HarrisMartin's Benzene Litigation Conference: Recent Developments in the Law and Science

7:30 a.m. - 8:15 a.m.

Continental Breakfast & Registration

8:15 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

Welcome By Co-Chairs

Tim Gray, Forman Perry Watkins Krutz & Tardy LLP, New Orleans
Larry J. Chilton, Chilton Yambert & Porter LLP, Chicago
Keith Patton, Shrader & Associates LLP, Houston

8:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

Hematology: Treatment and Diagnosis of Blood Diseases and Cancers

Christin DiMartino, Walters Law Firm, Kansas City, MO
Wesley A. Weathers, Weathers, Riley & Sheppeard, LLP, Topeka, KS
Peter G. Shields, M.D., Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH

9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Panel Discussion: Expert Challenges in Hot Jurisdictions – Legal and Procedural Issues

California: Deidre Cohen Katz, Walsworth Franklin Bevins & McCall, Orange, CA
Louisiana: Eric Williams, Williams Law Office LLC, Metarie, LA
Texas: Brett J. Young, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, Houston

10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Refreshment Break

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

“Weight of the Evidence” Methodology: Does it Satisfy Daubert (Milward v. U. S. Steel Corp.)

Steve Baughman Jensen, Allen Stewart P.C., Dallas
Mark C. Fleming, WilmerHale, Boston

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Lunch

Sponsored by High Impact

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Legal Ethics: A View from the Bench - Do You Have to Be A Good Lawyer to Be A Good Lawyer?

Honorable Judge Jay C. Zainey, United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, New Orleans

2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Lewis v. Kinder Morgan: The Trial Lawyers Perspective

Keith Patton, Shrader & Associates LLP, Houston

2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.

Refreshment Break

2:45 p.m. - 3:25 p.m.

Chromosome Abnormalities and Gene Expression in Benzene Research

David W. Pyatt, Ph.D., Summit Toxicology, Boulder, CO

3:25 p.m. - 4:05 p.m.

Update on Etiologic Exposure Window for Benzene as a Cause of AML

David Garabrant, M.D., M.P.H., University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI

4:05 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Legends of the Bar: 40 Years of Benzene Litigation

Herschel L. Hobson, Ph.D, J.D., Hobson & Bradley, Beaumont, TX
Louis C. Woolf, Woolf, McClane, Bright, Allen & Carpenter, PLLC, Knoxville, TN

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Networking Cocktail Reception

7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Words Matter: “Can” Does Not Mean “Did” and “Risk” Does Not Mean “Cause”

An exploration of the interrelated concepts of general and specific causation explored through the prism of regulatory risk assessment.
Andrew J. Dupont, Locks Law Firm, Philadelphia
Lawrence P. Riff, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Los Angeles

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Dermal Exposure and Its Role in Quantitative Exposure Assessment

Chris Madeksho, Madeksho Law Firm, Houston
John W. Spencer, CIH, CSP, Environmental Profiles Inc., Columbia, MD
Joseph C. Orlet, Husch Blackwell LLP, St. Louis

10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Refreshment Break

10:45 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

McWilliams v. Chevron: The Trial Lawyer’s Perspective

Robert P. Scott, Blank Rome, Houston
Wells T. Watson, Baggett McCall Burgess Watson & Gaughan, Lake Charles, LA*

11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

The Vlaanderan Meta-Analysis and Its Use in the Trenches

Raphael Metzger, Metzger Law Group, Long Beach, CA


*Invited Speaker