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Total Credits: 3 Virginia
Tags: Virginia CLE
“Ethics Tonight – Season 2021” is a 3-hour CLE Ethics Program offered free for Virginia attorneys in partnership with the Virginia State Bar. Three video vignettes in the style of a late-night talk show shed light on ethical issues that many attorneys face daily. A group of panelists will apply the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct to the analysis of the issues presented.
During the panel discussions, attendees will be encouraged to ask questions and share comments. The intent is to emphasize that attorneys should take time to identify and reflect upon the ethical issues that arise in the day-to-day practice of law on a more frequent basis. Ultimately, the desire is to have attendees leave the program with greater sensitivity to the many ethical issues that can be in play any day of the week, be better prepared to view these issues as learning opportunities and be more willing to take advantage of these opportunities in order to see that the issues are responsibly addressed and resolved.
The issues raised in Vignette One, “Friendships,” include the types of costs and expenses that can be passed along to clients, for example, convenience fees for processing credit cards and technology fees to cover the costs of enhanced firm cybersecurity efforts; ethical issues that arise as a result of attorneys and staff working remotely; confidentiality concerns that arise out of the personal relationships attorneys are involved in; and what the term “personal interests of the lawyer” means in the context of conflicts of interest.
In Vignette Two “She’s Good,” the panel will have the opportunity to discuss an attorney’s obligations upon learning that a client intends to commit fraud, to include the meaning of the term “know” in this context; to do a deep dive on the ins and outs of withdrawing from a matter; and to explain how to ethically respond to a negative online review.
Finally in Vignette Three “It’s Getting Late” the program will conclude with a discussion on harassment in the workplace, the duties owed to prospective clients, the ethical boundaries of an attorney or firm offering various types of ancillary services, and the boundaries of non-lawyer ownership of a law firm in your jurisdiction.
| General Credits | Ethics Credits |
| 3 | 3 |
Since 1998, Mark Bassingthwaighte, Esq., has been a Risk Manager with ALPS, the nation’s largest direct writer of lawyers’ malpractice insurance. In his tenure with our company, Mr. Bassingthwaighte has conducted over 1200 law firm risk management assessment visits, presented over 600 continuing legal education seminars throughout the United States, and written extensively on risk management, ethics, and technology. Mr. Bassingthwaighte is a member of the State Bar of Montana as well as the American Bar Association where he currently sits on the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility’s Conference Planning Committee. He received his J.D. from Drake University Law School.
Seth has practiced law in both the public and private sectors for over 35 years. He has held leadership positions in the Alexandria Bar Association, and lectures frequently on legal ethics and professional regulation to bar associations and other groups. Seth is an adjunct professor at the Washington College of Law at American University, having taught a course for nine years entitled Ethics for Trial Lawyers. He also volunteers to judge law student competitions.
Between February of 2000 and April of 2012, Seth was a prosecutor for the Virginia State Bar. He is now assistant ethics counsel for the Bar, giving Ethics Hotline advice to attorneys, presenting at seminars, and assisting the Bar’s Standing Committee on Legal Ethics in the generation of legal ethics opinions.
Seth earned his bachelor’s degree at Boston University, and is a graduate of the Washington College of Law at American University, where he was awarded a Juris Doctor degree. Seth is an active member of the Virginia State Bar and an inactive member of the District of Columbia bar.
Bernard J. DiMuro is the managing partner of the Alexandria law firm of DiMuroGinsberg, P.C. He is a former President of the Virginia State Bar and is widely known for his expertise in business litigation, legal ethics, and professional responsibility. He has tried more than 300 cases to completion.
Mr. DiMuro is also qualified as an expert witness in various courts. In addition to his term as president of the Virginia State Bar, his lengthy service to the bar includes chairing the Task Force on Public Access to the Disciplinary System, serving on the Special Committee to Study the Code of Professional Responsibility, serving as a faculty member on the bar’s course on professionalism, and serving on the bar’s Task Force on Corporate Counsel.
Mr. DiMuro is a Fellow of the American Bar, The Litigation Counsel of America and The Virginia Law Foundation. He has been listed as a “Best Lawyer” in commercial litigation since 2012 by The Best Lawyers of America and has been named a Legal Elite in civil litigation by Virginia Business Magazine.
