Pennsylvania bundle

The entrepreneurial cannabis industry requires legal assistance like any other growing, innovative business sector. However, the cannabis industry does not necessarily resemble other evolving start-up business areas. Unlike most other industries, cannabis continues to be a federally designated illegal controlled substance, while various states have legalized cannabis and planted a patchwork garden of cannabis statutes, regulations, and ethics advisory opinions. What’s a lawyer to do? Legal ethics questions abound! What type of legal assistance may a lawyer provide to a client involved in the cannabis industry? May a lawyer accept product or an interest in a cannabis business in lieu of fees? Will a lawyer who participates in a medical marijuana program or indulges in recreational cannabis face ethical repercussions? This course will explore the historical context of the cannabis debate, the legal ethics implications for lawyers seeking to represent cannabis clients, and the current state of the legal profession’s response to legal ethics questions posed by lawyers traipsing through the patchwork garden of state regulations.

National attention has addressed the pay gap for women. Beyond that, there is an information gap, a power and understanding gap, and common perceptions of femininity that have resulted in institutional disadvantages for female attorneys, especially litigators. This program exposes nationwide statistics regarding the wage gap between female and male attorneys and pays special focus to recent academic and bar association studies addressing gender differences in the profession. The course also addresses practical ways to overcome this gender gap, including negotiation strategies and skills to foster leadership and opportunities for professional development. The goal of this program is not just to raise awareness of the issue but to also offer its participants the opportunity to solve the problem.

Non-compete agreements shape the American employment landscape, affecting both employees and employers. Because these agreements prevent an employee from working within a particular industry for a defined time period, courts tend to closely examine these provisions. In recent years, many states have passed legislation to modify non-compete provisions in both employment agreements and business purchase agreements. Some states uphold non-compete agreements only when a legitimate business interest is at stake, while others have banned non-competes altogether. Certain states require employers to provide additional consideration or benefits to an employee to bind them by a non-compete. If employers are to adequately draft non-compete provisions, and if employees are to successfully negotiate such provisions, they must understand how the law is evolving in this area. Kristen Prinz, the Founder and Managing Partner of the Prinz Law Firm, P.C., will discuss best practices for drafting non-compete clauses from an employer’s perspective, and best practices to negotiate and handle non-compete clauses from an employee’s perspective.

It is not always clear how a deposition or written discovery responses can be used by a party during an evidentiary hearing or trial. The applicable discovery rules provide guidance, but frequently the judge is unsure of what is and is not permissible, and whether the response even needs to be shown to the witness or whether the witness or opposing party is allowed to explain or rebut a discovery response. This presentation will discuss the permissible use of discovery responses and depositions under the applicable rules of civil procedure. Additionally, there will be a discussion of practical considerations for use of the discovery. Finally, this presentation will provide suggestions on methods to make the discovery responses more effective or useful at a hearing or trial.

This course is designed to address the various evidentiary issues that arise with electronic evidence. For example, the presentation will cover the use of social media as evidence and how it is obtained and introduced into evidence. There will be a discussion of some of the preliminary evidence rules that are sometimes overlooked that can apply to social media and other electronic evidence. Issues with juries using social media during trial will also be covered. There will be a general discussion of the application of the hearsay rule to electronic evidence, and how to lay the proper foundation. Rules regarding spoliation of electronic evidence and the effect will be examined. The presentation will also deal with statutory provisions regarding discovery electronic information from third party providers. With the increased use of e-signatures, there will be coverage of issues that arise when introducing a document that has been electronically signed.

Attorneys in firms of all sizes – from solo practitioners to lawyers are multinational Big Law firms - face a number of ethical issues relating to cybersecurity, and preserving the confidentiality and security of their clients’ data. Contrary to what some lawyers may believe, law firms are often a valuable target for hackers because they can hold vast collections of sensitive and highly valuable client-related data. These cybersecurity threats come from individual hackers, international cybercriminals, and even a firm’s own attorneys and other employees. This program provides a basic primer on attorneys’ ethical obligations to understand and address the cybersecurity risks they face, and provides practical advice for attorneys in addressing issues that arise will undoubtedly arise in their legal practice.