Tennessee (TN) Diversity And Inclusion CLE Course Catalog

As today’s workplaces become increasingly diverse in terms of age, organizations must adapt their strategies to effectively motivate, recruit, and retain these dynamic generations and foster a harmonious work environment. Understanding how to bridge the gap and best manage the unique characteristics, expectations, and communication styles of various generations on your legal team is crucial for collaboration and innovation. Join this session to gain valuable perspectives and practical strategies for leveraging the strengths of the different generational cohorts, creating a multi-generational workplace that thrives with enhanced collaboration and productivity.

Implicit bias is assessed here by looking at our three major areas of IP law—copyright, patent and trademark—and discussing the required issues of implicit bias through the lens of a survey of our IP laws. In this program, intellectual property lawyer Peter Afrasiabi takes you on a fun, interesting journey asking these questions: Does copyright law and fair use as it collides with modern AI technologies require us to assess, where implicit bias in the stock of material that AI is learning on, whether fair use and copyright law need to take that into account in deciding the AI fair use questions being litigated? Do the large differentials in male to female inventor patent grant rates, and the differential in male to female patent examiners, create implicit bias in the patent system, especially where we have elastic patentability concepts on abstract ideas? Do our trademark laws’ central focus on the archetypal “consumer” create their own bias issues by not seeing the “consumer” as an actual person? These and other interesting implicit bias issues, with strategies to combat implicit bias, are addressed.

In this timely session, we will delve into the complex challenges that law firms and large corporations alike are facing with regard to their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in the wake of recent legislative initiatives. As various jurisdictions enact laws that directly or indirectly challenge the implementation of traditional DEI practices, organizations must reassess their strategies to ensure they remain compliant while steadfastly committed to fostering inclusive workplaces.

While the focus on diversity has increased in recent years, there is still a lot more work that needs to be done to ensure it's introduced at every level. In this session, our panelists are going to consider the barriers and challenges that arise when trying to introduce diversity at every level, share key experiences of their own, and analyze effective approaches to overcome help overcome them.

As Gen Z and Gen Y take center stage in the workforce, organizations must adapt their strategies to effectively motivate, recruit, and retain these dynamic generations. Collaboration and consistent development are top of mind for many Gen Z but what else does your organization need to know to be better prepared for this new generation of talent? Join our panelists as they share the necessary tools and insights required to build a dynamic workplace that is both motivating to existing Gen Z employees but also enticing to the new wave of Gen Y talent.