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Education Law
Friday, September 9 | 9:10-10:20 a.m.
1.4 Hours CLE / 0.5 Hours Ethics CLE

This course will provide a comprehensive overview of the laws and strategic considerations in counseling students regarding their rights to a quality education in public primary and secondary schools in Florida, including public accommodations for transgender students, school disciplinary policies, and student free speech rights. It will be taught by attorneys who focus on education law, free speech, and/or LGBT rights and is designed for fellow practitioners.
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Key Topics:

  • Schools' requirements to sustain inclusive schools for transgender students- Title IX, U.S. DOE /DOJ's Dear Colleague Letter on Transgender Students, and Grimm v. Gloucester County Sch. Bd., --- F.3d ---,No. 15-2056, 2016 WL 1567467 (4th Cir. Apr. 19, 2016)
  • Schools authority to disciple students and students due process rights
  • Education law specific to disruptive, disabled students- IDEA, FAPE, IEP Process, Section 504
  • Student rights to distribute materials at school, form and participate in student clubs and activates, and express (religious) ideas on campus and their intersection with bullying

Ethical Considerations:

  • Direct contact with employees of school district represented by counsel
  • Direct contact with elected members of school board represented by counsel
  • Best interest of student v. student's wishes
  • Who is the client when student disagrees with parents
  • Student record privacy and cooperation with other attorneys
  • Working with student witnesses
  • Methods and means of effectively communicating with students
  • Limitation of scope of representation

Panelists:
George Castrataro | Law Offices of George Castrataro, P.A. (Ft. Lauderdale)
Stephanie Langer | Langer Law, P.A. (Coral Gables)
Benjamin Stevenson | ACLU of Fla. (Pensacola)
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Right to Counsel for Juveniles and Adults
Friday, September 9 | 10:30-11:20 a.m.
0.5 Hours CLE/0.5 Ethics CLE

The first part of this program will highlight and illustrate the need for and implementation of the constitutional right to Attorneys for Children/Juveniles in the Dependency System in Florida, including how the liberty interests of a child and basic family integrity should be preserved and protected and is designed for practitioners interested in participating in this area of the law. The second part of this program will provide a comprehensive overview of the Right to Counsel for Adults, including a discussion on the practical application of the 6'h Amendment of the US Constitution in the modern criminal justice system.
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Key Topics:

  • The basic elements of the Dependency System and Children's Due Process rights within the System.
  • Who is the voice of the Children/Juveniles in the System. Who represents the Children/Juveniles.
  • Major Laws and cases specific to Children/Juveniles in the Dependency System(ABA Model Act,CAPTA,Mathews vs Eldredge,Kenny A.
  • Representation of Children/Juveniles and consideration of the differences in representation of Adults.
  • Has the implementation of user-pay system undermined the principles of Gideon v.Wainwright, 372 U.S.335, 83 S. Ct. 792,9 L. Ed. 2d 799 (1963)?
  • "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" - does a person's income affect the outcome in criminal justice system?
  • The Standard Bond Schedule effect on the Indigent.

Panelists:
Louis Reidenberg | Attorney, Boca Raton, FL
Gordon Weekes, Jr. | Law Office of the Public Defender (Broward County)
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Eleventh Circuit Update
Friday, September 9 | 11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.
1.0 Hour ClE

This program will cover the Eleventh Circuit's civil rights and civil liberties decisions from the past year and cases pending before the court.
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Key Topics:

  • Professional speech and practice
  • Prisoner rights
  • Statutory anti-discrimination claims
  • Substantive and procedural due process
  • Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)

Panelist:
Michael Masinter | Professor of Law, Nova Southeastern University Shephard Broad Law Center
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Supreme Court Update
Friday, September 9 | 12:30-1:30 p.m.
1.0 Hour CLE

This program will cover the Supreme Court's civil rights and civil liberties decisions from the past year and cases pending before the Court.
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Key Topics:

  • Free Speech
  • Second Amendment
  • Police stops, searches and seizures
  • Death Penalty
  • Right to Counsel
  • Reproductive rights
  • Voting Rights

Panelist:
Steven Shapiro | National Legal Director, American Civil Liberties Union
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The Impact of Race, Gender and Class in Civil Rights Litigation
Friday, September 9 | 1:40-2:30 p.m.
1.0 Hour Ethics CLE

This interactive session will identify the ways that race, gender, class and other cultural differences can impact lawyers' work with their civil rights clients as well as their legal outcomes. We will work with participants to develop practices to mitigate disparate treatment that may be the result of implicit or explicit bias.
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Key Topics:

  • Identifying and understanding implicit bias or association
  • Understanding the impact of intersectionality, particularly on women of color
  • Developing successful habits for cross-cultural lawyering and expanding these habits to the litigation context
  • Racial bias in fact finding
  • Race bias in the court room and in the media
  • Lawyers as story tellers and the role of narratives as a framing devices

Ethical Considerations Include:

  • Allocation of authority in decision making, client autonomy and avoiding paternalism (4-1.2)
  • Effective client communication (4-1.6)
  • Working with clients under a disability (4-1.14)

Panelists:
JoNel Newman | Professor of Clinical Legal Education & Director, Health Rights Clinic, University of Miami School of Law
Donald Jones | Professor of Law, University of Miami School of Law
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Developing New Legal Theories for Discrimination Cases
Friday, September 9 | 2:40-3:30 p.m.
1.0 Hour CLE

This course will examine ongoing challenges in a new light, explaining the limits of past doctrine and exploring new or alternate approaches to these problems.
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Key Topics:

  • Addressing populations at risk for discrimination in the criminal justice system at multiple stages, from community prevention services to prison conditions litigation to post-release reentry assistance; bringing these challenges in multiple venues, from administrative hearings to international tribunals
  • Expanded local protections, including prohibitions on discrimination on the basis of source of income;actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking; and gender identity and expression
  • Redistributive-justice and anti-subordination models of equal protection

Panelists:
Cassandra Capobianco | Director, Florida Institutional Legal Services Project of Florida Legal Services
Jeffrey Hearne | Director of Litigation, Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc.
Osamudia James | Vice Dean & Professor of Law, University of Miami School of Law
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Advancing criminal justice reform through litigation and public policy
Friday, September 9 | 3:40-4:30 p.m.
1.0 Hour CLE

This course will examine new strategies for affecting comprehensive criminal justice reform throughout all branches of government.
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Key topics:

  • Defining criminal justice reform and exploring recent developments and initiatives related to ending mass incarceration, sentencing reform, rehabilitation programs and funding, and crime prevention/deterrence.
  • Overview of recent litigation strategies developed during juvenile
    resentencing cases and their potential implication for other criminal cases.
  • Outlining opportunities to affect reform at the administrative, municipal and legislative arenas.

Panelists:
Roseanne Eckert | Coordinating Attorney, Florida Juvenile Resentencing and Review Project
Adam Tebrugge | Staff Attorney, ACLU of Florida
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2016 Election - Recent Florida Redistricting Cases and New Forms of Voter Suppression
Saturday, September 10 | 9:30-10:20 a.m.
1.0 Hour CLE

This course will provide a comprehensive overview of the voting rights cases related to Florida's 2010 redistricting cycle and what the decisions mean for the upcoming 2020 census and redrawing of political boundaries. The panel will also discuss the new forms of voter suppression ranging from voter ID, proof of citizenship, and voter purge laws, to the status of the Voting Rights Act and efforts to reauthorize Section 5, the federal preclearance provision applied to those jurisdictions with the worst history of voting discrimination.
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Key Topics:

  • Fair Districts Amendments
  • Political and racial gerrymandering
  • Felon disfranchisement
  • Voter ID laws
  • Proof of Citizenship and voter purges
  • The Voting Rights Act

Panelists:
Thomas Zehnder |  Shareholder, King, Blackwell, Zehnder & Wermuth, P.A.
Martha Pardo |  Associate Counsel, latinoJustice PRLDEF
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Attorneys' Fees and Managing Costs in Pro Bono Cases
Saturday, September, 10 | 10:30-11:20 a.m.
1.0 Hour Ethics CLE

This course will focus on the statutory and other legal bases for seeking attorneys' fees. The discussion will also include an overview of factors to consider while investigating and litigating cases,such as what constitutes billable time,reasonable attorney rates,staffing cases, and negotiating fee settlements. In addition, the panel will explore cost effective ways to litigate pro bono cases while maintaining ethical and other client obligations in preparing the strongest case.
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Key Topics:

  • Is there an entitlement to fees, i.e. was request timely; is petitioner prevailing party;is a judgment necessary?
  • Standing and mootness issues
  • Special circumstances that might bar recovery
  • What attorney costs are and are not included
  • Methods for calculating fees
  • Strategies for keeping litigation costs down
  • Managing client expectations

Panelist:
Randall Berg | Executive Director, Florida Justice Institute
Sui Chung | Immigration Law & Litigation Group
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Discovery and E-filing – Updated Rules
Saturday, September 10 | 11:30 a.m. - Noon
0.5 Hour Ethics CLE

This course will update participants on recent changes to the Florida and federal discovery rules and will address the common mistakes litigants make when e-filing documents.
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Key Topics:

  • Efforts to reduce the burdens and costs of electronic discovery
  • The impact of rule changes that may actually lengthen the discovery period
  • Amendments that narrow the scope of discovery and require more detail in discovery responses
  • Cost-shifting orders and proportionality
  • ESI preservation requirements
  • Common mistakes made when e-filing and ways to avoid the pitfalls

Panelist:
Michael Barfield | Paralegal, Law Offices of Andrea Mogensen, P.A.
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