Presented by the State Bar of California Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct
Registration is closed for the Ethics Symposium.
Friday, April 6, 2018 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. State Bar of California 180 Howard St. San Francisco, CA 94105
3.75 hours of MCLE credit in Legal Ethics and 1.25 hours of MCLE credit in Recognition and Elimination of Bias. This program has been approved for legal malpractice legal specialization credit by the State Bar of California.
Program schedule Essential information Printable brochure
8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Registration
9:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. Welcoming remarks
9:45 a.m. - 11 a.m. Ethics Update - What You Need to Know
Learn about recent developments involving core ethical principles affecting the day-to-day practice of lawyers. This panel will discuss several important decisions impacting how lawyers represent clients while fulfilling their professional obligations. Issues will include developments regarding the attorney-client privilege and confidentiality, disqualification and imputation, lawyer liability, and other fundamental principles related to the law governing lawyers.
11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Joint Defense Agreements: Intertwined Ethical and Strategic Considerations
Joint defense agreements are useful tools. They allow parties with common interests to work collaboratively in civil and criminal litigation as well as transactional matters to strategize together to further their mutual goals. But these agreements raise numerous ethical and strategic issues that must be carefully navigated. During this roundtable conversation, this lively panel of experienced trial lawyers and ethics experts will discuss the ethical issues and strategic considerations that arise when working jointly with parties sharing a common interest, including those that arise if those parties’ interests begin to diverge.
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. The Law and Ethics of Attorney Mistakes
This panel will address the legal and ethical issues that arise when a lawyer or law firm suspects that it may have made a harmful mistake. Among the questions that the panel will discuss are: What counts as a mistake? What may or must a lawyer do when she is concerned that a mistake may have occurred? When does a lawyer have a duty to tell the client that a mistake has been made and what should be said? When can a lawyer continue to represent a client after a mistake has been made? And how do these issues intersect with the law firm’s duty of loyalty to the client, its obligations to its insurer, and the law of attorney-client privilege?
3 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. Prohibited Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession
In the era of #metoo, renewed scrutiny is being placed on sexual harassment claims, as we see more and more people speaking out about experiences with sexual harassment and discrimination. Will this movement cross into the legal profession, and if so, are there implications of that beyond employment litigation? Often criticized as the only profession without strong anti-discrimination and anti-harassment rules on the books, the California Rules Revision Commission recommended a stronger rule in proposed Rule of Professional Conduct Rule 8.4.1, which is pending before the California Supreme Court. This panel will explore the current Rule of Professional Conduct 2-400, analyze proposed rule 8.4.1, and discuss the role of the Rules of Professional Conduct in addressing prohibited discrimination and sexual harassment in the modern legal practice. This course offers 1.25 hours of MCLE credit in Recognition and Elimination of Bias.
For your convenience, we have provided a printable program brochure.
This event is sold out. Registration is closed.
The Ethics Symposium will be streamed live via webcast. When registering for the event, please select the "Live streaming webcast registration" option. Prior to the Symposium, you will receive an email with the instructions to join the webcast and the link to download the written materials. After the Symposium has concluded, you will receive your MCLE certificate via email.
On-site registration will not be available.
This program offers up to 3.75 hours of MCLE credit in Legal Ethics and 1.25 hours of MCLE credit in Recognition and Elimination of Bias. The State Bar of California and the Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct are approved State Bar of California MCLE providers. This program has been approved for Legal Malpractice Legal Specialization credit by the State Bar of California.
For registration questions, please call 415-538-2116. For program content, please call 415-538-2167.
Please call 415-538-2167.
No special block of rooms has been arranged for this one-day event. The following are hotels within walking distance Harbor Court Hotel 415-882-1300, Hotel Griffon 415-495-2100, Hyatt Regency Embarcadero 415-788-1234, Hotel Vitale 415-278-3700.
The State Bar of California San Francisco Office is located approximately 14 miles, or 20-30 minutes, from the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and 19 miles, or 30-40 minutes, from Oakland International Airport (OAK).
From the North Bay: After crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, make a slight left onto Lombard Street. Turn right onto Gough Street. Turn left onto Broadway. Turn right onto The Embarcadero. Turn right onto Howard.
From the South Bay: Take Highway 101 Northbound. Take exit 2 for 4th Street. Turn left onto Bryant Street. Turn left onto Main Street. Make the first right onto Howard. Or take Highway 280 Northbound and take the last exit King Street. Continue onto Embarcadero. Turn left onto Howard.
From the East Bay: Take the Bay Bridge West to San Francisco. Take the Fremont Street exit (2C) and merge onto Fremont Street. Turn right onto Howard.
Get additional driving directions from Google Maps.
The State Bar of California is on Howard Street between Spear and Main Streets, one block from the Transbay Terminal at First and Mission Streets.
BART: Take any San Francisco bound train and exit at the Embarcadero station Spear Street stairs. Walk two blocks South on Spear and turn right on Howard. Entry is midblock.
Muni: Take any of the Muni rail lines (F, J, K, L, M, N or KT) and exit at Embarcadero station. Walk one block North on Market Street, make a right onto Main Street and make a left onto Howard.
Caltrain: Take Caltrain to San Francisco Station. Walk to 4th and King streets. Take the KT Ingleside/Third Muni Rail towards Balboa Park Station. Get off at Embarcadero and Folsom Street. Walk one block to Howard Street from The Embarcadero.
Ferry: See Ferry schedules from the North Bay/Marin County or from the East Bay. All ferries arrive in San Francisco at the 1 Ferry Building near the Bay Bridge. Walk Southeast on Embarcadero and turn right onto Howard.
The State Bar of California does not have a dedicated parking lot. You can locate parking lot options for the downtown area (sanfrancisco.bestparking.com).