News & Updates
Over 100 Families Benefitted
Thank you for your generous donations to the Food Pantry of Carroll County. You will recall that in honor of Ruth Baxter’s 30 years of service to the Company, LMICK raised money in her name for the Food Pantry, a local organization impacting her community and in which she is highly involved. With your contributions and LMICK’s, just over $7,200.00 was contributed. Ruth and the Food Pantry are so appreciative. Ruth shared that the Food Pantry spends $72 to feed a family of 4 for a week. Your contributions will feed over 100 families and can sustain the Food Pantry’s work for a month. Ruth described the impact as “tremendous.” While the LMICK match campaign has concluded, you can still donate to the Food Pantry. Send a check to P.O. Box 265, Carrollton, KY 41008 and denote Ruth Baxter in the memo line.
Kentucky Law Update – Preview
It is hard to believe that the KLU season is upon us. LMICK is excited to see you in your communities over the next several weeks, starting with the KLU in Owensboro on August 29, 2024. See Schedule of KLU dates and cities. Along with Yvette Hourigan of KYLAP and Laura Day DelCotto, of DelCotto Law Group PLLC and Chair of the KBA Well-Being Committee, LMICK is presenting a program on How to Ethically and Practically “Pause” Your Practice. Join us to get a head start on your required ethics credits for the 2024-2025 CLE season and learn about the ethics and business considerations around taking time away from your practice. Be sure to register for the upcoming law updates.
Our Home is Your Home
LMICK recently added to its footprint by leasing some contiguous office space that contains a corner conference room. With this added space, LMICK has 3 conference rooms that we are happy to make available to any of our insureds who need accommodations for mediations, meetings, depositions, etc. If you find yourself needing office space in the Hurstbourne Road and Linn Station Road area of Louisville, please give us a call to make those arrangements.
Practice Management
ABA Ethics Opinion Addresses Use of AI in Legal Practice
On July 29, 2024, the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 512 regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools. In an introduction, the ABA summarizes the opinion as follows: “[t]o ensure clients are protected, lawyers using generative artificial intelligence tools must fully consider their applicable ethical obligations, including their duties to provide competent legal representation, to protect client information, to communicate with clients, to supervise their employees and agents, to advance only meritorious claims and contentions, to ensure candor toward the tribunal, and to charge reasonable fees.”
This ABA Formal Opinion is very similar to the KBA Kentucky Ethics Commission’s Ethics Opinion, KBA E-457 issued on March 15, 2024, and published in the May Bench and Bar regarding the “Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in the Practice of Law.” Click for a a full copy of KBA E-457.
Both opinions will assist in your understanding of the ethical considerations around the use of AI in your legal work. We encourage you to review these opinions and consider whether you should be using AI in your practice, and if so, how to best do so ethically and responsibly. For its free 4th Quarter CLE via zoom, Ruth Baxter and Sheldon “Shelly” Gilman, KBA Ethics Commission members, will be presenting on The Use of AI in Legal Practice, including a robust discussion of KBA E-457 and any differences between it and ABA Formal Opinion 512. See more information below in Upcoming Events. Additionally, LMICK President and CEO, Angela Logan Edwards, and LMICK insured, Allan Cobb, are co-presenting on the Ethical Use of AI in Your Practice, including live demonstrations. If you are interested in having this presentation done for your group,
Wire Fraud Targeting Lawyers Continues Apace – Protect Yourself
In February 2024’s LMICK Minute, we reminded you that wire fraud continues to impact law firms. Since then, we’ve heard from a handful of insureds dealing with those very issues. As a reminder of this very real threat lurking to threaten your practice, we are providing a reprise of our message from the February LMICK Minute.
Bad actors are continuing to target Kentucky lawyers for wire transfer scams. Often, law firms receive an email that looks legitimate – it appears just like any other e-mail from the client or party to a wire transfer. Unfortunately, that spoof email provides new (fraudulent) wire instructions.
If you receive an e-mail with new wire instructions – STOP! New wire instructions should always be treated with skepticism. Train everyone in your office to NEVER act on updated wire instructions sent via e-mail. Using an independently verified phone number, call your contact and verify the wiring instructions. It is likely that their e-mail system (or yours) has been compromised and your next call will be to your IT provider to find out how much damage the threat actor in your system has done.
Reminder: Your LMICK policy includes access to several cyber security risk management resources to help your firm implement good security practices. Detailed log-in information is inside your LMICK Policy Folder. Of course, there may be other ways that new and fraudulent wiring instructions can come into your office other than via e-mail. In short, be diligent to double check any and all wiring instructions and verify that you are sending funds to the correct recipient.
Non-Competition Agreements Survive for Now
For those of you who represent employers and employees, you’ve likely been monitoring whether often used non-competition agreements are valid going forward. On August 20, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas set aside the Federal Trade Commission’s published rule prohibiting non-compete agreements. This ruling came just ahead of the Federal Trade Commission rule’s September effective date. As such, the rule is dead for now and the prevailing state laws on non-competition agreements stand. Perhaps the Federal Trade Commission appeals the Texas District Court’s ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Stay tuned. In the meantime, non-compete provisions remain valid in Kentucky so long as they are reasonable in scope (duration, radius and kind of work activity) and supported by appropriate consideration. If an employer has a valid business interest to protect and tailors its non-compete provisions appropriately, then those provisions will likely be enforceable.
The Corporate Transparency Act – UPDATED
In February, 2024, we advised that many small businesses are now subject to the Federal Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Rule under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). We cautioned that additional public comments were likely forthcoming such that further guidance would be provided as available. Then, in March 2024, and for its first quarter free CLE, LMICK presented a session discussing the nuts and bolts of the beneficial ownership Information reporting requirements to ensure that firms and clients are in compliance.
Now, we are sharing the latest, and most comprehensive, article that is more than 20% longer than an earlier version, including significantly expanded discussions of Large Operating Company and Inactive Entity exemptions. On July 31st, the KBA pubished in its eNews this new article that we are bringing to you in case you missed it or need another opportunity to digest it all. Per the KBA’s eNews, Allison J. Donovan and Thomas E. Rutledge of Stoll Keenon Ogden, PLLC, have written The Corporate Transparency Act is Happening to You and Your Clients: Dealing with the Tsunami, which provides a comprehensive summary of the application of the CTA now in effect. The CTA imposes federal filing requirements on nearly every business in the country. They have written this article with an eye to the membership of the KBA, focusing upon issues more relevant to the smaller firms and closely held businesses of this state. The article, which features links to important resources, includes information as well on bills in Congress that would modify or even repeal the CTA, a discussion of pending cases challenging the CTA’s constitutionality, and a variety of practice pointers and recommended best practices. The article is available on the KBA website.
New Members of the Bar Coming Soon – Add Them to Your Policy
A group of new lawyers will be added to the Bar this fall after taking the bar exam in July. It is a rite of passage we have all endured and survived. Many of you have “lawyers in waiting” working in your offices or maybe hiring newly admitted lawyers in the coming weeks. Don’t forgot to add those lawyers who are new to your practice to your LMICK Policy. It is a quick and easy process to accomplish that task. Click here to add your new lawyer(s).
Remember too that SCR 2.116 Supervised Practice, which allows law school graduates not licensed in any other jurisdiction to practice in Kentucky under supervision while awaiting results of the bar exam, may be a tool your law firm can use to serve your clients. If this is a Rule you may want to take advantage of, click here to make sure you are fully complying with SCR 2.116, including the necessary application for same.
Lawyer Well-Being
Great Advice from Some Fellow Lawyers
I recently saw 2 excellent messages from our friends at the Northern Kentucky Bar Association (“NKBA”). Through a Lawyers Living Well Wellness Wednesday series, the NKBA shared “Coping with Back to School Stress” and “Granting Grace.” Both installments in the series described such simple actions/behaviors with such a potentially profound and positive impact on one’s well-being. My own children (one in middle school and one in college) are back in school and I already feel the push and pull of adding school and all that comes with it back into our family’s lives after the fastest summer in recorded history. I bet many of you are feeling the same stress if you have school age children.
With permission from our colleagues at the NKBA, please be reminded that we should give each other grace when “the opportunity arises.” That use of grace has the potential to make the practice of law much less stressful. Likewise, be assured that you are still a good parent if you let your children figure out some of the school stuff for themselves as long as you are available for guidance.
Great Advice from Some Fellow Lawyers
LMICK is proud to be a sponsor of the Louisville Bar Association pickleball tournament on September 22nd. We all know (even if we don’t practice what we know) that exercise is a very good way to relieve stress. As a sponsor, we will have a two-person team in the tournament. If you are interested in being on a LMICK pickleball team for this event, please
Know that Help is Always Available
If you are struggling with grief, sadness, anxiety, depression, or another emotion or stressor that is negatively impacting your daily life, please reach out for help. All Kentucky lawyers are eligible for four (4) free visits with a mental health professional through the Kentucky Lawyers Assistance Program. For more information about the variety of confidential resources KYLAP offers.
Upcoming Events
We look forward to seeing you!
We are proud to support the organizations that support you and your work! We will be out and about this spring, leading CLEs and sponsoring events. We hope you can join us at one of these currently scheduled events (and make sure to come say hello)!
4Q LMICK CLE: The Ethical Use of AI in the Practice of Law October 8, 2024, at 12:00 pm EST
1.0 Hour KY Ethics CLE Credit
Artificial Intelligence ("AI") is reputed to transform the practice of law as we know it today. As with other technological advances, crucial ethical issues arise that require the lawyer to be mindful of the implications of using AI. The Kentucky Bar Association Ethics Committee has issued a new opinion, KBA E-457, that provides guidance to attorneys who utilize AI in their practice. Gilman and Baxter, both members of the KBA Ethics Committee and the KBA Task Force on AI, will discuss how the ethics rules require attorneys to use AI tools with caution and mindful awareness.
Sept. 5: Kentucky Law Update, Covington
Sept. 12: Kentucky Law Update, Ashland
Sept. 13: NKBA Solo & Small Firm Section, Virtual
Sept. 22: LBA Pickleball Tournament, Louisville
Sept. 24: Old Republic Title Kentucky Annual Seminar, Louisville
Sept. 25-27: Kentucky Justice Association Annual Convention, Lexington
Sept. 26: Kentucky Law Update, London
Sept. 26-29: Hiking Lawyers, Paint Lick
Oct. 3: Kentucky Law Update, Paducah
Oct. 9-11: Kentucky Defense Counsel Fall Seminar, Lexington
Oct. 11: Suits that Rock - Legal Aid, Lexington
Oct 18: NKBA Solo & Small Firm Section
Oct. 24: Kentucky Law Update, Lexington
Oct. 29: Kentucky Justice Association, Louisville
Nov. 7: Kentucky Land Title Seminar, Lousiville
Nov. 13: NKBA Solo & Small Firm Section
Nov. 14: Kentucky Law Update, Pikeville
Nov. 14-15: Kentucky Justice Association, Louisville
Nov. 19: KBF 8th Annual Judge Edwards H. Johnstone Dinner, Paducah
Nov. 20: LBA Annual Awards Luncheon, Louisville
Nov. 21: Kentucky Law Update, Bowling Green
Dec. 5: Kentucky Law Update, Louisville
We want to hear from you! Have a CLE topic you would like to see? Send suggestions to
Need a CLE Speaker? We would love to speak to your group! You can check out our updated list of available topics and request to schedule, here.