Educational opportunities abound at the 2024 Annual Florida Bar Convention

Educational opportunities abound at the 2024 Annual Florida Bar Convention

The convention web page details the schedule of meetings and events, all CLE programs, and other important information

Miami attorney Roland Sanchez-Medina, Jr., will be sworn in as the Bar’s 76th president and West Palm Beach attorney Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes becomes president-elect during the 2024 Annual Florida Bar Convention set for June 19-22 at the Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek & Waldorf Astoria.

Themed “The Power of US: Collaborating For Tomorrow,” the convention promises a dynamic array of committee meetings, section discussions, enriching luncheons, and networking opportunities, all designed to empower members and foster collective growth. As always, there will be plenty of continuing legal educational opportunities.

CLE programs set for Wednesday, June 19, include:

• The Military Law Symposium, presented by The Florida Bar CLE Committee and the Military & Veterans Affairs Committee. Sessions will explore Veterans Treatment Courts, Protecting Veterans, Wounded Warriors, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and Representing Veterans.

• 2024 Annual Technology Symposium, Part 1, Innovation Unveiled: Navigating AI, Authentication Challenges, and Ethical Considerations of Using AI in Your Legal Practice. Presented by The Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on Technology and LegalFuel: The Practice Resource Center of The Florida Bar, the program will explore law firm automation’s transformative impact on firm success and client satisfaction. Learn to automate tedious tasks efficiently and navigate evidence authentication challenges. Delve into the ethical considerations of using generative AI in your legal practice to ensure responsible integration.

• Trust Accounting Compliance & Nota Onboarding Seminar. Presented by The Florida Bar Member Benefits Committee, this presentation covers trust accounting compliance and the ease of compliance using trust accounting specific software solutions including Nota trust accounting and will including tips for a successful onboarding to Nota by M&T Bank.

• 2024 Annual Technology Symposium, Part 2. Efficiency Unleashed: Mastering Automated Workflows, eDiscovery, and the New Nota Trust Accounting Software. Presented by The Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on Technology and LegalFuel: The Practice Resource Center of The Florida Bar, participants will learn to unlock the potential of document automation and workflows to streamline caseload and elevate productivity. Dive into the revolutionary impact of generative AI on search and analysis, transforming eDiscovery by going beyond traditional keyword limitations. Finally, learn how Nota can simplify trust account management while dramatically improving accuracy and compliance.

• Benchmarks: Raising The Bar on Civics Education Speaker Training Seminar, presented by the Constitutional Judiciary Committee. Have you ever been asked to speak to a civic or community group, but didn’t have time to put a presentation together? Don’t worry. Benchmarks has you covered. Benchmarks is The Florida Bar program that takes presentations about the court system, the Constitution, and the rule of law to adult civic and community groups. Through the Benchmarks training program, Bar members can teach adults through presentations using traditional print and PowerPoint methods or using virtual presentations and even via smart phone technology.

Programs for Thursday, June 20, include:

• Florida Law Update 2024 Seminar, presented by The Florida Bar CLE Committee and the Solo & Small Firm Section. Florida Law Update topic areas include business law, family law, employment law, health law, general civil and personal injury law, elder law, estate planning, and criminal law.

• Cybersecurity For Lawyers: Cybersecurity Incident Liability Under Florida and Federal Law — What Florida Lawyers Need To Know, presented by the Cybersecurity and Privacy Law Committee. This seminar focuses on the multifaceted aspects of cybersecurity and their impact on the practice of law. It aims to address internal practice considerations, external client considerations, and the professional and ethical obligations associated with potential liability. The series is structured into four parts: 1) Autopsy of a Law Firm Breach, 2) The Value of Properly Managing Client Information, 3) Cybersecurity: Perspectives from Both Sides of the “V”, and 4) Ethical Obligations and Professional Responsibility — providing a topical exploration of these critical areas.

• Legal Intelligence: Navigating The Impact of AI on Legal Practice Seminar, presented in the President’s Showcase by The Florida Bar Board Technology Committee. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on the brink of revolutionizing the legal landscape, akin to the transformative influence of the personal computer and the internet. As attorneys, especially those lacking technical expertise, grapple with the daunting task of evaluating the benefits and risks of emerging AI tools, this seminar designed to equip practicing attorneys with the essential knowledge and skills to navigate this evolving terrain. This program aims to empower legal professionals to navigate the transformative landscape of AI, ensuring a seamless integration into their day-to-day practice.

• Environmental And Land Use Law Section 2024 Update, presented by The Florida Bar CLE Committee and the Environmental & Land Use Law Section. The seminar provides an update on recent cases and legislation affecting administrative, environmental, and land use law. The program includes: DOAH Case Law and Ethics Update; Legislative Update: Environmental, Land Use Law, and Ethics; General Counsel Roundtable Discussion on water quality Issues; and a lunch session with keynote speaker Rep. Keith Truenow.

• IOTA Management For Lawyers Seminar, presented by The Florida Bar Member Benefits Committee. This presentation covers the nuts and bolts of handling IOTA trust accounting including an overview of trust accounting, the rules applicable to trust accounting, awareness of the top mistakes attorneys make, and best practices.

• First Amendment and The U.S. Supreme Court Seminar, presented by the Media and Communications Law Committee. This U.S. Supreme Court term the court will decide several significant cases that will affect the scope of the First Amendment on the internet, including ruling on the constitutionality of Florida’s law to regulate large social media sites. Sessions include Changing Face of the U.S. Supreme Court, The Court’s First Amendment Docket, and Discussion of Upcoming Cases for the 2024 Term with questions from the audience.

• Legacy Blueprint: Uniting Elder, Family, and Business Law With an Estate Plan, presented by The Florida Bar CLE Committee and the Elder Law Section. Sessions include Mistakes Happen: The Top Ones to Avoid in Drafting; It’s a Family Law Affair; What Do We Do with the Family Business?; and From Planning to Probate.

• How To Launch Your Law Firm Seminar, presented by The Florida Bar Member Benefits Committee. This presentation will cover what it takes to start your own law firm and includes everything from selection of the type of entity, start-up costs and credit sources, business management, bank accounts, accounting needs, trust accounting, insurance protection, disaster planning, succeeding as a solo, branding, technology and communications, technology checklists, client relations, systems, and compliance with rules.

• 2024 Federal Judicial Roundtable & Reception Seminar, presented by the Federal Court Practice Committee. The 2024 Federal Judicial Roundtable & Reception will provide the opportunity for judges and federal practitioners to have meaningful, interactive, and informal discussions about issues affecting federal practice. The format will include a state of the district address by a judge from each federal district in Florida, a brief historical presentation about each federal district, and will then turn to table discussions between the bench and bar. This year, the discussions will focus on the past, present, and future of federal practice in Florida. This event is very popular and historically has had over 200 judges, practitioners, professors, and law students in attendance.

• Practicing Before Florida’s Six District Courts of Appeal: Differences And Similarities Seminar. Featuring a panel of judges representing Each DCA and presented in the President’s Showcase by The Florida Bar CLE Committee and the Appellate Practice Section this program’s sessions include: Motion Practice; Oral Argument (screening dos and don’ts); Use of Law Clerks and Staff Attorneys; Decision-Making and Opinion Writing; En Banc; Impact of the Pandemic and Redistricting; and an audience Q&A.

Programs for Friday, June 20, include:

• Masters Seminar On Ethics 2024, presented by The Florida Bar CLE Committee and the Professional Ethics Committee. With the ever-evolving changes in the law, our professional culture, and the lightspeed progression of technology, how are you to keep up with your ethical obligations under the Rules of Professional Conduct? The 2024 Masters Seminar on Ethics is here to help. The seminar will feature staff counsel for The Florida Bar in a discussion of common issues that get lawyers into trouble, how you can avoid the same issues, and what to expect if someone does file a Bar complaint against you. A member of the Professional Ethics Committee will provide an entertaining presentation on staying inside the ethical lines and learning what not to do. The seminar includes a panel of technology experts to help you understand your obligations under the ethics rules regarding the technology you use, including what you need to know about using generative AI in your practice. The seminar ends with a panel of experienced judges addressing their concerns about lawyer misconduct in litigation and ways they have addressed ethical problems in the past.

• ESI Collection and Preservation For Everyone! Seminar, presented by The Florida Bar CLE Committee and the Business Law Section Electronic Discovery and Digital Evidence Committee. This seminar provides attendees an overview of the latest development in ESI-related law, followed by ESI discovery hold, preserve, and production obligations from an attorney well-seasoned in supporting ESI-centric litigation and trials. The ever-popular mock hearing will then follow, with substantial judicial participation perspective, and then the seminar will conclude with a judicial panel and open Q&A for the panelists and all seminar participants. 

• Feebusters: Demystifying Costs in Consumer Transactions and Methods To Protect Consumers From “Junk Fees” Seminar, presented by the Consumer Protection Law Committee. Consumers today are increasingly faced with junk fees, which are, generally, hidden charges attached to goods and services such as loans, bank accounts, or other purchases. Recently, it seems as though these fees are tacked onto almost everything — overdraft fees on bank accounts, resort fees, service charges for food delivery, surcharges on sporting event tickets, convenience fees to pay bills, and even medical billing. This program is geared toward attorneys seeking to learn more about consumer transactions and the “junk fees” added onto the transactions, and how to protect consumers from, or fight against, such fees.

• Trust Accounting Compliance & Nota Onboarding Seminar, presented by The Florida Bar Member Benefits Committee. This presentation covers trust accounting compliance and the ease of compliance utilizing trust accounting specific software solutions including Nota trust accounting and will including success tips for a successful onboarding to Nota by M&T Bank.

• Current Issues in Animal Law: Air, Sea, and Land Seminar, presented by The Florida Bar CLE Committee and the Animal Law Section. Sessions of this lecture program include Introduction to Current Issues in Animal Law; Puppy Mills, Preemption, and Local Government Regulation; Hunting and Trapping: Legal and Ethical Considerations; Captive Marine Mammals: Legal & Ethical Considerations; The Endangered Species Act Turns 50: Lessons Learned, Challenges Ahead; How Climate Change Affects Animal and Non-Human Animal Life on Earth; Animal Sheltering in the Sunshine; and Florida Legislative and Local Government Panel.

• Modern Banking For Modern Lawyers, presented by The Florida Bar Member Benefits Committee. This presentation will cover the available options for “fear-free” trust accounting and covers digital banking, types of accounts, trust accounting, reconciliation of trust accounts, and data privacy and security.

• Surgery To Discovery & Avoiding Litigation in Probate, Trust, Guardianship, and Estate Planning Seminar, presented by the FRP Enrichment Committee. The first half of the presentation will be presented by a surgical technician who became a registered nurse, and then a nurse paralegal. She will discuss the challenges nurses and medical professionals face, and the similarities between a nurse and physician and a paralegal and attorney. The second half of the presentation will be presented by an attorney who has a practice focus in probate litigation, estate planning, guardianship, and elder law. The presentation will include topics of estate planning, guardianship and incapacity, probate and trust administration, and practice pointers.

The convention web page details the schedule of meetings and events, all CLE programs, and other important information.