NE MCLE Accreditation**
NE #266343; 5.0 CLE Hours, including 4.0 Ethics Hours. (Regular/Traditional)

Registration Fees
$325.00 – Regular Registration
$275.00 – NSBA Sustaining Member
$150.00 – NSBA Sustaining Member Junior Actives
Free – Law students

*Please note: Lunch will not be provided as part of this seminar. You are welcome to bring food and beverage with you to this event. 

Join the NSBA for a comprehensive seminar addressing wellness, ethics, safety and improving the Nebraska legal system.

12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. How Well Do You Know Attorney Wellness?  
Chris Aupperle, NLAP Director

NLAP Director Chris Aupperle leads this audience participation program in a gameshow format that focuses on core issues that affect the legal profession, including mental health, substance use disorders, cognitive decline and stress management.  The program will highlight recent data regarding attorney wellness, including pandemic related impacts, and the resources available to all lawyers, judges and law students to promote attorney wellness and key finding contained in the Nebraska Lawyer, Judge and Law Student Taskforce Report.

1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Pro Bono Work Ethics
Shannon Seim, Volunteer Lawyers Project Director
 
Helping persons with nowhere else to turn is a core value of the legal profession and the Nebraska State Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project.  This one-hour CLE will address the Nebraska Rules of Professional Conduct as they relate to a lawyer’s special responsibility to provide voluntary pro bono legal services.  The CLE will discuss how the Nebraska Rules of Professional Conduct enable pro bono work by specifically addressing conflicts of interest, limited scope services, and confidentiality. Issues critical to pro bono representation will be addressed through a series of hypotheticals demonstrating the application of ethics rules applicable to pro bono cases.  Attendees will also learn how they can volunteer in pro bono programs across Nebraska. 
 
Objectives: 
To assist lawyers in understanding a lawyer’s professional responsibility to: 
• aid the profession to ensure equal access to justice. 
• devote professional time to ensure equal access to justice. 

To further assist lawyers in understanding ethics rules relating to the provision of pro bono services the CLE will address: 
• competence 
• attorney/client relationship 
• conflicts of interest 
• scope of the limited consultation 
• advising the client of the need for further assistance of counsel 
• learn about pro bono opportunities in Nebraska 
• learn about resources

2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Working with and Representing Survivors of Trauma
Rob Schmidt, Volunteer Lawyers Project General Managing Attorney

This seminar will review best practices for, and ethical requirement surrounding, working with survivors of trauma, including: 
- Relevant ethics rules relating to representation of survivors of trauma
- Neb. Ct. R. of Prof. Cond. § 3-501.1. Competence
- Neb. Ct. R. of Prof. Cond. § 3-501.4. Communications.
- Domestic Violence and Effects on the Brain
- Vicarious Trauma
- Resources

3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Nebraska’s Legal Profession   
Elizabeth Neeley, NSBA Executive Director
 
The Governance Structure of the Nebraska State Bar Association (15 minutes) 
This seminar discusses the governance structure of the Nebraska State Bar Association as outlined by the Nebraska Supreme Court Rules (Article 8: Nebraska State Bar Association; Creation; Control and Regulation) and the NSBA Bylaws. The presenter discusses the role, scope, composition, election process and terms for service for members of the NSBA House of Delegates, Executive Council, Officers, and Committee and Section leaders and discusses the various boards and organizations that the NSBA is authorized by Supreme Court Rule and state statute to appoint lawyers to.  

Improving access to legal representation in rural areas of Nebraska (30 minutes) 
This seminar will discuss the decline in the population of lawyers in rural areas of the state of Nebraska, and current efforts locally and nationally for improving access to legal services in underserved communities.

The Allocation of Judicial Resources in Nebraska (15 minutes)
Ensuring adequate judicial resources is an important component of providing meaningful access to justice. When courts do not have the resources available to handle their caseloads, backlogs and delays are inevitable, and as the saying goes, “justice delayed is justice denied.” We have a responsibility to ensure that the judiciary functions under conditions that allow for the fair, impartial, and effective administration of justice. This article discusses Nebraska’s system of ensuring adequate judicial resources. 

4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Reduce Your Risk: Safety & Security in the Legal Community 
Allyson Felt, NSBA CLE Director
 
Legal disputes are fundamentally confrontational and can be accompanied by significant safety risks for those involved. For members of the legal profession, threats and violence are ever-present concerns that come with the high stakes, emotionally charged territory. Tragically, across the U.S., legal professionals have been subjected to threats, assaults, violence, and even murder.  
 
In this session, we’ll review the ways attorneys can identify and mitigate potential security threats and hazards of all types; prioritize the safety of lawyers, staff, and clients; and implement practical strategies to ensure safety.