Minnesota CLE requirements

Beginning in Ancient Rome and journeying to modern bankruptcy law in the United States, this presentation offers an overview of the history and current substantive law of so-called straight consumer bankruptcy in the United States under chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. In this course, we’ll walk through a typical chapter 7 case with Debbie Debtor, recently unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ll learn about the filing of the petition, the creation of the bankruptcy estate and automatic stay, the § 341 meeting of creditors, discharge, postdischarge issues, and more!

Given the US Supreme Court ruling of Bostock v Clayton County, Georgia, decided June 15, 2020, employers, employees and employment law attorneys need to understand the heightened protections afforded employees in the workplace based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

Immigration attorneys often struggle with the demands of practicing in a highly complex area of law in which the stakes are extremely high for their clients. Many different agencies are involved, and attorneys must be fluent with the grounds of inadmissibility and removability, their related waivers, potential eligibility for benefits, potential penalties and forms of relief, and countless regulations, statutes, agency manuals, memoranda, and abstract legal concepts and principles that govern every aspect of immigration practice. In this context, attorneys must advocate for clients whose ability to live, work, remain with their families, or to avoid persecution or harm may lie in the hands of the attorney. 

Until very recently, the NCAA prohibited student-athletes receiving compensation due to their “amateur” status. In this course, we examine landmark cases review the NCAA actions for potential antitrust law violations. We also look ahead to the future of college athletics in the new name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) era.

Among the most important topics in immigration defense today is CRIMMIGRATION, that is, the consideration of how to contend with and explain criminal issues, including fraud, misrepresentation, illegal activity and crimes involving moral turpitude, for immigration clients. This seminar will consider how to tackle this extremely important issue separate and apart from proving hardship issues in 601-waiver petitions by using MITIGATION, just as criminal defense lawyers use mitigation to defend and explain their client’s criminal behavior with prosecutors or in court.

In this appellate advocacy program, we explore how to prepare and deliver the best appellate oral argument for you, how to be the best advocate you can be, and how to maintain your credibility as an advocate. We address the fundamental appellate advocacy issues involved in appeals. And we focus heavily on principles of advocacy including how to be your authentic self as an advocate and how and why you should not fake it by trying to be someone you are not. We offer useful real world experiences along the way and useful tips and practice pointers so you tread carefully and safely in your appeal.

The powerful public interest in preventing the spread of contagious diseases has led to a longstanding history of vaccination mandates being imposed as a prerequisite to access to various rights, such as education and employment. At some points in history, nonvaccination has even been punished with fines. Balancing out this imposition, systems have been established to compensate the small proportion of individuals who claim to have been harmed by an adverse reaction to a vaccination. This course will examine the legal basis and structure of vaccination mandates, including public mandates imposed by state and federal government entities and private mandates imposed by employers. The course will cover the common exemptions from vaccination and accommodations required by employers under federal law. The course will then turn to the function and operations of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, and to other routes of injury compensation available for vaccines not covered under that program.

We as a society cannot eliminate bias without having uncomfortable conversations. However, it is a topic that cannot be ignored. If you desire to understand why bias exists, ways to reduce bias, and how to create an inclusive environment in your law firm and within the legal profession, this course is for you. In this course, we will learn about implicit bias and how it manifests itself in the legal profession, including in pay inequity. We will also discuss intersectionality, the theory that the presence of more than one affinity status can negatively impact an employee when he or she is subjected to bias. Then, we will review the benefits of effective anti-bias training and policies. Finally, we will detail strategies that lawyers and law firms can implement to cultivate a culture of diversity and inclusion and to eliminate bias.

This one hour module provides an overview of negotiation fundamentals and explores strategies and techniques for attorneys who routinely engage in negotiations on behalf of private clients, corporate organizations, or administrative agencies. In addition to suggesting best preparation practices, the presenter will discuss other factors that should be taken into consideration including, but not limited to, communication styles, intangible influences, behind-the-table negotiations, cross-cultural factors, and negotiating in unstable contexts (such as a pandemic).

Whether it is the Yorkshire terrier in the carrier on the airplane or the emotional support rat on the shopper’s shoulder in the grocery store, one encounters people insisting on and resisting about the use of animals to assist them with a variety of activities in the world. What are the allowable options in that regard? What does the law permit, what does the law prohibit, and what does the law simply not pay attention to at all when it comes to the service animal, the assistance animal, or the emotional support animal in a public setting. This seminar examines both the sense and the nonsense of not just the players involved but the rules that are imposed on those players – which can include not simply the animal owner but the merchant, bystander, government agent, and affected consumer as well. We do so by ferreting out the scope of regulations across jurisdictions, by specifying the questions that can and cannot be asked of certain participants, and by trying to glean what rationalizations lay behind protections and penalties in the use and abuse of dogs, cats, rabbits, horses and other animals in the service of people.

This 60 minute CLE is geared towards registered patent practitioners and their support staff in understanding the obligations of patent lawyers. This IP Ethics CLE will cover topics including conflicts of interest, candor requirements, unauthorized practice of law, working with foreign associates, export control issues, and more.

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.

Do you friend, tweet, connect, or blog with colleagues, friends, clients, and others? If so, have you installed an automatic mental pause button before posting on social media? Are you now wondering about where and why to find said pause button? Well, you have come to the right course because we will explore the answers to these questions and more as we journey to uncover the impact of social media upon the practice of law. After a bit of historical context, the course will reveal why today’s lawyer must be imbued with social media savvy in order to effectively represent clients, market a law practice, and avoid ethical landmines that endanger a lawyer’s license to practice law.

Perhaps no area of discovery is more active than Social Media. The ubiquitous nature of cell phones and the proliferation of social media sites has spawned countless discovery challenges and disputes. This fast-paced seminar will help you identify the critical issues you need to focus on. Practice pointers, timely advice, and ethical considerations will also be offered – and will be valuable for all levels of experience with these complex issues.

In today’s complex world of federal procurement, many times the government’s desired “solution” cannot always be met by one contractor. Teaming, subcontracting and the utilization of contractors that make up the federal supply chain can become a necessity for a winning bid in response to a solicitation. Managing those relationships can be challenging but also critically important. The ultimate success or failure of contract performance likely will depend not only on the performance of a federal prime contractor, but also the performance of the entire team of subcontractors and other supply chain contractors. In this course, we will explore a wide range of federal supply chain issues including basic compliance issues related to the scope of subcontracting and flowdown obligations to more complex issues concerning Contractor Purchasing System Reviews (CPSRs) and ever-evolving cybersecurity requirements that can affect the entire supply chain. We will also suggest strategies for establishing and maintaining a fully compliant supply chain.

This class will explain the evolution of computer forensics into what is now known as digital forensics. As a part of this class, attorneys will learn about the foundations of digital forensics, including how digital evidence should be collected, forensically acquired (copied), preserved, examined, and analyzed. The class then uses numerous case examples to explain different forensic artifacts and how they can be used in cases. Evidence types include metadata, internet history, communication artifacts, searches, multimedia, location evidence, and much more. Actual case examples are utilized to illustrate the usefulness of these forensic artifacts in litigation. Attorneys will also learn the difference between an information technology expert and a digital forensics expert, with case examples illustrating the problematic outcomes of having information technology experts attempting to testify about digital forensics.

In August 2021, The Washington Post released a transcript of a February 2018 interview in which Rudy Giuliani told federal agents it was permissible to “throw a fake” during an electoral campaign. Just weeks before that transcript became public, Giuliani was suspended from the practice of law in New York for baselessly asserting that thousands of felons and dead people voted during the 2020 presidential election and that Georgia voting machines had been manipulated. This program will examine the ethics rules implicated by Giuliani’s recent conduct—ABA Rules 3.3, 4.1, and 8.4—and provide guidance on how to avoid suffering Rudy’s fate.

The two greatest sources of professional risk to attorneys come from overlapping sources – ethical obligations and legal duties to clients. Using real world examples, this course explores a national survey of claims against lawyers based on attorney malpractice and professional misconduct. Common ethical considerations and the relationship between professional responsibility and malpractice exposure will be explored along with growing cyber risks to attorneys. Related causes of action, common defenses and jurisdictional considerations will be reviewed as well as risk management techniques and best practices to mitigate such claims.

Bias can influence decision-making and behavior in profound ways, and bias against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (“LGBTQIA”) communities is pervasive. LGBTQIA clients need attorneys who are both competent in the law, and competent in LGBTQIA experiences. This presentation divides LGBTQIA cultural competence into five distinct areas: understanding the terminology around gender, sex, and sexual orientation, calling out the messaging that can influence our beliefs and behaviors, appreciating the specific challenges facing members of these communities, cultivating inclusive spaces that helps LGBTQIA clients feel comfortable expressing their needs, and being an ally by committing to a reflective practice. The presentation contains a number of helpful practice tips about representing LGBTQIA clients.

While attorneys play a limited role in assisting foreign nationals in obtaining visas to study in the U.S., it is never too early to advise an international student about the manner in which they might pursue employment following the conclusion of their studies. The processes are not intuitive, and developing a strategy in a timely manner can be essential to the student’s ability to remain in the U.S. This course will provide strategies for transitioning international students to temporary and/or permanent employment-based visas, and assist counsel in providing answers to the questions that international students typically present. What is the legal framework for seeking employment-based visas in the U.S.? How do the processes differ in pursuing temporary (nonimmigrant) and permanent (immigrant) visas? What are the most suitable categories within each? What if the client is from a country for which there are no immigrant visas available? What strategies are available for moving from a nonimmigrant to an immigrant visa? What considerations should a foreign national be considering while pursuing their studies in the U.S.? In the course of addressing these issues, we will survey the most common immigrant- and non-immigrant visas, discuss how to evaluate your client’s suitability for particular pathways, and identify special issues that should be addressed from the outset to provide your client the best chance of success.