Moot Trial
Enjoy a moot trial where witnesses will be examined and cross-examined, and evidence introduced including computer-based accident simulations. At the end, the trial lawyers will be invited to explain their strategic and tactical approaches.
Judge: Hon. Allan Hilton (Court of Appeal of Québec, Montreal)
Attorney for Plaintiff: Mitch Baumeister (Baumeister Samuels P.C., New York)
Attorney for Defendant: Ann Field (Cozen O’Connor, Philadelphia)
Documents:
Mock Trial Fact Pattern [.pdf]
Admissibility of Plaintiffs’ Computerized Video Re-creation [.pdf]
Pictures (click here)
Hon. Allan Hilton
Mr. Justice Hilton was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) in 1970, and during the 1969‑1970 academic year, he was a member of the University's Board of Governors as a student representative. He obtained a B.C.L. degree in 1973 and an LL.B. degree in 1974, both from McGill University.
Mr. Justice Hilton was admitted to the Bar of Quebec in 1975, and began his practice at Laing, Weldon, Courtois, Clarkson, Parsons Gonthier and Tétrault, which has since become McCarthy Tétrault. His practice was concentrated on civil, commercial, constitutional and administrative law litigation, as well as medical responsibility. He appeared regularly before trial and appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada on several occasions.
In 1996, Mr. Justice Hilton was admitted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and since 1998, he has been a Judicial Fellow.
Mr. Justice Hilton sat as a councillor on the Council of the Bar of Montreal and the General Council of the Bar of Quebec, as well as on numerous committees, including the Bar of Montreal's Liaison Committee with the Court of Appeal, which he presided for several years, and the Bar of Quebec's Discipline Committee. He was also a Director of the Bar Foundation.
Mr. Justice Hilton was appointed to the Superior Court on January 29, 1998, and he was elevated to the Court of Appeal on September 26, 2003.
Michel F. Baumeister
A trial attorney for more than 35 years, Mitch Baumeister has concentrated his practice in the field of aviation accident and complex tort litigation. Prior to his entry into private practice he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. During his tenure, in that office, he handled dozens of major trials including several high visibility cases involving homicide, robbery and rape. Following his term as a trial attorney at the state prosecutor’s office, Mitch was appointed Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. While serving as a federal prosecutor, he conducted an international investigation that resulted in the first successful tax fraud indictment and verdict in the field of commodity futures.
Combining his extensive trial background with more than 40 years of aviation experience as a pilot, Mitch’s career has been dedicated to helping air crash victims and their families receive proper and adequate compensation, as well as to making improvements in aviation safety. He has served as a leading member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering and Executive Committees formed in every major airline disaster in which the firm has represented victims and their families. Counted among these cases are the most recent aviation crashes, including the Hudson River Mid-air collision on August 8, 2009, Comair Flight 5191 in Lexington, Kentucky on August 27, 2006, American Airlines Flight 587 in Belle Harbor, New York on November 12, 2001, all four of the hijacked airliners involved in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Alaska Flight 261 off of Point Magu, California on January 31, 2000, EgyptAir Flight 990 off Nantucket Island on October 31, 1999, Swissair Flight 111 near Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia on September 2, 1998, Comair Flight 3272 in Monroe, Michigan on January 9, 1997, TWA Flight 800 off of Long Island on July 17, 1996, Valujet Flight 592 in the Florida Everglades on May 11, 1996, and Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 7529 in Carrollton, Georgia on August 21, 1995.
Mitch was named a 2009 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Public Justice Foundation for his work as a lead attorney in the deadly December 21, 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in which more than $500 million was recovered from the airline’s insurers and an unprecedented $2.7 billion dollars was paid by the Libyan government to the victims’ families. The litigation marked the first and only time that a nation designated a state sponsor of terrorism admitted its role in a terrorist attack and paid compensation to the victims’ families. This was a long and hard-fought case against a formidable government defendant which spanned more than 20 years.
A holder of a commercial pilot’s license with an instrument rating for various aircraft, Mitch received his J.D. form Seton Hall University Law School where he was an Editor of the Law Review, and also earned an LL.M in International Law for the New York University School of Law. He is also an Adjunct Professor of aviation law at Seton Hall University Law School, and Chair of the Board of Visitors.
Ann Field
Ann Thornton Field is the Chair of Cozen O’Connor’s General Litigation Department and a member of their Board of Directors. Ann's practice is focused on general litigation, aviation, and products liability matters. She has been lead counsel for numerous matters in state and federal courts throughout the United States. She has been involved with the defense of death claims arising from the bombing and crash of PanAm Flight 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland, the defense of claims arising from the U.S. Navy experimental V-22 Osprey Tilt Rotor Aircraft, the 1996 ValuJet accident, and the 1996 TWA 800 accident.
Ann's litigation practice includes representation of corporations in contract litigation both as plaintiff and defense counsel. Ann's aviation practice has covered the full scope of the aviation industry, including aviation insurers, aircraft and component part manufacturers, fixed base operators, airlines, municipal airport owners and operators, industrial aircraft owners and the estates of persons injured in aircraft accidents.
Ann is admitted to practice before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, the Middle District of Georgia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the State of Georgia. She is a member of the aviation litigation committee of the litigation section of the American Bar Association; the aviation & space law committee of tort insurance practice section of the American Bar Association, of which she is a vice chair; the aviation section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Philadelphia Bar Association's section on aviation, of which she is former chair. She is Vice Chair of the Board of Visitors for the National Judicial College. Ann is a former board member of both the Arts & Business Council of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Literacy Action Project. She is currently Chair of the Board of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania and on the Board of the Philadelphia Police Foundation.
Ann received her undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Samford University in 1977 and earned her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center in 1984.
Ann was named the recipient of the 2011 Lynette Norton Award by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession, as well as one of 25 Women on the Verge by the Legal Intelligencer/PA Law Weekly, a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer by Law & Politics and a Woman of Distinction by the Philadelphia Business Journal and the National Association of Women Business Owners.
Click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of the pictures.
