Alaska (AK) Ethics CLE Course Catalog

The panel will provide an overview of certain bankruptcy laws and rules relevant to mediation, using vignettes or hypotheticals to set the scenes for in-depth discussions of the relevant rules of professional responsibility and ethical concerns.

This panel of ABC-certified judges will discuss the applicable rules of professional conduct and other authority implicated in electronic filing, the use of email, “phishing” scams and hacking, and technology issues raised by today’s pandemic practice.

We often forget that what we say and how we say it can signal more than we intended. One of the primary ways in which "what we say"/"how we say it" creates such signals is with the wording of time entries, whether or not those time entries are ever reviewed by a bankruptcy court. Clients read bills, too, so if one wants to communicate that their work was valuable and efficiently performed, the fable of Goldilocks comes to mind: The time entries need to be "just right." When they're not, clients and courts can draw conclusions that we never intended them to draw. This panel will discuss these issues and more.

You work hard for the money, so let’s make sure you get it. This panel will discuss ethical considerations governing that all-important process: getting retained and paid by the bankruptcy estate. Aside from covering the basics of retention for young and new professionals, the panelists will address some of the myriad ethical issues governing retention and compensation that can arise, including connection disclosures, concurrent representations of insiders and expense reimbursement.

Bankruptcy lawyers are confronted with daily decisions that may have ethical traps. This panel of experts will identify some of these traps and show you how to avoid them.

The panelists will cover a host of topics, ranging from ethical issues surrounding micro-business chapter 7 cases, confidentiality and ethical issues related to working remotely, to limited representation and obligations of counsel in bankruptcy. You'll also hear a trustee's perspective on conflicts, retention and employing special counsel.

Is this program really about getting into bed with our clients? Of course….but I don’t mean sexual relationships. Well, not only sexual relationships. There are a bunch of ways that a lawyer can metaphorically get into bed with their client and all of those situations are governed by the conflicts rules in Rule 1.8. Whether it’s doing business with clients, getting a bequest from a client, or some other self-serving conflict, chances are there’s an ethical implication to doing so.

Stuart will discuss whether lawyers can accept cryptocurrencies for legal fees, Fee splitting with other lawyers, when people fight over trust account funds, and the problem of the flat fee.

The purpose of this program isn’t to convince you that we should actually outlaw Twitter, nor do I honestly think I’d be successful in doing so (for reasons I’ll discuss below). The purpose of this program is to talk about concepts of professionalism in the practice of law. I want to show you how concepts of professionalism ask lawyers to aspire to something higher and how Twitter causes us to do the exact opposite. When we use that medium we are, far too often, behaving in a way that is antithetical to concepts of attorney professionalism. So whether you agree with me or not, hopefully you’ll at least learn about important concepts of professionalism.