Presented by the Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC)
April 21, 2023 9:30 a.m.–4:10 p.m. Live Stream via Zoom Cost: Free (Registration limited to 2,500 participants)
This program offers up to 5 hours of participatory Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) credit (4.0 hours of legal ethics and 1.0 hour of elimination of bias). This program has also been approved for legal malpractice legal specialization credit by the State Bar.
Program schedule Registration information Register online
9:30 a.m.–9:45 a.m. Welcoming Remarks
9:45 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Recent Developments in Legal Ethics and Professional Conduct—What You Need to Know
This panel will discuss important developments in legal ethics, centering on recent and developing advisory ethics opinions prepared by COPRAC, and other professional conduct developments. Topics will include civility and professionalism, the State Bar’s consideration of a version of American Bar Association Model Rule 8.3 (reporting attorney misconduct), and conversion clauses in contingency fee contracts.
11:10 a.m.–12:25 p.m. Implicit Bias Mitigation Tactics in the Business and Practice of Law
As California ramps up implicit bias training requirements, this panel will explore the diverse ways in which practitioners, firms, and legal organizations are implementing implicit bias mitigation tactics. This panel will be a glimpse into the "state of the art" tactics for implicit bias mitigation in the business and practice of lawyering.
12:25 p.m.–1:10 p.m. Lunch
1:10 p.m.–1:30 p.m. Presentation of the 2022 California Lawyers Association Harry B. Sondheim Professional Responsibility Award
This award will be presented to Mark L. Tuft for his outstanding long-term contribution to the advancement of attorney professional standards in California.
1:30 p.m.–2:45 p.m. Ethics Perspectives on the Girardi Affair
Recent developments from the Girardi case, including the background and history, statutory responses including the Client Trust Account Protection Program, changes to the State Bar Special Deputy Trial Counsel program, other disciplinary changes and developments, and a roundtable discussion of “All Things Girardi” offering perspectives from the State Bar, disciplinary respondents’ counsel, and rank-and-file practitioners.
2:55 p.m.–4:10 p.m. Chatbots, Robots and AI, Oh My: Ethics and the Use of New Technologies in the Practice of Law
This panel will discuss the use of Artificial Intelligence and other emerging technologies, and their practical and ethical implications in the practice of law.
This year the Ethics Symposium is being offered for free and is limited to 2,500 registrants. Register online no later than April 19, 2023.
In order to receive participatory MCLE credit, you will need to join the webinar by video through the use of a computer or mobile device. If you join by telephone, we will not be able to verify your attendance. See State Bar Rule 3.600(H).
Note: All registrants will receive a confirmation email with a link to the Zoom webinar. In order to authenticate your attendance, during the program, we will provide you with a link to an attendance sign-in page. Only those who sign in will receive MCLE credit and an email containing the MCLE certificate.
This program offers up to 5 hours of participatory MCLE credit (4.0 hours of legal ethics and 1.0 hour of elimination of bias). This program has also been approved for legal malpractice legal specialization credit by the State Bar. The State Bar and the Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct are approved State Bar of California MCLE providers.
For questions regarding registration, program content, or requests for special assistance, please call 415-538-2116.
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, those requiring accommodations for this event should notify Angela Marlaud at: 415-538-2116. Please provide notification at least 72 hours prior to the event to allow sufficient time to make arrangements for accommodations.