Schedule an Ethics CLE

Lawyers Mutual is dedicated to malpractice reduction by education and provides continuing legal education for lawyers and legal professionals focused on ethics and risk management. Courtney Risk, Angela Logan Edwards or Jane Broadwater Long will present the program for any local bar or group of Kentucky lawyers at no cost. Lawyers Mutual will provide a copy of the required written materials. All you need to do is apply to the CLE Commission for credit, copy the materials for distribution, draw a crowd, and provide the appropriate AV.

Below you will find a listing of the CLE sessions we currently offer. Select on the activity title to read the course description and details.

Schedule an Ethics CLE Course below today!

This seminar will provide a comprehensive analysis of aging lawyer issues from both a professional responsibility and risk management perspective. The program centers on the effects of the natural aging process – not lawyers suffering impairment from serious illness or ongoing substance abuse and alcoholism. It concerns lawyers with mental impairment that may be either temporary or permanent. This includes early stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s, and age-related mental impairment resulting from past alcoholism and substance abuse.

Details:

• Released in: 2014
• Length: 1 hour
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar

This seminar covers the most prevalent types of legal malpractice. It includes ten practical steps to avoid or prevent the likelihood of receiving a claim.

Details:

• Released in: 2022
• Length: 1-2 hours
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar, On-Demand

Associates and nonlawyer staff provide significant contributions to the success of any firm. Supervising attorneys can support their important work through effective supervision. Over the last few years, societal workplace values have shifted, and many employees value the opportunity for professional growth and a culture of support over increases in monetary compensation. This program explores how attorneys can tap into the Kentucky Supreme Court Rules addressing supervision to not only meet one’s ethical duties while also meeting the team’s needs for professional growth and support.

Details:

• Released in: 2022
• Length: 1 hour
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar

As busy lawyers there are a myriad of case and practice related issues that keep you up at night. In this presentation, Lawyers Mutual of Kentucky will discuss some emerging and developing issues that should be keeping you up at night. The sophistication of cyber criminals is likely outpacing what you are doing to safeguard your practice. Are you engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in the provision of services to out-of-state clients? These topics and more may lead to some restless nights.

Details:

• Released in: 2022
• Length: 1-3 hours
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar

As an attorney, you spend long hours diligently representing your clients. Sometimes, however, it feels like that old saying is true: no good deed goes unpunished. This program will discuss winning strategies to successfully protect your brand and your reputation in client engagement, matter supervision, insurance, and disengagement, by addressing recent trends in legal malpractice claims. The presentation will also highlight the ethical considerations, relevant Rules of Professional Conduct and KBA Ethics Opinions that apply to these issues.

Details:

• Released in: 2022
• Length: 1 hour
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar

As attorneys, you spend long hours diligently representing your clients. How much time, however, do you spend planning for the unplanned, but probably inevitable, upset to your practice. This program will remind you of some of the unplanned issues that you will likely face that will affect your practice like hospitalizations, extended illness, destruction of office and/or office files, etc. The program will offer tips and strategies to help you plan for those eventualities. It will also address succession planning issues and the ethical considerations and relevant Model Rules of Professional Conduct that apply to these issues and other life changing events.

Details:

• Released in: 2022
• Length: 1 hour
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar

As attorneys, you are trained to identify potential worst-case scenarios and advise clients on how to reduce or avoid liability. However, when looking internally at reducing liability in your own law practice, you may feel overwhelmed. All of the possible exposures can make the process of improving internal procedures daunting. This presentation will focus on the most common causes of liability. Attendees will be able to identify issues that lead to significant liability in the areas of communication (SCR 3.130(1.4)), fees (SCR 3.130(1.5)), declining or terminating representation (SCR 3.130(1.16)), and more. Attendees will then be equipped with small steps that can have a big impact on reducing their exposure and protecting their practice."

Details:

• Released in: 2022
• Length: 1 hour
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar, On-Demand

Languishing is a term coined by sociologist Corey Keyes to describe those who were neither depressed nor thriving. When the pandemic continued into its second year, the term became more widely used with many of us relating to the term. Studies have revealed that languishing now significantly increases the risk of suffering from depression and anxiety, later. Lawyers, who already face higher risks of anxiety and depression, can benefit from pausing as we emerge from the pandemic to take stock of our mental health. Recognizing early symptoms and taking steps to begin to thrive, again, is the best preventative measure we can take for ourselves and our practices. This presentation will explore the impact the pandemic has had on lawyer well-being and our ethical duties of competence (1.1), diligence (1.3), and communication (1.4). We will also discuss steps individuals and firms can take to simultaneously support well-being and meet ethical obligations of supervision (5.1-5.3).

Details:

• Released in: 2022
• Length: 1 hour
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar

Does a casual conversation provide a solid business opportunity or a potential ethical conundrum? The lawyer-client relationship forms along a continuum, beginning with the non-client and moving to potential to prospective to current to former client. Depending on where an individual falls on this continuum, lawyers may owe certain ethical duties. At what point does a conversation at the grocery trigger the lawyer-client relationship continuum? (Hint: The answer is not the payment of fees.) How can you identify the stage of relationship development and ensure you are meeting your applicable ethical duties? This session will provide an overview of the rules and opinions governing lawyer-client formation in Kentucky, including the recent 2022 Kentucky Bar Association Formal Ethics Opinion on Prospective Clients. The presenters will then explore real-world scenarios, identifying various stages of lawyer-client relationship development. Attendees will gain an understanding of how to navigate these encounters to ensure acceptance of only those intended clients.

Details:

• Released in: 2022
• Length: 1-2 hours
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar, On-Demand

This seminar is based on the ABA’s 2011 Spring National Legal Malpractice Conference program “Top Five Ethics Violations and Resulting Claims for Legal Malpractice.” Kentucky professional responsibility rules covering client identity, scope of representation, conflicts of interest, doing business with a client, and fee disputes are analyzed with a view to avoiding malpractice claims by knowing the rules and applying good risk management practices.

Details:

• Released in: 2021
• Length: 1 hour
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar

Do you think about your ethical obligations as an attorney when responding to opposing counsel’s request for a continuance? How about in the middle of a contentious deposition? Is there such a thing as overzealous representation of a client? Do you have ethical obligations in your dealings with opposing counsel? And if so, do you know what they are? What if your client is demanding you take action that is potentially in violation of your ethical obligations?

Details:

• Released in: 2022
• Length: 1-1.5 hours
• Format: Live Activity

An analysis of legal professional liability insurance and details of how it works, does not work, why you need it & questions to ask.

Details:

• Released in: 2022
• Length: 1 hour
• Format: Live Activity

Bar Complaint. These words cause lawyers to fear and panic. A lawyer's failures to understand and follow the Supreme Court Rules in addressing a complaint often multiplies the adverse consequences. This seminar will provide an overview of the attorney discipline process and will offer practical tips for effectively responding to a charge of attorney misconduct.

Details:

• Released in: 2014
• Length: 1 hour
• Format: Live Activity, Webinar