President's Message

By: Paul W. McCartney

2024 OACTA President

In October 2023, I was in San Antonio for the DRI Annual Meeting. During one of the receptions, I struck up a conversation with Jim McCrystal. Anyone with any involvement in OACTA over the last three decades knows Jim. He has served in multiple roles in OACTA, most importantly as an officer and as President in 2003. In addition, Jim is active in DRI and IADC. He served on the Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure for five years. These are just a few of his accolades.

In any event, I was on the cusp of becoming OACTA President when Jim and talked. Jim asked me about my agenda for my year as President. I had never thought that I should have an agenda, so my answer was a brilliant, “I don’t know.”

His comment, though, stuck with me. After our annual meeting and through the holidays, things are pretty quiet for OACTA. But I kept thinking about Jim’s question.

We had our first Officer’s meeting in January to map out our plan for the year. In this meeting, we review our strategic plan for the coming year. One of the items in the strategic plan was to foster a relationship with the Ohio Association of Justice (“OAJ”). After serving on the board for 15 years and as an officer for three years, I know this is regular discussion and in the Strategic Plan. However, the only year we acted on it was in 2020 during the pandemic. Our then President Jamey Pregon led OACTA and OAJ to hold a joint Zoom summit for our organizations to discuss the challenges caused by COVID-19 and to find common ground moving forward. The summit received accolades from both sides with the pledge to continue such a relationship. This was the issue I needed.

It took several months, but in June I had lunch with the President of OAJ, Nathan “Nate” Stuckey of the eponymously named The Stuckey Firm. He and I followed it up with a phone call in August. We agreed to a Zoom call with additional individuals from our organization, which happened on Friday, October 11th. Our working group came up with a plan to make the dialogue and cooperation between our two groups permanent. I presented this to the OACTA officers, who unanimously embraced and endorsed the plan.

Thus, I am pleased to announce that OACTA has created a Joint Committee with OAJ. The committee membership will be the Presidents of our two organizations along with the two officers next in line to be President (for OACTA, the Vice-President and the Treasurer). The Committee will also include one at large member from each organization. We have our first formal meeting scheduled for October 22nd with two substantive discussion items on the agenda. There is great enthusiasm on both sides about the prospect of us working together. We obviously will have disagreements about certain things, but in areas where we agree, OAJ and OACTA working together will be a powerful voice.

If you have suggestions for areas of cooperation, please let me know.

Otherwise, registration is open for our annual meeting in Columbus on November 14th and 15th. The program is incredible and worth your time. I hope to see you there.

Mark Your Calendar!

November 1, 2024

OACTA Coffee Chat

via Zoom

November 14-15, 2024

OACTA Annual Meeting

Hyatt Regency Columbus

Columbus, OH

December 5, 2024

OACTA Mentorship Program Lunch-and-Learn

via Zoom

Save the Date!

Join us November 14-15 at the Hyatt Regency Columbus! This outstanding program will provide up to 9.0 CLE credits, including 1.0hr of APC credit.

Presentations include the following:

Frank A. Ray, Esq. - Defense Tactics for Settlement Negotiation and Mediation
Elisabeth C. Arko, Esq. - Appellate Issues after a Reptile Theory Verdict
Laura Clark Fey, Esq. - LegAIl Transformations: How Lawyers Must Adapt to Rapid AI Developments to Meet Their Ethical, Legal, and Business Obligations
Joseph W. Pappalardo, Esq. - Reptile Theory: Pre-trial & Trial Strategies for Defense Counsel
Nick Polavin, Ph.D - Jury Selection Strategy
Samuel A. Meadows, Esq. & Zachary R. Durant, Esq. - Ethical Considerations when Defending against Reptile Theory
Michael J. Hendershot, Esq - Update on recent SCOTUS and Ohio Supreme Court Decisions
Bruce Hennes - Effective Crisis Communications for Attorneys and their Clients: Because the Court of Public Opinion is Always in Session

In addition to the educational program, meeting registration includes a Networking Reception on Thursday and the OACTA Legal Excellence Awards Luncheon & Annual Business Meeting.

View the Program

Learn More & Register Today!

Thank you to our Sponsors!

Congratulations to the 2024 OACTA Award Recipients!

During the OACTA Annual Business Meeting & Legal Excellence Award Luncheon on Thursday, November 14, the following awards will be presented. This presentation will take place during the OACTA 2024 Annual Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Columbus.

Excellence in Advocacy Award:

Neil F. Freund, Esq.

Lifetime Achievement Award:

Thomas P. Erven, Esq.

Young & Alexander Co., L.P.A.

Respected Advocate Award:

D. Arthur Rabourn, Esq.

D. Arthur Rabourn LLC

Distinguished Contributions to the Community Award:

Kurt D. Anderson, Esq.

Collins Roche Utley & Garner, LLC

Outstanding Young Lawyer Award:

Elisabeth C. Arko, Esq.

Tucker Ellis LLP

Frank Seth Hurd Member of the Year Award:

Benjamin C. Sassé, Esq.

Tucker Ellis LLP

OACTA Committee Chair of the Year Award:

David W. Peck, Esq.

OACTA Foundation 15^th Annual Golf Outing

Thank you to all who participated in the OACTA Foundation's 15th Annual Golf Outing!

The OACTA Foundation Golf Outing was held on Tuesday, September 3^rd at Pinnacle Golf Club in Grove City. Over seventy golfers came out to support the OACTA Foundation. Thank you to all who participated as a sponsor or golfer!

Net proceeds from the Golf Outing benefit the OACTA Foundation. The OACTA Foundation funds projects consistent with the mission of OACTA, such as the annual Hilary S. Taylor Inclusion and Equity Scholarship Program and the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence (NFJE).

This year, over $16,000 was raised for the OACTA Foundation for the scholarship program and NFJE! Thank you to Golf Outing Co-Chairs Brigid Heid and Mark McCarthy for all their efforts!

Thank you to our 2024 OACTA Foundation Golf Outing Sponsors for their support!

Platinum Sponsors

Tucker Ellis LLP

Weston Hurd LLP

Gold Sponsors

Cavitch, Familo & Durkin, Co.

Silver Sponsors

Collins, Roche, Utley & Garner

Garvey Shearer Nordstrom PSC

Additional Sponsors

Eastman & Smith Ltd.

Lexitas Legal

Rimkus

UB Greensfelder

Veritext Legal Solutions

Explico

Garvey Garvey Belville & Garvey - Duffers-at-Law

Grange Insurance

Milligan Pusateri Co., LPA

Reminger Co., LPA

Rudick Forensic Engineering

S-E-A, Ltd.

Subashi Wildermuth & Justice

Sutter O'Connell

Young & Alexander Co. L.P.A

In Memoriam: Eugene F. Tierney

It is with sadness we report that long time OACTA Member and former President Eugene F. Tierney passed away on July 14, 2024 at age 93. Gene was originally from Connecticut and obtained his undergraduate degree and law degree from the University of Connecticut. He joined the Air Force in 1957 serving in the Judge Advocate’s Office. He served in the USAF Reserves until 1990 retiring as a Lt. Colonel. He worked as Senior Claims Counsel for Nationwide Insurance Company for decades. Gene Tierney was a quiet but dynamic leader serving as OACTA’s President in 1995 during the turbulent statewide debate which resulted in the 1996-1997 omnibus tort reform legislation. This laid the groundwork for the current Ohio tort reform law. Gene and OACTA were recognized by DRI which awarded Gene at its national convention the Rudolph A. Janata Award. This national award recognized OACTA as the outstanding state defense organization in the country during Gene’s tenure. Gene received the Lifetime Achievement award from OACTA for his dedication and service to OACTA in 1998. He was preceded in death by his wife Cynthia in 2022. He is survived by one daughter, three grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

Join your OACTA colleagues for a Coffee Chat on November 1!

Friday, November 1^st, 8:30am - 9:00am

The interactive Zoom format gives members an opportunity to discuss topics of interest with their colleagues during OACTA Coffee Chats!

The discussion topic for this Coffee Chat will be “Counteracting the Plaintiffs’ Bar Attempts to Inflate Economic Damages”

Have you been spooked lately by out of control economic damages?

From exorbitant lifecare plans to unsupported vocational reports, the damages landscape has become a spooky place for defendants in all industries and fields. The plaintiffs’ bar is leveraging economic damages with maximum effort and skill to avoid noneconomic damages caps, increase value, and inflate jury awards. This discussion will focus on our ability to mitigate these tactics and unmask these frightening fellows.

Leading the discussion will be Phillip Sarnowski.

Zoom link and add it to your calendar!

Welcome New OACTA Members Since July!

Les Chambers, Celina Insurance Group

Eric Coglianese, Freeman, Mathis & Gary LLP

Stephanie Franckewitz, The Franckewitz Law Firm

John Hance IV, Garvin & Hickey, LLC

Thomas Himmelspach, Milligan Pusateri Co. LPA

Nathaniel Hurst, Ohio Bar Liability Insurance Co.

Harry Sokhi, Great American Risk Solutions

Need CLE?

Did you miss any of the OACTA Lunch & Learn webinars? No problem! You can view OACTA Lunch & Learn webinars on-demand for self-study CLE credit!

Available Lunch & Learn Webinars On-Demand

Diagnosis v Causation: The Biomechanical Engineer’s Role in Low-Speed Collision Cases, sponsored by Explico
Assessing Closed Head Injury Claims in Low-Speed Rear End Collisions, sponsored by Explico
Heavy Vehicle Collision Investigation and Reconstruction, sponsored by Explico
Tire Analysis - Beyond "Round and Black", sponsored by ESi
The Ethics of AI, sponsored by Lexitas
Low-Speed Rear-End Collisions and Disc Herniation Causation, sponsored by Explico

View the OACTA CLE On-Demand Library

OACTA requests that authors who republish articles that were originally published in an OACTA publication, reflect that the article first appeared in the OACTA publication.

OACTA | www.oacta.org

Congratulations to the 2024 OACTA Award Recipients!

OACTA Foundation 15th Annual Golf Outing

Join your OACTA colleagues for a Coffee Chat on November 1!

OACTA Foundation 15^th Annual Golf Outing