Don’t Let the Jokers Drive You Batty! (Asheville)

FREE for Lawyers Mutual Insureds and their Paralegals/Staff;

$100 non-insured attorneys; $20 for non-insured paralegals/staff

Registration & light continental breakfast 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Program: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Anyone who has been embroiled with a particularly difficult attorney, colleague, client, or judge who “just gets under their skin” knows that such encounters can be absolutely maddening. Unfortunately, when such interactions cannot be avoided, they may also render an attorney more susceptible to compromising his or her own ethical values in the process. Using clips from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, this seminar explores the impact of these exceptionally challenging professional relationships with such folks, whom we liken to Batman’s arch-nemesis, “The Joker.” Participants are equipped to identify the “Jokers” they have encountered, appreciate the risks of engaging with them, and implement practical strategies to minimize the negative impact on their quality of practice and life. We also provide a primer on the resources provided by local and state bars for reporting particular instances or patterns of unethical and/or grossly unprofessional behavior.

- ReelTime Creative Learning Experiences is an international provider of dynamic, interactive workshops, conferences, law firm retreats, and professional development training programs, committed to using the most proven and effective methods of adult learning to help professionals work (and interact with one another) more productively and sustainably. Chris Osborn and Michael Kahn began providing their innovative CLE workshops on ethics, professional responsibility, DEI and mental health/substance abuse awareness in 2007. Since January 2010, their workshops have been enjoyed by thousands of participants in 25 U.S. States, as well as throughout Australia and Canada. In August 2012, their program, “Practicing Dirt Law and Keeping Your Nose Clean”- Stress and Ethical Decision-Making for Real Estate Attorneys, received an Award of Outstanding Achievement in Programming from ACLEA, the Association for Continuing Legal Education Professionals.

Chris Osborn, J.D. - In addition to his ongoing work with ReelTime CLE, Chris Osborn is the founding principal of The Law Office of D. Christopher Osborn, PLLC, which provides mediation, litigation, and collaborative law services in domestic, business, and real property disputes in Charlotte, NC. Chris has been certified by the N.C. Dispute Resolution Commission as a Superior Court mediator since 2009, and has assisted the vast majority of his legal clients over the years to reach amicable resolutions in a wide variety of litigation matters, including business breakups, construction and employment law disputes, and will caveat disputes.

From 2012-2015, Chris served as an Assistant Professor at the Charlotte School of Law, where he taught “Interviewing, Client Counseling, and Negotiations,” Civil Procedure, Contracts, “Problems in Practice: Commercial Transactions,” and “Intro to the Study of Law.” While on the faculty, Chris’ scholarly research focused on ethics and professional responsibility, and particularly the interrelationship of both with mental health and substance abuse issues.

Upon graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1995, Chris began practicing litigation in Charlotte. He served as a career law clerk to former U.S. Magistrate Judge Carl Horn III before joining Horack Talley Pharr & Lowndes, PA, in 2001. During his 11 years as an associate and a shareholder with the firm, Chris handled construction and real estate litigation, business litigation, and employment disputes in Superior and District Courts, as well as in all three North Carolina federal district courts

Michael Kahn, M.Ed. Counseling, J.D. - Michael holds a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law, and practiced law with the Attorney General’s Office for the State of New Jersey for 6 years. Although he left the practice of law in 1991, his work thereafter has kept him involved in the lives of lawyers in various capacities. Following a stint as Assistant Director of Career Services with the Tulane University School of Law, Michael obtained his M. Ed. in Counseling from UNC-Greensboro in 1994, and shortly thereafter became a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of North Carolina.

Michael’s areas of focus in his psychotherapy practice have included anxiety, depression, grief/loss, work/life integration, and men's issues, and he has worked with adolescents and adults in individual and group therapy settings. In 2012, he relocated to Oregon, where in addition to continuing his speaking career, he served as an Adjunct Professor at the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education & Counseling and co-facilitated grief groups for lawyers.

Michael currently resides in Vancouver, BC, where he serves part-time on the counseling staff of the Lawyers Assistance Program of British Columbia. He continues to present training seminars and workshops on ethics, grief, wellness, DEI, and other topics for lawyers and mental health professionals throughout the U.S. He has presented programs in Japan and Germany, including for the U.S. military.

The manuscript is available on our website [lawyersmutualnc.com, click on CLE then Manuscripts] by November 1, 2024. We would like to remind you that we are going paperless and will not have printed manuscripts or handouts at the CLE. It is not mandatory that you print and/or download the manuscript. If you are also going paperless, please download the manuscript to your device before you come. We will not have Wi-Fi access at the program.

Applied for 3.0 hours NC State Bar CLE Credit

2 hours Ethics/Professionalism

1 hour Lawyer Wellbeing

Lawyers Mutual will confirm insured status.

Refunds for non-insured registrants will be issued via check for written cancellations received by Lawyers Mutual at [email protected] 10 or more business days prior to the date of the seminar. No refunds will be issued after this deadline.

B y registering for this event, I understand the hazards of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) and am familiar with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) guidelines regarding COVID-19. Notwithstanding the risks associated with COVID-19, which I readily acknowledge, I hereby willingly choose to attend the Put Into Practice: Risk Management Tips for Your Law Firm CLE. I acknowledge and fully assume the risk of illness or death related to COVID-19 arising from my being on the premises for the Event. I further agree to adhere to and follow all social distancing requirements of the sponsor site for the event, or as required by law.

Host or Publisher Lawyers Mutual