Contemporary Issues in Professionalism

Exemplifying professionalism and civility in attorney conduct is critical across all practice settings, including private practice, in-house, and government. This program will review case scenarios and real-life examples of professional and unprofessional conduct to identify the opportunities or potential disciplinary proceedings associated with each. Case scenarios and real-life examples from a variety of jurisdictions with broad applicability will be reviewed. Attorneys will learn practical strategies to recognize unprofessional conduct early, avoid ethical traps, and strengthen trust with the courts, clients, and colleagues. The program will also differentiate between historically relevant and contemporarily prevalent issues of professional conduct.

It will focus on the significance of professionalism and on specific issues, including competence, diligence, communication, advocacy, frivolous claims, discovery, conflicts of interest, public perception, and social media. Attorneys of all levels of expertise and from all practice settings and areas should attend this program.

Learning Objectives:

• Define aspirational standards of professionalism in contemporary legal practice.
• Recognize unprofessional conduct and when it crosses into conduct that may warrant disciplinary proceedings. 
• Develop practical strategies to avoid ethical traps and strengthen trust with courts, clients, and colleagues.
• Realize the implications that unprofessional conduct has on public trust in the legal system.