Virginia Live CLE Bundle 2021

This presentation will cover Supreme Court cases from the past, present, and future of the Supreme Court’s docket. Attendees will be provided background on the current state of the Supreme Court, along with an understanding of how each decision is a product of the current court’s composition. Cases will be discussed from both a legal and factual perspective, so that attendees are aware of the legal issues which govern the decision and how the decision may affect the parties, lawyers, judges and legislators moving forward.  For cases that have been decided, the presentation will provide an analysis of every opinion provided by the Justices to note the differences in judicial perspectives.  For cases pending before the Court, the presenter and the attendees will discuss possible outcomes.  

This course is suitable for attorneys at all levels that are interested in learning about current Supreme Court Cases.

Learning Objectives: 

• Examine the current composition of the Supreme Court and how each Justice approaches issues based on the topic of law
• Identify each Justices’ judicial perspectives and how the most recent Supreme Court appointments have altered the composition of the Court
• Explore how the Supreme Court manages and disposes of cases from a practical perspective.  This includes learning about the types of cases that come before the Court, how often cases are overruled, and how litigants progress from the trial court stages of the Federal system through the U.S. Supreme Court
• Assess the fundamental legal elements which underlie the Supreme Court cases discussed in the lecture, which will focus on Constitutional law, Government Regulation and Civil Rights
• Analyze both broad and narrow categories of law for each case that are pertinent to the resolution of specific cases covered in the presentation
• Develop an understanding of the specific cases in the presentation to be able to formulate an understanding of the issue narrowly presented before the Court
• Predict an outcome based on the material in the presentation to better understand Supreme Court cases and likely follow along with outcomes after the presentation is concluded

Course Time Schedule:

Eastern Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Central Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Mountain Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Pacific Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Alaska Time: 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Hawaii-Aleutian Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

In the present day of increasing technology, attorneys need to learn about "big picture" challenges to legal ethics principles posed by advances in technology generally and "artificial intelligence" (AI) in particular. 

Stephan Hawking, the leading physicist of the latter 20th and early 21st centuries, predicted (until he died in 2018) that "artificial intelligence" would be mankind's "last invention." How near or far into the future is such a fate? Will he be proven right or will human intelligence (HI) manage to prevent such apocalypse? How long will AI's "childhood" last? Will it be possible to identify evolutionary changes warranting countermeasures so they don't become irreversible revolutionary changes for the worse rather than the better? Do not ethical duties of the legal profession necessarily include continuing vigilance regarding such technological changes to enable attorneys to protect and preserve the tools (such as attorney-client confidentiality and privilege) needed for the legal profession to continue performing the important mission of safeguarding liberty writ large?

The format of this program is a blend of the lecture method with the Socratic method, extensively involving a high degree of interactive participation and critical analyses of a wide range of issues relevant to the seminar subject in a manner not limited to mere chronological description of particular topics and sub-topics. In other words, the content of each seminar (and the order and extent of emphasis upon specific topics and sub-topics) will be substantially influenced by the nature and extent of interactive participation regarding particular aspects thereof. Depending on the number of participants in a specific seminar, the format usually results in most, if not all, participants verbally engaging in conversational-styled interactive discussion and analysis of particular topics in the seminar and also permits interruptions, questions, challenges, etc. throughout the seminar. Think of collegially enjoyable and enlightening round-table discussions. It's a form of learning by thinking in the course of interactively participating rather than learning solely by listening (the latter of which is the lecture method).

Attorneys at any level who understand (a) that the very nature of the constitutional form of government is to protect the good of liberty from the evil of tyranny, (b) that, therefore, the primary mission of the legal profession is to protect liberty writ large within the bounds of the rule of law [in contrast to the rule of men (mankind)], and (c) that protecting such good from such evil requires the legal profession to be disciplined by understanding essential principles of science in seeking to prevent the latter from destroying the former are encouraged to attend this program.

Learning Objectives:  

• Refresh what should be every lawyer's common knowledge of unique aspects of the legal profession in contrast to all other professions, occupations, etc.: It's the effect of the Constitution's (and each state constitution's) vesting of "the judicial power" of the sovereign in its "Supreme Court" and its thereby incorporation of the evolutionary nature of the judiciary's common law inherent judicial power (i.e., sui generis power) to define, prescribe, and enforce educational, moral, ethical and civil standards for the practice of law and the status of lawyers as officers of the courts
• Assess how exercising such common law inherent judicial power (sui generis power) in an adversarial system created under common law, the supreme court of the sovereign (i.e., the U.S. Supreme Court and each state supreme court) creates structural and functional tools for the administration of justice -- i.e., rules of evidence, burdens of proof, procedural rules, definitions of the practice of law, regulatory control over the conduct of attorneys, and the nature and scope of attorney-client confidentiality, attorney-client privilege, and attorney work-product
• Acknowledge how the judiciary generally encourages lawyers to utilize modern devices, programs, applications and procedures and in some contexts specifically requires utilization of particular devices, programs, applications and procedures while also requiring lawyers to utilize them in ways that comport with duties imposed by the judiciary upon lawyers)
• Recognize that in a broad variety of contexts, lawyers' uses of such devices, programs, applications and procedures intrinsically undermine the extent of privacy necessary for proper utilization of particular tools (such as attorney-client confidentiality, attorney-client privilege, and attorney work-product), and such undermining of privacy a fortiori interferes with, or jeopardizes, lawyers' abilities to utilize them in ways that comport with duties imposed by the judiciary upon lawyers. This creates a conundrum. What is (are) the solution(s) to this conundrum?
• Realize that it is necessary for attorneys to have sufficient scientific literacy to recognize the contexts in which technology can undermine or even negate efforts by attorneys to satisfy the legal and ethical duties imposed upon them by the judicial branch as "officers of the courts." 
• Explore the nature and ubiquity of technological threats to attorneys’ ethical duties are such that efforts by individual attorneys to counter or negate such threats cannot succeed without overt and comprehensive regulatory measures by the courts to provide constitutionally effective countermeasures against such threats
   

Course Time Schedule:

Eastern Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Central Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Mountain Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Pacific Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Alaska Time: 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Hawaii-Aleutian Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

*This course is not approved for Ethics for Kansas. It is approved for Substantive CLE credit.

Corporations may approach diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives via more analytically driven recruitment and retention efforts that employ indirect, race neutral, proxy measures to build a diverse workforce while avoiding legal challenges of discrimination. This assessment considers how anti-bias training practices and promotion policies to senior executive or board positions might satisfy measurable DEI outcomes without implementing diversity quotas or triggering an anti-DEI backlash from employees. Ultimately, the intent is to survive the strict scrutiny commands of the Equal Protection Clause and thereby avoid “pernicious stereotype[s]” or “race . . . used as a negative.”.

The challenges corporations must overcome to develop legally defensible DEI metrics and goals that satisfy the Supreme Court’s recent call for “metric[s] of meaningful representation” that are not based upon “proportional representation” or “racial balancing” while still preserving the litigation shield to claims of discrimination and attaining measurable DEI goals. This issue is timely given calls for enhanced corporate disclosure legislation in tune with the SEC’s approval in August 2021 of a diversity disclosures mandate for boards of Nasdaq-listed companies, along with the ongoing litigation challenging those rules in Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment, National Center for Public Policy Research v. SEC, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 3805.

Attorneys at any level who seek greater clarity on how to best serve legally mindful and socially responsible corporations that wish to prioritize progress on DEI goals without alienating segments of the workforce or engaging in mere virtue signaling. This includes preserving the litigation shield of corporate clients from claims of either discrimination based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or concerns of reverse discrimination based on the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Learning Objectives:

• Introduce core concepts in the diversity, equity, and inclusion DEI space such as equality versus equity, opinion or belief formation, stereotypes versus prejudice and discrimination
• Canvass recent legal developments in DEI at the federal and state levels in the educational context to the extent they are precursors of or predictors for ongoing legal developments in the corporate context
• Explore the possible reasons for inefficacy of DEI trainings and elusiveness of longitudinal goals to shift corporate culture and achieve greater diversity in the workplace
• Connect corporate social responsibility (CSR) praxis in the environmental social governance (ESG) context with DEI initiatives and illustrate the linkage between trends towards hard and soft information regulation
• Evaluate the vulnerability to discrimination litigation of corporations with ambiguous metrics and goals underlying DEI initiatives (e.g., trainings and long-term workforce diversity balancing goals)
• Assess “show and tell” disclosure requirements on corporate board diversity and whether soft information regulation of this variety is likely to move the needle on achieving DEI outcomes

Course Time Schedule:

Eastern Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Central Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Mountain Time: 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Pacific Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Alaska Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Hawaii-Aleutian Time: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
 

The Rules of Professional Conduct in the various jurisdictions are notoriously full of black holes and missing guidance: ethics rules lag behind the reality of legal practice, and there are stubborn problems in the ethical practice of law that the profession still wrestles with. Ethics is always evolving, and one of the ways this evolution can be seen is in legal ethics opinions, the periodic holdings of ethics committees in the nation’s bar associations attempting to settle perplexing ethics conflicts and dilemmas.

Unfortunately, most lawyers don’t keep up with these often important new analyses in their jurisdictions, never mind others. Attendees will be guided by legal ethicist Jack Marshall who follows these important analyses and will explain them so participants in this program can be forewarned and forearmed. 

The Legal Ethics Grand Tour identifies and explores critical legal ethics issues that each state, the District of Columbia, and the American Bar Association have recently clarified. Attendees will learn about the many legal ethics traps and landmines of emerging technologies and the proper usage of social media. Attorneys as whistleblowers, conflicts of interest, and when they cannot be waived will be discussed. Marshall will also supply attendees with useful tools, references, and information on emerging developments in this comprehensive exploration of recent legal ethics issues. 

This course is ideal for all attorneys interested in recent legal ethics developments.

Learning Objectives:

• Emphasize the importance of state, D.C., and American Bar Association legal ethics opinions (LEOs) as essential resources for lawyers to keep up-to-date on the constant evolution of legal ethics standards
• Analyze how jurisdictions influence each other
• Define the perils of practicing outside one’s home jurisdiction without checking the current jurisdiction’s recent LEOs
• Distinguish between legal ethics opinions and the Rules they interpret
• Focus on the major legal ethics opinions from many sources to protect a lawyer from serious ethical missteps and malpractice
• Apply invaluable legal ethics analysis tools and techniques to professional dilemmas and conflicts when they arise

Course Time Schedule:

Eastern Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Central Time: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Mountain Time: 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Pacific Time: 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Alaska Time: 6:00 AM - 8:00 AM
Hawaii-Aleutian Time: 5:00 AM - 7:00 AM