Tuesday, January 7, 2025: 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

This class will be hosted on ZOOM

---ZOOM INFORMATION WILL BE EMAILED TO REGISTRANTS PRIOR TO CLASS START TIME---

In recent years, we have seen a disturbing increase in the level of incivility in public discourse and the legal profession. This program will address civility in the practice of law from the judicial perspective, considering questions such as: What do judges expect? Why is civility important? Why are personal attacks, insults, and taunts a poor strategy for advocacy? And what tools can judges use to deal with incivility? The program will also discuss standards for civility in the practice of law and how to deal with uncivil opposing counsel.

Earn 1.0 hour California participatory MCLE credit in subtopic of Civility

MCLE Disclaimer: MCLE credit is only granted to attorneys licensed to practice law by the State Bar of California. Attorneys from other jurisdictions should contact their state bar to learn about credit reciprocity.

Presented by: Judge Mark A. Juhas and Judge Robert B. Broadbelt:

Judge Mark A. Juhas sits in a general family law assignment on the Los Angeles Superior Court. He is the immediate past chair of the California Commission on Access to Justice. For the California Judicial Council, he has been on the CJER Governing Committee and the immediate past Co-chair of the Family and Juvenile Advisory Committee; he was a member of the Elkins Family Law Task Force, Elkins Family Law Implementation Task Force and Self- Represented Litigant Task Force. He recently received a lifetime achievement award from the Family Law Section of the State Bar, a Distinguished Service Award from the California Judicial Council, and the Aranda Access to Justice award from the Judicial Council, among other honors.

Robert Broadbelt is a Judge of the Superior Court of the State of California, for the County of Los Angeles. His current assignment is in the Civil Division of the court, in an Unlimited Civil -- Individual Calendar courtroom at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. Before being appointed to the bench in 2012, Judge Broadbelt spent most of his legal career as a partner in the law firm of Browne Woods George, LLP, where his practice was devoted to complex business litigation with an emphasis on unfair competition and trade secrets. Judge Broadbelt received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and his J.D. from the USC Gould School of Law.

Registration fee: Registration for this MCLE is FREE through the generosity of the Estate of Joan Levine.

Wednesday, January 8, 2025: 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. - CLASS CANCELLED

This class will be hosted on ZOOM

---ZOOM INFORMATION WILL BE EMAILED TO REGISTRANTS PRIOR TO CLASS START TIME---

Many legal clients have disabilities, particularly indigent clients, older clients, and personal injury, education, workers' comp, and employment law plaintiffs. Learn in this presentation about "readily accessible lawyering," a set of strategies you can implement to make your practice accessible for a wide range of clients, regardless of whether you know a client has a disability. Also learn about reasonable accommodations that some of your disabled clients may need. 

After completing this session, participants will be able to:

• Understand the prevalence of disability among legal clients
• Identify default practices that make legal practice more accessible to clients with disabilities
• Know how to implement common reasonable accommodations that disabled clients may need
• Discuss how client capacity is variable and can be strengthened with reasonable accommodations
• Know how the Rules of Professional Conduct are consistent with readily accessible lawyering and reasonable accommodations

Earn 1.0 hour California participatory MCLE credit in subtopic of Elimination of Bias

MCLE Disclaimer: MCLE credit is only granted to attorneys licensed to practice law by the State Bar of California. Attorneys from other jurisdictions should contact their state bar to learn about credit reciprocity. 

Presented by: Claudia Center, Legal Director, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)

As Legal Director of the DREDF, Claudia Center litigates cases that increase civil rights and civil liberties for persons with disabilities, and represents the disability community in legislative, policy, amicus, and appellate work. Claudia was previously a Senior Staff Attorney in the Disability Rights Program of the national ACLU Foundation, and the director of the disability rights program at the Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center (now Legal Aid At Work). In 2009, she received the Paul G. Hearne Award for Disability Rights from the ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law (now the Commission on Disability Rights).

Registration fee: Registration for this MCLE is FREE through the generosity of the Estate of Joan Levine.

Tuesday December 17, 2024: 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

This class will be hosted on ZOOM

Join the discussion as the LALL book discussion group concludes its year-long exploration of issues related to labor and employment with a discussion of The Hammer: Power, Inequality and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor, by Hamilton Nolan.  At our last discussion, a question was asked re: whether unions are still relevant.  This book responds to that question head-on.  Although organized labor has been in decline for decades, a recent highly visible wave of strikes and new organizing campaigns have driven the popularity of unions to historic highs.  In chapters that cover movements around the country, the reader is taken to the actual places where labor and politics meld. The Hammer is an urgent, on-the-ground excavation of the past, present and future of the American labor movement.

Presented by: Katie O’Laughlin, Managing Librarian, Reference & Collections, LA Law Library.

Registration fee: FREE.  Register to receive Zoom link

Pro bono clients are like any other clients in many ways. But some pro bono clients present ethical issues for attorneys that differ from those presented by fee-paying or contingent fee clients. Lawyers sometimes face difficult questions about defining who the client is, communication with clients, clients with diminished capacity, conflicts with fee-paying clients, and many others. Representation of nonprofit organizations also can present difficult ethical issues not faced with most for-profit organizations.

Among the topics to be addressed are:

• What is pro bono work and how does it differ from other legal representation?
• What ethical issues can arise in representation of pro bono clients?
• How can you make sure your representation is conducted within the California Rules of Professional Conduct?
• What ethical issues are presented by practicing remotely? 

Earn 1.0 hour California participatory MCLE credit in subtopic of Legal Ethics 

MCLE Disclaimer: MCLE credit is only granted to attorneys licensed to practice law by the State Bar of California. Attorneys from other jurisdictions should contact their state bar to learn about credit reciprocity.

Presented by: Toby Rothschild, Of Counsel to OneJustice and retired general counsel of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA)

Registration fee: $20