Transportation Lawyers Association
Transportation Law Institute ’26 Schedule
Friday, October 30, 2026 · The Westin Denver Downtown
Schedule and speakers are subject to change. CLE minutes are shown for eligible educational sessions.
Breakfast
Opening
Welcome Remarks
Session 1 · Mediation Panel
Mediation at High Noon: Showdowns, Settlements, and Strategy
Moderator: Jonathan Abramson, Partner, SGR, LLC
Session description
As in most jurisdictions, the majority of cases in Colorado settle through private mediation and settlement conferences. As the practice of law has evolved, having a strong mediation skillset is a necessity for both litigators and in-house counsel. This panel features two retired U.S. Magistrate Judges who bring extensive mediation, teaching, and trial-advocacy experience.
Break
Session 2 · Traumatic Brain Injury Panel
True Grit: Defending Traumatic Brain Injury Cases
Moderator: Gregg Jacobs (confirmation pending)
Session description
A dynamic discussion of traumatic brain injury claims from psychiatry, neuropsychology, biomechanics, and legal perspectives. The panel will explore how medical, cognitive, behavioral, and engineering issues shape the evaluation and presentation of TBI claims, with practical insight into the key challenges and evolving questions surrounding these complex cases.
Session 3 · FAAAA / Broker Liability
Broker’s Last Stand: The Aftermath of SCOTUS’s Decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport
Moderator: Matthew Leffler, Managing Partner, The Armchair Attorney
Session description
This panel brings together corporate counsel, an insurance executive, and a litigator for an in-depth discussion of the Supreme Court’s May 2026 decision in Montgomery. Panelists will examine the decision’s effects on carriers, brokers, and shippers, including carrier vetting and selection, contracts, insurance, and the post-Montgomery frontier.
Lunch
Session 4 · Keynote Presentation
Don’t Fence Me In: Transformation Is Coming for Transportation and Logistics
Technology in Freight
Session description
As generative, agentic, and physical AI converge, the movement of goods by 2035 will bear little resemblance to today’s model. This keynote explores how new technologies will unlock efficiencies, risks, and opportunities across the global supply chain.
Session 5 · Agentic AI
The Quick and the Dead: Risks, Ethics, and Business Use of Agentic AI
Moderator: Brion St. Amour
Session description
This panel examines the emerging use of agentic AI in contracting and business operations, focusing on real-world pitfalls, ethical considerations, and privacy concerns. Panelists will discuss how organizations can responsibly harness AI while managing legal and operational risk.
Break
Session 6 · M&A Panel
A Fistful of Dollars: How to Properly Prepare Your Client for a Transaction
Preparing a Family-Owned Company for a Transaction
Moderator: Eric Baker
Session description
This panel examines how to prepare for a potential transaction from both seller and buyer perspectives. Panelists will cover the M&A process, practical transaction considerations, the parties’ time commitments, emotional challenges, and the costs required to see a deal through to completion.
Session 7 · Ethics
Lonely Are the Brave: Neurodiversity in the Workplace
Mental Health and Neurodiversity in the Workplace
Moderator: Elle Slattery, Member Partner, Taylor Nelson Slattery Bernard PL
Session description
This ethics panel examines legal and ethical issues involving neurodiversity, invisible disabilities, and mental-health-related workplace concerns in safety-sensitive transportation environments. Topics include ADA compliance, investigations, confidentiality, fitness-for-duty and direct-threat analyses, accommodation obligations, EEOC enforcement trends, privilege, documentation, and risk-management practices.