The Institute for Law and Finance (ILF) and the DAJV were pleased to welcome colleagues from the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) to the DAJV Annual Conference 2024 held at the House of Finance, Campus Westend of Goethe University Frankfurt on 19 and 20 September 2024.
The main topic of this year's Annual Conference was “Building bridges across the Atlantic: Sharing Skills from the German Legal System and American Civil Jury Trials”.
The DAJV Annual Conference kicked off with welcoming remarks by Prof. Dr. Dr. hc. Thomas Pfeiffer, University of Heidelberg and Chairman of the DAJV, and Ms. Jennifer H. Doan, Haltom & Doan and ABOTA National President-Elect.
The first day of the DAJV Annual Conference 2024 consisted of the following panels:
- “Framing the Case – Litigation Civil Cases in German Courts” with speakers Dr. Christian Schmitz-Justen, Former Vice-President of the Cologne Higher Regional Court and Prof. Dr. Hans-Patrick Schroeder, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, moderated by Dr. Alexandra Diehl, White & Case.
- “American Case Framing – Prosecution and Defense of Civil Cases” with speakers Ms. Christine O. Boyd, Boyd & DiSipio, Mr. William D. Shapiro, William D. Shapiro Law, Mr. Linda Miller Savitt, Ballard Rosenberg Golper & Savitt, moderated by Mr. Michael T. Callahan, Callahan Law Firm.
- “Hot Topics in German Litigation and Arbitration” with speakers Ms. Kristina Weiler, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Mr. Florian Diekmann, Regional Court of Rottweil, Dr. Janett Fahrenholz, Volkswagen AG, moderated by Dr. Alena McCorkle Latham & Watkins.
- “Presentation of Experts in American Litigation and Arbitration”, an interactive mock trial with the Hon. Robert R. Rigsby, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Ms. Grace A. Weatherly, Wood Weatherly, Ms. Jill M. Webb, Law of Office of Jill. M. Webb and Prof. Dr. Stephan Wilske, Gleiss Lutz, moderated by Mr. Richard H. Schoenberger, Kelly & Schoenberger.
The first day of the Annual Conference 2024 concluded with remarks by Ms. Luis M. Cardenas, Escobedo & Cardenas and a reception dinner. The dinner speech was held by Ms. Jennifer H. Doan, who talked about “AI Effect on DAJV and ABOTA”.
The second day of the DAJV Annual Conference 2024 opened with remarks delivered by Mr. Luis M. Cardenas, Dr. Alexandra Diehl and Prof. Dr. R. Alexander Lorz, Minister of Finance of the State of Hesse, and consisted of the following panels:
- “Panel Discussion with American and German Judges & Attorneys” with speakers the Hon. Anna Blackburn-Rigsby, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Dr. Irene Brücher, Ministry of Justice, State of Hesse, the Hon. Christine A. Marlewski, 13th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida and Dr. Christina Pernice, Federal Court of Justice, moderated by Mr. Matthew D. Green, Sands Anderson
- “Dissenting opinions – do they lead to better judgments?” with speakers the Hon. Jerome B. Abrams, Minnesota District Court, Mr. Lish Whitson, Lish Whitson, Dr. Mirjam Escher, Schmit & Rechtsanwälte, moderated by Dr. Florian Wagner, Gleiss Lutz.
- “The Client Speaks – Hear from German clients on the past experiences with litigation and alternative dispute resolution in the U.S.” with speakers Dr. Jörg Koch, Sempa Systems, Ms. Hannah Eckhoff, BioNTech and Ms. Friederike Düring, SMA Solar Technology AG, moderated by Mr. Sven Volkmer, White & Case.
The DAJV Annual Conference 2024 closed with a “Final Wrap Up & Reflections” on the topics discussed on both conference days by Prof. Dr. Dr. hc. Thomas Pfeiffer and Ms. Jennifer H. Doan and joint lunch.
The DAJV Annual Conference 2024 was accompanied by a cultural program for the American guests and colleagues from ABOTA.
