Programs 2017-2018

This program will address the history and purpose of expungement and will discuss the requirements and procedures for expungement under state and federal law. It will provide a step-by-step explanation of an expungement proceeding from client intake to the entry of an expungement order. It will also address the common misconceptions about expungement.

The main thrust of this program is to introduce the attendees to the most significant civil and criminal cases from Tennessee that have been decided by the United States Supreme Court. In addition to presenting these cases, the program will address (1) the Court’s criteria for deciding to hear a case, (2) how lawyers prepare to argue before the Court, and (3) the pros and cons of the recent trend of using a small group of elite counsel to argue cases before the Court.

This program focuses on legal issues relating to “Presidential Actions” such as executive orders, presidential memoranda, presidential proclamations, and presidential directives. It will explain the legal basis for these actions and the differences between them. Using examples, the program will discuss the legal and policy issues triggered by the use of these actions and will also discuss the use of similar actions and statements at the state level.

This program focuses on the ethical implications of the legal profession’s incorporation of artificial intelligence legal proceedings and in the practice of law in general. While artificial intelligence holds the promise of greater accuracy and cost savings, it will prompt complicated questions regarding unauthorized practice of law, a lawyer’s duty of supervise both lawyers and non-lawyers, and a lawyer’s duty of competence, including staying up to date on “the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.” Accordingly, this program will describe the current and potential uses of artificial intelligence in the practice of law and will identify and discuss the ethical implications of these applications.

This program will focus on issues relating to pretrial release and bail, particularly the role that commercial bail bonds currently play in the state and federal criminal justice system. The program will identify the current requirements and procedures for making pretrial release decisions in state and federal courts. It will also discuss the difficulties with current pretrial release procedures and suggest solutions to these problems.

This program will focus on the impact of the Sovereign Citizen movement, a group of litigants, commentators, and protesters who insist that the courts have no jurisdiction over them and that they have a right to decide which laws to obey and which laws to ignore. They are having an impact on civil and criminal judicial proceedings because they are (1) clogging up the courts with indecipherable filings, (2) ignoring court decorum and rules, (3) attempting to intimidate judges and other officials by filing suits against them or attempting to encumber their property, and (4) threatening violence. The FBI now characterizes the Sovereign Citizens as a growing domestic threat to law enforcement. This program will illustrate the ways Sovereign Citizens operate and will discuss the appropriate responses.

This program will address the potential collateral consequences of a criminal conviction, including but not limited to (1) the loss of the right to vote, to serve on a jury, or to hold public office, (2) limitations on the ability to pursue certain occupations, and the eligibility to participate in government programs such as public housing, student loans, and food stamps. It will explain the long-standing public policy reasons for these consequences and explore whether these reasons continue to be valid. It will also provide examples of how persons have overcome these consequences.

This program will describe the treatment of Jewish lawyers in Germany under the Third Reich. It will focus on the actions and inactions of lawyers and judges in the face of the repressive laws that were passed and the actions that were taken that restricted political freedoms, civil rights, and the guarantees of property and security. The program will address the ethical obligations of the bench and bar to act and the appropriate ways action could have been taken. It will also address the ethical reasons for not acting. It will describe the fate of the lawyers and judges who opposed the Third Reich. Finally, the program will address the lessons that American lawyers and judges should learn from the treatment of Jewish lawyers by the Third Reich and will ask whether similar events have occurred in this country and whether it could happen here again.