Workshop Descriptions (Tentative)
Friday, August 27, 2010 | 10:45am – 12:15pm
There's the Windup, and Now Here's the Pitch – Best (and Worst!) Practices for Winning Business and Keeping It
In a competitive environment, when everyone is seeking to make connections that lead to business, the firm that gets the project will be the one that knows the business and its people best. Come to this interactive dialogue to learn how to become the problem solver that the client is seeking. Panelists will discuss the dos and don'ts when you are vying for business, including expectations of prep time and knowing the client's business versus knowing the law, especially as power dynamics differ from firm to firm and decision-makers change. How important is diversity to the client? Is LGBT included in the definition of diversity? How do you maintain a successful working relationship with the client once you win their business?
Moderator: Paul Marchegiani
Speakers: Michelle Peak, Chester Day, Susan Klooz
CLE Materials: Download
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the Transition to Repeal
Both the Commander-in-Chief and the military's top uniformed officer support repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The Department of Defense has formed a Pentagon Working Group to study the implications of repeal for the military, with the results due by the end of 2010. Although the federal law of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" remains in full effect, in March 2010 the military introduced new regulations intended to enforce the policy "in a fairer and more appropriate manner." What does it all mean? Do the new regulations significantly change the impact of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on the lives of service members? How is the Pentagon Working Group studying the issue, and will their efforts clarify the upcoming congressional debate? If Congress does not repeal the law or impose a moratorium, can the President suspend it by executive action? What is the judicial landscape for constitutional challenges to the policy, and how will these cases be decided during this transitional period? How should lawyers advise service members in the meantime?
Moderator: Samuel Pearson-Moore
Speakers: Bridget Wilson, Elizabeth Hillman, Andrew Woodmansee, Diane Mazur, Aaron Tax, Tobias Barrington Wolff
CLE Materials: Download
HIV/AIDS in the U.S. in 2010: Forming New National Policies, Scaling Up Prevention Efforts, and Fighting Criminal Prosecutions
The panel will review developments in a changing local and national legal and legislative landscape including major domestic policy HIV changes made by the new Administration and Congress. The panel will explore a range of responses including practical prevention issues in South Florida, HIV/AIDS civil rights, employment and access to health care issues along with the creation of a coordinated federal National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Additionally, the panel will review prosecutions of people living with HIV based on their HIV status – including a recent prosecution (for biting) under a state bioterrorism statute. Finally the panel will review what a general HIV/AIDS practice looks like and how it has changed or may change as a result of these developments.
Moderator: Skip Harsch
Speakers: William McColl, Gary Greener, Jon W. Davidson, Evelyn Ullah, Jack Lord
CLE Materials: Download
LGBT Pro Bono at the Highest Echelons of Private Practice
Historically, pro bono in big law firms was an ad hoc practice reserved for a select few big-hitters. Now even the most prestigious firms centralize and streamline their complimentary legal services. The LGBT community represents a huge unmet need for legal services. This workshop will focus on a pro bono model that has worked effectively for the LGBT community in the case of Cole v. Arkansas. Presenters will include both representatives of nonprofits that have received the bounty of millions of dollars worth of top-quality legal services and the firms -- AND solo practitioners -- that love them! Come and find out how your nonprofit organization, firm or solo practice can develop these important working relationships.
Moderator: Sharra Greer
Speakers: Stacey Friedman, Christine Sun, Jenny Pizer, Michael E. Morris
CLE Materials: Download
Intellectual Property Basics and Hot Topics: IP Law for Practitioners, Nonprofits and Businesses
Few substantive areas are hotter or more important to your most important commercial clients than IP. Patent/trademark prosecution and litigation, copyright enforcement, branding and licensing: whether you are a leader in a firm, business, start-up or nonprofit, you need to know about these and other critical issues, particularly if you are not an IP specialist. This workshop will present a wide variety of IP law topics including basic patent, trademark, and copyright law, and a discussion of hot topics such as internet liability, genetics and software patenting, expanding domain names and trademarks, legislative and judicial reforms and regulatory changes.
Moderator: Todd Dickinson
Speakers: Julius Towers, David Tsai, Michelle A. Blain
CLE Materials: Download
Policing, Prosecution and Punishment of LGBT People
Pooja Gehi of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project joins Joey Mogul and Andrea Ritchie, police misconduct attorneys and co-authors of Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States, forthcoming from Beacon Press in 2011 as part of the Queer Ideas series edited by Michael Bronski to share insights on the criminalization of gender and sexual nonconformity, as well as on representing, advocating, and organizing on behalf of LGBT people in the criminal justice system.
Moderator: Lousene Hoppe
Speakers: Joey Mogul, Andrea Ritchie, Pooja Gehi
CLE Materials: Download
Hate Crimes and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 – From Theory to Statute and Now on to Application
The FBI reports that the number of hate crimes have risen every year over the last decade, with a hate crime occurring almost every hour of the day, seven days a week. Hate crimes against GLBT people have also risen dramatically. To aid in combating this problem, Congress has passed several hate crimes statutes, including the most recent Shepard-Byrd Act which extends hate crimes coverage to persons who are, or perceived to be, GLBT, among other categories. Federal prosecutors and investigators now have a duty to form stronger liaisons with the LGBT community so that law enforcement can better identify and prosecute these crimes. Likewise, LGBT attorneys have a responsibility to understand the application of the first federal law that extends legal protection to our transgender brothers and sisters in order to help provide accurate reporting to the FBI. This panel will: Explore ways that Federal law enforcement and the LGBT community and advocates can work better together to combat hate crimes; Address U-visas and other immigration options available to undocumented hate crimes victims; Discuss emerging legal trends in the enforcement of this new Act; Propose ways for advocates and student practitioners to identify and report possible violations of this Act.
Moderator: Matt Nosanchuk
Speakers: Robert Moossy, Anne M. Tompkins, Christina Miller
CLE Materials: Download
Friday, August 27, 2010 | 2:00pm – 3:30pm
Corporate Counsel and Partners Present Life in the Profession: The Application of Ethics
This interactive session will focus on the questions that arise in the daily tasks faced by the client and their lawyers in both litigation and transactional practice. Rules of Professional Responsibility and ethical obligations apply to the practice, and we will explore the many different scenarios in which professional ethics come to bear in the professional throughout the average day. Attendees will learn concise and straightforward answers to difficult questions covering client confidentiality and negotiations.
Moderator: Mary Meeks
Speakers: John Mitchell, Scott Willoughby, Dennis E. Raglin
CLE Materials: Download
Social Networks/Social Justice: Organizing for Social Change While Comporting with Intellectual Property Law and Ethics
The changing landscape of communication poses a complicated set of legal demands for anyone attempting to use social media channels properly, including copyright and trademark law requirements, e-discovery obligations, and ethical concerns. And how do those demands conflict with LGBT attorneys when we work as advocates within the LGBT movement? New technologies and social networking sites present important opportunities, but beware the rocky shoals that such media present. Are you aware of the protections that proper response protocols provide? Attend this workshop to learn what to do and what NOT do online including presenting yourself, your work, and your organization's reputation in new social media.
Moderator: Joseph Gasper
Speakers: Ritchie Miller, Rachel E. Kramer, Robert T. Maldonado, Julius Towers, Judge Zeke Zeidler, Brian J. Winterfeldt
CLE Materials: Download
The Legal Profession and the Judiciary - Commonalities and Differences in Ethics
This is the annual presentation geared toward those attendees who may someday be interested in ascending the bench. It covers both the appointed and elected process in different jurisdictions. In addition this year, the presenters will discuss ethics in the profession, and how those are similar and different between practitioners and members of the bench.
Moderator: Judge Judy Rubenstein
Speakers: Judge Paul Feinman, Judge Larnzell Martin, Judge Michael Sonberg, Judge Gary Cohen, Judge George Silver
CLE Materials: Download
Marriage Rules Meet the Family
Same-sex couples are learning what it means to be married and what it means to get divorced. Marital rules apply to couples in more than ten states, affecting the allocation of assets, debt liability, and financial support obligations upon divorce or dissolution. This workshop will explore the legal and emotional impact of the multitude of issues lawyers are likely to face. The treatment of pre-marital assets, extent of post-separation support, and tax-related complications will be discussed, as well as the inter-personal dynamics of claims for marital "rights". The workshop will include group discussions of various hypothetical scenarios raising these issues.
Moderator: Kim Byrd
Speakers: Fred Hertz, Joyce Kauffman, Deb Guston, Patricia Cain
CLE Materials: Download
Putting T Issues Front & Center
Those who work and write in the area are always asked, so how many people do these issues really affect? Why should we spend time and resources on these efforts? This program will examine why transgender issues affect everyone in the LGBT community and why more resources should be used to address transgender concerns, especially those that directly affect the most marginalized members of our community.
Moderator: Dru Levasseur
Speakers: Sharon McGowan, Shannon Minter, Jennifer Levi, Julie Greenberg
CLE Materials: Download
Intimate partner violence is as prevalent in the lives of LGBT relationships as it is in heterosexual relationships, yet the movement has avoided facing that fact head on, choosing instead to work on issues that position our families in a favorable light. There are very few resources, legal and non-legal, for LGBT survivors. In this workshop we will review the unique barriers LGBT victims face accessing legal options, identify legal issues and remedies, and discuss how lawyers and law students can work on this important issue facing our communities.
Moderator: Judge Mark King Leban,
Speakers: Wayne Thomas, Morgan Lynn, Andrew Sta. Ana, Terra Slavin
CLE Materials: Download
Financial Reform – From Wall Street to Main Street
The financial overhaul bill will affect derivatives-trading, capital requirements, and financial firms, but it will also develop a consumer protection agency providing new regulations for debit and credit cards, mortgages, and credit scores. Lawmakers hope that these protections addressing the financial industry overall will protect us from another crisis, but will it? Attendees – whether attorneys in the AmLaw200 or GP/Solos -- will develop an understanding of the 1400+ pages of the new laws and how they affect both Wall Street and Main Street.
Moderator: John T. Hendricks
Speakers: José Gabilondo, Brian V. Breheny
CLE Materials: Download
Friday, August 27, 2010 | 3:45pm – 5:15pm
Legislative vs. Judicial Branch: Successes & Failure
As we win more and more LGBT and other civil rights victories in courts around the country, there are a number of legislative attempts to overturn them. This panel will examine both successful and failed attempts to overturn positive rulings in the LGBT rights and reproductive choice fields, such as Massachusetts’ anti-marriage equality legislation and West Virginia, Tennessee and Oklahoma's anti-choice legislation. Experts on the panel will suggest strategies for defeating these attempts, including a comparative international perspective, as well as litigation strategies toward building strong constitutional cases that can withhold legislative attacks.
Moderator: Jaime Todd-Gher
Speakers: Hilary Meyer, Jennifer Levi, Rachel Caufield
CLE Materials: Download
Practicing Employment Law & Winning For Your Clients: Perspectives from Both Sides of the Table
Members of this diverse panel of experts will discuss their perspectives on the current practice of employment law by providing an overview of the current status of sexual orientation/gender identity protections for employees, discussing the "nuts and bolts" of taking cases to trial, and providing tips on best practices so that employers can do things right and avoid going to trial in the first place. Our panelists will provide actual examples of current cases and various employment counseling scenarios to illustrate each of these themes, including using the lessons learned during a recent Title IX trial by way of example.
Moderator: Jason Plowman
Speakers: Greg Nevins, Amy Todd-Gher, ME Stephens, Melisa Romig, Pedro Forment, Denise Visconti
CLE Materials: Download
Evidence: Social Science Research and LGBT Litigation
Judge Walker, in the Perry case challenging the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 , directed the parties to present evidence about whether permitting same-sex marriage destabilizes different-sex marriage, the quality of parenting provided by different-sex couples, and whether and how same-sex couples were harmed by their exclusion from marriage, among other questions. This panel will present some of the current, cutting edge research that was used in Perry (and has been used in other litigation as well), combined with thoughtful commentary by legal experts about the usefulness, challenges, and practical issues that arise when using such research in the courtroom.
Moderator: Elizabeth Schwartz
Speakers: M.V. Lee Badgett, Therese Stewart, Shannon Minter, Jenny Pizer
CLE Materials: Download
Preventing Peer and Teacher Harassment of LGBT Students: Innovative Strategies for Lawyers in the Safe School Movement
This interactive workshop will describe innovative ways for lawyers, law professors and law students to engage in anti-bullying efforts and in gender identity and gender expression issues. Bullying experts generally agree that litigation does little to prevent bullying or provide remedies for harassed children. Judicial opinions in bullying cases have made it exceedingly difficult for victims to prevail in court. Therefore, lawyers should consider using their skills to offer help in prevention. The workshop will present the Ohio Safe School Project as a model collaborative initiative that focuses on prevention with a legal perspective, which is often lacking in anti-bullying programs. This workshop will also offer a reproduction of a transgender students in K-12 paper recently presented at the 25th Annual School Law Conference in Austin, Texas.
Moderator: Kara Suffredini
Speakers: Phyllis Frye, Robert Salem, Michelle Stecker, Spencer Bergstedt, Alison Gill
CLE Materials: Download
Asset transfer after death, usually governed by probate laws, has a scary and sometimes deserved bad reputation for gay individuals, couples, and their families. This workshop seeks to explain how good estate planning can reduce or negate common probate issues. The program will cover the practical aspects of probate law and how to make your best case to the Surrogate's Court.
Moderator: Kate Fletcher
Speakers: Pat Cain, Joan Burda, Anthony Brown, Richard Milstein, Tamara Kolz
CLE Materials: Download
Immigration, LGBT Asylum and Refugee Law
The panel will lead a discussion of recent changes in immigration law such as the repeal of the HIV travel and immigration ban and administrative and regulatory efforts in that area as well as in the area of immigration rights. It will also discuss legislative efforts (the Uniting American Families Act and a partial or complete repeal of DOMA) that would recognize lesbian and gay bi-national couples under U.S. immigration law. Finally, it would explore the complex legal environment that these couples would face if DOMA is repealed in light of U.S. immigration officials’ prior treatment of marriages that are recognized in some, but not all, U.S. states.
Moderator: John Treviño
Speakers: Neil Grungras, Eric Berndt, Camiel Becker, Christopher Nugent
CLE Materials: Download
Saturday, August 28, 2010 | 10:45am – 12:15pm
Understanding Federal Judicial Nominations and Tips for Effective Advocacy in Support of Nominations
The National LGBT Bar Association is looking to increase the number of qualified LGBT people serving in our judicial system across the nation. Other bar associations have active and robust programs through their networks of attorneys, judges, and contacts in the federal government, that work carefully to identify qualified candidates, able and ready to serve in the judiciary, while working closely with relevant officials to secure opportunities. What is the LGBT community doing to emulate these successful programs along with others?
Moderator: Brad Rosen
Speakers: Robert Raben, Tina Matsuoka, Rives Kistler
CLE Materials: Download
Going International – How to Move your Practice to the World
Panelists will draw on their experience in international law including privacy, business tax, litigation, and arbitration. Going international and making it a success requires planning beyond moving to the foreign office. International practice demands attorneys that can work in multicultural teams, and this is a natural fit for diverse attorneys who are used to thinking outside the box and being creative while building bridges. Further, LGBT practitioners must consider not only professional and business ethics, but cultural competencies when working abroad. Come to this panel to hear from those who have seen it all in their travels and will share their practice tips with you.
Moderator: John Treviño
Speakers: Joseph F. Morrissey, Randy A. Bullard
CLE Materials: Download
Cutting Edge Issues: Parenting in the 21st Century
Due to advanced reproductive technologies, families are springing into existence in ways the U.S. legal system never envisioned. LGBT families are a part of this cresting wave in American jurisprudence. What makes a parent -- biology or consent? What makes a family -- form or function? From birth certificates to custody, from surrogacy to adoption bans, join scholars, practitioners and advocates for a discussion of the cutting edge legal, legislative, and practical issues involving our nation's LGBT families.
Moderator: William Singer
Speakers: Kara Suffredini, Courtney Joslin, Nancy Polikoff, Joyce Kauffman, Greg Nevins, Deborah Wald
CLE Materials: Download
Health Care: Fighting LGBT Discrimination
Healthcare reform efforts have been premised on the notion of equitable access to the full continuum of health promotion, prevention, and treatment services. However, for lgbt people, social stigma and discrimination have led to decades of obstructed access to adequate lgbt-affirmative and culturally competent healthcare. Given that lgbt people suffer disproportionately from the adverse health effects of stigma, violence and stress, legal advocates must learn to draft legal documents that provide the broadest possible access to same-sex partners in healthcare settings and make as clear as possible patients’ expectations to be treated as other patients, without restrictions based on sexual orientation, gender identity or health professionals’ religious views about lgbt people. Further, practitioners must understand litigation strategies when those documents, applicable law, medical standards and ethical rules are insufficient or ignored to achieve equal dignity for our families in healthcare settings.
Moderator: Michael Manthei
Speakers: Beth Littrell, Jenny Pizer, Dru Levasseur, Travis Jackson, William McColl
CLE Materials: Download
LGBT Youth in Foster Care and Juvenile Justice
This workshop aims to provide an overview of the cutting edge work being done to address the challenges faced by LGBTQ youth who are homeless or in the foster care or juvenile justice systems. Panelists will highlight the distinct challenges faced by LGBTQ youth in out-of-home systems of care, where they are often subject to discrimination, harassment and violence. We will: 1) share successful efforts by LGBTQ youth advocates nationwide to implement creative strategies to improve the quality of care provided to LGBTQ youth in out-of-home care; 2) talk about the constitutional and other rights that protect LGBTQ youth in out-of-home care; and 3) share examples of practical approaches, including, recent litigation, the results of recent surveys and studies, best practice guidelines, non-discrimination laws and policies, and other relevant resources.
Moderator: Sharra Greer
Speakers: Flor Bermudez, Garry Bevel, Judge D. Zeke Zeidler
CLE Materials: Download
The Sea-Change -- The Billable Hour, Alternative Fee Agreements and Diversity
Legal officers are being asked to reconnect costs of outside legal services with value. This discussion will present a detailed view of ACC's Value Challenge. Topics will include the rise of alternative "value-based" fees and staffing structures, revising relationships between firms and law departments, cost controlling, and legal outsourcing/off shoring; and a discussion of what these changes means to LGBT professionals. Learn what the clients think are good and bad practices by outside firms.
Moderator: Laura Maechtlen
Speakers: Todd Dickinson, Derek Windham, Marla Butler, James G. Leipold, Frederick J. Krebs
CLE Materials: Download
Saturday, August 28, 2010 | 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Citizens United: Corporate Money, Federal Elections and LGBT Equality
For decades, corporate money has been banned from federal elections and elections in 22 states. The Supreme Court undid these corporate bans in Citizens United v. FEC. Meanwhile, statutes across the country which require disclosure from those funding ballot measures are under assault by those who support anti-gay measures. What will the combined effect of these legal developments on the gay rights movement where anonymous corporate money may flood into the political system? This CLE will explore how to navigate the new legal terrain in campaign finance and how new legal rules may impact advocates both for and against gay rights.
Moderator: Judge Steven Kirkland
Speakers: Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Paul Ryan, Solange E. Bitol Hansen, Adam Bonin
CLE Materials: Download
Organized labor has long supported LGBT workers, and that works goes beyond the ballot box. Unions across the country are bargaining for contracts that are inclusive of LGBT workers and their families in a critical area: equality in workplace benefits. However, the economy is precluding change toward a more inclusive workplace, and unions are not the only way to achieve equality. While the political climate is in flux, all issues are on the table and waiting negotiation, from relationship recognition to the Family Medical Leave Act.
Moderator: Laura Maechtlen
Speakers: Michelle Peak, Jeremy Bishop, Tracey Wallace
CLE Materials: Download
This practical, skills-based presentation, will present the nuts-and-bolts of document review in the electronic age. Issues will include, the logistics of document review, how does a practitioner identify the documents you need, collect them, and set up a document review database; what kinds of data is discoverable: email, computer hard drives, server data, and portable media, e.g., CD, USB flash drives, external hard drives, etc.; and the use of computer forensics to reconstruct a data trail such as piecing together web-browsing history, and even social networking history. Whether you are newer lawyers, or an experienced practitioner not as familiar with e-discovery but would like to be, or in-house counsel seeking tips, this workshop will give you new skills or improve upon those you already possess.
Moderator: Jeffrey Schimelfenig
Speakers: Ritchie Miller, Vivek Hatti, Adam B. Gottlieb, Daniel Mateo
CLE Materials: Download
New Legal Strategies for Changing Treatment of Children with Intersex Conditions
After more than 15 years of intersex activism, the medical field remains slow to respond to critiques raised by the intersex community. While there has been some change in medical practice, early cosmetic genital surgery, sterilization of minors, and medical display of intersex children remain the norm. This workshop outlines two new promising advocacy strategies for protecting the rights of these vulnerable children: approaching doctors on behalf of intersex adults who were harmed by their medical treatment and requesting apology for that harm; and implementing existing law regarding involuntary sterilization to obtain judicial review in advance of such operations.
Moderator: Craig Konnoth
Speakers: Julie Greenberg, Anne Tamar-Mattis
CLE Materials: Download
Practitioners Guide to Advocating for LGBT Students
This is a hands-on, how-to panel, about building and litigating a successful case against a school that treats its LGBT student unequally, or otherwise creates or condones anti-LGBT discrimination or harassment, focusing on the challenges inherent in such cases, the latest decisions and lawsuits, winning strategies, and anticipated defenses.
Moderator: Barry Parsons
Speakers: Beth Littrell, Christine Sun, Shannon Gilreath
CLE Materials: Download
Caucus: Legal Aid Services for Low-Income LGBT Clients
This caucus is a networking and informational meeting for legal advocates interested in providing services to low-income LGBT clients. All advocates involved in providing services to low-income individuals are invited to attend. In this caucus, we will discuss issues such as the challenges in serving and reaching the LGBT community, tips for providing competent services, strategies for effective outreach to the LGBT community, and examples of successful LGBT-focused projects started by legal services organizations.
Moderator: Cathy Sakimura
Speakers: Natalie Chin, Amy Williams, Dan Torres, Kara Schickowski
CLE Materials: This workshop is not for CLE credit.