I Think, Therefore I Am ... Biased: How Implicit Biases Manifest in the Legal Profession
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

The human brain is wired to recognize patterns and make generalizations, even those based on faulty or incomplete information. And contrary to popular opinion, lawyers are human as well and therefore, we are just as susceptible to forming biases and acting upon them. And it does not require that we harbor ill will or animus towards other people. In fact, most often, our biases are not even our own, but rather those that have been taught to us.

In this eye-opening presentation, the presenter will use videos to show lawyers just how easy it is to form these biases, how they manifest themselves in the way we treat clients, colleagues and opposing parties, and most importantly, how we can reduce the effect of these biases by recognizing and compensating for them.

Ethical Jeopardy: A CLE Game Show
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

In Ethical Jeopardy, you will compete against lawyers from across the country in answering legal ethics-related questions, such as the one below:

Which of the following is NOT grounds to disclose client information?

  • To prevent death or harm to another person
  • To defend oneself against civil, criminal or disciplinary charges
  • To impress prospective clients
  • To prevent fraud

    Through the polling feature on our platform, lawyers will be allowed to make their selections. At the end of the program, each participant will receive their score, along with their "player ranking." Oh yeah, and you just might learn something in the process.

CLE Gameshow Three-Pack #2501
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Join Sean Carter, America's Funniest Lawyer, for three (3) fun-filled CLE hours of legal ethics-related game shows, as follows:

TimeProgram
1:00-2:00pm ETEthical Jeopardy
2:15-3:15pm ETWho Wants To Be Disbarred?
3:30-4:30pm ETDiscipline or No Discipline

Register for individual programs or all three.

Who Wants to be Disbarred?: A CLE Game Show
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

In Who Wants to be Disbarred?, you will compete against lawyers from across the country in answering legal ethics-related questions, such as the one below:

Which of the following conflicts of interest is prohibited by the ethics canon?

  • Being related to the client
  • Going to the same high school as the judge
  • Being close friends with opposing counsel
  • Lending money to the client

    Through the polling feature on our platform, lawyers will be allowed to make their selections. At the end of the program, each participant will receive their score, along with their "player ranking." Oh yeah, and you just might learn something in the process.

Discipline or No Discipline (Episode 401): A CLE Game Show
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

In this interactive game modeled after the popular television game show, you will be presented with 30 briefcases. Each briefcase contains the details of an actual disciplinary case that was filed against a U.S. lawyer. When you select a case, you will hear the facts of the case and then, as counsel for the respondent, you will be offered a "deal" (e.g., a reprimand, 1-year suspension, etc.). You will then be asked to accept the proposed discipline or to reject it, in hopes that the actual sanction imposed was less severe than the proposed sanction. If you choose correctly (accepting a good deal or rejecting a bad deal), you will be awarded the points contained in that briefcase.

At the end of the hour, you will see how your score compares to other lawyers across the country.

Confetti, Cocktails and Consequences: How to Avoid an Ethical Hangover
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

This timely and eye-opening ethics program that explores the professional risks lawyers face when the celebration goes too far. Whether it's the office holiday party, a big trial win, or a festive holiday celebration, excessive revelry can lead to serious ethical consequences - including breaches of confidentiality, inappropriate conduct, conflicts of interest, and damaging social media posts. Through real-world disciplinary cases and cautionary tales, this program reminds attorneys that professional responsibility doesn't end when the bar tab opens. Don't let one night of poor judgment result in a career hangover - learn how to navigate the perils of partying while protecting your license and reputation.

May It Displease the Court?: Keeping Your Head (and Your Law License) in Court
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

In this hilarious webinar, legal humorist Sean Carter reviews some of the most outrageous breaches of lawyer decorum in recent years. In doing so, he will address the underlying reasons for lawyers to act out in this manner and provide tips to prevent losing control of our emotions (and our law licenses).

The 2025 Ethy Awards
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Each year, Hollywood celebrates the best performances in motion pictures at the Oscars. Well, in this program, we note the worst ethics violations in the legal profession at the Ethys. Humorist Sean Carter will host the festivities and announce the award winners in such categories as: Worst Original Excuse, Best Courtroom Outburst, Most Creative Billing, Least Competent, and much more. In the process of recapping some of the most egregious instances of unethical behavior, Mr. Carter will demonstrate how the rest of us can avoid more common ethical violations.

The Final Transaction: Hands-On A.I. Training for the Transactional Lawyer
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

The Final Transaction is a three-hour interactive mission for transactional attorneys ready to explore strange new tech…to seek out smarter workflows and faster closings…to boldly draft where no lawyer has drafted before! Join this hands-on voyage through the galaxy of A.I. tools that can turbocharge your due diligence, supercharge your negotiations, and draft contracts at warp speed. You'll get practical demonstrations, real-life applications, and enough tips and tricks to make even the most skeptical lawyer say, "Make it so." Engage your inner legal tech captain and prepare for a practice-transforming experience.

Attorneys Are Not Accomplices: How to Avoid Crossing the Line from Counselor to Co-Conspirator
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

In their efforts to provide the best possible service to their clients, lawyers sometimes forget that they owe an even greater duty of fidelity to the law and the proper administration of justice. As a result, lawyers who "pull out all the stops" for a client run the risk of putting a stop to their law careers and even their very freedom.

Keep Your Hands Out of the Client's Cookie Jar: Avoiding Trust Accounting Violations
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

One of the fundamental principles of legal ethics can be summed up as: "Keep your hands off the money." And while this is a gross oversimplification of the legal ethics rules, it is true that this breach of fiduciary trust is among the gravest transgressions that a lawyer can make. Moreover, as it are often amongst the most heavily-punished violations, it often start a cascading effect of rule-breaking as lawyers desperately attempt to avoid detection. As a result, it never hurts to review this all-important ethical limitation on lawyer conduct.

Don't Be A Stupid Cupid: Avoiding Inappropriate Entanglements in the Practice of Law
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

To be an effective advocate, a lawyer must maintain a fair degree of dispassionate objectivity. The lawyer who becomes personally involved in the representation does the client a disservice. This is even more true for the lawyer who becomes personally involved with the client. In this webinar, legal humorist Sean Carter will explain the importance of avoiding this most basic conflict of interest and will relate the tragic (but sometimes fascinating) tales of lawyers who learned this lesson too late.

You're a Lawyer Not a Fighter: The Ethical Imperative to Remain Peaceful at All Times
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Lawyers serve a vital role in society -- to help others resolve their disputes peacefully. And while lawyers do so through use of the adversarial process, we must not ever lose sight of the fact that we are not "fighting" for our clients. We are striving to help them reach a peaceful solution to their problem.

Sadly, quite often, lawyers get so hung up in the confrontational manner of depositions, cross-examinations, contract negotiations, and the like, that we develop a "fighting" mentality. This mentality does not serve the best of interest of our clients and nor does it serve our personal or professional interests.

Walking the Diversity Talk: Making Greater Strides Towards the Elimination of Bias
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

By now, you are likely familiar with the concept of implicit bias and how it impacts both individuals and organizations in decision-making. However, knowledge of the problem is just the first step. In order to truly "walk the (diversity) talk," we must take definitive strides in the direction of diversity, equity and inclusion.

In this engaging webinar, legal humorist Sean Carter will explore a wide range of actionable steps that individuals (and organizations) can take to reduce bias in their decision-making, allowing us all to move one step closer a more diverse, equitable and inclusive legal profession.

From Competence to Excellence: The Ethical Imperative for Excellent Client Service
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

The very first rule of the ethics canon calls for lawyers to provide competent representation to clients. Yet, mere competence isn't enough to satisfy our ethical obligations to our clients. We must instead strive for excellence. In this unique webinar, noted legal humorist Sean Carter will highlight the need for excellence in client service and demonstrate the consequences of mediocrity by recounting the sagas of past Ethy Award nominees -- lawyers who earned CLE infamy for the failure to provide excellent client service.

Lies, Damn Lies & Legal Marketing: The Ethics of Legal Marketing
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

What is effective advertising in other fields is rarely acceptable in the field of law. In this entertaining ethics course, Sean Carter examines in detail the ethical rules concerning marketing and their practical implications. The program also covers common advertising strategies employed by attorneys, and the pitfalls many attorneys will encounter.

The 2025 Ethy Awards
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Each year, Hollywood celebrates the best performances in motion pictures at the Oscars. Well, in this program, we note the worst ethics violations in the legal profession at the Ethys. Humorist Sean Carter will host the festivities and announce the award winners in such categories as: Worst Original Excuse, Best Courtroom Outburst, Most Creative Billing, Least Competent, and much more. In the process of recapping some of the most egregious instances of unethical behavior, Mr. Carter will demonstrate how the rest of us can avoid more common ethical violations.

Enough is Enough: Avoiding Vexatious Lawyering
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

While lawyers are expected to provide their clients with zealous representation, we are not allowed to become outright zealots in pursuit of our client's objectives. Yet, time and again, this is precisely what happens as lawyers become fixated on winning at all costs. And as a result, they end up paying the ultimate price -- the loss of their license to practice law.

In this sobering but surprisingly funny presentation, legal humorist Sean Carter will distinguish permissible zealous legal practices from unethical legal zealotry.

Engage!: Hands-On A.I. Training For Modern Legal Practice
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Join us for an extraordinary six-hour webinar journey where you'll not only learn about artificial intelligence's revolutionary impact on the legal profession but will also engage directly with the technologies reshaping our field. This hands-on workshop program is designed for forward-thinking legal professionals eager to command the tools of tomorrow, today.

Don't Be an Outlaw: The Ethical Imperative to Follow the Law
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Lawyers must not only have a fundamental understanding of the law, but also, a fundamental commitment to abiding by it. And while the necessity to avoid committing major felonies is obvious to everyone, some lawyers forget about the necessity to follow the "little laws" as well. In this eye-opening webinar, legal humorist Sean Carter will recount the tales of past Ethy Award nominees (those who were recognized the best of the worst ethics violations). These lawyers learned, albeit too late, that if you do even a minor crime, you will do the disciplinary time.

Don't Try This At Home Three-Pack #0625
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Lawyers on our favorite TV legal dramas often act in ways that would cause significant trouble for actual lawyers. In this three-part multimedia webinar series, legal humorist Sean Carter will use short video clips from LA Law, The Practice, and Suits to demonstrate some of the legal ethics violations that played out on the show. In doing so, Carter hopes to show you how to keep your professional life from imitating art.

Part 1 - LA Law(less)
Part 2 - The Mal(Practice)
Part 3 - From Suits to Stripes

Register for individual programs or all three.

LA Law(less): Don't Be Like Mike Kuzak
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Lawyers on our favorite TV legal dramas often act in ways that would cause significant trouble for actual lawyers. In this multimedia webinar, legal humorist Sean Carter will use short video clips from the very popular series, LA Law, to demonstrate some of the legal ethics violations that played out on the show. In doing so, Carter hopes to show you how to keep your professional life from imitating art.

The (Mal)Practice: From the Don't Try This At Home Series
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Lawyers on our favorite TV legal dramas often act in ways that would cause significant trouble for actual lawyers. In this multimedia webinar, legal humorist Sean Carter will use short video clips from the very popular series, The Practice, to demonstrate some of the legal ethics violations that played out on the show. In doing so, Carter hopes to show you how to keep your professional life from imitating art.

From Suits to Stripes: Why You Should Not Do What TV Lawyers Do
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

For years, television programs such as LA Law, The Practice and Boston Legal have shown lawyers skirting ethical boundaries and playing fast and loose with the rules. However, in 2011, USA Networks jumped the proverbial shark when it began airing Suits, a show that is literally built on the premise of the unauthorized practice of law. And, over the next several seasons, it highlighted lawyers engaging in continuous and increasingly serious ethical violations.

In this multi-media themed webinar, noted legal humorist Sean Carter will revisit some of the highlights (and ethical lowlights) of this sometimes astonishing television series. Moreover, he will illustrate the ways that life sometimes imitates art and how real lawyers have managed to trade their business suits for prisoner's stripes by engaging in similar conduct.

The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth: The Ethical Imperative for Honesty in Law Practice
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Dr. Martin Luther King once said, "A fact is the absence of contradiction, but the truth is the presence of coherence." As lawyers, we are duty bound to be more than just factual. Lawyers must tell the truth to clients, judges, and even opposing counsel and third parties. In this eye-opening webinar, legal humorist Sean Carter will deal frankly with the very human inclination for dishonesty and explain how to avoid the traps from which dishonesty most often springs. In doing so, he will draw upon current and past nominees from his annual Ethy Awards to show the consequences of dishonesty.

Nice Lawyers Finish First
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

It's been said that nice guys finish last. And while that might be true in the rough and tumble arenas of politics, professional prize fighting and marriage, nothing could be further from the truth in the practice of law. Zealous representation doesn't require us to be zealots. In fact, the most effective representation requires just the opposite. Nice lawyers finish first ... and so do their clients!

- Upcoming Webinars
X

Mesa CLE Affiliates