Practice and Procedure

Social media and other new technologies are part of the legal landscape, and it’s all charging forward — but the ethics rules are struggling to keep up. Sure, there are obvious concerns that everyone is talking about (like confidentiality (Rule 1.1)), but there are hidden hazards that few people consider (trial publicity (Rule 3.6) concerns — really?). Join “the CLE Performer” Stuart Teicher and legal ethics counsel Erika Stillabower as they discuss ethics opinions from across the country, and their impact on Rules 1.3 (diligence) and 7.2 (advertising), in a substantive-but-amusing manner.

This judges' panel will include a discussion of various aspects of mediation, the judges' views on developing and encouraging younger lawyers, and a discussion of the important role served by Delaware lawyers when acting as local counsel.

This panel will explore presenting evidence in contested matters before bankruptcy courts, including laying proper evidentiary foundations, attacking evidentiary foundations, common evidentiary objections, and strategic considerations in presenting or contesting evidence in a contested matter before a bankruptcy court — along with insight from an experienced judge on the most effective strategies and judicial preferences.

This panel will discuss the best practices for drafting motions and briefs and presenting those filings to the court when they are contested and uncontested. The panelists also will discuss the pitfalls to avoid when drafting motions and briefs and presenting those pleadings to the court.

This session will focus on providing a framework to help mid-level professionals develop a plan for advancement in the bankruptcy and restructuring industry, including best practices for developing and maintaining client relationships, creating a personal brand, navigating intra-firm politics, identifying opportunities for growth, and the use of business and personal networks to achieve career goals.

The participating judges will respond to questions submitted from attendees in advance of the event.

This panel discusses attorney’s duty to uphold the law and how bankruptcy counsel must avoid “crossing the line” while representing his client, the result being not just civil, but criminal, liability.

Join ABI for its first recreation of the infamous “TED Talks,” with speakers focusing on topics only a bankruptcy guru could love, such as rules of professional conduct, career advice and teaching moments and Safe Harbor for Financial Institutions.

Emails, text messages, Snapchat: Nobody ever calls anymore. Firing off an email three minutes after somebody made you angry gives rise to any number of issues, one of them being that once the “send” button is hit, electronically stored information (ESI) is created. This panel will discuss the ethical duties to preserve and the discovery duties to produce ESI, and remedies for violations of either — including the duty to refrain from obstruction of access to evidence, the ethical duty to refrain from unlawful alteration or destruction of evidence (spoliation), and the duty to make diligent efforts to comply with discovery requests. Also covered will be the necessary protocols that clients should have in place prior to litigation, remedies for failure to preserve ESI under Fed. Rule Civ. P. 37(e), and other remedies for discovery violations. Amendments to Rule 37(e) (effective December 2015), as well as courts’ and litigants’ experiences with amended Rule 37(e), will also be discussed.

Challenging an expert witness requires more than just wondering what questions to ask on cross-examination. Is the expert witness even an expert in the right subject matter? Should the expert be deposed before trial and challenged before he or she takes the stand, or would cross-examination without giving the expert the clues that come with deposition questions present the best opportunity to defuse the weight of the expert’s opinion? How can the trial lawyer prepare for cross-examination of an expert and contain the damage done on direct examination of the expert? What are the essential attributes of strong cross-examination, and how should the trial lawyer deliver the most effective and forceful cross? What are the most effective cross-examination strategies for impugning and impeaching an expert’s opinion? This panel will discuss the legal, strategic and practical considerations that arise in preparing and delivering effective cross-examination, followed by experienced trial lawyers demonstrating techniques for effective containment and impeachment of expert opinion and testimony — with an experienced judge letting them know in real time whether they succeeded.