Friday, Sept 11

12:00PM

Kick-off Lunch & Vinous Salute
Annual group photo of members – by fireplace at 1:15PM 

Upper
 Pavilion

Break

Saturday, Sept 12

 8:00AM

Breakfast for IADC Members

2026 Idaho Ethics Update - presented by Joe Pirtle, Esq., Idaho State Bar

Recent Idaho attorney discipline cases imposing public sanctions will be discussed. The presentation will address the facts and violations of the Idaho Rule of Professional Conduct at issue in each case. 

Break

Group Therapy: Hot Button Issues - moderated by Stephen Adams, Esq., Hawley Troxell, Boise

Round robin, interactive member discussion on current trends, legal challenges and other matters that impact the defense bar's daily work. 

Reception & President's Dinner with live music.

Shuttle service to/from Whitetail will be available. SHUTTLE RUNS:  6:15-7:15PM; 8:30-9:30PM

Thomas Wickizer is the Stephen F. Loebs Distinguished Professor Emeritus, College of Public Health, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.  Dr. Wickizer and his wife, Beth, reside on Mercer Island, Washington.  Wickizer received a PhD in 1989 from the University of Michigan. His primary areas of study were health economics and health policy. From 1989 through 2009, he served on the faculty at the University of Washington School of Public Health and taught courses in health economics, health services organization and policy, and health services research.  Much of Wickizer’s research at the University of Washington focused on questions pertaining to health economics and on occupational health services.  In 1997, he was awarded the Rhom Haas Distinguished Professorship of Public Health Sciences for his research. With a grant from the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), he established in 2000 a doctoral training program in occupational health services research. Wickizer joined the faculty at Ohio State University in October 2009 and retired as an active faculty in November 2020.  Since his retirement, he has become active in the field of forensic economics and has developed methodologies for estimating the reasonable value of medical care in personal injury and medical malpractice cases.  These methodologies are described in two recent papers published in 2022 and 2024 in the Journal of Legal Economics.     

Gary Cooper received his law degree from The University of Idaho School of Law in 1975.  He has been licensed to practice law in Idaho state and federal courts since 1975. He was also admitted to practice in state courts in Utah (2011) and Wyoming (2011) until 2025 when he transitioned his Utah and Wyoming licenses to inactive.  He is also admitted to practice in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1989) and the United States Supreme Court (1991).  He is also admitted to practice in the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Court, where he has served as a part-time conflict trial judge since 2000.  In 2010, Gary was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. In 2011 he was elected to the rank of Advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). Gary received the 2020 Idaho Distinguished Lawyer award from the Idaho State Bar.  He also served as President of the Idaho State Bar in 2023/2024.  He practiced in Pocatello for 50 years before semi-retiring in 2025 to Orofino, Idaho where he and his wife enjoying living in the mountains along the Clearwater River.

Joseph N. Pirtle joined Bar Counsel’s office in April 2022. Before then, Joe was a shareholder and civil litigation attorney with Elam & Burke in Boise. Joe received his B.S. in Business Finance from the University of Idaho in 2001 and his J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law in 2004.

Joe was a member of the inaugural class of the Idaho Academy of Leadership for Lawyers, and later served for three years on its steering committee. He is a past chairperson of the ISB Litigation Section as well as a mentor for the Idaho Trial Skills Academy. Joe served many years as a member of the Idaho Lawyer Assistance Program and was pro bono counsel to the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline for many years.

Dustin is a trial lawyer who represents professionals, insurance companies, and businesses involved in complex litigation. Dustin has successfully briefed and argued numerous motions on behalf of his clients, including complex motions for summary judgment involving the lack of proximate cause in the contexts of wrongful death and personal injury claims, missed statute of limitations relating to the “some damage” requirement, and the fairly debatable standard in allegations of insurer bad faith.

Dustin has encountered a litany of insurance issues in his litigation practice. That experience has made him appreciate the nuances of insurance policies and endorsements and helped him advise carriers on numerous insurance matters, including policy interpretations, coverage evaluations, and defending and avoiding bad-faith allegations. Dustin has also successfully defended insurance companies in arbitrations in first-party matters involving disputes over damages and insurance coverage issues.

Dustin has an innate ability to find common ground with (nearly) everyone he encounters. He can talk about his experiences growing up on a farm in Idaho and learning what it means to put in a hard day’s work yet transition to complex medical and engineering issues. Dustin enjoys litigating, as it presents a new problem to solve every day and is something he gets to help others through, likely for the first time.