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Session 01: Medicaid Update - Latest developments affecting planning and applications for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care and home care. Session 02: What All Estate and Probate Attorneys Need to Know About Medicaid Planning and Drafting - Issue-spotting and discussion highlighting elder law issues for which every estate planner and probate attorney should be on the lookout. Session 03: The View from 30, 000 feet – Medicaid Myths All Attorney's Should Know - Join Stephanie as she explains Medicaid and Medicare mythbusting and challenges common misconceptions about: MERP, Medicaid, and Medicare, as well as protecting the home and other assets with Transfer on Death Planning and Couples Planning for Medicaid. Session 04: When Your Client May Have Diminished Capacity - In estate planning and elder law, attorneys often have clients that may be in some stage of diminished capacity. This creates ethical and legal issues for the attorney that can’t be ignored. Explore those issues and ways the attorney can navigate these turbulent waters. Session 05: Real Estate Issues in Elder Law - Review issues to better protect your clients, including homestead and agricultural exemptions; recent changes; to inspect or not, what could possibly go wrong; easements; and transactions with an affidavit of heirship within four years of date of death.  Session 06: Role of the Guardian - Examine the duties and responsibilities of a guardian under Texas law and guardianship administration, from initiation to closing, including the code requirements of selling and leasing property, ethical issues, and more. Session 07: Alternatives to Guardianship Including Supports and Services - An examination and discussion from the perspectives of the bench and in practice on lesser restrictive alternatives and available supports and services in guardianship. Which work? Which do not? And, how, in every case, the answer is, "It depends." Session 08: Medicaid Matters and Probate Proceedings - Join Stephanie as she explores how to protect homes from the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program [MERP] through probate proceedings, in addition to understanding the basics of protecting homes from the reach of MERP in the first place. Independent administrations may not always be the best choice, particularly in cases where no statutory waivers apply.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 01: Setting Up a Nonprofit: State Law and Organizational Issues and Considerations - Establishing a solid legal and tax foundation is essential for nonprofits. This presentation addresses how to prevent organizational building blocks from becoming missional roadblocks. Session 02: Applying for and Maintaining Tax-Exempt Status - Hear what you need to know to become tax exempt and to stay that way. Session 03: Reporting Obligations for Section 501(c)(3) Organizations - Explore compliance requirements for charitable organizations with IRC section 501(c)(3) status. Provide a framework for the reporting obligations at the federal and state levels. The federal reporting discussion will concentrate on the key reporting items of the Form 990 and when other forms may be required. Discuss the high-level requirements for state registrations for nonprofits, charitable trusts and charitable solicitations. Session 04: Regulatory Horizons Interplay: State and Federal Enforcement - Ex-regulators for both the IRS and states attorney general offices provide perspectives on enforcement activity from the “outside," including a discussion on cooperation amongst the states’ AGs, and communication between state regulators/the IRS. Are they sharing? How does one’s enforcement efforts affect the other? Session 05: IRS Audits - An IRS audit won’t happen to my organization, you say—until it does. Audit preparedness should be at the center of any good compliance regime for a Section 501(c)(3) public charity or private foundation, whether you’re audited this year or in 2030. Review the basics of an IRS audit and gain practical advice on preparing for, understanding, managing, and ultimately surviving the audit process. Session 06: Governance: Essential Organizational Policies and Protections - A strong set of policies serve as a key building block in good governance and organizational effectiveness. This session offers an overview and discussion of a number of standard organizational policies to better understand not only the nature of the policies and their format but also what they are designed to accomplish and how they interact with insurance and tie into an overall compliance program. Session 07: Governance: Managing an Internal Investigation - Explore the anatomy of an internal investigation from a governance perspective— from the allegations, through the first moves and the next steps, to the investigation’s findings and aftermath. An internal investigation can be a complex, fast moving and highly fraught legal experience not for the faint of heart and understanding the role of the board is imperative to a successful outcome. The scope (and costs) can easily get out of hand, and there are many landmines hidden throughout the process. Discuss the following with a special focus on the governance considerations: Who do you tell and when (the executive team, the executive committee, the board, key donors or other stakeholders)? What is the role of each stakeholder and how do you navigate disagreements? Do the allegations warrant a full-fledged investigation or would that be an over-reaction? Do you bring in outside counsel or other third parties (forensic accountants or other experts) and when? What is the proper scope of an investigation? What are the legal and privilege issues involved, in particular when interviewing employees and former employees? What are the communications/PR concerns? What do you do with the findings? Do you do a written report? What should come out of the investigation (employment actions, governance reforms)? Do you self-report to the IRS or other regulators? What do you make public and when? And what is the role of the board (or a board or special committee) in navigating each of these questions? Session 08: Protecting Your Nonprofit Client: Opinions, Privilege, and Return Positions - A practical overview of the legal requirements of tax opinions, the attorney-client privilege in tax situations, and the various types of tax advice on return positions. Discuss the myriad of penalties on organizations and tax return preparers. Hear real-world examples of problems that non-profit organizations face and best practices to solve those problems. Session 09: Commercial Activities and UBIT - Exempt organizations are increasingly focused on generating additional revenue, capitalizing on tangible and intangible assets, and partnering with for-profit entities. This session will cover trends in the area, instances of how the UBIT rules apply, and examples of how including tax in early stage project/revenue planning can add value, improve post-tax returns, and avoid unpleasant surprises. Session 10: Election Year Issues: Political Engagement and Affiliated Structures - A practical exploration of the rules regarding political engagement across the nonprofit sector, including how to maximize impact through the use of affiliated structures. Session 11: MASTER CLASS: Accounting for Non-Profits: Understanding the Balance Sheet and Financial Statements (and the Form 990 Connection) - Hear components of a Non-Profit Organization’s financial statements, including the footnotes, and how information tells the Non-Profit Organization’s financial story. Additionally, learn how to identify differences between the financial statements and the Form 990. Session 12: Cybersecurity and Data Protection Issues Affecting Non-Profits - Many nonprofits collect and store sensitive personal information that is protected by law from identity theft. When there is a breach of the security protecting this sensitive personal information, that poses a risk for the individuals whose data was disclosed, and for the nonprofit that will now potentially be subject to liability for the data breach. This presentation features takeaways for non-profits about how to - at a minimum - assess the risks of a data security breach, and protect its data from unauthorized disclosure.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 01: 2023 Case Law Update - A survey of recent Texas cases addressing significant issues (fiduciary duties, piercing the entity veil, and more) in the context of LLCs and partnerships (including limited partnerships and LLPs). Session 02: Texas Legislative Update for Partnerships and LLCs - Summary of selected bills passed in the 2023 Texas Legislature affecting partnerships and limited liability companies. Session 03: 2023 Secretary of State Update - Learn about filing tips and resources that will make your transactions with the Secretary of State easier and more predictable; hear updates on notable legislation and our system modernization initiative. Session 04: Updates from Delaware - A survey of recent Delaware cases addressing significant issues, including fiduciary duties, elimination of fiduciary duties and contractual interpretation in the context of LLCs and partnerships (including limited partnerships and LLPs). Session 05: S corporations: A Cautionary Tale about Squaring the Circle - A discussion of some of the motivations driving the use of LLCs as S corporations, some of the potential issues and some of the drafting and structuring issues that should be considered if an LLC is taxed as an S corporation.  Session 06: Updated Model LLC Agreements - Review three model agreements tailored for a closely held company, including a discussion of some recent changes in the models as well as decisions that the authors made in drafting the models to help improve your drafting skills and result in better operating agreements. Session 07: Drafting Net Profit Agreements - Net profits agreements are used in transactions where the parties have an interest in sharing in profits but do not want to create or participate in an entity arrangement with the parties involved.  Net profits agreements raise a number of issues which may be as basic as the very definition of what the parties intend to share, as well as the methods of payout, the impact on tax consequences of these arrangements and concerns relating to the unintended partnership. Review the issues lawyers may need to consider with their clients to draft an effective net profits agreement.  Session 08: Provisions Limiting Liability and Duties in Partnership and Company Agreements - This panel will discuss the effectiveness and limitations on provisions of partnership and company agreements which provide for the modification of duties, exoneration from liability and indemnification with respect to claims against managers, members and other employees and agents.   Session 09: Effective Engagement Letters and Other Simple Risk-Management Tools - This ethics CLE presentation will look at engagement letters and how they can be used as a risk management tool. Along they way, the presentation will provide practical tips to help lawyers avoid conflict of interest pitfalls and to assist in controlling client expectations about the scope of the representation. Session 10: Multiparty Representation —Entity Formation - A deep-dive into the knurly problems of multi-party representation of start-up companies, including whether the client is the founder or founders or the company is yet to be formed. The ethical difficulties for the lawyer continue after formation as the company and its founders, directors and officers move beyond formation of the entity into the realm of operations.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 01: Lifecycle of Renewable Energy Projects - A discussion of the sequencing of the development of renewable energy projects and how lawyers and developers can best work together to mitigate project risks at each stage of development.  Session 02: Renewable Energy Project Finance 101 - Discuss how various finance tools get stitched together to create a capital stack for a project so it can get developed and built. Session 03: Key Differences between Leases for Solar, Wind and Energy Storage Projects - The type of project being developed can substantially change the terms of long-term real estate agreements. A discussion of the legal provisions required by different kinds of renewable energy projects, as determined by differing uses in land, natural resources, and infrastructure. Session 04: Real Estate and Title Basics for Renewable Energy Projects - A primer on real estate and title matters for wind and solar energy projects. From the lens of real estate attorneys, hear a high-level overview of project timelines and milestones, the path to securing site control, key provisions of landowner agreements, navigating title and survey matters, and providing real estate support for contracting, financing, and sale of the project. Gain insight into critical deal points and best practices to help projects proceed efficiently.   Session 05: What's New? Federal Energy Update - Hear a lively update on developments affecting the renewable energy market. Session 06: Texas Regulatory Update: ERCOT & PUCT - Overview and discussion on recent and relevant PUCT proceedings and ERCOT market changes and initiatives.  Session 07: Joint Venture and Joint Development Agreements - As more new entrants enter the renewable energy industry, we continue to see an increase in joint ventures and other types of joint development arrangements. In this panel, we will discuss the reasons why, different types of joint structures, and key issues that tend to arise in these negotiations.   Session 08: Mineral Issues Impact on Real Estate Documents, Siting and Planning: Texas vs. California - Understanding the interplay of the mineral estate to the surface estate, and site control agreement and title insurance issues and strategies for securing financeable renewable energy surface rights in Texas and California, and more generally. Session 09: ​Top 10 Construction Loan Provisions - An overview of key provisions in project finance construction loan agreements with respect to renewable energy projects. Hear a high-level overview of the structure of a construction loan agreement and highlights of major pitfalls for both lenders and borrowers Session 10: Ethical Obligations in Negotiations - A foundational discussion about how you, as Counsel, accomplish your objectives and meet your goals while acting legally and ethically during negotiations. Reinforces the professional responsibility a lawyer must maintain when faced with ethical dilemmas in negotiations in order to identify: (1) the balance between a lawyer’s obligations of honesty and candor with client advocacy; (2) best practices in negotiations; and (3) the application of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct in legal negotiations.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 01: First Contact, Case Evaluation, and Client Expectations - Learn how to assess who has a claim, potential conflicts, how to evaluate the potential liability, damages, and costs of the case, and how to manage your client's expectations about their case. Session 02: Investigation and Insurance - Examine critical aspects of the crash investigation, including the identification of potential parties and the myriad of potentially applicable insurance coverages. Session 03: ​Important Cases in the Prosecution and Defense of UM / UIM Cases - A review of recent cases impacting UM/UIM cases and the strategies for prosecuting and defending uninsured and under-insured motorist claims. Session 04: Low Property Damage Cases - Prosecuting and defending personal injury cases with minor property damage can present challenges. This session discusses the experiences and strategies from the plaintiff and defense perspectives. Session 05: Commercial Vehicle Accidents 101 - Learn about commercial vehicle litigation from the plaintiff and defense perspective. The presentation includes litigation involving tractor-trailers, commercial vehicles, and commercial buses. Session 06: Subrogation and Liens: Medicare, Medicaid and Hospitals - Health insurers and providers compete with claimants for personal injury recoveries. How do attorneys protect plaintiffs and defendants from subrogation interests and medical liens? The CLE paper covers all state and federal topics (ERISA, worker’s comp, child support, attorney liability, etc.) but the presentation drills down on three big subjects. Session 07: ​Negotiating with Insurance Adjusters - Learn how to maximize case value through preparation and presentation of the demand package. Session 08: Recurring Ethics Issues in Car Crash Cases - This session discusses recurring ethics issues in car crash cases affecting attorneys representing plaintiffs and defendants. Session 09: Recent Changes to the Advertising and Solicitation Rules: The Highlights - Comprehensive changes to the Texas Disciplinary Rules governing advertisements and solicitations became effective in 2021. This presentation highlights some of the most notable changes.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 01: Trial Preparation 101 - Stressed in trial prep and at trial? Inevitable? Yes. Manageable? Absolutely. Learn tips and strategies from an experienced plaintiff and defense attorney for developing a case and preparing for trial. Session 02: Discovery: Beyond Bullet Points - A discussion about the discoverability and admissibility of medical records, medical bills, and related data that focuses on the increasing role of “reasonableness” in the determination of what is discoverable and admissible and the added complexity and expense this adds to the litigation process. Session 03: Discovery: Best Practices and A View from the Bench - Practical advice for how to conduct effective, ethical and efficient discovery. Session 04: Overcoming “Bad Facts” A Plaintiff and Defense Perspective - Tips and tricks to deal with low property damage, pre-existing conditions, gaps in treatment, lack of medical bills, DWI, criminal clients, and more at trial. Session 05: ​Seatbelts and Police Opinions: Two Outcome Determinative Issues - Evidence about seatbelts and the investigating officer’s opinions has the potential to be outcome-determinative in a car crash case. What evidence should come before the jury, and what should be kept out? Session 06: Medical Bills in Car Crash Cases - Whether you’re an experienced trial lawyer or tackling your first car crash case, proving and challenging medical expenses can be daunting. Break down the nuts and bolts of this critical damages element, as well as more advanced strategies and recent case law impacting this ever-evolving area of the law. Session 07: Trying Cases Without Medical Bills - Texas law has made it difficult to try cases with our medical bills. That burden creates an avenue to trying cases without them and opening doors to greater potential verdicts. Session 08: Jury Selection: What, Why, and How? - What information are you truly trying to obtain during voir dire, why do you need that information for your specific case, and how are you asking questions to get it? Intentional strategies to help plan your approach to jury selection and execute it. Session 09: Storytelling and Themes - How to use stories and themes from voir dire through rebuttal to expose the defense’s use of psychology in trial. This presentation includes real-world, trial-tested stories and story techniques that have been successfully used all over the country in red, blue, and purple counties for car wreck verdicts big and (relatively) small. Session 10: Proving Up Future Damages - Including medical and lost wages. Session 11: Developing a Winning Deposition Strategy - Discuss the fail-safe tricks to ensure you have a winning strategy at depositions. Session 12: Overcoming the Problem Witness - How to handle the difficult witness, yours or theirs. Session 13: Beating the Expert - Find out how to take an expert’s deposition—how to avoid being intimidated and how to set realistic, attainable goals when you depose the "expert." Session 14: Developing Your Trial Cross Through the Adverse Deposition? - Learn to take admission-seeking depositions of adverse witnesses so that they are effectively limited in their testimony at trial. Session 15: Preparing Your Witness for Deposition - Witnesses win cases—and lose them. Learn how to keep your witness from giving it all up in a deposition and how to use the deposition to help prepare your witness to be a winner at trial.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 01: Beyond IT Security: Legal and Cyber Security Considerations in the OT World - Industrial Control Systems and Operational Technology have unique challenges and risks. Explore some of those risks from service disruption and data disclosure, as well as the legal and technical considerations and mitigations and some of the risk implications of emerging AI technology. Session 02: Data Governance - Review the “lifecycle” of data (mis)managed by our clients and by our own organizations. Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and ABA Model Rules guide how proactive approaches to data governance keep us ethical and sane, and save future time and tempers. Session 03: Assessing Your Privacy Law Risk: What Does Reasonable Security Actually Mean? - All of the recently enacted and effective state consumer data privacy laws require that covered businesses implement a “reasonable” security program. Likewise, covered businesses are required to include clauses in their agreements with service providers, contractors and other third parties that impose a duty to protect disclosed personal data with “reasonable” security. Learn from a regulator, an in-house general counsel and an outside privacy counsel what this means and what it looks like and how to do it in your own law firm or company. Session 04: Developing an Effective Incident Response Plan - Walk through the main components you want to have in place for your incident response plan, including what to include and what NOT to include, OFAC implications, and more. Session 05: Contracting with Third-Party Vendors: Top Risk and Privacy Law Considerations - A primer on how to revise third-party vendor contracts to include cybersecurity and privacy law provisions, perform cybersecurity vendor due diligence, and what you need to know to best protect yourself or clients from regulatory scrutiny. Session 06: Do You Know What Your Outside Counsel is Doing to Protect Client Information? - Law firms are now targets for hackers, including nation-state actors that seek to steal sensitive and valuable client information and cause disruption and other damages. Are your outside counsel taking the appropriate steps to ensure the safety of your information? Session 07: The Role of the Board: Before, During and After a Cybersecurity Incident - A summary from sitting board members and board governance experts on obligations, tips, and best practices for boards in preparing for and responding to cybersecurity incidents, and in affectively evaluating and addressing the attendant risks.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides No Materials

Session 01: Finaceability of Documents - Explore financeability requirements for documents in commercial real estate financing.   Session 02: What Is Negotiable in Loan Documents - Discuss issues, motivations and explanations of the loan document provisions that are typically negotiated in a commercial real estate lending transaction.   Session 03: Loan Modifications   Session 04: Contesting Property Tax Appraisals - The Property Tax Protest and Appeal process can be confusing. With fifteen-minutes as the average length for an Appraisal Review Board hearing, review strategies for what to do and not do before your values are set in the Summer, and tax statements arrive in the Fall.   Session 05: Arrows in the Quiver: Remedies for Commercial Real Estate Secured Loans - Review of potential remedies available to enforce and collect commercial real estate secured loans. What are the requirements? What are the pros and cons? Session 07: Give a Little, Get a Little - A push and pull open discussion of the interactions of lender counsel with the borrower, guarantor and equity counsels.   Session 08: Title Insurance Update - Gain insight on what we learned from the recent pandemic and the New 2021 ALTA Commitment and Policies.   Session 09: Survey & Title Review: Guidelines, Objections, Solutions, and Closing Instructions - Explore checklists for surveys, title commitments, and exception documents. Gain insight on sample objections, solutions and potential endorsements, and closing requirements. Session 10: Escrow Agreements - A review of the various uses, types of Escrow Agreements, Escrow Agent options, regulatory and drafting concerns and forms availability.   Session 11: Follow the Money - How to Avoid Mortgage Fraud - The real estate and mortgage industry has seen an increase in fraud in the wake of the Pandemic. Learn to spot the red flags for avoiding mortgage fraud by getting to know your customers and going beyond the paperwork.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 1: Midstream 101: A Primer on Understanding Midstream Contracts and Identifying Key Issues - Explore midstream transactions and the contracts commonly utilized in the industry to gather, transport, and process oil and gas. Work through commercial and regulatory considerations and key issues when drafting midstream contracts. Session 2: The Oil and Gas Lease, Part I: Classification, Scope of Grant and Duration - An in-depth focus on how an oil and gas lease is classified in law and on the key clauses of the lease. Session 3: The Oil and Gas Lease, Part II: The Royalty Clause in an Oil and Gas Lease - In Texas, the calculation of the royalty obligation created under an oil and gas lease is determined by looking at the specific language contained in the royalty clause. Royalty terms in the lease such as "market value at the well" or "amount realized" establish how the royalty payor must measure and calculate royalty, and what post​-production costs can be allocated to the lessor interest. This presentation reviews some of the principal phrases used to describe such obligations and how the Texas courts have interpreted them, and examine​s how that same language has been interpreted differently in other jurisdictions. It analyze​s the impact of division and transfer orders and royalty payment statutes on royalty obligations contained in the lease. Session 4: The Oil and Gas Lease, Part III: Implied Covenants - Examination of the law of implied covenants, including the duties imposed, elements necessary to establish a claim, and remedies and defenses available. Session 5: The Oil and Gas Lease, Part IV: Other Clauses - Review other clauses in an oil and gas lease, including surface use clauses and riders, retained acreage and proportionate reduction clauses, and savings clauses such as continuous operations, dry hole, force majeure, and shut-in gas royalty clauses. Session 6: Emerging and Re-Emerging Issues in the Use of Surface for Oil and Gas Operations - Explore the nature and extent of the implied easement to use the surface, and a framework for analyzing the accommodation doctrine. Also hear a survey of emerging and re-emerging issues involving conflicting uses of the surface estate, including conflicts with renewable projects, saltwater disposal operations, sand mining, and subsurface easements. Session 7: JOA Negotiation: Operator and Non-Operator Perspectives - Review key provisions of the American Association of Petroleum Landmen 610 Model Form Operating Agreement from both the operator’s and non-operator’s perspectives. Session 8:  Session 9: MSA Negotiations - A mock negotiation of a master service agreement with particular attention paid to the insurance and indemnity provisions to ensure an effective risk allocation program. Session 10: A Primer on Oil and Gas Transportation Agreements: Key Issues & Considerations - Explore midstream transactions and the contracts commonly utilized in the energy industry governing the movement of oil and gas from the wellhead to a point downstream for resale or further handling.  Work through commercial and regulatory considerations and key issues when analyzing and negotiating transportation contracts. Session 11: Split Estate Issues (Mineral, Wind, Solar and Water) - Explore competing uses, common conflicts, and potential solutions. Session 12: Make Peace, Not War: Negotiating and Drafting Accommodation Agreements in the Oil and Gas Industry with Wind and Solar Companies - A brief discussion of the basic elements of a comprehensive accommodation agreement, which shall include pitfalls to avoid in drafting such agreements, as well as an overview of typical accommodation issues and how best to resolve them. Session 13: Communication with Opposing Counsel and Landowners - Common law rules, the fields of tort and contract, as well as rules of professional ethics, govern a lawyer’s or landman’s negotiations on behalf of a client.  By remaining mindful of these rules, including how the rules differ depending on whether you are negotiating with opposing counsel or a landowner, you can stay out of trouble and better serve your client. Session 14: Nuts and Bolts Ethics for the Business and Transactional Lawyer - Engage in a practical discussion of current ethics topics related to business and transactional law, including conflicts issues, and attorney migration between firms.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 1: Investigating Sensitive Employment Complaints​- The investigation of an employee's complaint may be critical to an employer's only means of avoiding liability. The investigator may be a witness, and the notes may be evidence. Learn how to investigate and document the process. Session 2: Handling and Responding to an Investigation (When Your Employees Are Remote) - As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have transitioned important business functions from in-person to fully remote. Listen to a discussion about key practical issues for companies to consider when carrying out investigations in the remote working environment. Session 3: Whistleblowers - A plaintiff-side and defense-side lawyer discuss protections and pitfalls for individuals and employers under state and federal whistleblower statutes. Session 4: The New Landscape for Sexual Harassment Claims in Texas - Texas lawmakers have recently expanded the protections for employees asserting sexual harassment claims. Analyze the new longer statute of limitations, broader definition of employer, potential individual liability, heightened duty to respond, and more. Session 5: Employee Activism and Workplace Political Speech - Analyze legal and practical implications of employee activism and political speech including best practices for employee training, policy development, and navigating related day-to-day workplace realities. Session 6: Mediation Strategies, Solutions and Lessons Learned - The success of mediation is influenced by the information exchanged in advance, the type of mediation (remote or in-person), the inclusion or exclusion of a joint opening session, and many other factors. This panel discusses best practices for opening lines of communication, getting past the impasse, and finding a resolution. Session 7: Ethics: Can We Talk? - This session explores the limits on attorney communication with employees, former employees, and other potential witnesses in the context of employment litigation. Special attention will be given to the ethical considerations associated with joint representation of a party and a potential witness, including concerns surrounding the use of such representation to limit the ability of the other side to communicate with a potential witness.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 1: The Duty of Technology Competence - Understand the importance of technology competence for your practice and the ethical obligations to be competent. Explore the current landscape and recent decisions in this area, as well as common problem areas for attorneys. Session 2: Conducting Cost-Effective E-Discovery and the Use of Technology Assisted Review (TAR) - Examine how technology-based processes, specifically technology assisted review (TAR), can be cost-effective and efficient solutions for e-discovery in litigation. This session highlights situations where TAR is often the preferred tool over attorney review and flags times that it is not, and discusses how to address contentious issues that may arise in TAR-related negotiations with opposing counsel. Session 3: Social Media Hot Topics - Should social media platforms be civilly liable for the content that their users post? Is the content moderation on platforms like Facebook and Twitter subject to statutes like those passed in Florida and Texas? Come hear the latest on these issues currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as other cutting edge topics in social media - like service of process via social media and even NFTs, the evidentiary value of emoji and memes, and the limits on how lawyers can ethically respond to online criticism.  Session 4: Communication - Attorneys have a duty to keep client communication secure. Get practical tips on conducting communication with the courts or with opposing counsel, as well email filtering and its impacts on communication including filing deadlines, etc. Session 5: Cybersecurity and Protecting Against Cyber Scams - An informative program about the legal standards that govern a compliant cybersecurity program as well as an update about the ethical duty of technology competence that affects all Texas lawyers. Session 6: Will Robot Lawyers Steal Our Jobs, and Can They do the Job Ethically? - As artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and others have entered the legal sphere, questions naturally arise as to the extent to which AI can satisfactorily complete legal tasks. AI is being widely used for everything from legal research to the drafting of contracts snd pleadings to even assisting with jury selection. But can “robot lawyers” truly replace their human counterparts? This program examines not only the ways in which AI is impacting the legal profession, but also the multiple ethical dimensions of AI use - from our duty of tech competence to our duty to supervise non-lawyers.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 1: Medicaid Update - Latest developments affecting planning and applications for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care and home care, including policies exempting certain retirement accounts from countable assets, how to deal with barriers to Medicaid home care, and status of Lady Bird Deeds and Transfer on Death Deeds Session 2: Overview of Medicaid Planning - What non-elder law attorneys need to know about planning for long-term care.  Session 3: The View from 30, 000 feet – Medicaid Myths All Attorney's Should Know - Join Stephanie as she explains Medicaid and Medicare mythbusting and challenges common misconceptions about: MERP, Medicaid, and Medicare, as well as protecting the home and other assets with Transfer on Death Planning and Couples Planning for Medicaid. Session 4: When Your Client May Have Diminished Capacity - In estate planning and elder law, attorneys often have clients that may be in some stage of diminished capacity. This creates ethical and legal issues for the attorney that can’t be ignored. Explore those issues and ways the attorney can navigate these turbulent waters. Session 5: Real Estate Issues in Elder Law - Review issues to better protect your clients, including homestead and agricultural exemptions; recent changes; to inspect or not, what could possibly go wrong; easements; and transactions with an affidavit of heirship within four years of date of death.  Session 6: Role of the Guardian - Examine the duties and responsibilities of a guardian under Texas law and guardianship administration, from initiation to closing, including the code requirements of selling and leasing property, ethical issues, and more. Session 7: Alternatives to Guardianship Including Support Services - Exploring the range of supports and services and alternatives to guardianship and a decision tree to determine the necessity of a guardianship in the continuum of care, including an update on capacity assessment tools. Session 8: Out of the Woodwork: Unethical Practices by Geriatric Professionals - With the increase of an aging population, comes an increase in service providers willing and wanting to help older adults. Not every professional has the client's best interest in mind. A summary of professionals that may take advantage of clients and how to spot them will be discussed, as well as what type of credentialing the professionals should have. Session 9: Medicaid Matters and Probate Proceedings - Join Stephanie as she explores how to protect homes from the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program [MERP] through probate proceedings, in addition to understanding the basics of protecting homes from the reach of MERP in the first place. Independent administrations may not always be the best choice, particularly in cases where no statutory waivers apply. 

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides