On-Demand Video
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Essential Ethics 2024


  • City:
  • Start Date:2024-12-20 04:00:00
  • End Date:
  • Length:
  • Level:Intermediate
  • Topics:Ethics

$299.00 ProPass

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Credit States Status Credits Earn credit until

This program is eligible for 3 hours of CLE credit in 60-minute states. In 50-minute states, this program is eligible for 3.6 hours of CLE credit. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.

Overview

This program is designed to provide a convenient, one-stop shop of the timeliest ethics topics available. All programs are presented by experienced and respected faculty who will challenge your concepts of ethics. This year's sessions include:

Fee Agreements/The Role of PBA Ethics Counsel

This session will provide an overview of the ethical obligations for lawyers in Pennsylvania regarding written fee agreements, including the necessity of written communication to clients about the basis or rate of legal fees, as mandated by Rule 1.5, to avoid misunderstandings and disputes. Further, panelists will also outline the various forms a fee agreement can take, such as flat fees, hourly rates, and contingency fees, and highlight the importance of including detailed terms and conditions to protect both the lawyer and the client. Finally, panelists will cover the role of the PBA Ethics Counsel and how it serves the members of the bar by offering guidance on ethical issues that impact their practices. Ethics Counsel also oversees the PBA Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, which prepares ethical opinions for the Bar.

New Rules = Broader Horizons

You owe it to yourself, your family, your colleagues and your clients to think about and plan for practice succession. Even if you have no plans to change what you’re doing now, eventually you will have to consider your future. This session offers helpful advice on deciding your own future on your own terms.

Reinstated and It Feels So Good!

This panel of attorneys, with combined decades of experience in the attorney disciplinary system, will discuss reinstatement and how to get back to practicing law after an administrative suspension, disciplinary suspension or disbarment. Gloria Randall Ammons, Disciplinary Counsel, Office of Disciplinary Counsel along with Respondents’ counsel Amy Coco from Pittsburgh and Ellen Brotman from Philadelphia will cover the following topics:

  • The rules governing administrative suspensions as a result of lapsed CLE requirements or failure to register;
  • Disciplinary suspensions and disbarments;
  • The reinstatement process and when must you have a hearing
  • Preparing for reinstatement and setting yourself up for success
  • Filing the reinstatement petition
  • The reinstatement hearing: what are the key components of testimony?
  • The Court order and completing the process.


This panel is intended to assist those  attorneys who may be filing their reinstatement petitions pro se, or for attorneys who would like to learn how to handle these very specific matters and the set of Disciplinary Board Rules and Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement that govern them.

All attendees will receive the course materials as a digital book.


Recorded in December 2024.

Faculty

Gloria R. Ammons, Esq.

Ms. Randall Ammons is Disciplinary Counsel for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. She has been with the Office of the Disciplinary Counsel since October 1995. Prior to becoming Disciplinary Counsel, Ms. Randall Ammons clerked for a Federal Magistrate Judge and practiced law in the private sector. She received her J.D. from the Villanova University School of Law.

David A. Fitzsimons, Esq.

His succession “next step” in practice, Mr. Fitzsimons is the principal at ADRFitz LLC which provides Process Centered dispute resolution services. About five years ago David took stock of his experience, values and forward looking preferences and decided to focus his commercial litigation experience and practice in disputes resolution to establish ADRFitz LLC. In addition to conducting mediations, Mr. Fitzsimons also serves as an arbitrator, trainer and dispute resolution consultant. A certified member of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s Mediator Panel, he is currently chair of the Cumberland County ADR panel. Mr. Fitzsimons maintains relevant memberships in the dispute resolution arena and is active with the PBA ADR Committee and the PBA Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee [LEPRC]. David also teaches successful dispute resolution process skills including focus on relevant professional ethics involved in dispute resolution. He maintains a perpetually under construction website at ADRFitz.com. Any questions or requests for follow up materials to this presentation can be directed to
[email protected]

Amy J. Coco, Esq.

Amy Coco is a shareholder at the Pittsburgh law firm of DiBella Weinheimer, where she has focused her practice on Professional Responsibility for more than 30 years. She represents lawyers, judges, and law students in matters involving ethics, licensure, professional responsibility, risk management, and law practice management counseling. Amy is the current President of the Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA) and previously served six years on its Board of Governors. Within the ACBA, she has chaired the Nominating Committee and By-Laws Committee, the Professional Ethics Committee (where she continues to serve as a Duty Officer), and the Lawyers Insurance Committee. She has also served on the Council of the Solo and Small Firm Section and chaired subcommittees within the Women in the Law Division. At the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), Amy is Co-Chair of the Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee. She served as the PBA’s Woman At Large Governor (2021–2024) and chaired its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Team from 2022 to 2024. She is also the Director of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law’s Incubator Program, mentoring lawyers as they establish solo practices. In addition, she is a member of the Washington County, Philadelphia County Bar Associations, as well as the American Bar Association and its Center for Professional Responsibility and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL). A frequent lecturer and writer on professional liability, diversity and inclusion, and ethics issues, Amy has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law since 2024 and has been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer annually since 2018. In 2022, she was recognized as one of Pittsburgh’s Top 50 Lawyers. She earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1994, and her B.A. in Journalism from Indiana University Bloomington in 1989.

Ellen C. Brotman, Esq.

Ms. Brotman is the founder of Brotman Law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her practice focuses on professional responsibility, and ethics, investigations, white collar criminal defense and appellate advocacy. Ms. Brotman has represented lawyers before the Disciplinary Board of Pennsylvania for over 20 years and has defended a wide variety of white-collar crimes involving complex trial, sentencing and appellate issues. Prior to starting Brotman Law, Ms. Brotman was a partner at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP, where she defended criminal cases in federal courts, oversaw investigations, and represented professionals in state disciplinary proceedings. From 1995 to 1998, as an assistant federal defender with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, Ms. Brotman provided criminal defense for indigent clients in federal court at trial and appellate levels. Before coming to Philadelphia, Ms. Brotman served as a law clerk to Hon. Lee P. Gagliardi, United States District Judge, Southern District of New York. Ms. Brotman is a frequent writer and speaker on the subjects of criminal defense and professional responsibility related matters. She is also a member of the board of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a past member of the board of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Ms. Brotman sits on the Professional Guidance Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association and the Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Ms. Brotman has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America and Pennsylvania SuperLawyers for over ten years and, in 2014 was one of the Legal Intelligencer’s Women of the Year. Ms. Brotman is Chair of the Board of the People’s Emergency Center Foundation in Philadelphia, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of homeless families.

Victoria L. White, Esq.

Ms. White is currently Ethics Counsel to the Pennsylvania Bar Association. As Ethics Counsel, Ms. White responds to Ethics Hotline inquiries from PBA members who have questions concerning the impact of the provisions of the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct upon their own prospective conduct. Ms. White also assists the PBA’s Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee, which issues written ethics opinions and reviews and recommends proposals for changes to the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct. In addition to staffing the Ethics Committee, Ms. White is the staff liaison to the PBA Civility in the Profession Committee. She also serves as the Associate Editor of the Pennsylvania Ethics Handbook, a useful guide to the professional responsibility obligations of practicing Pennsylvania lawyers. Prior to joining the PBA, Ms. White served as Assistant Counsel for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission, practiced for several years in the private sector, and was a staff attorney in the solicitor’s office for a local municipality. Ms. White received her B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College and her J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law.

Daniel J. Siegel, Esq.

Attorney Daniel J. Siegel is a nationally recognized authority on ethics, technology, data protection and business workflow management, and the principal of both the Law Offices of Daniel J. Siegel, LLC and Integrated Technology Services, LLC. Dan provides techno-ethics counsel to solo, small and mid-sized law firms on cybersecurity, technology and other related issues. His practice includes representing of attorneys in disciplinary matters; providing professional responsibility guidance to attorneys and firms; serving as appellate counsel; and representing individuals in workers’ compensation and personal injury matters. Dan also consults with law firms and businesses on workflow management, implementation of paperless offices, and other productivity matters. Attorney Siegel is a prolific speaker and author, and serves as the Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, and Past-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Professional Development Board Chair. The author of 15 books, Dan is a columnist and frequent lecturer on a wide range of topics, including ethics, technology, substantive law, appellate law, and professional responsibility matters. You can reach Dan at [email protected].


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