6CLE Ethics hours

The Eleventh Annual Symposium on Legal Malpractice & Ethics will feature issues lawyers and judges face in both civil and criminal law. This program will address unresolved legal malpractice and ethics issues in medical malpractice cases, family law matters, the use of social media, global outsourcing, and the role of lawyers in court, among others.

Topics and Speakers:

First, Do No Harm: Application of a Lawyer’s Potential Duty to Advise Clients of Litigation Alternatives to Medical Malpractice Cases

Katerina Lewinbuk is an Associate Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law. She previously taught at DePaul University Law School. Before teaching, she was an attorney at Baker & McKenzie. Her primary areas of interest are global and comparative ethics and attorney malpractice. Professor Lewinbuk has been published in several countries. She has served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in the Czech Republic (Charles University) and in Mexico (Facultad Libre Derecho de Monterrey), as well as having taught courses at the International Law Institute in Washington, D.C., and the course "American Legal System & Lawyering Skills" in Moscow, Russia and Istanbul, Turkey.

The Roles of Attorneys as Courtroom Experts: Revisiting the Conventional Limitations and Their Exceptions

David Caudill, J.D., Ph.D., is the Arthur M. Goldberg Family Chair in Law at Villanova University School of Law, where he teaches Professional Responsibility, Expert Evidence, and Property. He clerked at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, then practiced with Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, LLP in San Diego, California and Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody in Austin, Texas before joining the faculty of Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1989, where he taught for sixteen years. Professor Caudill is the author of No Magic Wand: The Idealization of Science in Law (2006), Stories About Science in Law: Literary and Historical Images of Acquired Expertise (2011), and numerous articles in the fields of legal ethics, scientific expertise, law and literature, and land use planning. He is a frequent lecturer in CLE ethics programs.

Order in the Court! Ethical Conduct in a Criminal Trial Under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct

Edward Wilkinson is an Assistant Criminal District Attorney in the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Appellate Section. He has written four books on ethics in criminal law: Conflicts of Interest; Brady Duties and the Pre-Trial Disclosure of Evidence, Legal Ethics in Texas Criminal Law: Prosecution and Defense, and Texas Prosecutorial Ethics. In addition, he has published numerous law review articles on ethics issues. He has been an ethics speaker at national, state, and local continuing legal education programs sponsored by organizations such as the American Bar Association, National College of District Attorneys, State Bar of Texas, Texas Center for the Judiciary, Center for American and International Law, Texas District and County Attorneys Association, Oklahoma District Attorneys Council, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Albany Law School, University of Texas School of Law, St. Mary’s School of Law, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. He is board certified in both criminal law and criminal appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He earned a B.A. at Georgetown University, an M.A. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a J.D. at the University of Texas at Austin.

Taking Limited Representation to the Limits: The Efficacy of Using Unbundled Legal Services in Domestic Relations Matters Involving Litigation

Michele N. Struffolino is an Assistant Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center, where she teaches Lawyering Skills and Values and Property. Prior to joining the faculty at Nova, Professor Struffolino taught at New England School of Law. Professor Struffolino has twenty years of litigation and practice experience and managed her own practice, and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar and the New Hampshire state and federal bars. As a Certified Marital Mediator in Massachusetts, a Court Appointed Family Court Conciliator in Essex County, Massachusetts, and a trained Collaborative Lawyer, Professor Struffolino was dedicated to providing litigation options to families in crisis. Professor Struffolino received her J.D., magna cum laude, from New England School of Law, a M.Ed. from Boston University, and a B.A., cum laude, from Boston College.

Anglo Dutch: An Invitation for Mischief in the Formation of Attorney Client Contracts?

J.K. Leonard is a practicing attorney at Naman, Howell, Smith & Lee, PLLC. His practice focuses on product liability and injury litigation, civil and commercial litigation, and professional malpractice. He previously practiced with Ball & Weed, PC, 1993–2010, and Cantey Hanger, LLP, 1988–1993. Mr. Leonard is admitted to practice in Texas, the United States District Court Western District of Texas, the United States District Court Eastern District of Texas, the United States District Court Southern District of Texas, and the United States District Court Northern District of Texas. Mr. Leonard has been listed in the "Best Lawyers in San Antonio" twice, as well as being a member of the John P. Harlan Honor Society. He received his J.D. with highest distinction from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1988.

Reinventing the Wheel: Constructing Ethical Approaches to State Indigent Legal Defense Systems

Bill Piatt is the former dean (1998-2007) and a Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University School of Law. Prior to arriving at St. Mary’s, Bill taught at Texas Tech University School of Law, Southern Illinois University School of Law, Washburn University School of Law, and the University of Oklahoma School of Law. He is fluent in Spanish, and has taught and lectured in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and at the St. Mary’s Innsbruck program. He delivered the commencement address, in Spanish, to the LL.M. graduates at the prestigious Universidad Complutense in Madrid in 2007. Professor Piatt currently teaches in the areas of professional responsibility and constitutional law, and has authored numerous books and articles, which have been cited more than 200 times in legal publications. He recently served as the Chair of the Bexar County Indigent Defense Task Force and edited its Final Report. He received his J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law.

Civility and Collegiality—A Lawyer’s Professional Responsibility as an Officer of the Court?

Lonnie Brown is the A. Gus Cleveland Distinguished Chair of Legal Ethics and Professionalism at the University of Georgia School of Law. Prior to joining Georgia’s faculty in 2002, he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University. He also clerked at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, and practiced law at Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta, Georgia. His scholarship concentrates on legal ethics in the adversary system, and he has published a number of law review articles in this area. He serves on the MPRE Drafting Committee, the Formal Advisory Opinion Board for the State Bar of Georgia, and is a member of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers. He earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt University, where he was a Patrick Wilson Scholar and Editor in Chief of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, and his B.A. from Emory, where he was a Robert W. Woodruff Scholar.

Judicial Ethics and Social Media

Judge Craig Estlinbaum serves as judge of the 130th Judicial District Court of Texas in Matagorda County. Prior to taking office in January, 2001, he practiced civil trial and appellate law in Houston and in Bay City. Judge Estlinbaum has been an adjunct professor of law at South Texas College of Law since 2004. He has presented at education seminars before the Matagorda Bar Association, the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, and the Texas Center for the Judiciary on various legal topics. He received his J.D. from South Texas College of Law.

Global Outsourcing of Legal Services and Malpractice Liability

Vincent R. Johnson is a Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University, where he teaches and writes in the areas of torts, professional responsibility, and legal malpractice. He served as a Fulbright Scholar in China (Renmin University) and Romania (University of Bucharest), and as a law clerk at the New York Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. As a fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States, he assisted Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist with his duties as head of the federal judiciary. Professor Johnson’s articles have been cited in more than 140 law reviews, numerous federal and state court decisions, and various Restatements. His most recent books are Legal Malpractice Law in a Nutshell (West 2011), Advanced Torts: A Problem Approach (LexisNexis 2010), and Studies in American Tort Law (Carolina Academic Press 2009). He received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame and his LL.M. from Yale University.