West Virginia bundle

Since 2015, there has been a significant increase in class actions addressing total loss auto insurance, starting in Florida and now expanding into numerous other states. It is now perhaps the most litigated issue in the class action insurance area of law. This course addresses the three major theories under which these cases are brought, along with the major issues, both as to the merits and class certification, particularly from the plaintiff's perspective.

With legal practice reforms enabling law firms to build their tech stacks, coupled with the accelerating rate of innovation, now more than ever, embracing technology is necessary for litigators to stay afloat in the era of digitalization. This 1-hour long CLE will explore how innovation is the reshaping litigation practice. We will identify the pain points and risks that litigators face and how legal technology solutions can streamline workflows throughout the lifecycle of a civil action.

The federal antitrust laws are a longstanding and overriding national policy in favor of competition that has been affirmed and reaffirmed by Congress time and again, and federal law is the supreme law of the land. But then sometimes it isn’t: states have the power to regulate economic activity, and they sometimes do so in ways that are anticompetitive (and sometimes allow private parties to do anticompetitive things). This course covers the most commonly-implicated doctrines when there is state involvement in anticompetitive conduct.

Taking effective depositions is a crucial skill for litigators and trial lawyers, a skill that can be taught and learned. But how should deposition skills be taught? A lot goes into taking effective, powerful depositions and a lot goes into defending depositions. Effective depositions can be reduced to mastering certain skills, including conducting thorough due diligence before a deposition, thinking through and relying on your case theme during the deposition, securing all relevant information the witness has to offer, and directing the witness the provide you the information in the manner that you want it. This course will focus on strategies and exercises for teaching deposition skills that win cases.

Property owners and general contractors face an extremely high burden with respect to safety issues at construction sites with high elevation. Nothing better exemplifies this than the requirements of Labor Law Section 240, traditionally known as the “scaffold law” in New York. This statute is intended to protect workers against the dangers inherent in working at elevations, and with materials or equipment at different heights. This course will review the requirements of the statute and what entities are subject to its mandates. Also discussed will be how the requirements of the statute are implemented in the field, as well as the defenses that are traditionally raised when a worker is injured due to a claimed violation. Real life examples will be utilized to illustrate the principles.

The courtroom may seem like a scary place, but it does not have to be. This course will discuss the evidentiary and admissibility rules that every attorney needs to know and will guide you through what to do during trial so that you have the best chance of getting your evidence admitted into the record. The goal of this course is to untangle the complicated world of evidence and admissibility rules and procedures, so that no matter how inexperienced you may be, you will feel at home in the courtroom.

This presentation will cover what you need to know about outsourcing, how to use it, and how to avoid malpractice traps.We also cover other services regularly outsourced by firms, as well as the financial benefits of outsourcing, so that attorneys can stay focused on their cases. By attending this presentation, you'll learn how the ABAand State Bar Associations have applied ethical rules in the context of outsourcing legal services and support.

This one-hour program discusses the science of stress and resilience and offers several strategies to combat stress in the legal practice and to prevent burnout. The objective of this course is to provide tools that will increase lawyer competency by learning to identify stress and appropriately respond to stressors.

This one hour presentation will analyze the essential terms in supply chain agreements including, warranty provisions, consequential damages, indemnification, force majeure, and termination. We will discuss best practices for drafting. We will discuss best practices for attorneys when crafting such provisions.

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies present many complicated legal issues and attorneys need to be aware of these issues to provide competent legal representation. In addition, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are creating a new area of law that presents an excellent opportunity for attorneys looking to expand their practice or to be seen as a legal thought leader in their organization.

This course offers an in-depth survey of the current state of the major topics in animal law and provides participants with the key principles, rules, and regulations – as developed by common law and from statute – affecting animals. Styled as a cinematic presentation, the course examines animal-related laws via their philosophical, scientific, and practical underpinnings, and from a variety of differing perspectives, exploring how the courts have treated animals in the past and will likely treat them in the future, locally and nationally. From the foundational (How are animals defined? Do animals have rights? Why are animals properties?) to the pragmatic (What procedural obstacles might confront claims made on behalf of animals? What substantive constraints might prosecuting an animal abuse case entail?).

Prior to Brown v. Board and the passage of the landmark civil rights laws of the 1960s, perpetrators of discrimination were clear in their reasons for what the law now recognizes as unlawful conduct.

While civil rights laws have a huge impact in eradicating what some call “honest discrimination” where the culprit admits his/her/its reasons for wrongful conduct, the laws have given rise to new schemes that – often harder to detect – are designed to achieve the same discriminatory impact.

This one-hour lecture will outline the trajectory of our discrimination laws, the rise of dishonest discrimination, and provide practical tips on litigating discrimination cases where proof is complex.

A “how to” guide on drafting prenuptial agreements in New York. The Course will include initial interview questions to ask. A review of the financial statement and what documents to request from your client. A discussion of the major portions of the prenuptial agreement. What to negotiate with opposing counsel. How the clients should execute the agreement. A quick review of prenuptial law.

On November 27, 2019, the European Union enacted a new directive on the protection of whistleblowers. This Directive, titled Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law, requires E.U. Member States to significantly reinforce legal protections for whistleblowers. Its provisions—which are widely considered the most whistleblower-friendly in the world—include broad anti-retaliation protections as well as reinforced compliance obligations for employers. The Directive is currently being implemented across E.U. Member States, with certain countries having already adopted national whistleblower legislation pursuant to the Directive, and other Member States in the process of adopting such legislation. This program will review the E.U. Whistleblower Directive and provide a snapshot of Member State legislation to date. The program also highlights best practices that employers with European operations can put in place to ensure compliance with the Directive and Member State legislation.

Customs and International Trade Law is the intersection of national sovereignty and international commerce. Fueled by economic concerns, national interests and arcane peculiarities, customs law can be an interesting minefield for companies to navigate. You don’t need to be an expert in customs law to serve your clients—but you should be aware of basic principles and be able to identify potential compliance problems and cost-saving opportunities.

This course offers an in-depth look at how the concept of ownership is treated with regard to animals and their offspring and it provides participants with every key case citation as to ownership rules, animals as properties to be conveyed and transferred, and how value and damages theories affect our application of ownership laws to animal-relate disputes. The cliched proposition that animals are personal properties is simply the jumping off point to a host of more sophisticated analyses about owning such properties and the unique problems that are brought to light by the fact that as properties animals do odd things such as make decisions, independently transport themselves from place to place, and magically compound their value over time. We also consider how animals may be “specially valued” and at the same time keep in mind the realistic comparison of dead animals with dead humans in both applying and misapplying wrongful death laws and valuation schemes.

The New Jersey judiciary handles tens of thousands of landlord-tenant cases every year. These cases touch many facets of life and law. Despite the volume and complexity of these cases, the practice of landlordtenant remained largely the same since the 1970s. The COVID-19 pandemic changed this. In August 2021, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered sweeping changes to the administration and adjudication of landlord-tenant cases. This discussion addresses these dramatic changes, the policy reasons underlying them and best practices for practitioners new to the field.

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.

The desire to achieve is one of the traits that we learn as law students and which motivates us as lawyers. This mindset creates a culture of competition in which we are always pushing ourselves to do more and be better than others. Striving for perfection can be a lawyer’s best motivator or worst enemy. This course explores the difference between high achievers and perfectionists and the role that stress and anxiety play in both. Dr. Patti offers unique insights to equip lawyers with valuable resources to aid them in striking a healthy balance between work and wellness while developing strategies for success.

This program will focus on Workers Compensation, Social Security Disability Benefits, and Unemployment Benefits. After an overview of each program’s basics, we will begin with a recapturing public benefits policies from the Covid-19 Pandemic. We will review and assess the current state of these benefits programs in terms of both legal changes and operational changes. The final portion of the program will look at the political, global, and economic factors impacting these programs. We will focus on predicting the impacts on public benefits and proactive steps we can take to best prepare your clients.