Caroline J. Berdzik, chair of the firm’s Employment and Labor and Health Care groups and an active leader in DRI, was honored with the organization’s Albert H. Parnell Outstanding Program Chair Award for her work developing and steering the DRI Nursing Home and Assisted Living Seminar in 2019. The award is given to a DRI program chair who created a dynamic educational program that included contemporary and provocative topics.

“Being chair of the DRI Nursing Home and Assisted Living Seminar was one of the highlights of my legal career as I was able to utilize my skills working with and leading a team to create an innovative and high quality program that appealed to defense counsel, in-house counsel, insurance professionals, and industry leaders,” Caroline said.

Held in Chicago, Illinois, September 19-20, 2019, the event hosted a diverse range of speakers known for their experience and record of innovation in the defense of claims against nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other long-term care providers across the country. It included pre-conference workshops such as “The Art of the 12b6 Deposition” and cutting-edge presentations like “Debunking New Undercapitalization and Understaffing Arguments by Demystifying Public CMS Data.”

The seminar also included a Women in the Law luncheon, which sold-out with 50 professional women in attendance. The previous year, Caroline served as vice chair of the seminar, and was responsible for planning and hosting its inaugural Women in the Law luncheon. These efforts were a natural complement to Caroline’s leadership within Goldberg Segalla, where she serves as chair of the firm’s Women’s Initiative.

Among the many opportunities to connect and collaborate, the conference also included a DRI For Life: Fun Run/Walk and a session on lawyers and mindfulness, both promoting the mission of DRI for Life, a committee dedicated to work-life balance issues in the legal profession. The attendees also participated in a community service project to raise funds for Second Wind Dreams, an international nonprofit changing the perception of aging through the fulfillment of dreams and educational programs.

MORE ABOUT GOLDBERG SEGALLA’S CAROLINE J. BERDZIK:

Caroline J. Berdzik devotes her practice to helping businesses, organizations, and management navigate the panoply of employment law and other legal issues, from proactive counseling through alternative dispute resolution and trial. As a former in-house counsel at New Jersey’s largest privately owned long-term care company, and with deep connections to the health care and long-term care sectors on a national level, she focuses a substantial portion of her practice on counseling clients in these areas. She also represents companies in diverse industries such as transportation, retail, construction, insurance, and finance, as well as nonprofit organizations and educational and religious institutions.