West Virginia (WV) Ethics CLE Course Catalog

Join this session as Zach McGee discusses professional burnout among lawyers – what it is, how it impacts attorneys in and out of the office, how to spot it and how to address it.

This session will explore the ethical implications of using AI in legal decision-making, including issues related to bias, privacy, and transparency. Our expert panelists will share best practices to use AI tools ethically and responsibly, and will provide valuable insight on how legal departments are navigating the risks.

Panelists will share insights on how to recognize and address mental health challenges, both in themselves and within their teams, with the aim of fostering a more supportive and empathetic legal community.

This program includes a discussion of the ethics involved in disqualification motions and the standards by which motions can and should be brought, and should not be brought, along with the governing patchwork regimes of ethics standards to regulate attorney conduct that apply.

When does ethical witness preparation cross over into unethical witness coaching? The ABA Ethics Committee recently issued Formal Opinion No. 508 that attempts to draw this line with special attention to the unique issues that case arise in remote proceedings. Having spent more than twenty-five years as a law firm and in-house litigator, Zach McGee distills the ABA’s guidance into actionable advice on how best to navigate both traditional and new settings where deposition and trial testimony are being taken. This program also reviews the many benefits of using a deposition prep video with witnesses to help prepare them to testify.

Rules covered include: ABA Model Rules 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 3.3, 3.4, 4.4 & 8.4.

Can you believe there have been judges who searched a party’s home and seized property, had sex in chambers with former interns and lawyers, jailed a woman for a year for unpaid parking tickets, went on vacation with the prosecutor after a guilty verdict and took bribes to render not guilty verdicts? In these cases, the truth is stranger than fiction and Peter Afrasiabi reviews these unbelievable cases while discussing how these judges flagrantly violated the canons of judicial ethics that govern the conduct of federal and state court judges in the United States. Rules covered include: Code of Conduct for United States Judges, Canons 1, 2A, 3 & 4; Federal Ethics in Government Act, 28 U.S.C. Section 455.

How well do you know that rules that govern transactions with your clients? This course gives a comprehensive overview of issues relating to common scenarios in attorney-client transactions, including all of the factors to consider vividly illustrated through the use of real-world examples. The tripwires are serious with massive consequences, and very easy to trip over, so it's a very practical and useful presentation to make sure you stay within the boundaries.

In this introductory program, Zach McGee discusses the California Attorney Guidelines of Civility and Professionalism, which reflect how the California State Bar thinks that lawyers should practice law. But the Guidelines are voluntary, do not create standards of conduct or care, do not supplant any rules or laws that govern attorney conduct and cannot be an independent basis for imposition of discipline or a finding of malpractice. In light of these limitations, how should attorneys think about the Guidelines and should we commit to following them? Rules covered include: ABA Model Rules 1.4, 4.1 & 8.4; California Bus. and Prof. Code ? 6068 (d); and California Attorney Guidelines of Civility and Professionalism (2007).

Join this program, 'Balancing Duty and Confidentiality: Protecting Privilege and Confidentiality in Child Abuse Cases', where our esteemed speakers will dissect this intricate subject. This session aims to unravel the legal and ethical complexities involved, furnishing participants with effective strategies to uphold confidentiality and privilege in such sensitive scenarios.