Legal Profession Commons^™

Going Beyond Fear In Addressing Attorney Mental Health, Eric C. Lang

Mercer Law Review Symposium

We know that a career in law is challenging, but our profession has only recently focused on the mental health consequences of those challenges. We first started analyzing mental health issues after a number of attorney suicides caught the public eye. Realizing the problem was much broader than the tragic outcome of suicide, we have spent the last several years focused on the use of statistics to convince the profession of its own dangers. The solution, to date, has been an emphasis on Lawyer Assistance Programs and “wellness” initiatives accompanied by what could be described as scare tactics designed to …

Bureaucratic Overreach And The Role Of The Courts In Protecting Representative Democracy, Katie Cassady

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Although only four departments at the United States’ founding, the American bureaucracy has expanded to address nearly every issue of public life. While these agencies are ostensibly under congressional oversight through monetary allowance and the supervision of the President as part of the executive branch, they consistently usurp their discretionary authority and bypass the Founders’ design of legislative power vested solely in a bicameral legislature.

The Supreme Court holds an indispensable role in mitigating the overreach of bureaucratic agencies. However, despite their obligation to protect the rights of the American people, the courts’ inability to hold bureaucrats accountable has diluted …

A Case Examination Of Factors Impacting Charges In Vehicular Heatstroke, Jennifer Gray, Monica L. Mccoy

SC Upstate Research Symposium

Abstract — Since the 1990s, preventing vehicular heatstroke has been the focus of many public health campaigns. Parents are implored to never leave their young children unattended in the car, and to check the backseat before getting out of the car. Despite the increase in awareness about child fatalities due to hyperthermia, children continue to be left or forgotten in vehicles with tragic consequences. Interestingly, the decision to charge the negligent caregiver in cases of vehicular heatstroke is not widely studied. While some evidence indicates that case factors (e.g., intentionality and caregiver intoxication) are relevant in the decision to charge …

A Baker's Dozen Of Tips For Better Web Searches, Anne Burnett

Continuing Legal Education Presentations

Anne E. Burnett also served as Program Chair. Burnett is the Foreign and International Law Librarian for the Alexander Campbell King Law Library at the University of Georgia School of Law.

An Attorney's Guide To Business And Investigative Research, Carol A. Watson

Continuing Legal Education Presentations

Carol A. Watson is the Director of Alexander Campbell King Law Library at the University of Georgia School of Law.

Introduction And Program Overview, Anne Burnett

Continuing Legal Education Presentations

Anne E. Burnett, Program Chair; Foreign and International Law Librarian, J.D., M.L.I.S. Alexander Campbell King Law Library, University of Georgia, Athens led the introduction to the day's schedule of CLE presentations having organized and served the role as primary facilitator of the event.

Professional Resistance Of Lawyers: Defending Human Rights And The Rule Of Law In Hong Kong After Umbrella Movement, Yan-Ho Lai

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Purpose: Against the backdrops of deteriorating human rights protections and the rule of law after the unprecedented Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, this paper investigates the roles and impacts of mobilised legal profession in resisting China’s authoritarian rule over and defending domestic human rights regime in Hong Kong. This paper argues that, despite the legal profession of Hong Kong becomes further divided under the political and economic statecraft, lawyer activism as a professional resistance becomes a new force to resist the political intervention of the rule of law as well as deepening the cultural and institutional foundations of the rule …

Rule 1.1 Duty Of Competency And Internet Research, Sharon Bradley

Continuing Legal Education Presentations

Basically the world has changed and technology is the primary driver. The legal industry has changed and yet many lawyers still brag about their lack of technology skills. These skills are not advanced programming and software design. I am talking about the competent use of basic office applications. Service providers like RocketLawyer and LegalZoom prepare wills, contracts and articles of incorporation. It’s estimated that these providers are now at least an $8 billion industry. People that used to hire local attorneys are now using these services. Potential clients are also using online service to find and evaluate lawyers. The days …

Building The Whole Lawyer: Preparing Students For Entry-Level Success, Courtney Brooks, Jeff White, Nicole Killoran, Beth Locker

Externships (X) Conferences

What competencies best assure entry level success for new legal professionals? Survey feedback from more than 24,000 hiring professionals offers solid guidance. The survey was conducted by Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers, an initiative of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System and published in 2016 as Foundations for Practice: The Whole Lawyer and The Character Quotient (FFP). The authors found “characteristics (such as integrity and trustworthiness, conscientiousness, and common sense) as well as professional competencies (such as listening attentively, speaking and writing, and arriving on time), were far more important in brand new lawyers than legal skills.”

So …

Dunning-Kruger And You: Evaluating Your Technological Competence With The Legal Tech Audit, Jason Tubinis

Continuing Legal Education Presentations

There’s an enormous skill set you must develop as an attorney. One skill that is too often neglected, though, is the ability to utilize technology to ease the burden of all your tasks for the benefit or your firm, your client, and most importantly, yourself.

This paper is a public service announcement, a reminder to question your preconceptions about what you do and how you do it. It’s a cautionary warning, the one discussed previously about the new ABA comment regarding an attorney’s duty of competence regarding technology. Just because you’re doing fine with technology doesn’t mean you can’t be …

New Technology And The Practice Of Law: Gear For Your Office And The Road, Maureen Cahill, Jason Tubinis

Continuing Legal Education Presentations

Provides guidance to legal professionals about ways that technology can make their practices more efficient, secure, and mobile. Includes discussion of hardware gadgets, helpful websites, and tips for comparing legal databases., as well as ethics considerations of electronic files.

Don't Panic: The Lawyer’S Guide To Making Your Own Mobile App, Jason Tubinis

Continuing Legal Education Presentations

Provides overview of steps used to create a personal mobile app.

A Higher Calling: The Importance Of Pro Bono Efforts In The Legal Profession, Emmet Bondurant, Andrew Vail, Mary Benton, Cynthia F. Adcock, Lonnie T. Brown

Working in the Public Interest Conferences

Cover the importance of incorporating pro bono work into every career, including those in the private sector.

Solo Practice: What You Need To Know Before You Consider Hanging A Shingle, David Will, Robert Mcniff, Greg Parent, Janet Hill, Susan Cartier Liebel, University Of Georgia School Of Law, Black Law Students Association

Working in the Public Interest Conferences

In rural and urban communities alike, solo practitioners meet demand for services such as probate, divorce, immigration; their connections to the community can serve a very significant public interest role. But new solo practitioners face legal and financial liabilities in hanging their shingle, and undertaking such a role proves much more complex than hanging a shingle (or in this day and age, launching a website).

A panel of new and experiences solo practitioners will discuss stumbling blocks they have encountered and reflect on knowledge and experience necessary for going solo.

Alternative Careers: Alumni Perspectives On Their Nontraditional Careers, Thomas Rawlings, Benjamin George, David Shillcutt

Working in the Public Interest Conferences

Can you really do anything with a law degree? Georgia Law graduates are working in government, policy, business, the nonprofit sector, and as consultants and entrepreneurs. A panel of Georgia Law graduates working in non-traditional positions at various stages in their careers reflect on how they transitioned into these roles and the ways in which they draw on their legal training and experience in non-legal roles.