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David Farnbauch was honored to received a "President's Award" from the Indiana Trial Lawyer's Association during the May 3, 2012 luncheon at ITLA's 24th Annual Lifetime Achievement Seminar in Indianapolis. David was recognized for his work as Program Chair of the August 26, 2011 seminar featuring Rick Friedman and Don Bauermeister co-sponsored by ITLA and several midwestern state trial lawyer associations.

On Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, David Farnbauch had the opportunity to speak at the Allen County Bar Association's 2012 "Bench/Bar" Conference held at the Grand Wayne Center in downtown Fort Wayne. The annual "Bench/Bar" Conference is always the best-attended seminar sponsored by the Allen County Bar Association. The seminar features a number of presentations by the judges in northeastern Indiana, both state and federal court judges. This year’s featured guest speaker was Justice Steven David of the Indiana Supreme Court. David Farnbauch spoke on the challenges of jury selection in the tort reform era. Mr. Farnbauch shared his insights on how the court's pattern instruction on the "burden of proof" in a civil case can be framed as a theme of the plaintiff's case throughout the course of the trial on liability, causation, and damages. He also discussed strategies for obtaining a jury's pledge or commitment (during voir dire) to limit deliberations to the evidence presented during the trial. About the Allen County Bar Association: http://www.allencountybar.org/about-us/

David Farnbauch of The Sweeney Law Firm has been selected for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of Medical Malpractice Law. Best Lawyers has been regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States for nearly three decades by the legal profession and the public. Inclusion into Best Lawyers is considered an honor. Best Lawyers compiles lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. In the U.S., Best Lawyers publishes an annual referral guide, The Best Lawyers in America, which includes 41,149 attorneys in 126 practice areas, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Cross-examination has been called “the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of the truth,” by the United States Supreme Court. On December 16th, 2011, David Farnbauch had the honor of speaking at the “Cross Examination: A Lawyer’s Time to Shine” legal seminar sponsored by the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Foundation (“ICLEF”) at the Fort Wayne, Indiana Grand Wayne Center. The seminar was designed to provide lawyers with the tools necessary to take cross-examination to the next level. Providing a plaintiff’s perspective, David discussed the principles of “constructive” cross-examination and demonstrated how the effective use of constructive cross-examination can be the deciding factor at trial. In order to maximize the potential Cross-examination, lawyers need to: Have a plan Have clear goals for the Cross Begin the Cross at the Deposition stage Utilize control methods The seminar covered many facets of  the Cross Examination including: The Nuts and Bolts of Cross-Exam / Rules of Evidence in State and Federal Court Methods and Purposes of Cross-Exam Younger’s Ten Commandments of Cross-Exam The use of Technology in Cross-Exam Tactics to Employ When Crossing Parties, Fact Witnesses and Lay Witnesses Cross-Exam of Medical Experts Cross-Exam of Retained Experts Use of Objections During Cross-Exam Redirect and Rehabilitation of Witnesses: Tips for Success Ethical Considerations in Cross-Exam

On Friday November 11th, 2011, David Farnbauch will be attending Eric Oliver’s legal communication workshop “The Persuasion Edge for Legal Communication” in Washington D.C. Eric G Oliver is one of the premier Trial/Jury consultants in the United States. Eric has concentrated in nonverbal, verbal, and implicit communication skills for over 27 years—23 working with attorneys. Besides teaching effective communication skills to attorneys and their firms, he spends most of his time helping trial attorneys prepare and present more receiver-friendly cases in court and for settlement presentations and discussions. He helps lawyers build a presentation plan for each case—adaptable to any venue—integrating the verbal, visual, and personal parts of the trial based on jurors needs and expectations uncovered in focus groups and voir dire. Eric Oliver is coauthor of “Courtroom Power: Communication Strategies for Trial Lawyers”, and author of “Facts Can’t Speak for Themselves: Reveal the Stories that Give Facts their Meaning” and “Persuasive Communication”. Eric is also the founder of the consulting firm, MetaSystems, Ltd., located in Canton, Michigan. Topics the legal communication workshop will concentrate on: Rapport and Mirroring Attendees will discover how to take their natural talent for making strong, sometimes immediate connections from personal settings to the professional arena. They will learn how to take a listener from a position of suspicion or disinterest to at least attentive, if not fully engaged, without changing anything you would have said—or not said. Case Story Sequence If every story has three main steps, and every story is different, and “duty-breach-harm-damage” or “and then-and then-and then chronology” are not the most persuasive order in which to deliver proofs, then what is the best sequence to present the case story? Attendees will learn how much has to happen before the “bad acts” drop in. Sense Systems and Case Stories What is the most basic bias affecting every decision maker as they construct their own personal version of the case story?  Use the Sensory System preferences to increase influence in the case story delivery.  Attendees will learn the bias towards a visual, oral, or feeling preference for the building blocks of perception to make meaning of any case story.  Attendees will discover how to confirm their own sensory preference—visual, auditory, or kinesthetic, and how to detect anyone else’s in short order. Finally, attendees will learn the mechanics of a purely visual delivery of any case story point. Anchors, Frames, and Themes Attendees will learn to frame the delivery of key parts of client’s case stories to not only present them well or even to overcome a weakness, but also turn certain weaknesses into strengths, using key phrases and images (anchors) already available.

On August 31st, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller stated that Indiana will pay out the full $5 million in compensation available under state law for the victims of the August 13th State Fair stage collapse. Greg Zoeller commented in a written statement: "My goal is to focus on the needs of victims and their families while minimizing the expense of lengthy and costly litigation," State law limits individual damage claims against the state to $700,000 and overall claims to $5 million per event. Fort Wayne, Indiana based Sweeney Lawfirm’s David Farnbauch, who has sued many governmental entities related to injury or death, said Zoeller's acknowledgment is a great public relations move. "It is taking responsibility and trying to help these people," he said. "The state is trying to let people know that liability is not going to be the issue as it pertains to the state. It knows it has liability and there is no point in fighting that out." Farnbauch said at some point he expects a judge to step in to help decide how to divvy up the $5 million. "There has to be a rhyme or reason to who gets paid what before the state starts paying out money," he said, noting it can't be guided by a first-come, first-served mentality given the limited pot. He said victims have 180 days after the incident to file a tort claim. Once that period has run out, the state will have a better idea of the scope of those with claims on the money and can more easily come up with a formula and procedure for compensation. As reported in The Journal Gazette

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