CONFERENCE OVERVIEW: The 2023 District of Nevada’s Federal District Conference will take place on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at the Renaissance Reno Downtown Hotel & Spa, One South Lake Street, Reno Nevada. Renowned presenters will speak on various topics relating to our theme, “Federal Practice Basics and Beyond.” These topics will include an annual U.S. Supreme Court Overview, use of artificial intelligence as evidence in civil and criminal proceedings, effective witness preparation for any court hearing, and the science of persuasion to improve your oral argument skills. The conference will conclude with civil, criminal and bankruptcy breakout sessions with panel discussions from the judges of the District of Nevada sharing their tips and thoughts on practicing in federal court.
REGISTRATION: To register for the conference, please click the following link: www.nvd.uscourts.gov/DistrictConference2023. Tickets are priced at $175 for general admission, $100 for government attorneys, and $50 for law clerks. Registration will close on May 5, 2023. Ticket prices include a continental breakfast, lunch, morning and afternoon snacks, and an anticipated 6.25 CLE credits (approval from the Nevada State Bar pending.)
CONFERENCE SOCIAL EVENTS: This year there are two social events organized by the Federal Bar Association in conjunction with the Federal District of Nevada that are planned during the conference. These events are as follows:
- Wednesday, May 10, 2023 PRE-CONFERENCE MEET AND GREET EVENT: The FBA and the United States District Court for the District of Nevada invite you to join us at a free meet and greet event with our newest judges, Hon. Anne R. Traum and Hon. Cristina D. Silva from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Shore Room at the Renaissance Reno Downtown Hotel & Spa. To register to attend the FBA/Court Meet and Greet event, please click the following link: RSVP – Nevada Federal Bar Association (nvfedbar.org).
- Thursday, May 11, 2023 FEDERAL BAR ASSOCIATION DINNER: The FBA will be hosting its annual dinner immediately following the District Court Conference. Dinner tickets are $55 for judges, law clerks, and students; $75 for FBA members; and $80 for non-FBA members. To register and pay for this event, please click the following link: RSVP – Nevada Federal Bar Association (nvfedbar.org).
HOTEL REGISTRATION: Renaissance Reno Downtown Hotel & Spa.
CONFERENCE AGENDA/GENERAL INFORMATION
- District Conference Agenda
- Wi-Fi information coming soon.
- COVID-19 Protocols
- Recording Disclaimer
CONFERENCE SPEAKER BIOS
SESSION 1: U.S. SUPREME COURT REVIEW
Judge Bybee is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He graduated magna cum laude from Brigham Young University and earned his J.D. cum laude from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, where he was on the editorial board of the BYU Law Review. From 1991 to 1999, Judge Bybee served on the faculty of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University. In 1999, Judge Bybee joined the founding faculty of the William S. Boyd School of Law. At both LSU and UNLV, he taught constitutional law, administrative law, and civil procedure. Judge Bybee was appointed by President George W. Bush as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, a position he held from 2001 to 2003. In 2002, President Bush nominated him to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Bybee was confirmed by the Senate and appointed by the President in 2003. Judge Bybee took senior status in 2019.
SESSION 2: AI AS EVIDENCE
Judge Grimm served as a District Court Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland from 2012 until his retirement in 2022. He was appointed to the Court on December 10, 2012. Previously, he was appointed to the Court as a Magistrate Judge in February 1997 and served as Chief Magistrate Judge from 2006 through 2012. In September, 2009 he was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Additionally, Judge Grimm is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Maryland School of Law, where he teaches evidence, and also has taught trial evidence, pretrial civil procedure, and scientific evidence. He also is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he teaches a course regarding the discovery of and pretrial practices associated with electronically stored evidence.
Before joining the Court, Judge Grimm was in private practice in Baltimore for thirteen years, during which time he handled commercial litigation. He also served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland, an Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore County, Maryland, and a Captain in the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. In 2001, Judge Grimm retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Army Reserve. Judge Grimm received his undergraduate degree from the University of California Davis (summa cum laude), his J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law (magna cum laude, Order of the Coif) and his LLM from Duke Law School.
Professor Grossman is a Research Professor in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, and an affiliate faculty member at the Vector Institute, all in Ontario, Canada. She also is Principal at Maura Grossman Law, an eDiscovery law and consulting firm in Buffalo, New York. Previously, Maura was Of Counsel at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, in New York City, where, for 17 years, she advised the firm’s lawyers and clients on matters related to eDiscovery and information governance, both domestically and abroad. Maura’s scholarly work on technology-assisted review (“TAR”) has been widely cited in case law, both in the U.S. and elsewhere. In addition to her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, Maura also holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Psychology from the Derner Institute of Adelphi University.
SESSION 3: WITNESS SELECTION AND PREPARATION
Professor Barron is a professor of skills at The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian from the State University of New York at Albany in 1974 and a Master of Arts degree in Russian from Columbia University in 1977. She received her Juris Doctor from Hofstra Law School in 1984. Prior to attending law school, Professor Barron was a linguist with the United States Department of Defense. She worked on high security level foreign language material.
Professor Barron’s professional legal experience is diverse. Upon graduation from Hofstra in 1984, she became a prosecutor with the New York County Office of the District Attorney. She left the prosecutor’s office in 1987 and was a litigator with firms in the New York City metropolitan area. She specialized in complex commercial and matrimonial litigation. It was at that time that she began her teaching career as a faculty member for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy’s Basic Skills Northeast Regional Program.
Professor Barron returned to Hofstra in 1995 as a professor. She has focused her teaching interests on improving the law school’s skills curriculum. She has created and has taught innovative skills-oriented simulations courses that are grounded in criminal law, commercial law, and transactional law. She is currently the director of Hofstra’s trial techniques program and has been the law school’s director of student advocacy programs. In addition, she serves as director of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy’s (NITA) Basic Skills Northeast Regional Program and has been the NITA program director and faculty member for many skills courses for the public and private sector nationwide. Since March 2020, Professor Barron has developed and taught multiple series of online skills courses for NITA for public and private sector lawyers.
Professor Barron has an extensive international teaching resume. She has developed and taught advocacy skills programs for: the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative in Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, the Republic of Georgia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Tunisia, Russia; the Balkans Regional Rule of Law Network in Macedonia; and the government of Bosnia-Herzogovina. Professor Barron has created advocacy skills courses for her work with ABA ROLI. Most recently, she has developed and taught courses that train lawyers and law professors in interactive teaching methodologies. She also taught in Japan’s first trial advocacy skills programs for members of Japan’s criminal defense bar, as well as in Kosovo, where she taught in trial advocacy programs sponsored by the United States Department of Justice. She also has created and taught a series of skills workshops designed to help legal and non-legal professionals develop their own interactive courses.
SESSION 4: SCIENCE OF PERSUASION
Dr. Dugan has been a certified psychologist specializing in forensic issues since 1987. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Texas Christian University in 1978 where he was the Senior Honors Scholar. He then received his Master’s (1980) and Doctoral (1984) degrees in Psychology from the University of Kansas. Dr. Dugan has given continuing education seminars to attorneys and judges in Nevada, California, Arizona, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington, Ohio, North Dakota, and Hawaii. He has given invited addresses to the Federal Inns of Court, the American Bar Association Trial Masters Program, the Western Trial Lawyers Association, several state and county Bar Associations, and the National Judicial College. He founded Trial Science, Inc., in 1995. His first published novel, Wait With Wonderful ©, is due this year. It is either a storybook with self-help skills inside or a self-help book surrounded by a story. His message to attorneys is “whoever tells the best story to the best audience wins.”