As part of my new leadership role with the American Bar Association (“ABA”) General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division’s Agriculture Law Committee, I have been busy helping plan a Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) webinar on crop and livestock insurance. This program will lay down the fundamental building blocks for practicing either crop and or livestock insurance law. Please mark your calendars: the CLE will be on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 2:00pm Eastern Time.
The title of the program is “Crop and Livestock Insurance Law from the Ground Up” and will be at the basic/intermediary level. The CLE will be very practical giving attorney the skills necessary to represent either a farmer or an insurance company. The program will discuss provisions in the Federal Crop Insurance Act (“FCIA”), Agriculture Risk Protection Act, and the relevant regulations. Faculty will give an overview of the administrative framework of our federal crop insurance system via the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (“USDA”) Risk Management Agency (“RMA”) and Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (“FCIC”). Additional introductory crop insurance topics include: overview of Multiple Peril Crop Insurance (“MPCI”), types of crop insurance protection including Catastrophic Risk Protection and Buy-up coverage and types of crop insurance coverage. Furthermore, attendees will learn how to evaluate a crop insurance case and counsel a farmer or defend an insurance company when there is denial of a claim including mediation, arbitration, judicial review of an arbitration award, administrative review process including appeals, and potential litigation after arbitration at either state or federal level. Finally, the webinar will give an overview of livestock insurance including various equine insurance policies available to horse owners including Standard Equine Mortality Insurance.
The faculty include:
Yours Truly (Moderator)
Beth Angus Baumstark, Partner, Baumstark Braaten Law Partners, Bismark, ND
William K. Crispin, Owner/Principal, Law Offices of William K. Crispin, Chtd., Gainesville, FL
Brion B. Doyle, Partner, Varnum LLP, Grand Rapids, MI
Julie I. Fershtman, Shareholder, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, Farmington Hills, MI
Charles D. Lee, Partner, Martindell Swearer Shaffer Ridenour LLP, Hutchinson, KS
Michael D. Martin, Owner/Principal, Martin Law Office, Lakeland, FL
P. John Owen, General Counsel, National Crop Insurance Services, Overland Park, KS
Co-Sponsors for the CLE include the American Agriculture Law Association (“AALA”), ABA Section of Environment, Energy & Resources’s Agriculture Management Committee, ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section’s Animal Law Committee. The price for the webinar will be $90 for all sponsoring section members, $135 for all other ABA members who are interested in becoming members of the ABA General Practice Solo & Small Firm Division ($150 for ABA members who do not). The price for all other registrants is $185.
If you are an ABA member, you can register online or via phone by dialing (800) 285-2221 (Selection Option “2”). The event code is CET2CRG. If you are unable to participate the program will later via available on CD-ROM and can later be purchased here.
The ABA General Practice Solo & Small Firm Division’s Agriculture Law Committee is also currently planning a CLE on local food law — which will be next March/April. Please stay tuned for more details. If you are interested in helping plan a food/ag law CLE for the Committee, please contact me and review our list of subcommittees.