Litigating Emotional Distress Claims: Liability and Defense Issues for Intentional and Negligent Acts
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
- work Practice Area
Personal Injury and Med Mal
- event Date
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
- schedule Time
1:00 PM E.T.
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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This CLE course will provide in-depth legal analysis and practical guidance to trial lawyers regarding the pursuit and defense of the rapidly expanding tort claims of negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The panel will cover the full array of issues ranging from pleading and discovery to motions and trial and will review successful strategies to use at each stage.
Claims for intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress no longer arise solely in the context of the individual to individual acts of outrageous conduct. These claims for injury now are being asserted in workplace matters, medical malpractice claims, 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 actions, and internet cyberbullying litigation, to name but a few newer arenas.
Plaintiffs lawyers must know what to plead to survive a motion to dismiss--a conclusory assertion of the name of the claim will not suffice. Defense counsel, especially in the age of Twombly and Iqbal, must be able to spot and act upon pleading deficiencies in light of the strict requirements of the claim.
Emotional distress claims allow wide-open discovery about the plaintiff. Clients may be surprised to learn just how much they have put at issue publicly as well as how rough cross-examination may be at trial. Plaintiffs counsel must know how to prepare the client; defense counsel must know how to walk the line between appropriate aggression and sympathy-generating meanness.
Listen as this panel of experienced courtroom experts imparts not only a detailed analysis of the legal issues but also provides proven strategies for success.
- Context of claim
- Workplace
- Physical injury
- Medical
- Internet cyberbullying
- Interpersonal relations
- Publication: potential for embarrassment
- 42 U.S.C. Section 1983
- Claim, defenses, motions to dismiss
- Extreme and outrageous conduct
- Intentional vs. reckless
- Causation
- Severity
- Damages
- Discovery
- The full breadth of medical records
- Opinions/observations from nonexperts
- Social media admissions
- Summary judgment
- Trial issues
- Jury selection
- Witness preparation
- Cross-examination
- Role of experts
- Taxation of damages and settlements
The panel will review these and other essential matters:
- The expanding contexts in which emotional distress claims appear
- Legal nuances of claims and defenses
- Practical aspects of pleading, motions, discovery, and trial
