Dixon v. Providential Life Insurance Co. is one of NITA’s oldest case files. The original publication was written by James H. Seckinger and published in 1977, and was included in a compilation book titled Cases in Trial Advocacy 1977-1978. The case examined the death of Judge John Dixon, whose wife found him with a gunshot wound to the head. She sued Providential Life Insurance Co. for failure to pay on his life insurance policy. Providential claimed that the death was not proven to be accidental, and instead claimed that Judge Dixon’s death was a suicide.
Today, Dixon v. Providential Life Insurance Co. looks just a little bit different than it did 35 years ago. Last updated in 2000, the case file has been adapted by NITA authors Edward R. Stein and Frank D. Rothschild, but has retained Seckinger’s original case summary. Dixon v. Providential Life Insurance Co. is now sold as its own case file, and as a Technology Case File includes an interactive DVD. It is one of NITA’s best-selling case files and is used in classrooms, programs, and trainings worldwide.
Books and case files must constantly be updated to retain relevancy and accuracy, and that is evident in this case file. While the summary has remained the same, facts and figures must be adjusted over time. For example, the original life insurance policy was for $50,000–in the 2000 edition, the claim is over a policy worth $250,000.
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