Apr 30 2018
California MCLE, CLE, Illinois MCLE, Jury, Litigation, MCLE, New Jersey MCLE, New York MCLE, Online CLE

New CLE: Tell Your Client’s Winning Story

There’s always a greater story hidden behind the rigid surface of your client. As a trial lawyer, it’s your job to be able to find this story, to craft it and then to awaken the jury to your client’s greater story.

Tell the Winning Story

When you’re facing the jury, you’re a storyteller whether you like it or not. The question is, how good is that story? Is it dead or alive?

In this CLE course, Juliard’s graduate Jesse Wilson will show you how to present your client’s winning story to the jury while avoiding the victim trap. Jesse will mainly discuss how to avoid telling the whining story, building a strong human connection with the jury, putting your client’s story before the jury and understanding the role of story & conflict at trial. To access the course please click here: The Winning vs. Whining Story: How to Transform Your Client from Victim to Victor.

Additional topics addressed include:

  • Embracing & thriving in an uncomfortable courtroom
  • Avoiding talking about your client like a victim
  • Tapping into emotional evidence
  • Breaking through your client’s rough exterior
  • Crafting the theme of your case
  • “But I don’t love my client”
  • Reframing the definition of conflict
  • What make a great story
  • Focusing on conflict
  • Using monologue to understand your client’s experiences

Born and raised in Los Angeles – almost underneath the iconic Hollywood sign – Jesse Wilson is the CEO and Founder of Tell The Winning Story, a communications effectiveness program that helps attorneys step into their true communications power through the raw power of the theater. He works with attorneys throughout the country to tell their client’s winning story.

This CLE course is offered in the following states:

  • Alaska (AK)
  • Arizona (AZ)
  • California (CA)
  • Connecticut (CT)
  • District of Columbia (DC)
  • Illinois (IL)
  • Maryland (MD)
  • Massachusetts (MA)
  • Michigan (MI)
  • Missouri (MO)
  • New Hampshire (NH)
  • New Jersey (NJ)
  • New York (NY)
  • North Dakota (ND)
  • Pennsylvania (PA)
  • South Dakota (SD)

Attorney Credits offers CLE for attorneys in Illinois and around the country. For more information about CLE in Illinois please click the following link: IL CLE.

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Apr 27 2018
CLE, Ethics & Professionalism, Ethics Codes, Illinois MCLE, MCLE, Online CLE

IL CLE: What is the New Professional Responsibility MCLE Requirement?

Illinois attorneys now have a new IL MCLE requirement. Please note that the Professional Responsibility requirement has been modified. All Illinois attorneys are now required to complete a minimum of 1 hour of Diversity & Inclusion and 1 hour of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

New Professional Responsibility Requirement

  • 1 hour of Diversity & Inclusion
  • 1 hour of Mental Health and Substance Abuse

This IL MCLE rule change does not affect the total number of hours required to fulfill the Professional Responsibility requirement, which remains at 6. These two new hours are considered count towards your Professional Responsibility requirement. The total number of MCLE credits required in each 2 year compliance period also remains at 30.

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Apr 25 2018
California MCLE, CLE, MCLE, New Jersey MCLE, New York MCLE, Online CLE, Trusts & Estates

New CLE on Wyoming Private Trust Companies

What is a Private Trust Company? How does it work? What are the advantages of setting up the PTC in Wyoming? Private trust companies have become an increasingly popular estate planning tool for managing dynastic wealth – but is a Private Trust Company a good fit for your clients?

What Is a Private Trust Company?

A PTC is a state-chartered entity designed to provide fiduciary services to members of a family. PTCs can perform many responsibilities commonly performed by the family office, including investment and financial management, accounting, and recordkeeping. A PTC is distinct from a “family office” in that it can serve as a fiduciary under state law.

In this CLE course Matthew and Christian Grupp, father and son, will teach you about the key considerations when deciding if a Private Trust Company can be a profitable structure for your clients. Matthew and Christian mainly cover how a Private Trust Company is organized in Wyoming, how the Private Family Trust helps all the parties involved, legal, regulatory & tax considerations, safeguarding assets, utilizing technology & the Entole Solution. To access the course please click here: Is a Private Trust Company Right for Your Clients?.

These additional topics are also addressed:

  • Planning considerations
  • Planning pitfalls
  • Governance
  • Processes
  • Legal structures
  • Federal & state regulatory considerations
  • “Heir conditioning”
  • IRS Notice 2008-63
  • Physical considerations
  • Recommended fiduciary policies & procedures

Matthew Grupp’s practice focuses on assisting families to achieve their enlightened dreams through Comprehensive and Integrated Wealth Strategies and Family Governance programs.  Over the last decade, Christian Grupp has accumulated a wealth of diverse skills and abilities, including estate planning & trust practices, law, financial, and consulting practices.

This CLE course is offered in the following states:

  • Alaska (AK)
  • Arizona (AZ)
  • California (CA)
  • Connecticut (CT)
  • District of Columbia (DC)
  • Illinois (IL)
  • Maryland (MD)
  • Massachusetts (MA)
  • Michigan (MI)
  • Missouri (MO)
  • New Hampshire (NH)
  • New Jersey (NJ)
  • New York (NY)
  • North Dakota (ND)
  • Pennsylvania (PA)
  • South Dakota (SD)

Attorney Credits offers CLE for attorneys in California and around the country. For more information about CLE in California please click the following link: CA CLE.

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Apr 20 2018
Uncategorized

New CLE on Examination of Forensic Documents

One of your favorite business clients hurriedly walks into your office. You can tell by the look on her face that she is quite distressed and she has been crying. When she went to refinance her home, the title company informed her that they wouldn’t be able to help her… because she doesn’t own the home. There’s a quitclaim deed showing that the house had been transferred to another person two years ago around the same time as her divorce. How can you help her to get her house back?

Examination of Forensic Documents

 Knowing these techniques will give you the insight that you need to hire a qualified forensic document examiner that follows objective scientific standards.

A forensic document examiner, Mike Wakshull has assisted on a number of cases where clients have claimed that real estate documents were fraudulently executed. In this CLE course, Mike uses actual case examples that he’s working on to explore five different ways that people have attempted to perpetrate fraud on others to take their real estate. Mike will also show you three techniques that he uses to catch fraudsters that try to acquire real estate by altering documents or applying someone’s signature to a document. To access the course please click here: Examination of Forensic Documents.

The following topics are addressed:

  • Trash marks
  • Handwriting & signature comparison
  • Overtyping
  • Examples of alterations
  • Disguised writing
  • Using Adobe Bridge
  • Comparing fonts & dot patterns on a page
  • Using quantitative measures to assist with determining authenticity

A court-qualified forensic document examiner, Michael N. Wakshull has been involved in the Forensic Document Examination arena since 1983 and belongs to a number of Document Examination Associations.

This course is offered in the following states:

  • Alaska (AK)
  • Arizona (AZ)
  • California (CA)
  • Connecticut (CT)
  • District of Columbia (DC)
  • Illinois (IL)
  • Maryland (MD)
  • Massachusetts (MA)
  • Michigan (MI)
  • Missouri (MO)
  • New Hampshire (NH)
  • New Jersey (NJ)
  • New York (NY)
  • North Dakota (ND)
  • Pennsylvania (PA)
  • South Dakota (SD)

Attorney Credits offers CLE for attorneys in California and around the country. For more information about CLE in California please click the following link: CA CLE.

Apr 19 2018
CLE, Illinois MCLE, Online CLE

IL CLE: Illinois MCLE Reporting Groups

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Illinois attorneys must complete a minimum of 30 IL CLE hours every 2 years in order to complete the IL MCLE requirement. In addition, 6 hours must completed in the area of Professional Responsibility – which includes courses in legal ethics, bias & diversity and substance abuse in the legal profession.

IL MCLE Compliance & Reporting

  • Compliance Deadline
    • June 30
  • Reporting Deadline
    • July 31

Your Illinois CLE reporting period depends on the first letter of your last name as it appears on the master roll of attorneys with the ARDC.[1] If your last name begins with A-M, you complete your MCLE and report in EVEN numbered years. If your last name begins with N-Z, you report compliance in ODD numbered years.

Illinois MCLE Reporting:

  • Last names A – M
    • July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2018
  • Last names N – Z
    • July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019

Illinois attorneys may satisfy all 30 IL CLE hours through online on-demand CLE courses. Attorney Credits is an Accredited Provider of CLE in Illinois and all of our Illinois CLE courses are approved by the Illinois MCLE Board. To access more information about the the IL CLE requirements, deadlines and Illinois MCLE compliance packages, please click the following link: IL CLE.

[1] ARDC (Attorney Discipline and Registration Committee).

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Apr 17 2018
California MCLE, CLE, Illinois MCLE, Litigation, MCLE, New Jersey MCLE, New York MCLE, Online CLE

Litigating a Slip and Fall Case Against the City: Crumbling Sidewalks & Ruptured Breast Implants

A potential client walks into your office. She was walking down the street to her doctor’s appointment from her condo when she got her toe caught in the uneven sidewalk and fell hard on her chest. Because her arms were outstretched as she fell, her breast implants ruptured when she hit the cement. Does this person have a claim against the city?<br><br>

Slip & Fall Claim Against the City of San Diego 

Brett Schreiber tried this exact case. His client, the wife of the disgraced former mayor, was awarded $85,000 in damages against the city.

In this CLE course Brett will mainly address how to bring tort claims against a government entity and the fine points of litigating the case, with in in-depth discussion of jury instructions and strategic considerations. To access the course please click here: Slip and Fall: Crumbling Sidewalks and Ruptured Breast Implants.

Brett also discusses:

  • Filing your governmental claim
  • Minors & incompetents
  • What the claim must state
  • Pleading with particularity
  • Accrual
  • Identifying statutory grounds
  • Additional elements
  • Pitfalls
  • Investigation
  • Using Google Street View to find to access pictures of past conditions
  • Establishing notice of the dangerous conditions
  • Voir dire

Brett Schreiber’s practice includes mass torts, personal injury, medical malpractice and condemnation law. Brett is a young lawyer who has begun to distinguish himself as one of the next generation of legal leaders. In 2009 he earned recognition as one of San Diego’s Top Attorneys, perhaps the youngest person to do so. He is slated to be the youngest President in the history of the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego.

This CLE course is offered in the following states:

  • Alaska (AK)
  • Arizona (AZ)
  • California (CA)
  • Connecticut (CT)
  • District of Columbia (DC)
  • Illinois (IL)
  • Maryland (MD)
  • Massachusetts (MA)
  • Michigan (MI)
  • Missouri (MO)
  • New Hampshire (NH)
  • New Jersey (NJ)
  • New York (NY)
  • North Dakota (ND)
  • Pennsylvania (PA)
  • South Dakota (SD)

Attorney Credits offers CLE for attorneys in California and around the country. For more information about CLE in California please click the following link: CA CLE.

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Apr 16 2018
California MCLE, CLE, Illinois MCLE, Litigation, MCLE, New Jersey MCLE, New York MCLE, Online CLE

New CLE: Levelling the Playing Field – An Overview of Title IX Litigation

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funding. The principal objective of Title IX is to avoid the use of federal money to support sex discrimination in education programs and to provide individual citizens effective protection against discriminatory practices in schools that receive federal funding.

Title IX issues include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Access to higher education, especially in areas of study where women, including women of color, are and have been traditionally underrepresented.
  • Equal opportunity and access to athletics, including adequate funding of women’s sports; equal access to practice times, facilities, and transportation; access to scholarship monies; and pay equity among male and female coaches.
  • Sexual harassment
  • Education for pregnant and parenting students.
  • Employment, including tenure and pay equity issues, and pregnancy claims.
  • Discrimination based on sexual orientation.
  • Retaliation for complaining about discrimination.

In this CLE course, attorney Adria Silva discusses what you need to know when handling Title IX cases by highlighting some of the most important elements and case law in this complex area of law. Adria mainly discusses the differences between Title IX and Title VII gender discrimination claims, pregnancy discrimination, damages, representing minor plaintiffs, filing the lawsuit and privacy (FERPA) considerations. To access the course please click here: Levelling the Playing Field: An Overview of Title IX Litigation.

Additional topics include:

  • Exempt institutions
  • Patterns of proof
  • Establishing your case
  • Affirmative defenses
  • Common plaintiffs & defendants
  • Conditions precedent
  • The OCR (Office of Civil Rights)
  • The burden of proof
  • Retaliation cases
  • Equitable relief
  • Multi-client representation & conflicts of interest
  • Forms of production
  • The Family Educational Privacy Rights Act (FERPA)
  • Recent verdicts

Attorney Adria Lynn Silva represents employees and students in Title IX gender or sex discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases. She has been named a Rising Star in Employment and Labor Law by Super Lawyers Magazine.

This CLE course is offered in the following states:

  • Alaska (AK)
  • Arizona (AZ)
  • California (CA)
  • Connecticut (CT)
  • District of Columbia (DC)
  • Illinois (IL)
  • Maryland (MD)
  • Massachusetts (MA)
  • Michigan (MI)
  • Missouri (MO)
  • New Hampshire (NH)
  • New Jersey (NJ)
  • New York (NY)
  • North Dakota (ND)
  • Pennsylvania (PA)
  • South Dakota (SD)

Attorney Credits offers CLE for attorneys in Florida and around the country. For more information about CLE in Florida please click the following link: FL CLE.

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Apr 13 2018
CLE, Illinois MCLE, MCLE, Online CLE

IL CLE: Illinois MCLE FAQ

The Illinois MCLE deadline is rapidly approaching!  Is it your compliance year?  How many credit hours do you have to complete?  How do you report your credit?

Top IL MCLE Questions

  • What are the mandatory CLE requirements in Illinois?
    • Illinois lawyers must complete at least thirty (30) IL CLE credit hours every two years
    • Including six (6) mandatory credit hours of Professional Responsibility
  • What are the CLE compliance groups in Illinois?
    • If your last name begins with A-M, your two-year Illinois CLE compliance period begins July 1 of even numbered years
    • If your last name begins with A-M, your two-year Illinois CLE compliance period begins July 1 of odd numbered years
  • How are CLE credits reported to the Illinois MCLE Board?
    • All Illinois lawyers are required to report CLE compliance, non-compliance or exemptions at the end of the two-year IL CLE reporting period
    • The Illinois MCLE Board will mail a Certification Form to each Illinois attorney at the preferred mailing address on file with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC)

If you’re like many attorneys around the country, you have questions about your IL CLE compliance.  That’s why we created our Illinois CLE FAQ… so we can help you easily find the information that you need about your IL MCLE compliance!  For more information about your Illinois MCLE compliance please click here: IL CLE FAQ.

Apr 10 2018
California MCLE, CLE, Illinois MCLE, MCLE, New Jersey MCLE, New York MCLE, Online CLE

New CLE Course on Business Valuation, Community Foundations and Long Term Care

Many attorneys serve as trusted advisors to small (often family owned) business owners and entrepreneurs to ensure that their businesses thrive and grow. Their business, legal and practical guidance helps the business owner to protect and enhance the value of the business and when it’s time to sell help with exit planning.

Counseling Business Owners on Valuation, Community Foundations and Life Insurance

In this CLE course you will learn about a trio of topics that will assist you when counseling your business clients.

In the first part of the presentation Melisa Silverman and Steve Mancini will teach you about attractiveness, readiness and valuation of family businesses and factors that business owners don’t always consider when selling their company. In the second part of the presentation Baruch Littman and Ellen Rosen discuss the advantages of working with a community foundation in business, real estate and estate succession planning. In the third part, Trey Fairman and Cindy Eisenhower discuss why legal practitioners need to understand the uses, benefits, liabilities, and dangers of life insurance, long-term care, and retirement distribution planning when counseling family owned businesses. To access the course please click here: Counseling Business Owners on Valuation, Community Foundations and Life Insurance.

Counseling Business Clients

Many attorneys serve as trusted advisors to small, often family owned, business owners.  In this course, you will learn many legal and practical points to help protect and grow the business and also assist with exit and succession planning.

A Partner at the Founders Group, Melisa Silverman specializes in valuation and exit planning Steve Mancini is the founder of Strazzeri Mancini LLP and specializes in asset, tax and estate planning. The Vice President of Development, Baruch Littman aims to increase the assets of The Foundation. As General Counsel of The Foundation Ellen Rosen oversees all legal and compliance matters. Cindy Eisenhower is a successful Long-Term Care sales professional. Trey Fairman partners with major financial institutions, banks and associations to provide insurance-planning services to their clients and members.

This CLE course is offered in the following states:

  • Alaska (AK)
  • Arizona (AZ)
  • California (CA)
  • Connecticut (CT)
  • District of Columbia (DC)
  • Illinois (IL)
  • Maryland (MD)
  • Massachusetts (MA)
  • Michigan (MI)
  • Missouri (MO)
  • New Hampshire (NH)
  • New Jersey (NJ)
  • New York (NY)
  • North Dakota (ND)
  • Pennsylvania (PA)
  • South Dakota (SD)

Attorney Credits offers CLE for attorneys in Illinois and around the country. For more information about CLE in Illinois please click the following link: IL CLE.

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Apr 09 2018
CLE, MCLE, Online CLE

PA CLE: Group 1 Attorneys MCLE Deadline is April 30

For MCLE compliance purposes, Pennsylvania attorneys are broken into three different groups. These MCLE compliance groups are assigned randomly by your lawyer ID number. Group 1 attorneys in Pennsylvania must complete 12 hours – including 2 hours of ethics – by April 30.

PA MCLE Group 1 Deadline:

  • April 30 

Pennsylvania attorneys are allowed to complete 6 hours of online CLE each compliance period. We offer streaming video, downloadable audio and downloadable video courses for Group 1 Pennsylvania attorneys. For more information about CLE in Pennsylvania please click here: Pennsylvania CLE.

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