Every year, more and more attorneys are facing disciplinary action and litigation for alleged professional or ethical negligence. In a litigious society, no one is immune. Knowing what is required and how to identify problems before they happen is vital. Let us provide you with proactive strategies for spotting and avoiding potential areas of liability and answer your most pressing ethical questions. Find out how simple changes to your routine can make ethical legal practices second nature – order today!

1. Ethical Client Communications
2. Responsible Management of Attorney's Fees and Client Trust Accounts
3. Record-Keeping Practices That Prevent Legal Malpractice Allegations
4. Preventing Legal Malpractice in Everyday Practice

Continuing Education Credits:   

Continuing Legal Education

Credit Hrs    State    Credit Approval Expiration

* denotes specialty credits

Presenter: Carole R. Richelieu

ETHICAL CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS
8:45 - 9:30 and 1:00 - 1:45

• Protecting Confidentiality
• Preventing Conflicts of Interest
• Keeping the Client in the Loop
• Admitting to the Client When You've Made a Mistake
• Managing Difficult Clients
• What to do When Co-Clients are Fighting?
• Representing a Mentally Incapable Client or a Minor
• Implied Attorney-Client Contracts

RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT OF ATTORNEY'S FEES AND CLIENT TRUST ACCOUNTS
9:30 - 10:15 and 1:45 - 2:30

• Choosing the Appropriate Billing Method
• Initial Fee Agreements
• Simple Tips to Avoid Commingling of Funds
• Keeping Impeccable Financial Records
• How to Write Invoices That Clients Will Pay
• Fee Splitting
• Resolving Fee Disputes

RECORD-KEEPING PRACTICES THAT PREVENT LEGAL MALPRACTICE ALLEGATIONS
10:30 - 11:15 and 2:45 - 3:30

• How Long do I Keep the Closed Case File?
• What Must Be Done When a Lawyer Enters or Leaves the Firm?
• Electronic Communications Challenges
• Can an Attorney Secretly Record Conversations?

PREVENTING LEGAL MALPRACTICE IN EVERYDAY PRACTICE
11:15 - 12:00 and 3:30 - 4:15

• Interstate Practice of Law
• Partnering With Colleagues and Case Referral
• Ethical Advertising and the Pitfalls in Online Marketing
• Assisting a Pro Se Litigant
• Unauthorized Practice of Law - What to do When You're in Way Over Your Head
• Hidden Dangers of Office Sharing Arrangements

CAROLE R. RICHELIEU is the former and longest serving chief disciplinary counsel of Hawaii's Office of Disciplinary Counsel and former fund administrator for the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. She is currently a per diem hearings officer, hearing unemployment appeals for the State Department of Labor, and a legal ethics expert and instructor. She has made numerous presentations on legal ethics, client protection, practice management, and professionalism, as well as written many articles and contributed to numerous manuals. She was a member of the Hawaii's Supreme Court's Commission on Professionalism, and a co-chair and faculty on the court's course on professionalism since its inception. Ms. Richelieu has served as a Supreme Court appointee to the Chief Justice's National Action Plan (producing the first one in the nation), the Committee to Review the Code of Judicial Conduct; the Committee on the Certification of Legal Specialists; the Committee on Unbundling Legal Services/Unauthorized Practice of Law; and continues to serve on the Board of Examiners in various capacities. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a Bencher with the American Inns of Court, a poll official and a notary. Ms. Richelieu is a member of the American Bar Association, the Hawaii State Bar Association (on which she served many committees and is a director for the Senior Counsel Division), the National Organization of Bar Counsel, and the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility. She was appointed by the ABA to serve on the ABA Advisory Commission on Lawyers' Funds for Client Protection (2000 - 2001) and Chair the Commission (2001 - 2002), and was a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Client Protection through 2009. A former vice-president and president of the National Client Protection Organization, she served as NCPO's liaison to the ABA Standing Committee on Client Protection and ABA Center Coordinating Council. Ms. Richelieu has participated in the International Association of Trial Lawyers China Project and fund raising for the Hawaii Women Legal Foundation for many years, and served on the American Judicature Society's Special Committee on Court Conflicts. She is also a very active community volunteer.

Please refer to Continuing Education Credit FAQ for general information about seeking credit for your participation in one of our continuing education programs.

Additionally, our team of credit specialists are here to answer your specific credit-related questions weekdays 7am - 5pm Central:

Phone: 866-240-1890

Email: credit@nbi-sems.com