Maine bundle

As the student debt crisis grows, more bankruptcy filers are seeking discharge of their student loan debt. Be prepared to assist clients burdened by student loan debt get the fresh start they deserve. Discharging Student Loan Debt in Bankruptcy will explore the treatment of student loans in bankruptcy including determining a client’s eligibility for discharge. This program will guide you through the process of litigating student loans in bankruptcy court from case evaluation and intake to trial and discuss the recent policy change designed to provide a more expeditious process for discharging student loan debt.

In this course, Andrew Lieb will discuss the emergence of restrictions on speech in public schools and whether those restrictions constitute actionable viewpoint discrimination. Can the government regulate what teachers and students wear and display in our public schools? When are time, place, and manner restrictions permissible and when are they discriminatory? Do policies like the “Don't Say Gay” rule, violate the First Amendment? This course will teach you how to analyze a viewpoint discrimination case and prepare you to fight to protect your clients' constitutional rights.

Abuse of domestic partners in the form of physical, psychological, financial, sexual, and related forms of abuse tends to be systemic in nature causing complex trauma to the victim who suffers overwhelming psychological and emotional stress leading to various psychiatric issues forcing the victim to contend in unhealthy ways while experiencing deep feelings of helplessness, hopeless despair, and pain. This program will provide a detailed understanding of the victim’s experiences and challenges for the criminal defense lawyer in such cases.

In this program, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Senior Attorney and Managing Litigator Selena Kyle will introduce the concept of environmental justice and discuss trends in federal environmental justice policy and private environmental-justice advocacy. This program will use examples from the guest’s own impact litigation practice to illustrate current issues in environmental justice.

Employers and employees alike must be mindful of how on-duty and off-duty use of social media can have consequences in the workplace. Employers must also take care to craft social media use policies that do not violate the legal rights of their employees. This fast-paced class covers recent examples of what happens when employers act against employees based on social media posts and what happens when social media policies are not legally compliant. Lawyers will be prepared to advise clients on legally sound social media use policies and practices.

Solo and small firm attorneys often face the familiar challenge of handling work demands during peak times. How can a small firm continue to offer excellent client service when there are only so many hours in the day? Small firms often look outside to contract attorneys, co-counsel, or refer work out in order to ensure client needs are met. This program will discuss the ethical considerations involved when working with contract attorneys, co-counsel relationships, and referral relationships.

In this beginning to intermediate course, learn from an expert with more than 14 years of asylum experience on the best practices and tips on how to prepare the asylum application and additional supplemental materials to put your client’s best case forward. Whether it's your first time, or you have experience, compare notes and learn suggestions from a diversified successful asylum practice by immigration attorney Ruby L. Powers. Learn asylum office specific advice on preferences for filing deadlines and specific details of various asylum offices. In addition to the application and supplemental materials, learn how to prepare your client for the best asylum interview or immigration court hearing experience. This course will cover the three sections of the affirmative asylum interview and best practices to prepare your client for a smooth experience in an already stressful process. Assimilate the best practices on how to prepare your client for the immigration court hearing and being cross examined by the trial attorney and the immigration judge. Study how to formulate and anticipate questions so your client will be prepared for the interview or hearing.

Working well with others is one key to a successful business. Drafting strategically prepared collaboration agreements can be one of the most valuable services you can provide to your small business and startup clients. This course explains how to prepare for, and then draft agreements, collaboration agreements that will keep your clients’ businesses running effectively and keep them out of court.

The DOL’s 2022 budget and the Biden Administration’s proposed budget for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 2023 seeks funding to hire significantly more OSHA inspectors.  In addition, Doug Parker was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA on November 3, 2021, and based on his prior role as chief of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, employers should expect increased rulemaking and more aggressive enforcement activities in the coming years. You will hear from a former OSHA trial attorney as he discusses OSHA hot topics and future agenda items.  These issues include an update on OSHA’s COVID-19 guidance for general industry and the status of OSHA’s health care permanent COVID rule.  Other areas will include discussion of OSHA’s heat stress enforcement and rulemaking; reviewing highly targeted inspection industries; identifying the most common OSHA citations in 2021; workplace violence; proposed changes to the electronic recordkeeping rule; review of recent OSHA standard interpretation letters on recording injuries; overview of the new hazard communication final rule and other expected rulemaking proposals.

Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court declared in the landmark case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that students “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” But is that still true — and if so, what does the First Amendment mean in today’s world of Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter? As book-banning sweeps the nation, what about school libraries — are they protected by the First Amendment? Do students have a First Amendment right to access certain titles? And how about attendance and curricular issues? And how about when students arrive on college? Do their rights change? In this course, we’ll review all of these questions and more. Students: Know your rights!

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have the potential to transform industries ranging from healthcare to finance and everything in between. But they also come with risks that could harm your clients’ business interests or expose your clients to liability. It is important for attorneys to educate themselves about this new technology to properly advise their clients on how to use it to their benefit while navigating around the legal landmines. This presentation will provide an overview of the benefits and risks of generative AI and the legal implications of generative AI across several areas of the law to enable you to confidently advise your clients about this transformative technology.

This course will present an overview of basic maritime law concepts. At the outset, viewers/listeners will learn about the origins of exclusive admiralty jurisdiction and what elements are required to bring a case into the purview of the maritime courts. By the course's conclusion, viewers/listeners will have an introductory level familiarity with relevant terminology, including maritime worker classifications and the statutes governing their employment, rights and remedies. Other topics unique to admiralty will also be introduced and certain key cases identified.

This program will review the process of settling a final account and discharging a guardian in a Mental Hygiene Law Article 81 proceeding in New York– i.e., ending the guardianship completely or facilitating the appointment of a successor guardian. The course will give a practical overview of how to prepare a motion to settle a final account a/k/a discharge application, governing law, step-by-step procedure, procedural intricacies, how the process differs from county to county (and sometimes from judge to judge), and other court customs. The course will review the many reasons a guardian (or their ward) may seek discharge of the guardian, including regaining mental capacity, death of the incapacitated person, the transfer of a ward to a nursing home when the guardian is a community guardian program, discharge for wrongdoing, and other purposes.

In this course, attorney Nate Osborn, will provide a detailed overview of the essential aspects of drafting real estate operating agreements. This course will take attorneys through the steps of drafting real estate operating agreements and help them understand the related legal considerations involved. Attorneys should walk away from this course with a practical understanding of how to best advise clients who want to form a real estate LLC.

Whether its climate change, diversity on corporate boards, shareholders valuing more than financial returns or the integration of ESG factors in the investment process, ESG is shifting the paradigm in today’s business world. This course will examine what ESG really means, the forces driving the discussion, the issues gaining momentum, and the extent to which ESG is shaping corporate accountability. In addition to providing an overview of the ESG framework, the course will examine the key players driving the ESG dialogue as well as the the role of shareholder advocacy and employee activism. In addition, it will evaluate ESG’s impact in the boardroom and on corporate governance. Highlighted throughout the course will be legislative initiatives and the extent to which regulatory scrutiny by the Securities Exchange Commission is impacting issues ranging from climate related risk disclosures to investment and portfolio management.

In this one-hour presentation, tax attorneys Ben Wagner and Kathleen Pfutzenreuter discuss some common tax issues and questions that arise for attorneys advising small business owners, including: the home office tax deduction, tax consequences and considerations in employing family members, the Section 199A Deduction from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, establishing residency in a lower or no-income tax state, whether certain items, such as cars, boats, and planes, are deductible business expenses, and how to determine whether the client should treat workers as employees or independent contractors.

Now you know about ransomware. You know the types, you know how the attacks work, and you know what to do and not do in response to an attack. But so far, we’ve focused on how to stop the attack and resume operations as soon as possible. But in most cases, a ransomware attack also impacts individuals outside of an organization – customers and clients.

An attorney is a professional; and being a good and respected attorney means more than just making lots of money and having lots of clients. It means displaying, encouraging, and garnering reciprocal professionalism. In this introduction to legal professionalism, we cover some of the major temptations, quandaries, and slip ups that attorneys can handle properly if they adhere to a high standard of professionalism. We also review a sample state’s creed on professionalism, as well as a recent ethics - related case before ending with a summary of suggested best practices for maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and avoiding the scrutiny of the local bar’s ethics board.

Brand owners in the packaged food business often contract out many of their essential functions – from product development to manufacturing, sales, and distribution. This course introduces participants to several of the most common contracts that CPG food brands need, especially in their early stages. Lauren Handel of Handel Food Law LLC will provide background on important aspects of the food business that must be considered in crafting and negotiating contracts for brand owners. She also will explain key provisions of five common agreements: non-disclosure, product development, co-manufacturing, sales representation, and distribution.

Own a patent, now what? Only patent owners can enforce their right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or offering to sell their invention. In this introduction to patent litigation, we breakdown the major steps necessary to file and pursue a patent infringement complaint in U.S. district court. We also discuss the importance of claim construction and selecting the right forum. Participants in this course will gain a general understanding of the key step when enforcing a patent owner’s right to exclude.