Total Credits: 3 CLE, 0.5 Ethics, 3 Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation Specialization
This year’s CLE in the Red Rocks offers advanced insights into litigation preparation and strategy for both plaintiff and defense practitioners. Addresses critical aspects such as expert testimony, specialized claims, emerging tools, ethical considerations, jury selection techniques, and contingency planning when cases encounter challenges. Topics include:
Chairperson
Amy Hernandez, Amy Hernandez Law, PLLC
Agenda
The Job is Hard Enough—Don’t Make it Harder: Strategies to Get Along with Opposing Counsel and Move Your Case Along
Amy Hernandez, Amy Hernandez Law, PLLC
Rachelle Sanchez, Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC
Litigating Premise Liability Cases in the Wake of Perez v. Circle K
Jason Bliss, Aspey Watkins & Diesel PLLC
Lou Diesel, Aspey Watkins & Diesel PLLC
Todd Springer, P.E., CXLT, Augspurger Komm Engineering, Inc.
How to Avoid Cognitive Fallacies which can Cripple Your Witness
Kira Barrett, Senior Counsel, Clyde & Co
Rachel Werner, Clyde & Co
| CLE in the Red Rocks Conference Manual_Day1_v2 (4.9 MB) | 92 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Louis M. Diesel, Aspey, Watkins & Diesel, PLLC | 928-380-0729 | ldiesel@awdlaw.com
I have been an attorney in Arizona for 50 years which has been a privilege and an honor. I started out on the federally funded Arizona Prosecutor Training Program supervised by Assistant Attorney General William Schafer, which was during a two-year period where I worked for the City of Phoenix Prosecutor's Office, Coconino County Attorney's Office, Maricopa County Public Defender's Office, and the Arizona Attorney General Appellate Division. I then became clerk for the Honorable Laurance Wren of the Arizona Court of Appeals. After that, I became the training coordinator for the Arizona County Attorneys Association.
In 1975, I, along with two college and law school classmates Fritz Aspey and Harold Watkins, started our own law firm in Flagstaff, Arizona known as Aspey, Watkins & Diesel (AWD). We began in the basement of the old Masonic building, but over the years we have grown to over 16 lawyers. These include attorneys who all have served terms as president of the State Bar of Arizona, namely, Fritz Aspey, Whitney Cunningham, and Brian Furuya. We have litigated cases in almost every Arizona county, and I have argued in front of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Arizona Supreme Court and the U.S. Ninth Circuit. In the mid-1980s I was on the Appellate Commission, appointed by Governor Bruce Babbitt. I have tried hundreds of cases ranging from criminal defense, civil litigation, contract litigation, commercial litigation, domestic relations, personal injury, and wrongful death.
Present Employment
• Founding Partner of Aspey, Watkins & Diesel, PLLC | 1975 - Present
Education
• Northern Arizona University | Flagstaff, Arizona | 1966-1970 | B.S. Political Science/History (Graduated with higher distinction)
• Arizona State University | Tempe, Arizona | 1970-1973 | Juris Doctor (Law Review)
• Arizona State University | Tempe, Arizona | 1976 | M.S. Police Administration
Jason Bliss is a litigator and trial attorney with 27 years of diverse experience. He is a frequent presenter on personal injury topics and has been at the forefront of identifying emerging personal injury subjects related to the Affordable Care Act, “billed vs. paid” issues, and annuity evidence of future damages. He has defended physicians and other health care professionals in medical malpractice claims and lawsuits. In his prior practice with a medium-sized Phoenix law firm he defended scores of other personal injury defendants in cases ranging in subject matter from low-speed motor vehicle accidents to shootings and catastrophic tire failures. He now works in Flagstaff and focuses on pursuing personal injury claims for injured plaintiffs.
Mr. Bliss also has extensive experience litigating construction-related disputes in various contexts, including on behalf of or adverse to design builders, architects, engineers, materials testing consultants, and specialty trade subcontractors in both residential and commercial construction settings. Mr. Bliss co-authored the chapter entitled “Risk Transfer Through the Tender of Defense” in the most recent edition of the Arizona Construction Law Practice Manual.
Mr. Bliss also handles insurance coverage matters on behalf of various insurers, including general liability insurers, professional liability insurers, and auto and property insurers. Mr. Bliss’ experience includes authoring coverage opinions as well as litigating insurance-coverage related disputes.
Some of Mr. Bliss’ recent representative experience includes the following:
• Lakeside Legionnaires, Coconino Superior Court Case No CV87-042997 (class action homeowners’ association matter). In 2020, and after three years of litigation in a complex class action post-judgment proceeding, Mr. Bliss prevailed in having the Defendant planned community association held in contempt of court for filing to comply with its obligations under a 1990 judgment to maintain and repair a common area lake.
• Parks v. Thompson, Coconino Superior Court Case No CV2011-00911 (construction/painting case). In 2015, Mr. Bliss tried the case to verdict and obtained a defense verdict and a judgment of $125,465.22 in attorneys’ fees, costs, and sanctions. The Court of Appeals affirmed all aspects of the trial court’s judgment, including the award of attorneys’ fees and costs, and the Arizona Supreme Court declined review.
• LaFonte v. Lewis, Yavapai County Superior Court Case No. CV2011-01684 (convenience store shooting). In 2014, Mr. Bliss tried the case to verdict and obtained a defense verdict and secured an agreement in which the plaintiff waived any appeal.
Education
• Arizona State University (J.D., 1997)
o Peer writing instructor, 1996-1997
o Externship with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Civil Division, 1996-1997
• Northern Arizona University (B.S., 1994)
Associations & Activities
• Arizona State Bar
• Coconino County Bar Association
o 2022 President
• Flagstaff Leadership Program (FLP)
o Class of 2019
o Board of Directors 2022-present.
• Past president of the Sandra Day O'Connor Inn of Court
• Graduate of the Arizona College of Trial Advocacy
• Phoenix Art Museum Men's Arts Council (Inactive)
• Professional Liability Underwriting Society (“PLUS”) (Inactive)
o Co-Vice Chair, Southwest Chapter, 2016-2017
Bar Admissions
• Arizona, 1997
• Navajo Nation, 2018
• Hopi Tribal Court, 2020
Court Admissions
• U.S. District Court, District of Arizona, 1997
• United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit, 2020
Presentations
• Advanced Trial Tactics, National Business Institute, April 25, 2014
• Billed vs. Paid and the Affordable Care Act: Emerging Issues in Bodily Injury Law, Arizona Insurance Claims Association, March 19, 2015
• The Impact of the Affordable Care Act: Emerging Issues in Bodily Injury Damages, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Denver Office, June 16, 2015
• Advanced Personal Injury Litigation, National Business Institute, June 18-19, 2015
• Early Claims Response & Investigation: Spoliation of Evidence and Related Issues, EMC Insurance, July 9, 2015
• Attorney Panel Discussion, Arizona Insurance Claims Association, July 16, 2015
• Early Claims Response & Investigation: Spoliation of Evidence and Related Issues, Auto Owners Insurance Company, October 22, 2015
• Construction Law: What do you do when . . ., National Business Institute, May 18, 2016.
• Auto Injuries: Advanced Personal Injury Strategies, National Business Institute, June 10, 2016.
• Damages in Personal Injury: Negotiating and Litigating the Damages: Plaintiffs’ Tactics, National Business Institute, April 26, 2019.
• Auto Injuries: Advanced Plaintiff Strategies, National Business Institute, November 15, 2019.
• Deposing Medical Witnesses: Dos, Donts, and Emerging Issues, State Bar of Arizona, December 1, 2021.
Publications
• Arizona Construction Law Practice Manual, 3rd Edition, co-author, “Risk Transfer Through the Tender of Defense.”
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 Amy Hernandez Law, PLLC where she focuses her practice on plaintiff’s medical malpractice, legal malpractice, and general personal injury.
Kira Barrett is a skilled litigator with a diverse practice representing businesses and individuals in a wide range of tort and contract-related disputes. She has extensive experience defending professionals—including lawyers, architects, engineers, insurance professionals, and accountants—against claims of professional negligence and related actions.
Kira also advocates for directors and officers, defending them against alleged breaches of fiduciary duties and other complex claims. She represents corporations in commercial litigation and has significant experience in construction litigation, where she advises and defends residential and commercial contractors. Additionally, she represents contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers in product defect and toxic tort litigation.
Kira’s practice also includes trucking litigation, where she defends transportation companies and their insurers in matters involving accidents and liability disputes.
Rachelle Sanchez leverages her experience as a former criminal prosecutor to defend her clients
Rachelle defends leading consumer products companies, automakers, original equipment manufacturers, retailers and others against product liability claims and other high-stakes litigation. As part of her practice, she often serves as local counsel for multinational conglomerates in matters before Alabama courts and the Eleventh Circuit.
Rachelle also defends doctors, nurses, surgeons and other health care professionals against medical malpractice claims.
Whether she is consulting with engineers to better understand how a product works or investigating patient charts to develop arguments supporting a physician’s treatment recommendations, Rachelle dives into the facts of each case and fully accounts for the positions of her clients. She then leverages her deep trial, appellate, and alternative dispute resolution experience to develop solutions and strategies that help achieve a client’s unique objectives. Recent examples include:
• Using creative venue transfer strategies to force a plaintiff to settle a multimillion-dollar product liability demand for a fraction of the amount
• Leveraging novel arguments before the Eleventh Circuit to help a secure a favorable verdict in a FDCPA dispute
• Securing favorable results through out-of-the-box mediation strategies
Before joining Lightfoot, Rachelle served in the U.S. Army, first in a combat support role as an MP and later in the JAG office where she worked alongside JAG officers in trying administrative and punitive legal matters. Rachelle also served as a criminal prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Arizona. She first-chaired numerous jury trials, oversaw more than 200 bench trials and handled hundreds of sentencing and substantive motion hearings. Rachelle brings all of this experience to bear in defending her clients.
In addition to her work with clients, Rachelle serves on Lightfoot's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. She is also the technology chair for the 2025 DRI Women in the Law Seminar. Rachelle is active with the firm's pro bono efforts and has represented immigration asylum seekers and military sexual harassment survivors.
Rachel Werner is a seasoned attorney who concentrates her practice on maritime law and healthcare law, focusing on medical negligence, regulatory compliance, risk management, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, and long-term care facility defense. She has successfully defended medical practitioners, advanced practice providers, allied health professionals, and healthcare and long-term care facilities in litigation and administrative licensing proceedings nationwide.
Rachel is a dedicated advocate for her clients and has extensive experience in all phases of litigation, from pre-suit investigation and strategy development to trial. In addition to her healthcare and maritime law focus, she has a strong background in civil and commercial litigation, having defended cases involving tort claims, contract disputes, general/product liability, residential real estate, and environmental/toxic torts in state and federal courts.
Todd Springer has over 15 years' experience in forensic engineering and failure analysis investigations, with an emphasis on mechanical systems and equipment, including component and material failures. His experience further includes the evaluation of building envelope construction and performance with a focus on water intrusion and storm damage.
Mr. Springer also provides expert consulting and testimony regarding premises safety, incorporating human factors and applying principles of safety engineering. Investigations in these areas rely on his knowledge of building code and ADA requirements, as well as standards of care in a variety of applications.
Mr. Springer received is Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University in 2006. He also has a Human Factors Certificate from Penn State University in Fall 2023.