As celebrated in a previous post, one of our associates, Daniel Wood, was the 2018 recipient of the Gary J. Bigg Memorial Scholarship to attend the American Association of Justice (AAJ) Annual Convention, which was held in Denver, Colorado earlier this month (July, 2018).

Daniel reports that the four day AAJ Convention was an excellent experience. There were seminars each day from 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. featuring many of the preeminent personal injury lawyers in the United States and internationally.  There were also opportunities to interact and learn directly from these lawyers at lunches, dinners, and receptions. The convention this year was attended by over 3000 trial lawyers.

Daniel attended a full day program of continuing legal education presented by the AAJ’s Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group. This program included different seminars on important topics and innovations in traumatic brain injury litigation, which are directly relevant to much of Daniel’s practice. The same is true for the continuing legal education program held by the AAJ’s Spinal Cord Injury Group and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Litigation Group.

It was fascinating for Daniel to hear about some of the large scale and complex work AAJ members are doing in product liability class actions, medical malpractice suits, and sexual assault litigation. Daniel returned home with increased energy and creativity to put into his busy motor vehicle accident practice.

Daniel reports that it was truly inspirational for him to learn more about Gary J. Bigg from Mr. Bigg’s family and colleagues in the AAJ’s Canadian Caucus.  Mr. Bigg was a leader in the Canadian Caucus and the broader legal community with a resolute commitment to advocating for his clients and mentoring young lawyers. Daniel was honoured with a certificate for the Gary J. Bigg Memorial Scholarship at the AAJ’s Canadian Caucus Luncheon & Membership Meeting (pictured below). The award was presented to Daniel by Canadian Caucus Chair, David Klein, and Patrick and Marlene Bigg, the son and wife of the late Mr. Bigg.