Montana CLE requirements

This course will introduce practitioners to the basic considerations for guiding a bankruptcy case: Who needs to file bankruptcy, what kinds of bankruptcy are available, and how does bankruptcy work. The course places bankruptcy practice into the context of the role it plays in our economy and society. We’ll cover the use of bankruptcy to prevent home foreclosures and evictions, and we’ll touch on student loan debt and taxes in bankruptcy.

The changing reproductive health landscape has created confusion and fear among individuals identifying as female as to the privacy and security of their sensitive health data. Following the Dobbs decision, many women have abandoned their period tracking and female health technology (femtech) apps out of fear that their health data could be used to prosecute them for an abortion-related crime. This presentation (i) provides an overview of the shifting reproductive health landscape and privacy laws applicable to healthcare providers and femtech companies, (ii) describes how reproductive health data may be accessed and used by law enforcement officers, and (iii) provides suggestions for practical steps that femtech companies and healthcare providers can take now to help the women’s health industry regain consumer trust.

The False Claims Act was passed by Congress and signed into law in 1863. The statute has been amended multiple times but it is most well-known for its resource constraints and other considerations, often qui tam provisions, which allow private citizens to bring suit in the name of the government to recover dollars lost as a result of fraud. While the government may elect to intervene in an FCA case and run the litigation, resource constraints and other considerations often leave private counsel to pursue the case on their own. This one-hour CLE will provide a soup-to-nuts guide on litigating FCA cases. From determining when to take a case through case investigation, pleading considerations, motions practice, the use of experts, and readiness for trial. It will weave practical considerations into a narrative with the procedural and evidentiary rules. In an era where more and more solid FCA cases are being litigated without government intervention, this program provides essential guidance.

In this one hour program, attorney & author Frank Ramos will discuss in-depth the purpose of depositions, how to advance your case themes, support your case, and win at trial. This course will examine how to handle various types of witnesses, including the expert witness, and analyze how a witness will play a role in your case at trial. We will explore the importance of conducting witness due diligence and how that information will help you accomplish your deposition goals.

The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”), passed by the United States Congress over a Presidential Veto, and as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act of FY 2020, is the first significant Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) legislation passed since the PATRIOT Act in 2001. Several provisions from AMLA have far-reaching consequences for businesses. Foremost among them is the Corporate Transparency Act, which will require most small and medium businesses in the United States to submit information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), which FinCEN will maintain in a database and will make available to certain law enforcement agencies and financial institutions. Although the applicable regulations are not yet finalized, law firms and their clients should be aware of (and planning for) these new requirements. Separately, AMLA also contains a provision regarding subpoenas served by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) on U.S. financial institutions that that have foreign correspondent account relationships. Under AMLA, DOJ can request information relating to the foreign correspondent account, going far beyond activities in and through the United States. Possible consequences for failing to comply are significant fines on the U.S. financial institution and the foreign financial institution. Finally, FinCEN, in conjunction with other federal and state law enforcement authorities, issues an annual Priorities release, identifying particular AML areas of interest to law enforcement and regulators. Lawyers and their clients should be mindful of these items in the Priorities release, and build compliance and supervisory structures around them.

This course will discuss in-depth class litigation and the expansion of telemarketing Regulations, including the rent increase in state mini-TCPA’s and/or adding private causes of actions. We will then take a deep dive into the First Amendment “Commercial Speech” Doctrine discussing its outright exceptions and developing regulations, noting the difference between viewpoint and content based restrictions. Lastly, we will analyze a trio of recent cases that have raised the possibility that Central Hudson is becoming “Zombie precedent.”

This course will teach you the fundamentals of using federal Civil Rule 35 to take mental examinations, a discovery technique commonly used in employment cases by management to have a mental health practitioner intrusively question the plaintiff. We will discuss who can attend such an examination, the uses and misuse of “garden variety” emotional distress, the role of the treater and the treater as a “hybrid” witness, the reports required of a forensic expert and treater, as well as psychological testing and the controversy over malingering and the Fake Bad Scale, and tax treatment of emotional distress damages. By the end of this course you should be able to answer the following questions: Must the plaintiff endeavor to mitigate emotional distress damages? Can the defense conduct an ex parte interview of plaintiff's treater? And can the defense require the plaintiff to be interviewed by a vocational rehabilitation professional?

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.

Young and old attorneys can always learn something about Trademark Law. In this introduction to Trademarks, attorneys learn the basics of Trademark Law from prosecution of a Trademark to obtain one through litigation when a Trademark is infringed. The presentation is broken down into three sections. First, the results of an interview with a Trademark Examiner from the United States Patent and Trademark Office about her prosecution pet peeves is addressed. Second, the basics of Trademarks is presented. Third, a sample case on Trademark infringement is thoroughly analyzed and discussed.

In the COVID-19 pandemic environment and perhaps its aftermath, lawyers must operate in a virtual world that requires extensive use of technology. The pillars of professionalism – competence, civility, public and community service, and pro bono work to ensure access to justice – are always relevant. This era’s needs and concerns accentuate the tenets of professionalism, as the legal profession adopts and adapts to virtual practice and communicating professionally.

Record-keeping and disposition policies and decisions are more important now than ever before, given the ease with which information is created and communicated, the multitude of digital applications, and the constant advancement of technology. Information, in either physical or electronic form, is an essential piece of doing business, yet the legal risks associated with retaining or destroying information are not always appreciated. Lawyers should understand the legal aspects of record-related policies and the possible legal consequences when records that should be kept are instead destroyed so they can counsel their clients when such issues arise.

Although lawyers do not receive formal training on how to assess capacity, they make capacity judgments on a regular basis. Lawyers should be familiar with the signs of “diminished capacity” that may be apparent when meeting with a client and how to address such a situation. Lawyers must be aware of the ethical guidelines for assessing capacity as well as the standards of capacity for specific legal transactions under state statutes and case law.

Congress has often responded to historic medical catastrophes by enacting new regulations designed to prevent their recurrence. With respect to infectious diseases and vaccines capable of preventing them, a well-established regulatory system exists for providing oversight of the process of developing and testing vaccines, licensing their use, controlling their administration, and following up on post-licensure issues. This course covers the structure of FDA regulation in these areas, including its powers governing Emergency Use Authorization and related litigation.

In this program, Gary Reing, former Chair of the Lawyers Assistance Committee of the NYS Bar Association and NYC Bar Association, talks about his own addiction struggles and path to recovery, including his reinstatement to the practice of law. Additionally, he will address issues of substance use and addiction within the legal profession and discuss ways to identify attorneys in trouble and explore resources where attorneys can get help.

Changing a professional sports team name may seem like it requires a simple press release announcement that introduces a new mascot, logo, or merchandise. In this course, we analyze some of the major legal obstacles to changing and owning rights to a new team name—specifically in Cleveland—where a local roller derby team claimed it previously owned the same name that a baseball team tried to acquire. We also discuss integral factors that affect legal disputes surrounding trademarks.

Long-term disability claims are complex mixtures of insurance policy interpretation, medical, vocational, and financial issues, often injected with a dose of federal statutory and regulatory interpretation under ERISA. The process can be amplified in pressure by the difficult circumstances of a client who is sick or injured and simultaneously losing their job or occupation. The purpose of this program is to assist lawyers and those otherwise interested in identifying basic issues involved in preparing and filing a long-term disability claim and managing the claims process with the insurance company.

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.

Many times, clients come to lawyers and firms looking for advice in the fields of copyright and trademark. This course hopes to help familiarize practitioners with some common issues and terminology in those fields so they can at least be somewhat conversant with their clients on the topics. Will this course turn you immediately into an IP lawyer? No, but it will allow you to learn how to handle basic IP issues like registering a copyright or trademark. It will also allow viewers to learn about common issues that could help guide clients in the right direction. After watching the course, practitioners will also be able to steer clients to websites and sources that can address many of the issues new businesses or entrepreneurs need to understand the issues involved. Finally, it will provide viewers with basic knowledge about the differences between copyright and trademark and what goals each of those devices serve.

Discover from corporate insider and attorney Douglas Gordon, in a nationally recognized program, the best corporate governance practices for the board of directors of any size corporation, large or small, public or private. Learn why the board of directors is the most powerful force in the corporation and why it should act accordingly. Get the tools the board and individual directors need to do their job such as Mr. Gordon’s exclusive “Ten Commandments for the Board” (as a group) and the “Director Bill of Rights” (for individual directors). If you’ve ever served on a board, would like to serve on a board, or you're an attorney with corporate clients or director clients, or you’re an attorney who would like to have those types of clients, this course is for you.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) law involves complex and sensitive issues that prompt a number of drafting concerns for attorneys. In this program, Colleen Marea Quinn guides attorneys through the important and fundamental considerations surrounding ART law and basic ART contract drafting. First, Ms. Quinn covers the basics of family formation through ART and relevant medical terms. Then she addresses drafting pre-requisites and what information must be gathered prior to contract drafting as well as useful resources. Next she provides an extensive road map that incorporates specific structural techniques to help demystify the ART contract. Finally, Ms. Quinn provides an overview of necessary contract provisions covering everything from pre-screening, physical exams & psychological evaluations, and payment methods to labor notification, breaches and remedies. Do not miss this introduction to ART law and the fundamentals of ART contract drafting.