Laura Baker is a Shareholder at the Law Offices of John Day where she has spent more than 14 years representing clients in personal injury, wrongful death, and tort litigation across the state.

Laura has been named by The Best Lawyers in America as a top attorney in Personal Injury Litigation for Plaintiffs, Medical Malpractice Law for Plaintiffs, and Product Liability Litigation for Plaintiffs. She has been selected as one of the “Best of the Bar” by the Nashville Business Journal five times and she has been named a Mid-South Super Lawyer in Personal Injury every year from 2013 to 2020. Laura has also been recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in the Mid-South by Super Lawyers, one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Tennessee, and one of the Top 50 Nashville Super Lawyers.

Laura has also been recognized by the Nashville legal and business community for her professional and community contributions. She has received the "Rising Star Award" from the Lawyers' Association for Women. She has been recognized as an Athena Young Professional Award Nominee two times. In 2015, Laura was a winner of the Nashville Business Journal's “40 Under 40” award.

Laura is a leader in the legal community. She currently serves as President of the Nashville Bar Association, a 3,000-member association of lawyers in the Nashville area. Laura previously served as the President of the Lawyers’ Association for Women, Marion Griffin Chapter from 2014-2015. Laura completed her undergraduate studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and attended law school at the University of Tennessee in 2006 where she concentrated on Advocacy and Dispute Resolution.

Brandon Bass practices with the Law Offices of John Day, P.C. with an emphasis on civil litigation including medical malpractice. He is Treasurer for the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association and winner of its “Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year” award for 2017. He has been selected as one of the top 50 lawyers in Nashville and top 100 in Tennessee by Super Lawyers and named in Best Lawyers in America for plaintiffs’ personal injury litigation. Brandon is board certified in civil practice.

Brandon has given more than a hundred CLE speeches throughout the Southeast and has authored articles in national and statewide legal magazines. He is also committed to teaching his three children that hair metal was cool.

Alan S. Bean, a native of middle Tennessee, has been practicing law in Nashville since 2007, following his graduation from Vanderbilt University Law School. Alan began his career as an associate at Gideon, Cooper and Essary, PLC, and became a Member of that firm in 2015. In September 2019, Alan joined Starnes Davis Florie as a Partner in the firm’s Nashville office. Alan has represented numerous hospitals, medical groups, clinics, physicians, nursing homes, and other health care providers in all phases of health care liability, premises liability, products liability, and personal injury cases in Tennessee, Florida, Texas, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Alabama. He has experience in state circuit courts, general sessions court, federal district courts, and matters pending in multi-district litigation panels. He also advises health care providers and handles administrative and peer review matters. He has tried numerous jury cases to verdict and has also handled mediation and arbitration proceedings. Alan has also handled multiple appellate arguments, including several cases which have become published appellate decisions. Whether it be a “slip and fall” personal injury case or complex birth injury case, Alan prioritizes outworking his adversary, keeping his clients well-informed, and providing excellent representation in order to obtain the best possible results.

C. Bennett Harrison joined Cornelius and Collins, LLP in 1983 and is partner in the firm. The focus of his practice is civil litigation, with an emphasis in the areas of professional liability, commercial law, entertainment law, bankruptcy. Ben represents plaintiffs and defendants, and is admitted to practice in all state courts, as well as the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He is also certified by the Tennessee Supreme Court as a Rule 31 Listed General Civil Mediator.

With over forty years of litigation experience, Ben is adept at resolving a broad range of civil disputes and he has handled a considerable amount of professional liability cases. In the healthcare field, Ben has litigated numerous malpractice claims for healthcare professionals and hospitals. He also resolves credentialing issues between doctors and hospitals, and commercial disputes out of the practice of medicine. 

Justin Joy is a shareholder in the Memphis office of the Lewis, Thomason, King, Krieg & Waldrop, P.C. law firm, serving as the firm’s privacy officer and heads the firm’s cybersecurity practice group. He provides counsel to clients in the area of information privacy and cybersecurity including incident investigation, breach response management, regulatory compliance, privacy and security policy review and drafting, and cyber risk management.

Specifically, in the area of healthcare, Justin counsels covered entities and business associates on a variety of matters pertaining to HIPAA Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and Breach Notification Rule compliance.

He also represents healthcare groups in state and federal regulatory investigations.  Justin speaks frequently to various groups and organizations on the topic of information privacy and cybersecurity.

Justin is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/US (CIPP/US) and a Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals.  He is a 2001 graduate of Wake Forest University and holds a law and MBA degree from the University of Memphis.

Wendy Longmire is an experienced and tenacious litigator, who excels in and out of the courtroom. A member of Ortale Kelley since 1987, Ms. Longmire has honed her skills representing major companies and individuals who find themselves in conflict. Her career began with a judicial clerkship with Judge Walter C. Kurtz of the Fifth Circuit Court of Davidson County, Tennessee. Ms. Longmire, a partner since 1993, has tried hundreds of matters in jury and nonjury settings.  She handles complex civil litigation involving death and personal injury alleged to have resulted from professional negligence and simple negligence, healthcare liability, products liability, negligent design and employment disputes.

In addition to her active litigation practice, Ms. Longmire is a Rule 31 listed General Civil Mediator. Ms. Longmire routinely presents seminars involving complex tort liability. She stays active in the community. She is a Past-President for Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women and serves as Vice-Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee. She volunteers her time to: Nashville Pro Bono Program; The Davidson County Mock Trial Competition; The Nashville Symphony; and serves on the Nashville Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Committee. Ms. Longmire is presently serving on the Nashville Bar Association Board of Directors and was recently elected to the position of Second Vice President- elect of the Nashville Bar Association. Ms. Longmire was also named Best of the Bar 2017 for her skills in litigation.

Gary Massey, Jr. grew up in Lincoln County, Tennessee, in a family that had been farming in that area for more than a hundred years. Gary graduated summa cum laude from Freed Hardeman University with degrees in Bible and History. After college, Gary attended the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated magna cum laude and served as an editor of the Cumberland Law Review.

In 1998, Gary and Michelle moved to Chattanooga where they have lived ever since. In 2000, Gary co-founded his own law firm, now called Massey & Associates. The firm takes pride in giving regular people a voice in the face of power and unfairness. The firm focuses on personal injury and employment law, including medical and nursing home malpractice. In the past twenty years, Gary has overseen the growth of the firm to include six lawyers and many staff members. During that time, the firm has served more than 10,000 clients and recovered tens of millions of dollars in cases involving physical injuries.

Marty Phillips is a member of Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell PLC in Jackson, and has been associated with the firm since receiving his law degree in 1991 from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Mr. Phillips is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Fellowship is limited to one percent of the attorneys in any individual State or Province, but in practice far less than one percent ever qualifies for the honor. He has been named Lawyer of the Year in Medical Malpractice Law by The Best Lawyers in America, and he has been named to the Top 100 Attorneys in Tennessee by Super Lawyers.

He is a past Chairman of the Medico-Legal Committee of the Tennessee Bar Association. Mr. Phillips has significant experience representing clinics, hospitals, physicians, and nurses in medical malpractice actions. He also has significant experience in general civil litigation. Mr. Phillips is a member and the Group Leader of the Firm’s Medical Malpractice Practice Group. He is a frequent lecturer on topics related to medical malpractice and trial practice. He is the author of “The Admissibility of Failing the Board Certification Exam,” published by the Defense Research Institute. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation and has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in the specialty of Medical Malpractice Law, and has been recognized by Mid-South Super Lawyers® for at least ten consecutive years.

David Randolph Smith of the Law Offices of David Randolf Smith and Associates has been a trial attorney for 42 years. Smith was also a professor of law at Vanderbilt Law School (1983-1988) teaching torts, evidence and professional responsibility. His practice has included success at the trial level and on appeal in a number of landmark Tennessee Supreme Court cases:  Jordan v. Baptist Three Rivers Hosp. (establishing that wrongful death damages include loss of consortium); Barkes v. River Park Hosp., Inc.. ($10.8M judgment establishing direct duty owed by hospital); Ashe v. Radiation Oncology Associates, 9 S.W.3d 119 (Tenn., Dec 27, 1999) (NO. M199700036SCR11CV) (establishing law of  informed consent); Bennett v. Trevecca Nazarene Univ. (assumed duty of care); Payne v. Caldwell (locality rule and causation).

In 2014 he served as plaintiffs’ counsel against pharmaceutical company Endo Health Solutions who agreed to pay $193 million to settle a qui tam case. He served as plaintiffs’ counsel in the Tri-State Crematory class action litigation against fifty-six funeral homes and Georgia Farm Bureau  insurance company ($80 million judgment) and represented class members who received $39.5 million in settlements from the funeral homes. He was the lead liaison plaintiffs’ attorney for in the NHC fire litigation where nineteen people lost their lives and resulted in confidential settlements. Most recently, in January 2020 he was selected to the Plaintiffs'' Steering Committee in the Allergan Biocell Textured Breast Implant Products Liability Litigation MDL pending in the District of New Jersey before United States District Court Judge Brian Martinotti.

Judge Michael E. Spitzer, 21st Judicial District Circuit Judge, Division V, was born in Jackson, Tennessee, and remained a resident of Jackson until he began his college work in 1968. Upon graduation from the University of Tennessee at Martin, Spitzer began his professional career as a schoolteacher for a self-contained 8th grade class and subsequently became a principal in the Lewis County school system. During law school and upon his graduation from the law school at Memphis State University in 1982, Spitzer worked in the general counsel’s office for United Inns of Memphis until he returned to Hohenwald, Tennessee, where he had been a school teacher and principal to begin his legal career with the firm of Keaton, Turner, & Spitzer. Spitzer remained with this firm until the death and retirement of his partners in 2004, at which time he continued as The Spitzer Firm, later Spitzer & Heath, after taking on a partner. Spitzer was appointed Circuit Judge by Governor Bill Haslam in September of 2018 to fill the vacancy in the newly-created Division V of the 21st Judicial District, primarily serving Hickman, Lewis, and Perry Counties. Spitzer was appointed Commission Chair of the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program in June of 2019.

Buddy Stockwell was appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court on July 1, 2020, as the new Executive Director of the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP). Stockwell comes from south Louisiana where he has been a volunteer and program monitor for the state’s Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse since 1993, and the Executive Director of Louisiana's comprehensive Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program (JLAP) peer professionals' program for the last ten years. He is a Certified Clinical Interventionist through “Love First” training at the Betty Ford Center and has personally been in recovery from alcoholism for over 37 years.

Chris Tardio, of Gideon, Cooper and Essary, PLC has been representing health care providers and entities since 2004 in a wide variety of matters. He has represented the largest health care companies in the world, medical groups and clinics across the state, and individual physicians from Bristol to Memphis, in virtually all types of matters in federal court, state court, and administrative tribunals. He is also licensed in Kentucky and regularly represents health care providers in South Central and Western Kentucky. Clients trust Chris with matters from the most complex to the most simple.

Chris has extensive experience in professional negligence cases, from pre-suit investigation through trial and appeal. He has represented health care companies and providers in disputes with federal agencies, state boards, and insurance companies. He has successfully represented parties on both sides of peer review matters, both on the physician side and the hospital side.

8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

How to Examine and Challenge Experts
Presented by Alan Bean of Starnes Law

• Preparing for expert examinations.
• Rules governing expert discovery depositions.
• Strategies for expert discovery depositions and trial examinations
• Methods for challenging the admissibility of expert testimony

9:35 a.m. – 10:35 a.m.

Ethics in Medical Malpractice Law Cases
Presented by Wendy Longmire of Ortale Kelley

• Ethics in handling medical records, HIPAA compliance, authorized use and/or disclosure of patient information
• Ethical issues that arise during discovery, dealing with experts and evidence
• Ethical issues in deposition

10:35 a.m. – 10:145 a.m.

MORNING BREAK (10 mins)

10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

• Keeping the case organized with technology
• Using technology to help make your case in court
• Privacy obligations when using technology
• Keeping data secure and what law firms should do when there’s a problem

11:50 a.m. – 1:20 p.m.

The Plaintiff’s Perspective: Helping Your Client Endure the Uncertainties of the Case and Ethical Considerations
Presented by Gary Massey Jr. of Massey & Associates, PC

• Managing client expectations and frequency of communication
• Properly assisting severely injured clients
• Preparing your client for trial
• Ethical considerations in handling issues with heirs 

1:20p.m. – 1:50 p.m.

AFTERNOON BREAK (10 mins)

1:50 p.m. – 3:05 p.m.

Hot Topics in Healthcare Liability Discovery
Presented by C. Bennett Harrison of Cornelius & Collins, LLP

• Use of Rule 30.02(6) against institutional defendants, such as hospitals
• Effects of the privileges and immunities afforded by the Tennessee Patient Safety Quality Improvement Act (TPSQIA)
• Ability to obtain standard of care or causation testimony from fact witnesses not designated as expert under Rule 26.
• Deposition Errata Sheets

3:10 p.m. –3:20 p.m.

AFTERNOON BREAK (10 mins)

3:20 p.m. – 4:05 p.m.

Wrongful Death Suicide and Lawyer Well-Being Initiatives
Presented by Alex Long, Williford Gragg Distinguished Professor at University of Tennessee, Knoxville

• Review of Tennessee Supreme Court’s recent decisions including White v. Lawrence
• Wrongful death suicide and the unique problem of suicide in the legal profession
• Steps and best practices to address suicide in the legal profession
  
  

4:05 p.m. – 4:35 p.m.

Live Q&A
Speakers from Day One

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

Case Law Update
Presented by Brandon Bass of the Law Office of John Day P.C.

• Summarizing the key holdings of every significant case in the last year
• Must a provider respond to pre-suit notice with the names of other providers?
• How much expert testimony is needed to survive summary judgment?
• What must medical authorizations include for pre-suit notice?

9:05 a.m. – 10:05 a.m.

Opening and Closing Arguments in medical Malpractice Cases
Presented by Chris J. Tardio of Gideon, Cooper and Essary, PLC

• The law on opening statements and closing arguments
• Effective opening statement strategies in malpractice cases
• Effective closing argument strategies in malpractice cases
• Use of technology in opening and closing. 

10:05 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

MORNING BREAK (10 mins)

10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.

Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program
Presented by Buddy Stockwell of TLAP

• History of the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program
• Rule 33 of the Tennessee Supreme Court establishing TLAP and setting its purpose, mission, administration, and the newly created Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program Foundation
• Tennessee Code Annotated Title 23, Chapter 4, concerning confidentiality and immunity
• ABA research and findings concerning the profession
• Clinical perspective from clinician Linsey O'Connell
• If time permits, a meditation exercise and stress management

11:20 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.

Practical Tips for Navigating Appellate Practice
Presented by Marty Phillips of Rainey Kizer Reviere & Bell, PLC

• Preserving issues for appeal
• The record on appeal
• Briefs on appeal
• Oral arguments

12:20 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.

BREAK(30 Mins)

12:50 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.

The Rise of Medical Battery and Informed Consent in the Era of Assembly Line Medicine: Ethical Considerations
Presented by Clint Kelly of the Kelly Firm

• Development of medical battery and informed consent claims
• Differences between medical battery and informed consent claims
• Direct correlation between assembly line medicine and claims of medical battery and informed consent
• Ethics – maintaining civility during depositions 

2:20 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.      

AFTERNOON BREAK (10 mins)

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Use of Experts
Presented by David Randolf Smith of the Law Offices of David Randolf Smith & Associates

• Selection of Experts
• Locality Rule
• Rule 56
• Causation
• Appellate Practice & the Record