Your long-time business client emails you and wants you to review some documents & contracts for his new business selling cryptocurrency to teenagers – and he also wants you to be the new CEO and general counsel. Good idea??

R. Shawn McBride works with business owners all over the country and he knows that things can get a little dicey with your business clients. From fake real estate transactions to drafting executive compensation packages, there are many intersections between reviewing contracts for client’s and the ethical standards of the legal profession. Shawn will present numerous common everyday scenarios where attorneys run into ethical dilemmas by discussing: Rule 1.2 – Scope of Representation, Rule 1.7-1.10 – Conflicts of Interest & Business Transactions with Clients, Rule 1.18 – Duties to Prospective Clients, Rule 1.13 – Organization as Client, Rule 2.4 – Lawyer as 3rd Party Neutral, Rule 4.3 – Unrepresented Persons, Rule 5.1 – Supervisors & Subordinates, Rule 7.3 – Info About Legal Services, Rule 1.5 – Fees, Rule 1.15 – Safekeeping Property, Rule 1.3 – Diligence, Rule 8.3 – Reporting Professional Misconduct and Rule 2.1 – Advisor.

Based in Dallas, R. Shawn McBride works with business owners all over the country. He frequently speaks on business and legal topics and he is currently licensed to practice law in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

A few years back a family friend signed a personal guarantee on her son’s new restaurant venture. Things were going great until COVID hit – now the business is on the verge of collapse and she at risk of losing everything. Is there anything that can be done?

Asset protection is a field of law dealing with shielding assets from the claims of creditors. While you cannot “hide” assets or make them completely unreachable, Jacob Stein will show you how to make it more difficult and expensive for creditors to get to. Jacob will mainly discuss asset protection in our new age of global transparency, utilizing irrevocable trusts & LLCs and protecting specific assets like homes, apartment buildings, cash & crypto. Additional topics: the effects of COVID on businesses, personal guarantees, real estate, the Homestead exemptions, voidable conveyances laws (fraudulent transfers), the powers given to the trust protector, drafting the trust, self-settled trusts, setting up a trust in a foreign jurisdiction, dealing with community property, charging orders, retirement plans and utilizing offshore structures.

Jacob Stein is a partner with the law firm Aliant, LLP, in Los Angeles, California. A prolific writer and speaker, Mr. Stein has represented over a thousand clients, from Forbes 400 families to Internet entrepreneurs. He focuses on asset & income protection, in addition to International Tax issues.

How many times a day to you unlock your smartphone?? 100…. 200… 300 times a day? Do you sleep with your iPhone next to your bed, answer Facebook posts when you’re stopped at red lights and take your phone to the bathroom?

Emails, texts and social media now dominate our daily lives – we are truly shackled to our screens. But at what cost? Laurie Besden explains how our dependence on screens is negatively impacting attorney’s mental health, competence to practice law and the legal profession itself. She will mainly discuss the impact of increased screen time on our ability to uphold our ethical duties, review the alarming statistics regarding our dependence on our devices, explain nomophobia, detail the symptoms of digital device dependence and provide wellness tips & positive strategies that can be implemented into our lives & legal practices. Laurie will conclude by listing easy stress busters – from keeping a daily gratitude journal to re-connecting with nature & family.

Laurie J. Besden, Esq., is the Executive Director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc. (“LCL”). Since 2011, she has served as Deputy Executive Director overseeing many of LCL’s operations, expanding LCL’s law school outreach and increasing LCL’s presence within the organized Bench and Bar.

There are close to two million service members in the U.S. armed forces around the globe and our country – and nearly one million serve in the national guard and reserves. Even though you don’t live near a military base, you might be missing substantial economic claims from service members in your files.

Both attorneys and former members of the armed services, Dennis and Mike McCarthy will help you to spot these types of hidden claims and show you how you can establish these often-overlooked economic damages in your cases – from premises liability to auto injuries. Dennis and Michael will discuss the official Military Personnel File (OMPF), career patterns & regulations, ending a military career, elements of military compensation and proving economic damages at trial. Also covered: types of cases & claims, the legal framework, the SF-180, service obligations, performance evaluations, service culture & customs, the Feres Doctrine, VA disability payments, base pay, retired pay and common questions. This CLE course is intended for lawyers who are involved in a case with a member of the armed forces whose earnings are claimed to have been affected.

Michael & Dennis McCarthy are both Principals in Military Experts, LLC, a consulting firm that advises businesses and attorneys nationwide. Dennis began his Marine Corps service as a platoon leader in Vietnam and served as Assistant Secretary of Defense. Mike is a small business owner who has been mobilized multiple times in support of operations abroad.

Have you ever delivered such good news to a client – that they literally fell out of their chair?? That’s what happened when Sam Brotman told his client that her business would qualify for a $300,000 Employee Retention Credit under the CARES Act.

Another small business owner broke into tears when Sam got her a $90,000 credit for her small automotive repair shop. Many business owners don’t know about the ERC or they’ve received bad professional advice and been told they don’t qualify because they have no significant drop in revenues. Sam will provide a comprehensive look at eligibility rules for the ERC, a full (or partial) suspension of operations, the 2020 & 2021 gross receipts calculations & elections and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021’s expansion of the ERC to recovery start-up businesses. Sam will also cover the interaction of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) & the ERC, partial credits, the operation of a trade/business, amended return matters, documenting via Opinion Letters, the gross receipts test, the safe harbor and establishing a reasonable defensible position.

Samuel D. Brotman is the founder of Brotman Law. His practice primarily centers on all aspects of tax litigation and criminal & civil tax controversies. Although a strong proponent of early stage tax resolution, Sam's practice is uniquely tailored to assist clients in all phases of their tax controversy from administrative resolution of the lawsuit.