2024 Headline News – Boise (Boise/Live Webcast)

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc.

Thursday, December 12, 2024

9:00 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. (MT)

Hyatt Place Boise/Downtown

1024 W. Bannock St. – Boise

*Live Webcast Available

5.0 CLE credits of which 1.0 is Ethics – NAC Approved

Registration:
Standard: $175
Day of Event: $200

Join the Idaho Law Foundation for 2024 Headline News!  Brush up on a vast array of areas of law from some of Idaho’s best and brightest attorneys. 

*Speakers to be posted when confirmed.  Topics may change for each time slot.

Program Agenda

9:00 a.m.      Criminal Law Update

10:00 a.m.    Health Law Update

11:00 a.m.    Morning Break

11:15 a.m.    Civil Law Update

12:15 a.m.    Hosted Lunch

1:15 p.m.      Family Law Update

2:15 p.m.      Ethics Update

3:15 p.m.      Program Adjourns

Ethics in Trust and Estate Practice

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc.

November 13, 2024

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MT)

*Live Audio Streaming Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

Trust and estate practice often sits at the intersection of money, aging clients, family drama, easy accusations of self-dealing and misdeeds, dispute – and anger.  This turbulent combination of circumstances can put attorneys in difficult ethical spots. Questions about the competence of aging clients in combination with family drama can easily lead to ethical complaints and eventually litigation. There are also issues of decision-making authority and confidentiality if someone other than the client is paying for the representation.  Conflicts of interest, especially where a longtime client may gift something to the attorney, are rife. This program will provide you with a practical guide to substantial ethical issues in trust and estate practice.

• Working with clients with diminished capacity and protecting against challenges
• Confidentiality – understanding what information is confidential and when and to whom it can be disclosed
• Conflicts of interest – joint and common representations, husbands and wives, multiple generations of a family
• Gifts from clients – what lawyers may accept, what should they decline?
• Special issues when someone other than the client pays for a representation

Researching Legislative History - 2024 Mobile Monday Series – Session 2

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc.

Monday, November 18, 2024

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. (MT)

1.0 CLE credit

**Live Webinar Only

Registration Cost: $45

Register for all 3 Mobile Monday Course and save $20.

The Legislative Research Library is a part of the Legislative Services Office, a nonpartisan office assisting the Idaho Legislature with research and drafting of bills each session. The library preserves and provides public access to the legislative history of Idaho. Outside of the legislature, the majority of patrons using the library are Idaho attorneys trying to uncover the legislative intent behind enacted Idaho law. This presentation is an introduction to Idaho legislative history research and the materials housed in the library and available through the legislature’s website.

Presenter:

Layce Silvey, Legislative Librarian, Idaho Legislative Services Office

Top 10 Things Every Employer Should Know to Stay Out of the Courthouse - 2024 Mobile Monday Series – Session 3

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc.

Monday, November 25, 2024

12:00 – 1:30 p.m. (MT)

1.5 CLE credits

**Live Webinar Only

Registration Cost: $45

Register for all 3 Mobile Monday Course and save $20.

Even when you are in the business of law, lawsuits are expensive.  Join us for a comprehensive presentation on ways to avoid employment law claims, ADA compliance, updates on the law surrounding discrimination and harassment, the ADA and how to positively impact culture by teaching compliance in the workplace.

Presenter:

Pamela S. Howland, Idaho Employment Lawyers and Law for Leaders

2024 Ethics Update, Part 1

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc.

December 16, 2024

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MT)

*Live Audio Streaming Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

*Please Note: If you received credit for this course for February 7, 2024 you will not be able to receive credit for attending this replay.  This replay will count as live CLE credit.

This annual ethics program will provide you with a round-table discussion of practical ethical issues important to your practice. The program will provide you with an engaging discussion of ethics developments involving technology and law practice, conflicts of interest, and attoarney-client communications in a digital world where no one is truly unplugged. The panel will also discuss the ethics of withdrawing from a matter and firing a client and the ethics of developing new business.  This program will provide you with a wide-ranging discussion of practical ethics developments important to your practice.

Day 1 – December 16, 2024:

• Ethics and technology: A Potpourri
• Ethics, competence, and AI: What are competence and the unauthorized practice of law in a specialized world?
• Emerging issues in conflicts of interest, part 1

Day 2 – December 17, 2024:

• Ethics of firing a client
• Ethics and client development
• Emerging issues in conflicts of interest, part 2

2024 Ethics Update, Part 2

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc.

December 17, 2024

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MT)

*Live Audio Streaming Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

*Please Note: If you received credit for this course for February 8, 2024 you will not be able to receive credit for attending this replay.  This replay will count as live CLE credit.

This annual ethics program will provide you with a round-table discussion of practical ethical issues important to your practice. The program will provide you with an engaging discussion of ethics developments involving technology and law practice, conflicts of interest, and attoarney-client communications in a digital world where no one is truly unplugged. The panel will also discuss the ethics of withdrawing from a matter and firing a client and the ethics of developing new business.  This program will provide you with a wide-ranging discussion of practical ethics developments important to your practice.

Day 1 – December 16, 2024:

• Ethics and technology: A Potpourri
• Ethics, competence, and AI: What are competence and the unauthorized practice of law in a specialized world?
• Emerging issues in conflicts of interest, part 1

Day 2 – December 17, 2024:

• Ethics of firing a client
• Ethics and client development
• Emerging issues in conflicts of interest, part 2

Ethical Issues When You Have a Dishonest Client

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc. 

November 27, 2024

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (MT)

**Live Audio Stream Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

One of the dangers of practicing law is that, now and again, you get a dishonest client.  Your client may be misleading you – and others – about the facts of their case, either through silence or affirmative misstatements.  Or they may be telling you one thing and others something else different.  You may discover proof of the dishonesty or just suspect it. Client dishonesty raises many ethical issues.  What must you do to ensure your client is telling you the truth? What if you discover a client is lying to a court or tribunal?  Are you allowed to disclose the dishonesty despite the duty of client confidentiality?  Are there degrees of client dishonesty – some acceptable, others not?  This program will provide you with a guide to the substantial ethical issues when client dishonesty is discovered or suspected. 

• Tension between the duty of confidentiality and the duty to be honest in communications
• Determining whether a client is lying – active v. passive, fact v. opinion, affirmative statements v. silence
• Unknowing attorney representations on basis of client dishonesty
• Duties of disclosure and to whom – the tribunal, third parties?
• Mandatory and permissive withdrawals from a case, including “noisy” withdrawals
• Discovery of dishonesty in closed matters

Ethics and Virtual Law Offices

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc.

December 30, 2024

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MT)

*Live Audio Streaming Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

*Please Note: If you received credit for this course for October 23, 2024 you will not be able to receive credit for attending this replay.  This replay will count as live CLE credit.

Technology allows lawyers far more flexibility to practice law virtually – from home or in shared settings – than ever before.  No longer must they maintain freestanding offices, support staff, and libraries. Lawyers can set-up offices in their homes, communicate with clients, adversaries and the courts electronically, outsource overflow work to co-counsel or vendors, and establish web sites that can reach potential clients. These “virtual” practices are increasingly commonplace, but the relative ease with which they are established obscures many significant ethical issues.  This program will provide you with a practical guide to significant issues when lawyers and law firms establish “virtual” law practices.

• Disclosure to clients of the virtual character of a law practice
• Electronic communications, confidentiality, and ethical risks in virtual practices
• Ethical issues when lawyers share office space or other resources but practice separately
• How Web sites and a “virtual” presence implicate multijurisdictional practice issues
• Outsourcing work to vendors or co-counsel, and ensuring its competently performed
• Requirements and risks when offering legal advice across state lines
• Duty to understand law office technology as a duty of competence

Ethics in Negotiations – Boasts, Shading, and Impropriety

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc. 

November 26, 2024

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (MT)

**Live Audio Stream Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

*Please Note: If you received credit for this course for June 27, 2023 you will not be able to receive credit for attending this replay.  This replay will count as live CLE credit.

Lawyers must always be truthful in their representations. Yet they must be zealous in representing clients. The tension between these two principles is perhaps never as great as when the lawyer is negotiating for a client. The lawyer may make statements about the law or fact – or simply refrain from making statements because the lawyer knows certain facts or legal precedent are adverse to a client’s interest.   Lawyers may also boast, signaling that a client’s position is stronger than is, in fact, the case. Navigating these gray lines is the difference between ethical representation and impropriety. This program will provide you with a guide to ethical issues in negotiations. 

• Truthful representations v. zealous representations?
• Affirmative statements of fact, value or intent in settlements
• Silence about adverse law in negotiations
• Silence about facts unknown to an opponent or counter-party
• Silence about errors in settlement agreements or transactional documents
• Non-litigation work in another state – “temporary” practice

Ethics in Negotiations - Boasts, Shading, and Impropriety

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc.

December 26, 2024

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MT)

*Live Audio Streaming Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

*Please Note: If you received credit for this course for June 27, 2023, or November 26, 2024 you will not be able to receive credit for attending this replay.  This replay will count as live CLE credit.

Lawyers must always be truthful in their representations. Yet they must be zealous in representing clients. The tension between these two principles is perhaps never as great as when the lawyer is negotiating for a client. The lawyer may make statements about the law or fact – or simply refrain from making statements because the lawyer knows certain facts or legal precedent are adverse to a client’s interest.   Lawyers may also boast, signaling that a client’s position is stronger than is, in fact, the case. Navigating these gray lines is the difference between ethical representation and impropriety. This program will provide you with a guide to ethical issues in negotiations. 

• Truthful representations v. zealous representations?
• Affirmative statements of fact, value or intent in settlements
• Silence about adverse law in negotiations
• Silence about facts unknown to an opponent or counter-party
• Silence about errors in settlement agreements or transactional documents
• Non-litigation work in another state – “temporary” practice

Ethics of Identifying Your Client: It's Not Always Easy

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc. 

November 25, 2024

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (MT)

**Live Audio Stream Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

*Please Note: If you received credit for this course for October 24, 2023 you will not be able to receive credit for attending this replay.  This replay will count as live CLE credit.

The first step in every ethics analysis is answering the question, who is your client?  It’s seemingly a very easy question to answer, but it’s not always 20/20 except in hindsight.  Representing multiple parties on the same matter, whether in litigation or on a transaction, may mean you have many clients, some or all with conflicts.   If you’re a private practitioner and you represent an organization, your client may be the entity, its officers from whom you are taking directions, or possibly both. If you’re an in-house attorney, the analysis – and its implications for the attorney-client privilege – becomes even more complex.  This program will provide you with a real world guide to ethics of identifying your client in a variety of settings avoiding conflicts of interest with the client. 

• Ethics and identifying your client and avoiding conflicts in transactions and litigation
• Representing businesses entities, nonprofit associations, and the government – client v. person giving directions
• Identifying clients in trust and estate planning – the testator or the person paying your fees?
• Special ethical challenges and ethical risks for in-house counsel and attorney-client privilege issues
• How to untangle clients and conflicts in joint representations – managing conflicts and information flows
• Best practices in documenting client representation to avoid later challenge

Lawyer Ethics and Email

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc.

May 22, 2024

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MT)

*Live Audio Streaming Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

Email has become essential to law practice.  Communications with clients and colleagues is practically impossible – and absolutely inefficient – without email.  But the ubiquity of email may obscure many important ethical issues that arise when it is used in law practice, including issues related to confidentiality, metadata, and the attorney-client privilege. These and other substantial ethical questions will be discussed in this practical guide to the ethical issues when lawyers use email in their practices.

• Beginning an attorney relationship via email – intentionally and inadvertently
• Security and confidentiality when email is exchanged in the Cloud
• Inadvertently sent email and metadata embedded in email
• Discarding/deleting email and working with outside vendors
• Ex parte communications with represented adversaries
• Attorney-client privilege issues

Lawyer Ethics and Email

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc.

December 31, 2024

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MT)

*Live Audio Streaming Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

*Please Note: If you received credit for this course for May 22, 2024 you will not be able to receive credit for attending this replay.  This replay will count as live CLE credit.

Email has become essential to law practice.  Communications with clients and colleagues is practically impossible – and absolutely inefficient – without email.  But the ubiquity of email may obscure many important ethical issues that arise when it is used in law practice, including issues related to confidentiality, metadata, and the attorney-client privilege. These and other substantial ethical questions will be discussed in this practical guide to the ethical issues when lawyers use email in their practices.

• Beginning an attorney relationship via email – intentionally and inadvertently
• Security and confidentiality when email is exchanged in the Cloud
• Inadvertently sent email and metadata embedded in email
• Discarding/deleting email and working with outside vendors
• Ex parte communications with represented adversaries
• Attorney-client privilege issues

Practical Lessons in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Law Practice

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc.

December 19, 2024

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MT)

*Live Audio Streaming Only

1.0 CLE credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

*Please Note: If you received credit for this course for January 22, 2024 you will not be able to receive credit for attending this replay.  This replay will count as live CLE credit.

This program will provide you with a practical guide to diversity, inclusion, and equity in law firms and in clients. The program will discuss the value of diversity and inclusion, including how it fosters collegiality, greater client value, and organizational and personal growth.  The panel will look at real world case studies of what types of diversity training work and help law firms – and also review those types of training that do not work. The program cover best practices not only for law firms but also for advising clients on developing diversity, inclusion, and equity training and practices.

• Types of diversity – internal, external, organizational, and worldview
• Racial and ethnic, generational and age, gender, socio-economic diversity
• Training to raise awareness of unconscious bias v. promoting allyship and inclusivity
• What types of diversity training work – and what types do not work?
• Best practices in helping law firms and their clients grow in diversity, inclusion and equity

Professionalism for the Ethical Lawyer

Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc. 

December 5, 2024

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (MT)

**Live Audio Stream Only

1.0 Ethics credit

Registration Fee:  $55.00

*Please Note: If you received credit for this course for February 13, 2024 you will not be able to receive credit for attending this replay.  This replay will count as live CLE credit.

Ethics rules, the principles of professionalism, and sanctionable conduct are interrelated.  Lawyers have a duty to zealously represent their clients, but they do not have a duty to engage in offensive conduct that may be desired by clients. Lawyers have duties of confidentiality and honesty, but those duties do not always require pressing every advantage, such as when the lawyer knows that opposing counsel has made a material drafting error in a transactional document. In these and many other scenarios, ethics rules, professionalism, and potentially sanctionable conduct subtly interact.  This program will provide you with a practical guide to professionalism for the ethical lawyer. 

• Interrelationship of ethics rules, professionalism, and sanctions
• Zealous representation v. needlessly embarrassing an adversary or third-party
• Reacting to an adversary’s drafting errors in transactional documents
• Ethics, professionalism, and inadvertent transmission of communications
• Duty to supervise and train subordinate lawyers and staff, including to ensure courtesy to clients, opposing counsel, and courts
• Offering candid advice to clients and withdrawal when they demand offensive conduct
• Avoiding discrimination and bigotry