Fall 2007 CLE Seminar Calendar

The Continuing Legal Education program offers seminars this fall on timely topics ranging from environmental to ethical issues. On the schedule:

Current Issues Concerning Predatory Lending in the Home Mortgage Industry
Oct. 26: This program will examine mortgage lending tactics and practices. Speakers will address the interplay between state and federal mortgage lending statutes and the consumer protection act; examine developing litigation issues in prosecuting and defending cases that stem from the origination of a mortgage; and address litigating mortgage related cases in state and federal court and both individually and as class actions.

Transitions: Merging Your Legal Practice with Case Management Software
Nov. 2: Choosing case management software (CMS) and transitioning your legal practice from paper to an electronic organizational structure can be time-consuming and confusing. This half-day seminar will introduce you to a variety of CMS programs and the tasks they perform; and allow you to hear from and talk to attorneys who use CMS programs to run their offices, as well as expert consultants who will outline attributes of case management software and the most effective and efficient means of moving your practice into an electronic age.

Dimensions of Sustainability: The Emerging Context for the Practice of Law
Nov. 8: This seminar distills essential knowledge for lawyers on the fundamentals driving the sustainability movement: societal/economic goals, alternative metaphors for sustainability, broadly accepted ecological principles, three factors driving human impact on natural systems, the interface with the global economy, and strategies being pursued to achieve a sustainable future. The program offers lawyers an important foundation for understanding concepts of sustainability that can inform the many ways in which they can serve to promote social and environmental justice in their work.

Current Issues in Retirement & Succession Planning
Nov. 9: his program will address a range of estate planning and other property disposition issues encountered by clients entering their retirement phase. General estate and retirement benefits issues will be considered, along with ethical concerns faced by advisors and clients. Other topics will include planning for care of beneficiaries with special needs and intergenerational transfer of business interests and charitable gifts.

Amanda Kumar's Case: An Interactive Discussion of the Ethical Issues that Attorneys Face in their Day-to-Day Practice
Nov. 16: Conducted by Professors John Strait and David Boerner, this program explores a dispute between a consumer and a drug company, represented respectively by small and large law firms. Ethical challenges (and failures) confront both firms. Using a videotape to facilitate the audience’s ability to identify ethical issues and to work through possible solutions, Professors Strait and Boerner discuss the legal ethics and attorney regulation issues that arose during the dispute.