This program is eligible for 4 hours of CLE credit in 60-minute states. In 50-minute states, this program is eligible for 4.8 hours of CLE credit. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.
Overview
This course is $50 for new attorneys.
Get started on the right foot with your legal career and join PBI for the Bridge the Gap CLE program!
All newly admitted Pennsylvania attorneys are required to complete the Bridge the Gap program at an accredited CLE provider prior to their first PA CLE compliance deadline. This course is also an excellent refresher for lawyers, regardless of years in practice. The 4-hour program is designed to provide basic, yet important, information and insight relative to ethics and professionalism.
Covered in Bridge the Gap:
- Conducting yourself professionally through the Rules of Professional Conduct
- Best practices to ensure strong client/attorney relationships
- Interacting and communicating with court officials, opposing counsel, jurors, and other third parties
- The importance of diversity and promoting an environment of diversity and inclusion within your practice
- Managing your practice, including everything from training and supervising non-lawyer staff to addressing scope changes with a client
- Performing fiduciary responsibilities and avoiding financial troubles with clients
- Mastering the purpose and functions of the Disciplinary Board
- Discovering the many resources available to lawyers
Agenda:
- Client/Attorney Relationship
- Practice Management & Technology
- Fiduciary Requirements
- Diversity & Inclusion
- Substance Abuse Prevention
- Disciplinary Board
- Outreach Programs & Resources
- The program is discounted to newly admitted attorneys
Faculty
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.
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