Ensuring Local Governments Comply with the Law - Georgia Guide

Agenda / Content Covered

All times are shown in Eastern time.

1. Open Meeting Laws
   9:00 - 9:45, Lisa S. Morchower
   1. Overview of the Law and to Whom it Applies
   2. Required Content of Meeting Notices
   3. Exceptions to the Rule
   4. Email Communications
2. Public Records Issues
   10:00 - 10:45, Lisa S. Morchower
   1. The Public's Right to Access Records - and Exceptions to the Rule
   2. The Law Regarding Retention, Maintenance and Disposing of Public Records
   3. Issues With Electronic Records Retention
   4. Developing a Public Records Policy
3. Human Resources Issues
   10:45 - 11:45, Charles M. Dalziel Jr.
   1. New Developments in Employment Law
   2. Conducting Successful Employee Investigations
   3. Protecting Your Employees' Privacy Rights
   4. Improving Your Personnel Policies
4. Budgets and Local Government Legalities
   12:45 - 1:15, Mary Donne Peters
5. Public Contracts and Procurement
   1:15 - 2:15, Mary Donne Peters
   1. Bidding Requirements and Processes
   2. Procedures for Payment
   3. Bid Protest Procedures
   4. How to Prevent Common Contract Disputes
   5. How to Resolve Common Contract Disputes
6. A Current Look at Government Immunity
   2:30 - 3:30, Binford Minter
   1. Overview of §1983 Litigation
   2. Types of Immunities
   3. Common Causes of Action
   4. Popular and Effective Defenses
   5. The Latest Evidentiary Considerations
7. Ethics
   3:30 - 4:30, Charles M. Dalziel Jr.
   1. Privileged vs. Public Communications
   2. Conflicts of Interest
   3. Whistle Blowing: Duty to Report?
   4. Representing Clients After Public Service

CHARLES M. DALZIEL JR. is the founder and owner of Dalziel Law Firm. He has 39 years of litigation and arbitration experience in different firms, one worldwide, one statewide, and one more locally oriented. Mr. Dalziel was honored as one of Georgia's top Labor and Employment Lawyers for 2019. His employment law practice includes pursuit and defense of employment discrimination/wrongful termination claims - when defending, mostly as EPLI provided defense counsel. Mr. Dalziel has a nationwide practice regarding employee transitions, centering on noncompete and non-solicitation provisions and the efforts to complete massive transfers of business to the new employers - again, working cases for plaintiffs and defendants. He frequently publishes articles on employment issues in various publications and also writes and presents on corporate governance issues. Mr. Dalziel earned his B.S. degree, cum laude, from Georgia Southern College and J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law.

MARY DONNE PETERS, one of the founders and a partner at Gorby Peters & Associates, LLC, represents high-growth, closely held companies, often serving as outside general counsel or privacy counsel. Ms. Donne Peters served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina, an honors attorney for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Justice Department and a law clerk for a federal appeals court judge (Hon. Emory Sneeden, Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals), before entering private practice. She is a frequent lecturer for legal and business groups and chairs a litigation seminar for the Institute of Continuing Education in Georgia (now a division of the State Bar of Georgia). Ms. Donne Peters is the author of "Expert Testimony in Georgia," published by Thomson Reuters®. She received her B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.

BINFORD MINTER is an attorney at Fox Rothschild LLP. His practice focuses on providing outside general counsel representation to small and mid-size businesses, though he also represents local governments and institutional clients. He earned B.A. degree, cum laude, from the University of Georgia and his J.D. degree from the University of Georgia.

LISA S. MORCHOWER is of counsel with Berman Fink Van Horn P.C., where she concentrates her practice in state and local government law, with a particular emphasis in the areas of alcoholic beverage licensing and hospitality law, zoning and land use matters, business licensing, police licensing and permitting, and general litigation. Ms. Morchower was previously a senior assistant city attorney for the city of Atlanta where she was responsible for providing legal advice and counsel to high level government officials regarding alcoholic beverage and general police licensing, land use and various other matters. Ms. Morchower is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association and the American Bar Association. She is admitted to practice in Florida and Georgia and before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Georgia Court of Appeals. Ms. Morchower earned her B.S. degree from The University of Alabama and her J.D. degree from Emory University School of Law.