From May 31 through June 2, 2017, the American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility held its 43rd ABA National Conference on Professional Responsibility. The National Conference has long been the premier event of its kind in the U.S., bringing together legal scholars, jurists, regulators, and specialists in the professional responsibility field for two days of intensive programming addressing a wide range of issues. National Conference topics cover recent domestic and international trends and developments in legal ethics, professional discipline, bar admissions, professionalism, and practice issues. This year, a session about improving the health and wellness of the profession will be echoed with a regulator focus by a panel on this subject at the upcoming International Conference of Legal Regulators (ICLR) in Singapore (Day 1, Session 4). Other sessions focused on data security, multijurisdictional practice issues, and unique ethics issues faced by government lawyers.
Held in conjunction with the National Conference were the annual National Forum on Client Protection, Specialization Roundtable, and the 3rd Annual Workshop on Proactive Management-Based Regulation (PMBR). This successful Workshop designed for regulators opened with remarks from the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Lloyd A. Karmeier. Chief Justice Karmeir spoke about his Court’s adoption of new PMBR self-assessment and education rules for lawyers in the state who do not carry malpractice insurance. This regulatory mechanism is the first of its kind in the U.S., with Colorado having adopted Regulatory Objectives earlier and being in the process of implementing a voluntary self-assessment program. Facilitated by these Center for Professional Responsibility Workshops, a number of other U.S. jurisdictions are now studying PMBR. There will be a session at the 2017 ICLR regarding success stories in Risk-Based Regulation, moderated by Victoria Rees – Director of Professional Responsibility, Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society.
You may review detailed summaries of a number of National Conference and Client Protection Forum panels in this ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Responsibility summary.