Reynolds Attends Defense Research Institute Annual Meeting

Trial attorney Kevin Reynolds attended the Defense Research Institute Annual Seminar in New Orleans, Louisiana from October 16 — October 19, 2019. 

The seminar titled, "The Past and Present Define the Future" included substantive continuing legal education on topics relevant to defense attorneys and corporate counsel charged with defending clients in contested matters.

Kevin was recently appointed to a three-year term as DRI Representative for the state of Iowa. Kevin is a former Iowa Defense Counsel Association President (2017) and former Chair of DRI's Products Liability Committee (2000-2001), its largest substantive law committee. He has been active in DRI since 1986.

As a part of the New Orleans Annual meeting he attended a State and Local Defense Organization (SLDO) luncheon and afternoon workshop. On Wednesday night he attended a by-invitation only dinner at Emeril Lagasse's restaurant "NOLA" with other SLDO leaders from the DRI Mid-Region, which includes Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Utah, as well as Iowa. Finally, he attended CLE sessions on Commercial Litigation and Aviation Litigation.

The keynote speaker for the conference was former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (2010-2018). He chaired a commission and was instrumental in bringing the City of New Orleans back after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Another meeting highlight was a speech by Ruby Bridges, an American Civil Right Activist from New Orleans. Ruby was an elementary school student in 1960 when U. S. District Court Judge Skelly Wright ordered that the public schools in New Orleans be integrated. Her school was the first to be integrated and she attended school accompanied by federal marshals. Reynolds said, "her speech was interesting and awe-inspiring."