From A.I. to Z: Facing Ethical Conundrums CLE - ON-DEMAND

This is the ON-DEMAND Version recorded from the LIVE Webinar hosted on January 19th, 2024.

The legal landscape shifts over time, responding to new developments in the law, resources, client behavioral norms, and the demands of the legal profession today. Each change presents new ethical legal questions. This 2-hour CLE webinar will explore the ethical ramifications of timely issues attorneys face today. Led by moderator Tikkun Gottschalk, a panel of seasoned attorneys will discuss specific issues and an ethical way forward.

Specific topics for discussion include:

• Pro se litigants – When individuals choose to represent themselves, it can present unique challenges for attorneys representing the other party or who are assisting on an advice-only basis. In this section of the program, we will discuss particular situations that involve unrepresented parties, such as divorces, estate proceedings, and business partnership formation.

• Advising nonprofit boards – Many lawyers serve on nonprofit boards or have a nonprofit client. Often, board members disagree about the best way forward. The panelists will discuss ways to advise nonprofits in these types of challenging situations.

• Artificial Intelligence – With A.I.’s emergence has come the promise that this new technology could serve as a valuable resource for attorneys. However, we have all heard about lawyers getting in trouble for submitting briefs to courts that were written using A.I. technology. Panelists will explore why this use of A.I. is problematic as well as ways that A.I. can be used ethically for drafting documents when in compliance with ethics rules.

• Multiple client representation – All lawyers at some point represent more than one party in a contested matter or a transaction. What can be done when there is an un-waivable conflict of interest between two parties being represented? How should lawyers approach situations when they cannot represent both or all clients’ interests? When a lawyer begins the representation with the conflict waived but then has to withdraw? During close calls where a waiver may be allowed but probably should not be requested? Panelists talk through these challenging scenarios and best practices.

Moderator:

Tikkun Gottschalk is currently an attorney at Deutsch and Gottschalk where he handles a variety of cases for the firm. In the last few years, most of his work has been in business transactions, real estate litigation, and estate administration. He also handles debt collection cases (for debtors and creditors), creditors’ rights in bankruptcy, traffic court citations, landlord and tenant disputes, real estate transactions, and estate planning. He also usually have at least one pro bono case he is working on as well.

Panelist:

Janet Amburgey is a board certificate special in Family Law as recognized by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Certified Family Financial Mediator by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission. She focuses her practice exclusively on family law matters, both to her own clients and to other lawyers and their clients as a family financial mediator. In 2015, Janet began service as a member of the Executive Committee of the 28th Judicial District Bar. Now more commonly known as the Buncombe Bar. Janet took oath as President in 2023, and when she finalizes her duties in 2025, she will have dedicated 10 years of service to legal governance in Western North Carolina. She is a member of the Family Law Section of the NC Bar Association and co-chaired its Parent’s Rights Committee in 2017. Janet is widely recognized by her peers as among the best in her field through North Carolina Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, North Carolina Legal Elite, and Martindale Hubbell. Janet earned her law degree from Appalachian School of Law and her undergraduate in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee.

Fred Barbour has been practicing law for more than 30 years. His practice is entirely litigation, representing parties in disputed matters. He has tried more than 100 cases to jury verdict in state and federal courts. Fred was certified as a mediator in 2002 and has successfully mediated more than 1,000 cases. Trial and mediation experience has given him unique perspective and insight into how to get disputes resolved both inside and outside the courtroom. Barbour went to undergraduate school and earned his law degree at the University of North Carolina. He has a peer review rating of “AV” from Martindale-Hubbel (its highest rating in legal ability and ethical standards), was recognized by Business North Carolina as one of the state’s top litigators and recognized by peers in “SuperLawyers” for several years as an outstanding mediator and U.S. News “Best Lawyers.”

Robert Deutsch is a graduate from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with a B.A. in Economics and received his Juris Doctor Degree from Harvard Law School. He has been practicing law in Western North Carolina for over 40 years, representing clients in a variety of cases from capital murder trials and wrongful death, medical malpractice, and product liability litigation, to complex business and commercial transactions and litigation, and real estate development and closings. For the last decade, he has concentrated on business negotiation and litigation, real estate transactions and the development process, while still representing personal injury clients in substantial cases. He is also the attorney for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. While maintaining a full-time legal practice, he also owns and operates several businesses and remains a strong advocate and supporter of the Asheville community.

Heather Whitaker Goldstein is an attorney at the Van Winkle Law Firm. She is a graduate of Duke University and earned her J.D. from The George Washington University. As a principal at The Van Winkle Law Firm, Heather Whitaker Goldstein focuses on incapacity planning, client advocacy and litigation in a wide variety of situations where an elderly person is vulnerable to exploitation. She assists clients with drafting powers of attorney, incompetency and guardianship proceedings, will contests, trust modifications, estate-related litigation, and claims by and against individuals who are serving as executor, trustee, or agent under a power of attorney. She also assists clients with creating estate plans and planning for long-term care public benefits, and she advises executors, trustees, and guardians on the administration of estates. From 2003 – 2012 Heather served as the Executive Director of the Asheville Jewish Community Center. She is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Western and Middle Districts of North Carolina, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third and Fourth Districts, as well as all North Carolina state courts.

All registration fees benefit The Mediation Center.