THE 15TH ANNUAL AMERICAN VETERINARY MEDICAL LAW ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE

The American Veterinary Medical Law Association (AVMLA) will host its 15^th annual meeting and continuing education program on July 19-20, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s program will feature eight distinguished speakers who will present on a variety of topics vital to the practice of veterinary medical law. While only AVMLA members may attend the annual meeting, non-members may, for a fee, attend the continuing education program. Please contact Julia Fullerton by phone at 312.233.2760 or by e-mail at avmlainquiry@gmail.com for more information on the continuing education program or AVMLA membership.

Download registration forms in PDF RegForm 2008.pdf or Word RegForm 2008.doc format.

 2008 Annual Membership Meeting

The American Veterinary Medical Law Association will host its Annual Meeting on July 19^th at the Marriott New Orleans at the Convention Center, 859 Convention Blvd. in New Orleans, LA.

Continuing Education Program

July 20^th at the Springhill Marriott Convention Center, # 301 St. Joseph Street in New Orleans, LA.
CE Proceedings will be held in meeting room AB and Lunch will be held in meeting room C.

Accommodations

The membership meeting and reception will be held in the Marriott New Orleans at the Convention Center, 859 Convention Blvd. in New Orleans, LA. on July 19, 2008 and the continuing education program will be offered on July 20, 2008 at the Springhill Suites, Marriott.

Discount room block rate contact information will be posted soon, check back to this page for the most recent information.

Note that in order to receive the AVMA hotel registrant discount, you must register through the AVMA Registration and Housing Bureau.

Transportation Around New Orleans

Lewis Armstrong – New Orleans International Airport

The following information can be found on the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Convention Page:

 The AVMA site also contains tourist and other information about New Orleans and the AVMA Annual Conference. Also, see the New Orleans International Airport site for additional travel information.

Airlines

The following airlines operate out of the Louis Armstrong International Airport: Air Tran, American Airlines, Continental, Delta Air Lines, ExpressJet, Jet Blue, Northwest, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, U.S. Airways.

Ground Transportation

For full information on transportation from the Louis Armstrong Airport to New Orleans hotels, please see the ground transportation link on the Airport’s website.

Taxi: It is estimated that a cab ride from the airport to the central business district will cost approximately $28.00 for one person or two persons. Or, $12.00 for more than two persons. Taxi pick-up is located on the lower level, outside the baggage claim area. There may be an additional charge for extra baggage and a $1.00 fuel surcharge is added to fare totals.

Taxis around New Orleans are available at major hotels and on the streets of New Orleans. Taxi rates in the city are approximately $2.50 plus $1.60 per mile (.20 per one-eighth mile) thereafter. There is also an additional charge of $1.00 per passenger after the first passenger.

Airport Shuttle: This service will take you to the central business district for $15.00 per person, one way or $30.00 per person round trip. The maximum baggage per person is three. Call 1-866-596-2699 or (504) 522-3500 for more details or to make a reservation. Advance reservations are required 48 hours prior to travel for all ADA accessible transfers. Please call well enough in advance for the specially-equipped shuttle to be reserved. For group reservations of 10 or more people please dial 1-866-596-2699. Ticket booths are located on the lower level in the baggage claim area.

Local Bus: Jefferson Transit - The Airport-Downtown Express (E-2) Bus picks up outside airport Entrance #7 on the upper level.

Northshore Airport Express:  Provides shuttle service to/from the North shore and the Airport.  Current rates are $50 to/from the Airport and Northshore hotels and residences. Call for fares to other locations.  Advanced Registration Required, call: (985) 386-3861.  Additional passengers in your party pays 1/2 price.  Further discounts may be available for large groups.  Call (985) 386-3861 for reservations or more information. 

Reliant Transportation Group: Provides ground transportation between Louis Armstrong International Airport and Baton Rouge, La. including Gonzales, Prairieville, Port Allen, Baker, Denham Springs and Zachary. Prices start at $90 One Way for one or two guests.  Call for group pricing at: 1-866-925-8110. 48 hour advance reservations requested. 

Traveling by Train

For full information regarding traveling by train, including any disruptions in current service, please see the Amtrack website: www.amtrak.com. Amtrak offers routes to New Orleans from a number of cities across the country. Three trains service the New Orleans area:

City of New Orleans: originating in Chicago with stops in Carbondale IL, Memphis TN, Jackson MS and towns along the way.

Crescent: originating in New York City at Penn Station, with stops in Philadelphia PA, Baltimore MD, Washington DC, Charlotte NC, Atlanta GA, Birmingham AL, Meridian MS, and small towns along the way.

Sunset Limited: originating in Orlando or Los Angeles, with stops in Jacksonville FL, Pensacola FL, Mobile AL, Biloxi MS, Houston TX, San Antonio TX, Tucson AZ, Phoenix AZ, and Palm Springs CA, and towns along the way.

Station Address
1001 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
New Orleans, LA 70113

GENERAL REGISTRATION: DUE BY JUNE 16, 2008

Download registration forms in PDF RegForm 2008.pdf or Word RegForm 2008.doc format.

Program Overview

The Regulatory Board’s Perspective

8:00-8:50 am

Teresa Lazo, Esq.

Ms. Lazo will cover the disciplinary and regulatory functions of state licensing boards. Disciplinary functions include hearings before the Board, imposition of discipline and remedial measures, negotiated settlements. Regulatory functions include cooperation with outside agencies and organizations, and drafting regulations to ensure safe practice and advance the profession.

Veterinary License Defense

9:00-9:50 am

Terry Takash, JD

Mr.Takash will speak to the DVM's perspective in the disciplinary process. His presentation on license defense will address the process under which the DVM is investigated and, at times, prosecuted for violations of a given state's Practice Act. He will discuss the responsiveness of the DVM with regard to the investigation, and generally speak to what expectations licensing/disciplinary Boards have with respect to the DVM's role in the process.

Vaccine Liability: Truth or Myth?

10:10-11:00 am

Dr. Charlotte Lacroix, DVM, Esq.

Animals have historically been characterized as property under the law, allowing for nominal damages when they have been injured.  A recent movement by animal advocates and their lawyers to increase the damages pet owners may receive as a result of a veterinarian's negligence has caused veterinarians to look into the standard of care as it relates to use of drugs and vaccines.   The complexity of how drugs and vaccines are regulated, has created a lot of confusion for private practitioners, who may be erroneously applying "drug" malpractice principles to "vaccines".  This lecture will address the principles of malpractice and explore the risks associated with using vaccines "off-label".

Non-Economic Damages

11:10-Noon

Dr. Kent McClure, DVM, JD

The Pet Food Recall and the Michael Vick case have increased attention on the issue of available damages where the primary harm is an injury to an animal. The issue is very important to the future delivery of veterinary medicine. Dr. McClure will provide an overview of the noneconomic damages

debate and an update on recent activity in the courts and state legislatures.

This IS MY Dog: Microchipping & Ownership Issues of Animals

1:10-2:00 pm

Gregory Dennis, JD

Employment Practices in Veterinary Medicine

2:10-3:00 pm

Thomas Chandler, JD

Professional Liability in Equine Practice: Risk Management and Loss Control

3:20-5:00 pm

Dr. J. Thomas Vaughan, DVM

The purpose of this discussion is to look at the subjects from the perspective of lowering the risk of litigation and of controlling losses by improving communications and preventing common mistakes. In order to understand better the limits of the subject matter, professional liability insurance is limited to coverage of malpractice or alleged breaches of the standard of care. Other policies include bailees insurance, business insurance, employment practices liability, license defense, personal lines and workers’ compensation, in other words, all professional insurance needs except for health and life insurance which is provided by the AVMA GHLIT.

Professional liability, the subject of this discussion, is organized into twelve general categories and ten special categories:

Speaker Information

Thomas Chandler, JD

Mr. Chandler’s practice focuses on general business counseling for the growing enterprise with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. As outside counsel for numerous businesses, Mr. Chandler organizes and leads different teams that provide legal and practical counseling regarding both day-to-day and extraordinary business issues.

Mr. Chandler provides a rounded perspective to the enterprise based on his work with business owners, managers, employees, investors, customers and vendors and his experience as a business owner and corporate director. As part of his extensive mergers and acquisitions work, he covers the full range of business issues, including selecting and forming the business entity, buying and selling the assets or shares of stock of operating businesses, merging corporations, resolving the tax issues, integrating the acquired business into the existing enterprise, assisting the corporate directors comply with their duties to shareholders, buying and selling real property, hiring and terminating employees, designing and preparing compensation packages such as stock option, restricted stock and deferred compensation plans, obtaining financing from investors and banks, negotiating share restriction, registration, voting and other agreements between shareholders, protecting trademarks and other intellectual property, and complying with government regulations. He is a Partner in the Business and Finance Department and chair of the Entrepreneur Practice Group.

Gregory M. Dennis, JD

Gregory M. Dennis is Legal Counsel for both the Kansas and Missouri veterinary medical associations. Mr. Dennis represents veterinarians in Missouri and Kansas.

Gregory is a charter member of the American Veterinary Medical Law Association and from 1995 – 2004 was the Editor of the AVMLA’s Newsletter. He is a former president of the AVMLA He has served on two AVMA Tasks Forces; first the Model Veterinary Practice Act and, second, the Legal Status of Animals. Presently, he co-edits the Veterinary Reports of the Animal Legal Reports Services, L.L.C.

Gregory has written and spoken extensively on numerous and diverse legal issues and matters affecting the practice of veterinary medicine. He is also involved in drafting and reviewing veterinary legislation in Kansas and Missouri.

Gregory actively practices law in Missouri and Kansas. He is a member of Kent T. Perry & Co., L.C. in Overland Park, Kansas. Besides veterinary law, he is also engaged in litigation and appellate matters.

Charlotte A. Lacroix, DVM, JD

Dr. Charlotte Lacroix owns and manages Veterinary Business Advisors, Inc., a legal and business consulting firm, and advises veterinarians and attorneys nation-wide on business and legal issues. Dr. Lacroix received her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 1988 from the University of California at Davis. After completing a large animal internship at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada), she worked for several years at an equine medical and surgical referral practice serving northern New Jersey’s large equine community. In pursuit of her goal to make greater contributions to the veterinary profession, Dr. Lacroix attended law school and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Dr. Lacroix’s legal and consulting activities include: legal document preparation and negotiation; assisting practice owners in selecting and forming business entities; advising on all aspects of veterinary partnerships, including associate buy-ins, specialty and general practice governance and management, and partner retirement and withdrawals; negotiating and facilitating the purchase and sale of practices of all types; consulting on specialty practice “shared leases” and other commercial leases; assisting with all employment law issues; and advising on malpractice cases, animal law and other legal and business problems. Dr. Lacroix lectures extensively on all these topics nation-wide and overseas, and is a frequent speaker at AVMA, AAHA, NAVC, WVC and other veterinary association and industry meetings and seminars. She is also an enthusiastic adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Lacroix is a regular contributor to JAVMA, Veterinary Economics, DVM Magazine, Veterinary Forum, Partners in Practice and AAHA publications. She has written numerous other articles, contributed to several books, and appeared on radio and television. Dr. Lacroix also volunteers her time and expertise to veterinary and other organizations, including AVMA, AAHA, AAEP, NJAEP, NJVMA, PVMA and NAVC.

Teresa Lazo, Esq.

Ms. Lazo is a graduate of Widener University School of Law and has served in the Pennsylvania Governor's Office of General Counsel as the Assistant Counsel to the Pennsylvania Department of State. Ms. Lazo has served as Counsel to the Pennsylvania State Board of Veterinary Medicine since 1999.

Terry Takash, JD

Terry A. Takash concentrates his practice in general negligence with emphasis in professional licensing/malpractice issues. The chair of the firm's Administrative Law Group, he is the former chief of prosecution for the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation, which issues and regulates all professional licenses within the State of Illinois, with the exception of licenses to practice law. Mr. Takash defends various professionals—including medical doctors, dentists, veterinarians and nurses—before the disciplinary boards of the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. He has also defended medical doctors and veterinarians in malpractice lawsuits. Mr. Takash is a former assistant state’s attorney as well as a former assistant corporation counsel for the City of Chicago. His success as a trial attorney has been recognized by his peers, who have honored him with an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell.  Mr. Takash is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association. He is a former officer with the Hemophiliac Foundation of Illinois.

Dr. J. Thomas Vaughan, DVM

Dr. Vaughan has been a student of equine surgery and medicine for the past 54 years. He is a graduate and former Dean of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine and Professor of Surgery and Director of the Large Animal Hospital at Cornell University. He is a past Chair of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges and the Board on Veterinary Medicine - National Association of State University and Land Grant Colleges. His many professional membership include distinguished member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Alabama Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Equine Practitioners (President, 1981) and the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (President, 1980). He has written two textbooks on equine practice and numerous journal articles and chapters in textbooks.

He has been named to the National Academies of Practice, been inducted into the Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame, received the American Veterinary Medical Association’s President’s Award, the Auburn Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award and many other prestigious acknowledgments of his accomplishments. In 2003, the Large Animal Teaching Hospital at Auburn University was named in his honor. Dr. Vaughan lectures regularly on veterinary medicine to universities and professional organizations across the country. He has given commencement addresses at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Missouri, Louisiana State University, Texas A&M University, Oklahoma State University, and Mississippi State University. Most recently, his lecture topics have included the Centennial History of the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Sixth Recognition Lecture to the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges.