Ethically Interviewing and Preparing Witnesses for Deposition and Trial

Professor Michelle Ward Ghetti is the Louisiana Health and Ethics Endowed Professor of Law at Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge where she has taught, written, and spoken about Professional Responsibility and Trial Advocacy for over 26 years. Her specialties also include criminal trial practice and she works as a consultant to both the La. District Attorneys Association, the Louisiana District Judges Association, and the La. Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, having served on the state’s indigent defense board for 7 years. She is a lifelong fellow with the La. Bar Foundation and the National Institute for Teaching Ethics and Professionalism and is a frequent speaker around the state on issues of ethics and professionalism. She is also a trained mediator and has maintained a small private practice while teaching.

Erin represents lawyers and insurance agents and brokers in defending against professional liability claims. Erin also handles product liability, business litigation and insurance coverage matters.

Erin has been named a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer” by the publishers of Boston Magazine every year since the designation was created in 2004 and has been named a "Top 100 Lawyer in Massachusetts" in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Finally, Erin has been listed as a "Best Lawyer in America" for the New England area in every year since 2016.

Erin is a member of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers. She also is serving a one-year term as President of the Professional Liability Defense Federation, and is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, the Defense Research Institute, and the Litigation Counsel of America.

Erin co-chairs the firm’s Professional Liability Practice Group. She also co-chairs the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, and serves as the firm's Risk Management partner.

Andrew R. Jones is a Partner in the New York City law firm of Furman Kornfeld & Brennan LLP.

Mr. Jones’ practice focusses on professional liability matters and includes: (i) the direct defense of lawyers and other professionals; and (ii) giving advice to domestic and international insurers, including on insurance policy language, product management, and claims management across the United States and abroad. Mr. Jones has tried multi-million dollar cases in both Federal and State Courts, and has represented insurers in international and domestic arbitrations, including in London, the United States, and Bermuda. Mr. Jones has drafted and managed numerous insurance policies and programs for insurers and is a regular lecturer on professional liability defense matters, including the Bi-Annual New York Bar Association-sponsored statewide Legal Malpractice Seminars.

Mr. Jones is admitted as an attorney in New York, and is a Solicitor admitted to practice in England & Wales.

Shauna B. Itri, represents whistleblowers in False Claims Act law suits in state and federal courts throughout the United States, and tax and securities whistleblowers with claims under the IRS and SEC whistleblower programs. Ms. Itri has worked on a series of False Claims Act cases against large drug companies for fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid drug pricing. This litigation has returned well over $3 billion to state and federal governments pursuant to the Federal and State False Claims Acts. Ms. Itri also has experience representing shareholders in securities class action cases that have recovered millions of dollars in settlements.

Ms. Itri received a B.A. and an M.A. from Stanford University, where she captained the University’s Women’s soccer team, and she received her J.D. from Villanova University. Shauna is presently an adjunct professor at Widener Law School, teaching a corporate deviance course. Shauna serves on the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility CLE Committee.