Daniels, Daniels Fine Israel Schonbuch & Lebovits, LLP
John "Jack" Daniels , born in New York City , received
a B.A. from Dartmouth College and his J.D. from the University of
Southern California in 1963. He was the editor of Defense Dialogue,
a Monthly Publication of the Association of Southern California
Defense Counsel. Daniels co-author Revised Legal Aspects of Diving
Instruction and Diary for Federal Civil Litigation in the Wake of
the 1993 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and
authored Closing Argument: Using the Special Verdict Form for Equitable
Distribution of Fault. He is a member of the Los Angeles Superior
Court Arbitration Panel, the Los Angeles County and American Bar
Associates, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel,
the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Federal Insurance
and Corporate Counsel. Daniels chaired the Trial Tactics and Procedures
Committee of the State Bar of California and was the president of
LA ABOTA and the California American Board of Trial Advocates. He
is also course director of the Jack Daniels LA ABOTA Trial Academy.
Scuba diving and golf are two of Daniels' passions. He and his wife
Susan raise puppies for the blind through Guide Dogs of America.
PRESIDING JUDGE:
Hon. Rita (Sunny) Miller, Los Angeles Superior Court
Hon. Sunny Miller graduated first in her class
from Loyola Law School in 1979, s umma cum laude . She
was Chief Articles Editor of the Loyola Law Review and received
various awards for academic achievement. She joined the downtown
Los Angeles firm of Munger Tolles & Olson upon graduation and
was made a partner after 5 years. There she specialized in complex
civil litigation. Judge Miller was appointed to the bench in 2000.
She currently is assigned to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown
Los Angeles , where she handles general jurisdiction civil matters.
She is an editor of the Los Angeles Superior Court magazine Gavel
to Gavel. She serves on the Bench & Bar and Trial Jurors
Committees of the Court and her course materials on the appropriate
treatment of trial jurors appear on the Court's Digital Library
website. Her past pro bono and community activities include service
as Special Counsel to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
assisting the Board in investigating the Sheriff's Department, service
as a Hearing Examiner for the Los Angeles Police Commission, service
on the Board of Family Assistance Involving The Homeless, service
as the Secretary of the Human Rights Section of the Los Angeles
County Bar Ass'n, service on the Loyola Law School Board of Governors,
and as a member of the Board of the Cowboy Lawyers Ass'n.
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY:
Michael Alder, Law Offices of C. Michael Alder, PC
Michael Alder specializes in trial work of all
types of plaintiff's cases, and was selected as the 2004 Trial Lawyer
of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles,
after being nominated for the award in 2002 and 2003. Mr. Alder
is the youngest winner of the award in the history of the organization.
Mr. Alder was also nominated as 2004 California Trial Lawyer of
the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC). He received
the Presidential Award of Merit from CAOC in 2003. Mr. Alder grew
up in Louisiana , attending Louisiana State University and graduating
from LSU Law School in 1993. After clerking for The Hon. Lenore
Prather, Presiding Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, he
began his career at the Los Angeles offices of the late David M.
Harney, a legendary California trial lawyer. He then moved on to
work for another legendary trial lawyer, Michael Piuze, where he
tried several cases a year before opening his own firm four years
ago. Mr. Alder is currently a member of the American Board of Trial
Advocates and a board member of the Consumer Attorneys of California
(CAOC) and the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA).
He co-chairs the Legislative Grass Roots Committee of CAALA, and
is a frequent speaker at CAALA's annual Las Vegas convention on
topics ranging from jury selection to the use of technology in the
courtroom. He has been recognized as a Southern California Super
Lawyer Rising Star for 2004 and has been selected as a Southern
California Super Lawyer for 2005. Finally, Mr. Alder was recently
selected as one of the Daily Journal's Top 20 Lawyers
Under the Age of 40 for California .
DEFENSE ATTORNEY:
David O'Keefe, Bonne Bridges Mueller O'Keefe & Nichols
David O'Keefe is the President
and senior member of Bonne, Bridges, Mueller, O'Keefe and Nichols.
He attended Loyola University , graduating with a Bachelor of Arts
in Philosophy in May 1961. Thereafter, Mr. O'Keefe attended the
University of California , Los Angeles , School of Law , graduating
in May 1964 with a Juris Doctor. Mr. O'Keefe became a member of
the State Bar of California in December 1965. He is also admitted
to practice before the United States District Court, for the Central
District of California. Mr. O'Keefe has been lead trial counsel
in over 250 jury trials and arbitrations. His primary area of interest
is professional liability litigation, including the defense of physicians,
healthcare entities, and attorneys. Throughout his career, Mr. O'Keefe
has been called upon to speak at conferences and to make presentations
regarding professional liability and managed care issues. Additionally,
Mr. O'Keefe also litigates in various other fields, including elder
abuse, catastrophic personal injury, products liability, entertainment
and land use/riparian water rights. As a litigator, Mr. O'Keefe
has been named a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers,
a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Diplomate of
the American Board of Trial Advocates, and a member of the Association
of Southern California Defense Counsel. Additionally, Mr. O' Keefe
served as a past President of the American Board of Trial Advocates,
Los Angeles Chapter. He is also a long-time member of the Los Angeles
County Bar Association.
WITNESSES:
Steve Goldberg, Goldberg & Gille
Steven Paul Goldberg is a partner in the Law Offices
of Goldberg & Gille. Mr. Goldberg's practice consists of civil
tort litigation including personal injury, product liability, wrongful
death, professional malpractice, bad-faith insurance cases, and
business torts. It is a plaintiffs' practice. A member of the California
Bar since 1982, Mr. Goldberg has testified as an Expert in legal
malpractice matters and has for the last twelve years served as
an arbitrator, settlement officer and mediator in the Superior and
Municipal Courts. He is presently a member of the Consumer Attorney
Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) Board of Governors and Vice Chair
of the Steering Committee, Civil Justice Program, Loyola Law School
. Mr. Goldberg has been a Professor since 1984 at the University
of West Los Angeles , School of Paralegal Studies where he has taught
Pleadings, Evidence, Discovery and Law and Motion. He has lectured
to the Los Angeles Paralegal Association and has been a lecturer
on behalf of the California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB),
Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), as well as CAALA. Mr. Goldberg
serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the UCLA Brain Injury
Research Center at the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery and is also
a Founding Member of the Advisory Board of the LPGA/Los Angeles
Junior Chamber of Commerce Urban Youth Golf Program. Mr. Goldberg
was the recipient of the 2004 UCLA and University of California
Villaraigosa Science Award . He is the recipient of the CAALA 2003,
2004, and 2005 Presidential Awards. In 2000 Mr. Goldberg consulted
for Warner Brothers Studio's television show "ER".
Christa Haggai, Law Offices of Christa Haggai
Christa Haggai is a sole practitioner in West Los
Angeles . She has been practicing law since 2000 and has exclusively
represented injured plaintiffs during her career. A considerable
amount of her practice is also devoted to working for various small
firms on a contract basis. Ms. Haggai is on the CAALA Board of Governors.
She is also a member of CAOC, Association of Trial Lawyers of America
and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Ms Haggai graduated
from Southwestern University School of Law.
Michael Schonbuch, Daniels Fine Israel Schonbuch & Lebovits,
LLP
Michael N. Schonbuch received his JD from Boston
University . While an undergraduate at State
University of New York at Albany, he was president of Kappa Sigma
fraternity and was appointed as a senatorial intern for United States
Senator Alfonse D'Amato from 1986-1987. Schonbuch joined Daniels,
Fine, Israel & Schonbuch, LLP as a law clerk in 1989 and became
a partner of the firm on January 1, 1998 . His practice focuses
upon resolution of cases via jury trial. He specializes in civil
defense litigation. Fifteen percent - twenty percent of his practice
stems from substituting into actions previously handled by other
defense counsel for purposes of seeing a matter through jury trial.
The majority of his currently pending matters involve premises liability
defense including but not limited to alleged claims of inadequate
security and lighting, unsafe premises, dangerous premises conditions,
third party criminal conduct, assault and battery and intentional
torts all resulting in a wide range of alleged catastrophic injuries.
Schonbuch also handles matters involving wrongful termination, products
liability, sexual harassment and discrimination, libel, slander
and defamation. Schonbuch represents local shopping centers, strip
malls, educational institutions, bars, clubs, taverns, commercial
and residential apartment complexes, parking facilities and many
businesses throughout Southern California .