Florida CLE Course Catalog

More than 5,000 class action lawsuits are filed each year in the state and federal courts in the United States, which means that thousands of lawyers just like you will face the unhappy task of dealing with a class action. Thankfully, there are steps we can take as lawyers to make sure our companies are not easy targets, and to deal effectively and efficiently with a class action lawsuit if and when one is filed. Is arbitration right for your company in agreements with its customers and employees? If it is, how do you craft an enforceable arbitration clause that includes a waiver of the right to assert claims on behalf of a class? This program tells you what you need to know -- and factors you must consider -- when thinking about including arbitration and class action waivers in your contracts.

These days, manufacturers of nearly every consumer product under the sun are catching false advertising claims. If you make a consumer-facing product, the odds are, litigation like this is not a matter of if but when, which means, false advertising litigation is just another business risk to be managed, mitigated, and optimized. This program takes a closer look at the landscape, and offers some practical advice and key considerations for how a business might implement some systems to manage this risk. Social media can be a powerful tool for companies to help build relationships with their customers and employees. However, with the benefits of this tool come corresponding risks. If your company distributes content on-line, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act can be your best friend -- and your worst enemy -- often at the same time. This program gives you the advice you need to prosecute or defend on-line copyright infringement claims.

In this program, you'll learn the lessons of some data breach cases that can help you protect your company when facing a data breach. This program also provides timely, actionable advice that includes the 5 things you can start doing today to help prevent data breaches and better prepare your company to respond to them if they do occur, focusing on the healthcare space where data breaches can include disclosure of personal health information regulated by state and federal laws including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

In the next installment of this popular series, Peter Afrasiabi asks a simple question: Are you ready for some football? For more than 150 years, the game of football has occupied a unique position in the United States in terms of the legal regime that governs teams and the leagues in which they play. Peter discusses the antitrust decisions and other key developments that have allowed American football to become the global powerhouse it is today.

Did you know that the U.S. Supreme Court had decided only two cases interpreting the Second Amendment prior to 2008? Since then, and starting with the Supreme Court’s Heller decision, the Second Amendment has become a hotbed of activity at the High Court and in the lower federal with important decisions coming down nearly every year. In the latest installment of “The Curious Lawyer” series, Peter Afrasiabi takes a deep dive into each of the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights, reminding us what each amendment protects and illustrating its impact on the other constitutional protections we enjoy. Whether you are a budding constitutional scholar or simply looking for interesting facts to share at a cocktail party, the Bill of Rights series is for you.

What is storytelling and why is it so important for all lawyers – litigators, transactional and in-house lawyers – to do it well in service of their clients? Experienced appellate lawyer and advocacy teacher at the UC Irvine School of Law Peter Afrasiabi shares the secrets of storytelling that you can help make you an even more compelling and credible advocate for your clients in any fora and when it matters most.

They say that love is blind, but it is also unethical? Recently, many states have enacted legal ethics rules that expressly prohibit dating a client, while in others, lawyers remain free to date a client unless the romantic relationship adversely affects the lawyer’s representation of the client. In this topical and engaging program, Andrew Struve examines the legal, ethical and practical implications when lawyers choose to date clients and other lawyers.

In this installment of our Double Play series, our two, thirty-minute programs cover winning on appeal and how to know if your litigator is failing you. Whether you’ve won or lost in the trial court, pivoting successfully from trial court to appellate litigator can make the difference between losing and winning your appeal.

This program guides you through the strategic decisions you need to make and the practical steps you need to follow to brief, argue and win your next appeal. Just because very few cases end up going to trial doesn't mean you don't need to prepare for trial in every case. Successfully defending claims in litigation requires your company to tell a compelling story to the judge and jury, and trial lawyers are highly skilled at developing and telling those stories. This program provides valuable insights and advice for in-house counsel selecting outside litigators and managing litigation from commencement through to settlement or trial.

Veteran intellectual property lawyer Peter Afrasiabi traces the origins of the right of publicity and explains how this right applies when recordings of mimicked human voices are used for commercial exploitation.