Ethics & Professional Responsibility

Learn cyber hygiene and cyber threats lawyers face, both personally and professionally, and the ways to reduce the risks associated with these threats. The relationship between the legal practice and its technology usage will be reviewed, and practical steps provided to reduce the risks of breach, data loss, and system compromise. By attending the presentation, lawyers will be more informed of the relationship between the legal practice, its technology usage, associated cyber threats and risks of compromise, and the basic best practices to protect both their own and their clients’ information. Participants will learn the questions to ask their teams: (1) Do we have the right tools? (2) Do they work? and (3) Do we know for sure they work?

Cybersecurity rightly gets lots of attention – but it’s important to protect information in paper or other physical form as well. Understand risks to physical documents, including those that can be heightened in a work-from-home environment, and best practices for mitigating those risks.

Lawyers and law firms can be attractive targets for cyber-attacks. Learn some practical tips and suggestions for data handling and cybersecurity best practices to implement in your day-to-day.

The Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct (“IRPC”) require that lawyers stay up to speed on the benefits and risks of technology. But what do they require lawyers to do, exactly? This session will discuss the relevant IRPCs, how to apply those rules in both small and large firm environments, and the best ways to supervise the data security of employees, assistants, and vendors.

Understand the legal landscape regarding privacy and security in 2020. Learn exactly what “data privacy and security” mean. Do attorneys have special obligations? Get tips for best practices you should follow within your firm as well as personally.

Learn how civility and professionalism best service clients effectively in the long run and how they affect your reputation.

Learn the ins and outs of the various circuit courts from some true road warriors.

Learn the basics of law firm management, including the use of bank accounts, IOLTA accounts, malpractice coverage, client selection, retainers, billing, cash flow, marketing a law business, and requirements for law practice operation.

A walk through of the current digital landscape; where you should be, what you should be doing and how it relates to building a professional brand as an attorney. The session covers your Google listing, website, social media, Google pay-per-clicks, ads, video marking, reputation management and more. The goal is to provide participants with a basic understanding of where to focus their efforts and what boxes they need to check to build their business.

Focus on the specific rules of professional conduct that govern referrals and business development, including competence, diligence, confidentiality, advertising, and solicitation.

Not included in IICLE® Online All-Access subscription.

Learn how to avoid potential ethical traps in researching social media profiles to uncover investigative/ background information about parties, witnesses, experts, jurors, etc., and, in some cases, to use this information as evidence. This program reviews pertinent ethics opinions issued by the ABA and bar associations in many jurisdictions; discusses relevant caselaw; reviews detailed guidelines for social media research issued by the New York State Bar’s Commercial and Federal Litigation Section; and ties them into the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct.
The program will also explore: Who's your "friend?" Could "friending" violate the deception or ex parte communication ethical rules? Is it ethical to research the social media profiles of parties and witnesses during discovery or trial? Is it ethical to research the social media profiles of potential jurors before trial or seated jurors during trial? Could advising clients to delete, deactivate, or adjust privacy settings on their social networking accounts lead to an ethical violation or spoliation charge against you? How to configure security/privacy settings in your own profile to avoid ethical breaches. The seminar is partially based on the speakers' 55-page Social Media chapter from their book, "The Cybersleuth's Guide to the Internet."

Focus on a study of professional liability insurance and how this important insurance is structured, including a review of claims-made insurance and how it is different from common types of insurance.