HBA/CLE Seminars are held on Thursday mornings in the West Loop area and on Friday afternoons in the Harris County Jury Assembly Room. Each seminar is approved for 1.5 hours of MCLE credit, and many also have ethics credit. These seminars are free to HBA members and provide over 100 hours of MCLE credit at no cost each year. Written materials are available for $15. Non-members may attend for $25, including written materials. Please view the brochures for a schedule of the upcoming seminars. No pre-registration is required.

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Download the 2010-2011 Fall/Winter Seminar Schedule [PDF]

2010-2011 Fall/Winter Seminar Schedule Listing:

Friday, September 10, 2010
Property Tax Appeals: A Primer for Lawyers
A review and examination of administrative rules and procedures for protesting and appealing appraisal appeals. This seminar will include a discussion of recent legislative changes and court cases.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

Thursday, September 16, 2010
Labor and Employment Law
Major changes in labor & employment law are impacting the workplace, and more are on the way. We will give an update on these changes, provide insight on some that are on the horizon, and discuss ethics issues confronting lawyers who practice employment law. We also will discuss ethical challenges that confront both plaintiff and defendant counsel in workplace disputes, such as what employees the plaintiff can contact and clarifying the scope of representation.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

Thursday, September 23, 2010
A Hearing Officer’s View on How to Win Your TWC Appeal
This seminar will cover what a hearing officer considers important when ruling on a Texas Workforce Appeal for unemployment benefits and what pitfalls you need to avoid.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

Friday, September 24, 2010
Things Every Lawyer Should Know About Taxes
This seminar will be a primer on tax protests, tax scams and how to avoid getting involved in them along with entity choice, as well as the tax appeals system.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

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Friday, October 1, 2010
Post Judgments
Tools and techniques to collect and enforce judgments including investigations of assets, abstracts, writ of execution,
garnishment and post-judgment discovery.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

Thursday, October 7, 2010
What You Need to Know in Federal Court
A practical guide to practice in Federal Court and some of the differences compared to State Court practice.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

Friday, October 8, 2010
An Overview of Seamen’s Personal Injury Claims
This will be an overview of the three primary personal injury claims available to seamen: maintenance and cure, negligence under the Jones Act, and un-seaworthiness under general maritime law. The presentation will include a general discussion of each claim, defenses, and recent case law from the Fifth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court by a maritime defense attorney.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

Thursday, October 14, 2010
Social Media: How to Use, Risks & Ethics
Developing a plan to handle a crisis for a client can be the difference between a social blunder and disaster. Having a social media team will help you investigate, solve and understand how to find what was actually said about your client on the Internet. This presentation will provide online examples of how to monitor social media ethically and effectively.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

Friday, October 22, 2010
Dealing with Difficult Clients
At this seminar you will learn techniques to prepare clients for deposition and trial when case subject matter and/or client personality challenge your advocacy and trial preparation abilities. Learn techniques to maximize your client’s believability and trustworthiness on direct and “bomb proofing” for cross examination.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

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Friday, November 5, 2010
US v. Skilling: Is this Reversal the Death of Honest Services?
This seminar will examine the Supreme Court’s recent decision in U.S. vs. Jeffrey Skilling and the ramifications of that decision. The Court reversed the case and narrowed the scope under which federal prosecutors can now charge an individual with violating the honest services statute in U.S.C. Section 1346. The decision is far from being the end of the story for Skilling however, as the lower courts will now have to re-examine the case in light of the ruling and still must decide the prosecutorial misconduct issues asserted by the defense team against the Enron Task Force.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

Thursday, November 11, 2010
Regulation of Hospitals
Healthcare is one of the most regulated industries in the United States. Hospitals must comply with a vast array of state and federal laws and regulations. In this program two hospital lawyers will provide an overview of the federal regulatory environment, the agencies involved, and related issues faced by hospital legal and compliance programs.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

Friday, November 12, 2010
Litigation & Divorce Tax Traps & Tips
Learn how to avoid causing clients’ tax problems, avoid liability for your clients’ tax, how to draft settlements and judgements to avoid tax problems and knowing when clients need tax help.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

Thursday, November 18, 2010
A Shingle and a Laptop: Starting Your Own Firm From Scratch
Whether due to an entrepreneurial streak or a contracting job market, many attorneys are striking out on their own. This practical guide will discuss the steps needed for both novice and seasoned attorneys to start and grow a law practice on a shoestring budget.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010
Family Law Extravaganza
Learn from the family law experts about temporary orders, default divorces and divorce from a child’s point of view (what you need to know and do).
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

Friday, December 3, 2010
Practical Tips in Handling Workplace Investigations
It can happen to a client or to your own law firm – a report of harassment, discrimination, threats, embezzlement or drug use! What to do? Workplace investigations involve a multitude of legal and practical issues. Hear the latest tips from an experienced investigator and employment lawyer.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

Thursday, December 9, 2010
Practicing Before the 1st and 14th Courts of Appeals: The Clerks’ Perspective
This seminar will provide insight into how the Houston Courts of Appeals operate as a case moves from the Notice of Appeal to issuance of Mandate. The clerks for the Houston Appellate Courts will discuss case management, legislative performance measures, e-filing, and best practices to assist the clerk’s office as a case moves through the appellate process.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

Friday, December 10, 2010
Disability Benefits In a Nutshell
This course will be a survey of the three primary types of disability benefit claims available to claimants, including social security disability, long-term disability insurance and veterans’ disability claims. The course will compare and contrast the administrative and legal process for each type of claim as well as the disability standard for each.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

Thursday, December 16, 2010
The OPA and Business Interruption Claims
The speaker will address The Oil Pollution Act and it’s applicability to business interruption claims in the wake of the BP oil spill disaster.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

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Friday, January 7, 2011
Mechanic’s and Materialmen’s Liens: Perspectives from the Contractor, the Owner and the Lender.
A discussion of mechanic’s lien laws and case law interpreting the same. Whether you represent a general contractor, subcontractor or supplier, the lien laws affect your client. A discussion will focus on the various mechanics lien statutes and the relation back doctrine and foreclosure process.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

Thursday, January 13, 2011
Hot Topics in Environmental Law
This seminar will update the audience on trends in environmental law, feature a discussion on environmental ethics and provide an overview of various environmental issues that may impact practitioners in other practice areas.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

Friday, January 14, 2011
Can You Keep it Secret? – A Lawyer’s Guide to Data Privacy
Every lawyer and client has more and more electronic data stored on desktop and laptop computers, servers, PDAs, mobile telephones, flash drives, CDs, DVDs, and even in photocopiers. The data includes everything from shopping lists to trade secrets to credit card information to social security numbers. Many lawyers and clients do not know where all their electronic data is or how to protect it. Yet major liability can result from failing to guard private data from wrongdoers. This seminar will review risks, requirements and recommendations.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .5 hours ethics credit.

Friday, January 21, 2011
Immigration Enforcement in the Workplace
This seminar will cover employment authorization requirements (Form 1-9 and/or E-Verify) and H-1 B visa requirements, what an employer should expect if it receives an audit notice, what the audit involves and how the employer should respond and protect itself from potential penalties and/or criminal liability.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

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Friday, February 4, 2011
How to Collect e-Data – Efficiently and Legally
This seminar will take you through the case law and the current thinking in determining what eData collection method is appropriate for your client’s lawsuit - be it allowing your client to self collect or physically witnessing an employee’s computer being forensically imaged. This CLE will give you some practical decision making factors and tools to collect your documents in a method that is economical for your client but will hold up in court should there be a question.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, including .25 hours ethics credit.

Thursday, February 24, 2011
Corporate Governance, Ponzi Schemes and Fraud
This seminar will present a free-wheeling discussion of the increased role of the government in its oversight of corporations and the effect of such oversight on individuals. The speakers will present examples of recent case histories and discuss current initiatives of the Department of Justice and the Securities & Exchange Commission. Discussion will focus on trends in prosecutions and how to deal with the self-reporting dilemma.
1.5 hours MCLE credit, no ethics credit.

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