What Every New Lawyer Should Know: Ethics, Missteps, and the Path to a Long Career

This program is ideal for new lawyers and lawyers transitioning to a different practice field or another bar. It covers essential elements of ethical practice, focusing not only on avoiding disciplinary violations but also on developing best practices to ensure strict ethical compliance. Lawyers should attend this program to gain an understanding of how the rules of professional conduct are interpreted and enforced, how to avoid common pitfalls that plague young lawyers, and how to develop best practices that ensure early career success.

This course will discuss the practical application of the rules of professional conduct, how the disciplinary system functions, and provide a candid explanation of dos and don'ts for lawyers aiming to have both productive and long careers. It will give insight into how regulators perform their duties, how to interact with disciplinary authorities, and what sort of sanctions arise from different acts of misconduct. ABA Model Rules 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.15, 3.3, 4.2, and 8.4 will be discussed.

Attorneys who are new or relatively new to the practice of law, anyone who needs an ethics refresher, and anyone who wants to learn more about how the rules of ethics govern the practice of our profession can attend this program. Though new and younger lawyers will likely benefit the most,  this course offers poignant material from real-world cases that exemplify current trends in ethics and disciplinary practice.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Develop an understanding of how the rules of professional responsibility are interpreted and enforced in practice.
2. Assess ways to avoid ethically compromising situations that could jeopardize your license.
3. Evaluate best practices to ensure an ethically sound and long career practicing law.
4. Explore how to interact with the disciplinary system.