Caution: Keep Hands Off!
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

It's been said that the entire legal ethics canon can be summed up in two rules: (1) Keep your hands off the money; and (2) Keep your hands off the client. And while this is a gross oversimplification of the legal ethics rules, it is true that these two breaches of fiduciary trust are among the gravest transgressions that a lawyer can make. Moreover, as they are often amongst the most heavily-punished violations, they often start a cascading effect of rule-breaking as lawyers desperately attempt to avoid their detection. As a result, it never hurts to review these all-important ethical limitations on lawyer conduct.

Discipline or No Discipline (Episode 402): 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.

The 2022 Ethy Awards
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Each year, Hollywood celebrates the best performances in motion pictures at the Oscars. Well, at the Ethys, we note the worst ethics violations in the legal profession. 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.

Ally McSteal: 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, Ally McBeal, 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.

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.

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.

The Weakest Lawyer: A CLE Game Show
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

In The Weakest Lawyer, 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 a permissible legal marketing ploy?

  • Offering a money-back guarantee for criminal defense
  • Offering loans to personal injury clients
  • Providing testimonials from past clients
  • Mentioning that you are friends with many judges
  • BANK IT!

    Through the polling feature on our platform, lawyers will be allowed to make their selections (including to "bank" all previously won amounts). 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.

Fantasy Supreme Court League: The 2022 Season
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Step right up to participate in the Fantasy Supreme Court League. In this unique presentation, Sean Carter humorously recaps the significant cases of the most recent term. After receiving the facts of each case, you will compete with lawyers from across the country by attempting to remember (or guess) the outcome and "vote spread" of each case.

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.

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).

Technical Fouls: Even Minor Ethics Violations Can Have Major Consequences
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

When it comes to ethics violations, there is no such thing as a minor or "technical" foul. All ethics violations are serious matters, evidencing a breach of the trust that has been placed in the lawyer. As a result, lawyers must avoid falling into the mindset that a particular violation is "no big deal."

To make this case, noted legal humorist Sean Carter will chronicle a number of recent ethics cases in which lawyers were surprised to discover that even minor ethics violations can have major consequences.

If You Can't Say Something Nice, Shut Up!: The Ethical Imperative for Civility
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

As children, we were all taught, "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all." Well, that advice holds especially true for lawyers. Whether in open court, a deposition, or contract negotiation, lawyers who choose to "go low," run a high risk of bar discipline. Increasingly, disciplinary authorities are treating the once aspirational goal of civility as a mandate. Therefore, it's important for all lawyers to be reminded of their obligation to "play nice."

The Ties That Bind: 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.

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.

Boston (Il)legal: 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, Boston Legal, 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.

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.

Fantasy Supreme Court League: The 2022 Season
Presented by: Legal Humorist Sean Carter

Step right up to participate in the Fantasy Supreme Court League. In this unique presentation, Sean Carter humorously recaps the significant cases of the most recent term. After receiving the facts of each case, you will compete with lawyers from across the country by attempting to remember (or guess) the outcome and "vote spread" of each case.

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.

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