Ethics & Professional Responsibility

This program presents a set of financial analysis tools that attorneys can use to make fact-based business decisions and discusses how they can be applied in particular situations.

This program provides a practical grounding in the do’s and don’ts of artificial intelligence (AI) in real estate practice, beginning with a clear reality check on what today’s AI tools can—and cannot—do. Examine guidance and expectations issued by the State of Illinois, highlighting ethical and professional responsibility considerations for real estate professionals. Identify where AI can fail in common real estate workflows and learn practical guardrails for using AI responsibly and effectively in a real estate business.

The presentation will include a general overview of ethics, a discussion of the Rules of Professional Conduct as they relate to the practice areas of estate planning and elder law, the presentation and analyses of hypotheticals the lawyer may encounter in their estate planning and elder law practice and finally, tips to avoid an ARDC complaint.

Clients exhibiting active mental health issues can be complicated and draining. This program provides a broad overview of mental health disorders as well as appropriate ways to respond within the scope of your work.

Determining the rights of people with disabilities with respect to the animals they rely on turns out to be incredibly complex. This program provides an overview of why it is so complex.

Artificial intelligence is entering the legal profession faster than any prior technology shift. With opportunities come risks: client confidentiality, hallucinated citations, and supervision duties. This program explores what AI is, where it fits into legal practice, and how attorneys can adopt it ethically.

Lawyers operate in high-stakes environments where stress, overwhelm, and pressure often feel constant. This program explores how mindset and resilience can transform the way attorneys experience and manage these challenges.

While being a legal professional is very rewarding, it also creates a lot of unwanted stress, burnout and challenges around work life balance. Lawyers often have limited time for their own self-care, which greatly impacts their mental and physical well-being. In this program, participants will explore what it means to be a resilient legal professional and live a more harmonious life.

Moving beyond just social media, this program addresses other components of your online presence. Topics include becoming easier to find in searches, including strategies for showing up in SEO and AEO results. Also discussed is how to craft your differentiator; cadence, compliance, and metrics; and how the Rules of Professional Conduct impact your marketing work.

This panel discussion offers strategies and unique perspectives from the mediator’s chair to enhance your effectiveness and adaptability in mediation. The discussion provides practical guidance you can apply immediately in your practice.

Join attorneys Becky Howlett and Cindy Sharp as they present strategies designed to help attorneys manage and even unplug from the digital world — ethically and mindfully — with special emphasis on MRPC 1.1, comment 8 (“benefits and risks associated with relevant technology”); MRPC 1.6, confidentiality; MRPC 1.3, diligence; and MRPC 8.4, professional misconduct.

Programs on drawing legal descriptions usually involve the participants using protractors and triangular engineer's scales and spending long hours drawing out sample legal descriptions. But it doesn't have to be that way. Dick Bales has written a basic legal description class for attorneys.