Total Credits: 3 CLE, 1.5 Ethics, 3 Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation Specialization
Note: This program has been rescheduled from December 3, 2024 to February 6, 2025.
Delve into trial techniques tailored for the contemporary courtroom. Course aims to equip legal professionals with the advanced skills necessary to be effective at trial. Topics include:
Faculty:
Hon. Greg Sakall, Presiding Judge, Civil Bench; Associate Presiding Judge, Pima County Superior Court
Amy Hernandez, Hernandez Linton Law, PLLC
Kurt Kroese, Biaggi Kroese & Campbell PLLC
Marco Mercaldo, Mercaldo Law Firm
Andrew Petersen, Humphrey & Petersen PC
is a 1987 graduate from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas with a degree in Accounting. Mr. Kroese became licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in Arizona and practiced in that field with the accounting firm of Ernst & Whinney. Mr. Kroese thereafter attended the University of Arizona Law School where he graduated with honors in 1993. He is an active member in the following organizations: Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants, Tucson Defense Bar, Arizona Minority Bar Association, Pima County Bar Association, and Federal Bar Association. A Certified Specialist in Personal Injury and Wrongful Death, Mr. Kroese is currently a law partner in the firm of Biaggi, Kroese & Cambpell, PLLC where his practice includes representation of both insured defendants and plaintiffs in personal injury matters. Mr. Kroese has a special emphasis and expertise in the representation of injured cyclists and cycling-related cases.
's practice emphasizes civil defense litigation, primarily in the areas of insurance law, municipal and civil rights defense, professional malpractice, contract law and indemnification, and appellate litigation. He has also represented clients at trial and in significant appellate court cases in both the state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. He has authored numerous articles on legal issues, including an annotation on constitutional tort claims. He has also written and presented papers on aesthetics and existentialism. Andrew earned his law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995, and graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Arizona with a degree in English and Political Science in 1992. Andrew is a member of several legal organizations and non-legal organizations including the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel (President 2009), the Tucson Defense Bar, and the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel.
was admitted to the State Bar of Arizona in 2001 and to the State Bar of California in 1998. He has been "AV" rated by Martindale Hubbell every year since 2009. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America, Southwest Super Lawyers, and LawDragon Top 500 Plaintiff lawyers in America. He has previously acted as Western Regional Catastrophic Loss Counsel for several major insurance companies and has personally handled more than 100 wrongful death and brain injury cases in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah. He is the Vice President of the Tucson chapter of American Board of Trial Advocates ("ABOTA") and is a Fellow in the International Society of Barristers and The American Bar Foundation.
Honorable Greg Sakall was appointed to the Pima County Superior Court in 2017, where he currently serves as associate presiding judge. He is also currently presiding judge of the Civil Bench. After law school, Judge Sakall clerked for U.S. District Judges William D. Browning and Cindy K. Jorgenson. From 2004 to 2017, he was in private practice. He has also been an adjunct associate professor and is a guest lecturer at the James E. Rogers College of Law.
Education: Hillsdale College (B.A., summa cum laude, double major in Spanish & History); University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (J.D., summa cum laude).
Amy Hernandez received her law degree in 2003 from Drake University (with Honors). After law school she served as a law clerk at the Arizona Court of Appeals. Ms. Hernandez has served on the Civil Practice & Procedure Committee for the State Bar of Arizona and as the Chair of the State Bar Trial Practice Section. She is a former member of the Morris K. Udall Inn of Court and a former board member for the Arizona Association of Justice. Ms. Hernandez served in the United States Army from 1996 - 2000 as a military intelligence analyst. Ms. Hernandez owns Hernandez Linton Law, PLLC where she focuses her practice on plaintiff’s medical malpractice, legal malpractice, and general personal injury.
