You get a frantic call from an attorney you’ve known since law school. Apparently, a person that she declined to represent left scathing, false reviews with one stars on a number of review websites like Yelp and RipoffReport.com. She is extremely distraught since she relies in the Internet for new clients and she wants your advice on what to do.

Paul Sternberg handles these exact issues on a daily basis and he provides you with a blueprint of how to handle online defamation cases. Paul will mainly talk about the First Amendment & protected speech, determining the defaming party, understanding liability under the CDA & the DMCA, legal strategies to consider in the defamation case, building a defamation case or defense and removing a website. He will also cover: libel vs. slander, weighing the decision to sue, deploying a cease & desist letter, SLAPP & ANTI-SLAPP laws, the Streisand Effect, elements to prove, statutes of limitation, public vs. private figures, malice vs. negligence, proof of damages, drafting a court order, utilizing Terms of Service, restoring your client’s reputation and the keys to success in a defamation case.

Paul M. Sternberg has been in private practice at his Texas law firm since 2001. A seasoned entrepreneur, Paul is the author of The Attorney’s Guide to Internet Defamation and Website Removal. He concentrates his practice in the areas of Internet defamation law and business law.

Conflicts of interest continue to ethically ensnare attorneys and firms – especially with increasingly more lawyers changing firms these days. Conflicts can cost you and your firm millions and lead to embarrassing publicity if you happen to get disqualified from a case due to this all too common ethical trap.

Unfortunately, there is no magical formula for avoiding conflicts because they can take many forms and can be tricky to identify - even for experienced attorneys and well-established firms. In this CLE course, malpractice attorney William McCaffery lays out the ethical framework, analyzes instructive case examples and provides practical tips for avoiding ethical violations & disqualification. These topics are also covered in this fast paced course: erroring on the side of caution, conflicts & current clients, duties to former clients, imputed disqualification, conflicts rules for government officers & employees, dealing with organizations, duties to potential clients, maintaining routine conflict procedures, using conflict waivers and what to include in the engagement letter.

William T. McCaffery concentrates in the areas of legal malpractice defense, professional liability, commercial litigation, and general liability defense. He represents attorneys and law firms that have been sued for legal malpractice in cases ranging from real estate and personal injury matters to complex business transactions and commercial litigation.

From clients that lie to you to directing your clients to delete damaging Facebook posts, family law attorneys must deal with highly emotional clients and navigate ethical pitfalls on a daily basis. In this CLE course, Angela Scafuri identifies the most frequent challenges that arise and provides practical guidance so you can steer clear of sanctions, suspension and malpractice lawsuits.

Angela’s insights will help both new and seasoned family law practitioners to understand the contours of the attorney-client relationship, the problems that arise with difficult clients, client communications & confidentiality and issues involving experts. As many of our client’s now live their lives on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, a substantial amount of time is spent covering the ethical implications of eDiscovery and social media. Angela also provides tips and best practices for dealing with unrepresented parties, avoiding frivolous claims, reminding clients of your ethical duties, the affirmative obligation to disclose certain facts, the expert’s retaining agreement, dealing with ESI, ethically obtaining evidence from social media websites like Facebook. Angela concludes by providing you a detailed checklist for discovery issues related to social media evidence.

A shareholder at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, Angela Scafuri routinely works with clients whose needs lie in all areas of matrimonial and family law. She focuses on divorce litigation, mediation & arbitration, alimony & child support, custody & parenting time issues, same-sex divorce & dissolution, high asset divorces and domestic violence matters.

How does Beethoven’s classic Fifth Symphony relate to legal ethics? Much like Beethoven’s Fifth, legal ethics can be broken down into three major themes. At its essence, ethics is not complex - don’t lie, don’t cheat and don’t steal.

In this CLE course, the honorable Earl H. Maas, III, provides a thought provoking discussion on the types and sources of ethics and how they apply to attorneys, a changing & diverse society and the legal profession. Judge Maas will mainly discuss the origins & evolving nature of legal ethics, the three types of ethics, ethics vs. laws and common ethical pitfalls. The following subjects are also covered: ethics resources, applied ethics, normative ethics, meta-ethics, the Rules of Professional Conduct, your ethical duties when there is tension between inconsistent federal laws and state laws, stumbling into a lawyer-client relationship, ethics advice & cocktail parties and your ethical duty to accept a case.

Earl H. Maas III is a judge for the Superior Court of San Diego County in California. He was appointed by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in April 2005 to succeed Bernard E. Revak.

At the Tehran Conference in 1943, Stalin proposed “liquidating” 50,000 German military officers. Eventually, through skilled negation the rule of law won out. The resulting Nuremberg Trials from 1945-46 brought high ranking Nazi officials and civilian leaders to justice.

But is it the greatest trial in history – or just a show trial that stretched jurisdiction & legal principles to achieve the victor’s justice? Professor Thaddeus Hoffmeister, who had deep discussions with key Nuremberg interpreter John Dolibois, breaks down the Nuremberg trials and asks you to decide for yourself. He mainly discusses, trial practice & criminal law, the prosecution of WWII crimes, the legal framework of the IMT, indictments & defenses, verdicts and legacy of the trials. These key topics are also addressed: international law & sovereignty, show trials, differing views of “justice,” the London Agreement & Charter, the framework of the International Military Tribunal (IMT), the Allied prosecutors, the Nazi defendants, defense attorneys, conspiracy counts, aggressive war, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Professor of Law Thaddeus Hoffmeister teaches courses related to criminal law, technology, and the jury. Hoffmeister has published a number of law review articles, essays & lengthier writings exploring the criminal justice system, litigation, and social media. His most recent book is entitled Social Media in the Courtroom.

Lawyers have a tendency to commoditize legal services due to the “billable hour” and overlook the true client service aspect of the profession. However, in practice areas like estate planning it’s important to developing lasting relationships with clients to keep up with life changes and better achieve your client's overall goals.

A professional Trustee and Executor, Marguerite Lorenz has worked with countless attorneys and professionals to help implement her client’s estate plans and final wishes. Marguerite bases this presentation on the life cycle of an estate plan and suggests ways for you to establish and maintain lasting relationships with your estate planning clients. She will mainly address setting client expectations, keeping updated on important changes, implementing the estate plan, working with beneficiaries and the perils of drafting your own estate plan. Further topics covered: training clients, the overall goal of the client, funding & signing the trust, storing original documents, possible conflicts of interest, dealing with trustees & remaindermen and keeping the estate plan up to date.

The principal at Lorenz Fiduciary Services, Inc., Marguerite C. Lorenz has been serving as Private Trustee and Executor since 2003. She is a frequent presenter for various professional organizations and she co-authored "Ethics for Trustees" along with Jane Lorenz. Marguerite has also served as Chairman of the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau Advisory Committee.

In the hit television show Bull, Dr. Jason Bull and his team of experts employ psychology, human intuition and high-tech data to help attorneys better understand jurors, witnesses and defendants. Dr. Bull’s overall goal is to help attorneys construct effective narratives to connect with and persuade the jurors at trial.

What effect, if any, will the popular CBS TV drama have on your jurors? Trial consultants Jeremy Ostler and Leticia Ostler detail their experiences with the “Bull” effect at trial and show you how to better connect with the jury so you can get the best result for your clients. Jeremey and Leticia will mainly discuss how trial consultants assist attorneys with voir dire & trials, how to understand the psychology & decision making of the jurors, justice vs. emotion in the courtroom and overcoming the myths of legal TV shows. The following subjects are also covered: how the brain processes information, the prefrontal cortex & the limbic brain, our adversarial system & emotions, the concept of justice in the courtroom, how to make the limbic system happy, inattentional blindness, telling stories to connect with emotional brain & the jury, the Reptile Brain Strategy, using a shadow jury and feedback from judges.

After working in the intelligence community primarily as an interrogator for over a decade, Jeremy Ostler now leverages his expertise to help trial lawyers and litigators prevail at trial. Trained in the effective use of neuroscience research in the courtroom, Leticia Oslter has over 20 years of experience as a litigation consultant.

Share briefs before the mediation. Make sure your client understands the process and purpose of mediation. Remove the emotion before you start. Determine the value of that which is the subject of the negotiation.

Doug Barker has learned a lot about mediating cases over the last 20 years. In this fast moving, information packed course, Doug will share some of his insights by discussing how to select the right mediator, the three phases to the mediation, the fundamental points for success, negotiation strategies and negotiating with insurance companies. Doug also covers the lawyer as mediator, building rapport, talking about the issues, solutions, setting the tone of the mediation, what you owe your client, pace, negotiating for a target number and making the adjustor a believer. The skills and techniques presented by Mr. Barker in this CLE course can be deployed by both criminal & civil law attorneys, in addition to mediators & arbitrators and many other legal professionals.

Doug Barker was a highly successful civil litigator from 1980 to 2014, both as a shareholder at San Diego’s largest law firm, and then as the managing partner of a full service civil litigation firm. In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Barker has been extremely active as an arbitrator and mediator for over 30 years.

In the middle of the second panel at recent trial, a guy that had not even been seated yet raised his hand and yelled, “Usually on Bull, this case is wrapped up already.” Yes, most people have an unrealistic view of the legal system - and many jurors would rather be just about anywhere else than stuck in court.

Successful trial lawyers know how to overcome these obstacles to connect with the jury and get the best results for their clients. Experienced trial lawyers Jeffrey Kimmel and Joseph Bavaro provide a lively discussion filled with practical points and tips that you can deploy at your next trial. The dynamic duo will mainly discuss gaining credibility by being yourself, practically applying the rules of civil procedure to your case, building rapport with the jury during voir dire, telling your client’s story during the opening statement and listening to the other side’s case. Additional topics covered: using buzz words, developing your own style, doing what works for you, avoiding being too stiff in the opening, keeping the jury’s attention and tips for direct & cross examination.

Jeffrey M. Kimmel is highly regarded for his fierce litigation style and persistent drive to achieve optimal results for his clients. A proven trial attorney, Mr. Kimmel was selected as one of New York City’s “Ten Leaders” in Civil Trial. With over 25 years of legal experience, Joseph S. Bavaro is an invaluable advocate for his clients.

When it comes to estate planning, it always good to keep the end goals in mind. What are the client’s true intentions - and what documents are needed to implement the provisions. How do you draft a plan that will be clear, enduring, easily implemented and avoid ambiguity and litigation?

Let the dynamic duo of Marguerite Lorenz and Lori Bolander show you how to plan for the actual implementation of the estate plan to ensure that your client’s intentions are fulfilled. The main topics discussed include key documents & their roles in the estate planning process, appointing a fiduciary or trustee and difficult issues & provisions with the estate plan. Additional subjects covered: the Advanced Health Care Directive, the Power of Attorney (POA), quality of life decisions, triggering events, incapacity determination provisions, using a licensed fiduciary, language to include, dealing with personal property, life estates/occupancy rights, funding the trusts, trust schedules and working with clients. The overall goal of this CLE program is to help you improve your drafting and outcomes in administration for your clients and their families.

A partner at Gallagher, Bolander, Smedley, Lori Bolander is an estate planning attorney & trust litigator. Marguerite Lorenz is an experienced professional trustee & executor and a frequent speaker on a variety of Estate Planning topics.