Washington (WA) Ethics CLE Course Catalog

In this third program in the series, Zach McGee explores the topic of business ethics versus legal ethics to help you answer two key questions: what are your business clients taught about ethics, and how can you, as their lawyer, help them make ethical business decisions? Zach uses notorious scandals at Theranos, Volkswagen and Turing Pharmaceuticals to illustrate how real-world institutional and competitive pressures can lead some business leaders to follow unethical business practices. Rules covered include: ABA Model Rule 2.1; ABA Model Rule 4.1; and Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code Section 6068.

In this installment of our Double Play series, our two, thirty-minute programs cover five ethical traps in defending class actions and ethical issues in multijurisdictional practice. Can your company offer customers a discount on future purchases in exchange for a waiver of claims after a class has been certified? Can you ethically obtain declarations from putative class members to help oppose class certification? This program considers these and other important ethical issues that often arise in class actions. How well do you know the rules that govern your ability to perform legal services in a state where you are not licensed or the sanctions for violating them? This program gives you the guidance you need to avoid engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.

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.

Attorneys in film are constantly violating the ethics rules. Of course, the public probably doesn’t realize it, but us lawyers need to make sure that we don’t repeat these sometimes ridiculous gaffes. Join the CLE Performer, Stuart Teicher, Esq., as he explains the sometimes obvious and sometimes subtle ethics violations committed by lawyers in movies and on TV.

General corporate counsel, counsel for debtors, creditors, shareholders and other participants in the reorganization process need to grasp the ethical restraints on professionals imposed by the Bankruptcy Code, Bankruptcy Rules, the ABA Code of Professional Conduct and relevant case law. This program uses recent case law to show how all of these rules work. Because the reorganization process is filled with ethical landmines, no lawyer can represent a client effectively without the help of this experience-based guide.

It’s hard to believe, but the lyrics to the David Bowie songs give lawyers a chance to understand some really important ethics rules. Join the CLE Performer, Stuart Teicher, Esq., as he explains how “Changes” reveals the need to be competent and stay in touch with the changes being posed by technology (Rule 1.1), as well as key requirements in the duty to consult the client in Rule 1.4. He’ll also show how the lyrics to “Space Oddity” teach about Rule 3.6 (Trial Publicity)…and more.

My Cousin Vinny may be one of the best movies about lawyers ever made. That’s not an exaggeration…if you’re thinking about attorney ethics! The number of professional responsibility lessons one can learn from this cinematic masterpiece is incredible! Join the CLE Performer, Stuart Teicher, Esq., as he runs through this classic and covers some important ethics topics. They include: competence (Rule 1.1), confidentiality (Rule 1.6) and lies/deception (Rule 8.4), and more!

The risks of integrating AI into the practice of law are important to consider. It requires answering complex questions around bias, transparency, defensibility, and more. But, on the other side of the conversation, there’s an equally important question worth pondering over: If AI does indeed demonstrably enhance the competence of legal representation, could it then be unethical not to use AI? Join us for what is sure to be an exciting discussion featuring some of the most interesting voices at the intersection of AI and the law.

When Stuart Teicher started a Google search with the phrase “Can Lawyers…” he was shocked to see what the computer suggested as search recommendations….and he knew it would make a great CLE program about professionalism. Join the CLE Performer as he explains how lawyers are held to a higher standard, both in and out of the practice.