Programs

Practical and focused on real-world strategies, this course gives practitioners the updates and tools they need to confidently handle today’s workers’ compensation cases. This full-day program brings together leading attorneys, commissioners, and judges to cover new caselaw, digital evidence issues, Section 5 challenges, Medicare Set-Asides, employment-related claims, utilization review and effective legal writing.

2026 amendments to the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act expand the scope of employee protected activities, provide additional detail to unlawful employment practices, and specify requirements for employment agreements, including new confidentiality requirements.

A practical exploration of how Article 12 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) governs secured transactions involving digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and blockchain-based records. Gain a working understanding of key legal concepts including “control,” “controllable electronic records,” and “digital collateral,” and how these apply to the creation, transfer, and enforcement of rights in decentralized environments.

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.

Social media evidence is now routine in Illinois Litigation. This program focuses on the evidentiary standards used in the state, with a focus on relevance, authentication, Hearsay, Best Evidence, and Rule 403.

Explore the complex intersection of elder abuse and diminished capacity, with a focus on evolving strategies for identification, intervention, and advocacy. This session will address new approaches to assessing capacity, legal tools available to protect vulnerable adults, and the implications of updated ABA Rule 1.14 on representing clients with diminished capacity. Gain insight into practical case management, ethical duties, and effective collaboration with professionals in other disciplines.
Originally presented as part of Elder Law Short Course 2025.

When an interested party (caregiver, spouse, child, friend, or agent under a Power of Attorney) is involved, attorneys and geriatric care managers must clearly identify and protect the true client. This session covers practical and ethical strategies to manage caregiver influence, maintain boundaries, and address conflicts. Attendees will gain tools to recognize red flags and ensure advocacy remains focused on the client’s rights and wishes.
Originally presented as part of Elder Law Short Course 2025.

Disputes in guardianship cases are becoming more frequent and more complex. This session will cover the most common challenges that arise—such as objections to appointments, claims of undue influence, disagreements among family members, and allegations of incapacity. Learn how to navigate contested hearings, handle difficult parties, and manage the procedural and evidentiary issues that come with these high-stakes cases.
Originally presented as part of Elder Law Short Course 2025.

Retirement accounts can be a major asset in estate planning—especially when special needs trusts (SNTs) and elder law considerations come into play. This session will cover how the SECURE Act changed the rules for inherited retirement accounts and what that means when planning for individuals with disabilities. Learn practical drafting tips, explore tax consequences, and examine how to align retirement assets with SNTs and long-term care planning.
Originally presented as part of Elder Law Short Course 2025.

Attorneys face many complexities when representing heirs, particularly when actions taken during the decedent’s lifetime—often by an agent acting under a Power of Attorney—come to light after the death of the decedent. When all assets pass by operation of law directly to beneficiaries, outside of an estate or trust, Attorneys may need to consider other avenues to pursue remedies for their clients. Using real-world examples, we’ll examine common conflicts that arise when agents claim they were "just doing what Mom wanted," and evaluating claims against agents under the Illinois Power of Attorney Act.
Originally presented as part of Elder Law Short Course 2025.

Providing your trustee/agent client with clear and concrete instructions on how to administer the finances is critical to keeping everyone out of trouble. Learn about the top mistakes trustees and agents make in managing the money, the key components of good written instructions, and how best to keep your clients on the straight and narrow.
Originally presented as part of Elder Law Short Course 2025.

This session will cover the main differences between funding a first party SNT and funding a third party SNT with various assets and income sources. Learn which assets and income sources can and cannot be transferred into an SNT, when they can be transferred, and how they should be transferred. From Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, inherited IRAs, structured settlements, personal injury awards, life insurance policies, real estate, vehicles, alimony, child support, annuity payments and more, become proficient in the unique challenges to funding SNTs.
Originally presented as part of Elder Law Short Course 2025.