Summer is here and the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education's (NJICLE) Summer Institute Series is back to provide lawyers with the chance to take an in-depth look at their practice areas in a concentrated amount of time. NJICLE, the educational arm of the New Jersey State Bar Association, presents about 425 programs a year but its institutes offer practitioners more intensive, comprehensive sessions over two days.

Each of the institutes—the Labor and Employment Summer Institute, the Family Law Summer Institute and the Estate Planning Summer Institute—includes panels featuring practitioners, retired and sitting judges, and experts from related fields. Panel members will talk frankly about the day-in and day-out issues lawyers face.

A Focus on the Practical

Mark H. Sobel has been moderating the annual Family Law Summer Institute for 15 years, and each year he looks forward to the two-day opportunity to learn from some of the leading experts in the practice.

“The Family Law Summer Institute has stimulating programs that promote a high level of engagement,” said Sobel, co-managing partner and chair of the family law department at Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith and Davis in Roseland. He is a past chair of the NJSBA's Family Law Section.

“Our goal is to provide practical pointers that lawyers working on family matters can use every day,” he said. “The focus is for practitioners who are either new to the practice or seek information regarding current changes in our statutes or case law that are applicable to all levels of practice in the family courts.”

Scheduled panels include an overview of family law practice, custody issues, attracting and billing clients, LGBTQ issues in family law practice, alimony and child support, and pre- and post-nuptial agreements.

Who's Who in Estate Planning

The popular Estate Planning Summer Institute will feature a who's who of top New Jersey estate planning experts, who will discuss the latest developments in areas such as elder care and retirement planning, as well as advanced analysis on topics such as implications of the new tax law and the New Jersey inheritance tax. Practical information will be presented on topics such as divorce planning, counsel fees and charitable planning from the simple to the sophisticated. The institute is being presented in cooperation with the NJSBA Real Property Trust and Estate Law Section.

Robert D. Borteck, of Borteck & Czapek in Florham Park, will serve as a co-moderator of the Estate Planning Summer Institute, and called the conference “the most wide-ranging, most in-depth program of its kind during the course of the year.”

A Year of MCLE Credit at Labor Institute

The Labor and Employment Summer Institute will be presented in cooperation with the association's Labor and Employment Law Section and moderated by Arnold Shep Cohen and Gail Oxfeld Kanef.

Attendees will earn more than a year's worth of mandatory continuing legal education credits over the course of two days. Both newly admitted attorneys and seasoned practitioners who wish to expand their practices will benefit from the sessions, which provide an overview of substantive labor and employment law matters and topics like employment at-will, the Public Employment Relations Commission, pay equity, tenure, wage and hour and independent contractor issues, and the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act.

Here Are the Details

The Labor and Employment Law Summer Institute will be July 16-17.

The Family Law Institute will be July 23-24.

The Estate Planning Summer Institute will be July 25-26.

They will all be held at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick.

Find out more about the programs, lineup of speakers and how to register for any of the institutes at njicle.com.