Do you feel irritated when your associate submits documents that aren’t written exactly as you thought they should be? Do you obsess over your own mistakes? Do you have trouble getting started on a task because you’re partially paralyzed by the fear of failure? Are you highly critical of those around you for failing to rise to certain standards? Do you find it difficult to achieve a sustainable work-life balance? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may suffer from perfectionism, a very common phenomenon among lawyers. In the pursuit of excellence, many lawyers fall prey to perfectionist behaviors, which can impair relationships, create both emotional and physical health problems, reduce job satisfaction, and lead to burnout. This practical CLE program will help you learn how to distinguish between a healthy pursuit of excellence and the dangerous behaviors of perfectionism, as well as how to harness your talent and high standards to reach a new level of personal and professional success.

Sometimes the attorney-client relationship just doesn't work out. Whether your client is lying to you about critical information, hasn’t paid you in nine months, or you've reached an impasse on how the matter is to be handled, every lawyer needs to know when and how to walk away. But ending any relationship, including that between an attorney and client, is never easy. This webcast will guide practitioners through the maze of ethical and practical issues surrounding the termination of representation prior to the natural conclusion of the legal work.

Perhaps taking the principle of “zealous advocacy” too literally, some attorneys exude hostility and employ bully tactics to gain a perceived advantage. Whether you are working in a transactional setting or in a court of law, the other party’s counsel can be a thorn in your side. They may fail to promptly respond to correspondence or return your calls on matters of urgency. They may be deceitful, obstructive, condescending, or inappropriate, crossing both ethical and professional lines. You owe it to your clients and to yourself to maintain composure while being an effective advocate for your clients. This practical program on dealing with difficult counsel will provide guidance for effectively handling challenging behaviors and personalities.

One of the most stringent ethical duties placed upon lawyers is safeguarding fiduciary funds. Inadvertent or negligent mishandling of a client’s money can have dire consequences, even leading to disbarment. In most jurisdictions, advance fees are treated as trust funds, and a fee dispute may be treated as an ethical violation in some circumstances. To avoid potentially mishandling client funds, it is crucial to consistently utilize strict accounting practices and analyze appropriate trust fund procedures. This webcast will cover the stringent and complex rules governing client trust account operation and maintenance, and will include practical suggestions to avoid the nightmare of State Bar scrutiny of your trust accounts.

As a lawyer, you likely negotiate everyday within your law office, with your clients, or with external parties on behalf of your clients. Each side’s role is to convince the other side that they must provide a better deal than they actually have to in order to reach an agreement. But how far can you go in your negotiations without crossing the ethical line? Make sure you have the insight to navigate complex ethical questions that arise in your daily practice, ensuring you maintain your professional reputation while securing the best outcomes for your clients.

Are you working with local counsel in another jurisdiction? Do you need assistance from an attorney with more specialized legal knowledge? Any attorney can find themselves sharing a client with another lawyer outside their firm. Working with co-counsel can be both rewarding and beneficial to a client, but also requires special consideration and care, as a variety of ethical issues and traps abound. This program will address those risks, the associated liabilities, and what the ethics rules and opinions say when two or more lawyers in different firms represent the same client.

“I don’t belong.” “I’m not smart enough.” “Why did they hire me? I don’t know what I’m doing.” All legal professionals – from students through managing partners of multinational firms – are not immune from experiencing imposter syndrome. This sense of perceived fraudulence includes feelings of self-doubt and personal incompetence that persist despite one’s education, experience, and accomplishments. For a field filled with overachievers and perfectionists, experiencing chronic self-doubt or a feeling like an intellectual fraud is even more likely. Becoming overwhelmed as a result of the need for perfection eventually leads to burnout, a sense of hopelessness, or worse. But what about when attorneys find themselves in an environment where their peers fail to make room for them or imply that they don't deserve their success? Along with the more traditional factors, gender bias and institutionalized racism can also play a significant part in imposter feelings. Even if only perceived, they can surely reinforce the feeling of not belonging. This important webcast will discuss imposter syndrome in the legal profession, how our silence further enables the stresses of practicing law, and what we can all do to cope with and manage feelings of imposter syndrome.

Effective billing practices are an important part of legal practice, as they are critical for getting paid. Clients expect and deserve to know what you are charging for and why, and to only see fees that align with your written representation agreement. But what happens when your client disagrees with your fees, or refuses to pay? Your frustration with the situation might lead you to say or do something you later regret – and possibly result in a bar complaint. How do you go about getting on the same page as your clients so as to avoid future misunderstandings? What habits can you put into place to ensure that your billing practices are ethical and efficient? This webcast explores the ethical components of billing in the legal profession, highlighting various billing methods and effective billing strategies, while identifying unethical practices to avoid.

Session 14: #ETHICS: Issues in Legal Ethics for the 21st Century Explore, learn, and collaborate with colleagues at Legal Issues in Museum Administration 2024, the go-to annual conference for museum professionals and counsel. Get focused guidance on the institutional opportunities and legal issues facing museums today. With diverse perspectives from industry experts, break-out sessions, and evening receptions, this conference is the perfect blend of practical learning and coveted networking opportunities! “Always a fantastic conference with great networking opportunities and wonderful receptions, as well as very educational sessions.” -- Past attendee This year's program features two amazing receptions at venues guaranteed to captivate our audience. On Wednesday evening, attendees are invited to an opening night reception at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, sponsored by Gonsowski Law, P.C. And on Thursday we conclude our day with a reception at the Cleveland Museum of Art sponsored by Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP. These events are the perfect bookends to jam-packed days of collaborative learning.

The attorney-client privilege is a sacred aspect of the attorney-client relationship; it enables the client to make full disclosures and assists the lawyer in better representing the client’s interests. One of the chief ways this protection is lost, however, is through a waiver. How do these waivers, intentional or inadvertent, come about, and how can you protect against them? This program will help you to better understand the various kinds of privilege waivers, including express, implied, and subject-matter waivers; the circumstances that trigger them; and your disclosure obligations post-waiver.