2024 NCBA Connect for Law School Students

8:30-9:30 a.m.

Directing the Direct Examination

This interactive program, like cross-examination, will cover topics on preparing witnesses for direct examination in a way that will benefit both creditors' rights counsel, FDCPA defense counsel, and others. The program will focus on the differences between cross-exam and direct examination and the role of trial counsel, properly authenticating the debt related documents, connecting with the judge during direct, using terms and labels to advance proofs needed for judgment and themes of a case, and predicting cross examination damage of your witness and deflating the attack. It will also focus on the challenges in debt recovery cases of limited witnesses, effectively preparing witnesses in a short time frame, anticipating authentication issues ahead of time, re-direct exam, and refreshing recollection.

CLE is pending for this session.

Speaker: Wes Wollenweber, WF Legal

9:40-10:40 a.m.

What Does the Bar Say About That

Every day in practice lawyers are faced with obvious and not-so-obvious ethical issues covering the gamut of activities from speaking to represented parties, drafting fee agreements, preparing witnesses for deposition, to supervising non-lawyer assistants and onboarding new technology to use at the firm. This session will review interesting ethics issues faced by attorneys (specifically those in the collection industry) to help call out best practices and approaches you can implement as you face similar situations in your own practice especially as software products, including generative AI, continue to revolutionize business processes. This session will be grounded in the model rules of professional responsibilities, recent ABA Ethics Opinions, and different state bar association legal ethics opinions.

Ethics CLE is pending for this session.

Speakers: Kelly Knepper-Stephens, TrueML; Nicole Strickler, Messer Strickler Burnette, Ltd.

10:45-11:45 a.m.

Defense Bar Hot Topics

A kind of hot topics but rather than cases about new trends in complaints we are seeing across the country and discuss how to address them and also go over preventative measures firms can take in advance. Forewarned is forearmed. What law firms are likely to see in the immediate future as far as consumer complaints and how to protect themselves.

CLE is pending for this session.

Speakers: Xerxes Martin, Martin Golden Lyons Watts Morgan; Jeff Topor, Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP; Mitch Williamson, Barron & Newburger, P.C.