Ethics

In modern practice, attorneys can hope for the best, but need to plan for the worst. Accidents and unforeseen circumstances can happen in the blink of an eye. Can your office still function if something does occur? This panel will discuss the various issues that attorneys may encounter, including cybersecurity, privacy protection, power outages, physical security compromises, mobile device loss, natural disasters, cloud-computing recovery, the continued management of remote workers and office tech.

This panel will discuss litigation funding, conflicts and disqualifications, client complaints, mediation and dealing with pro se litigants.

Advances in technology are changing how law is practiced. Online research databases, digital contracts, expert systems and document automation all help make lawyers’ routine tasks easier and more efficient. All lawyers must make informed decisions about what technology tools to acquire, develop or leverage. While lawyers’ use of technology is not an end unto itself, it is providing a catalyst for the transformation of the legal profession. Moreover, in a world of rapidly advancing technologies, data breaches and increasingly sophisticated uses of artificial intelligence, lawyers are now ethically required to understand the benefits and risks of technology. Intractable barriers to access to justice also remain a perennial concern. This panel discusses new developments in legal technology and ethics, and explores the ways in which technology can scale the provision of legal assistance, as well as examines how new developments in attorney regulation have expanded the definition of who can “practice law.” It also considers, despite people’s strong preference for maintaining the status quo, how understanding and adopting technology tools will optimize lawyers’ abilities to provide services to clients more effectively and efficiently.

This panel will explore and discuss ethical issues that arise in consumer practice. The panelists will reviewrecent cases and provide hypotheticals to invoke audience participation and discussion regarding topicsrelated to attorney fees, conflicts, and attorney/client privilege and confidentiality.

ABI will team up with IWIRC for an exciting and interactive discussion of real-world ethical dilemmas arising in bankruptcy practice, including while working from home. Play along with our panel of lawyers and judges as they discuss the “3 Cs” — confidentiality, communication and competence — along with information hygiene, duty to supervise, remote depositions and trials, judicial ethics, and much, much more!

This session will focus on several of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, including 1.2 (Scope of Representation and Allocation of Authority Between Client and Lawyer), 1.4 (Communications), 1.6 (Confidentiality of Info.), 1.7 (Conflict of Interest: Current Clients), 1.18 (Duties to Prospective Clients), 3.3 (Candor to Tribunal), 3.4 (Fairness to Opposing Party and Counsel) and 7.3 (Solicitation of Clients). The panelists will also discuss many current ethical challenges, including ethical issues in subchapter V, future claimants' representative (FCR) standards, remote proceedings and witness testimony, and client authority.

This panel will discuss various crimes committed that either caused a bankruptcy, were discovered during a bankruptcy or were committed during the course of bankruptcy proceedings.

This panel will discuss chapter 11 ethical issues, including multiple related debtors, cases with PE shareholders and cases of closely held corporations, and will identify conflicts and strategies to deal with them.

Recent large bankruptcies like NRA, Boy Scouts of America, Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Purdue Pharma and J&J have invigorated debate over the longstanding issues of venue and bad faith in bankruptcy. This panel will explore matters surrounding venue and bad-faith filings, related ethics considerations, and the newest wave of reform initiatives.

With every new technology, there are potential legal and business risks, as well as ethical concerns. This panel will include a discussion of the ethical duties surrounding using third-party vendors.