The American Inns of Court Program Awards recognize exceptional programs created and presented at Inn meetings during the 2009 Inn year, which ran from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. The top three award-winning programs will be recognized with plaques that will be presented at an upcoming Inn meeting. Special lapel pins will also be presented to members of the award-winning pupillage team who presented the program.
Thank you to all the Inns and teams that participated—we had a terrific response this year! All programs submitted this year, including award winners, are available for ordering from our Program Library.
FIRST PLACE
Attorneys Say the Darndest Things (P11732)
The Villanova Law J. Willard O'Brien AIC— Villanova, PA
This program featured a monthly meeting of law firm partners who review how their associates handled challenging circumstances and adversaries at depositions. Following each scene showing the conduct of the Difficult Adversary (DA) and the partners review what newer lawyers need to understand in developing their skills in professional conduct, code of civility, rules of civil procedure relating to dispositions and discovery. These discussions would include comments from the entire Inn.
Download P11732 here: www.innsofcourt.org/programs/P11732.pdf
SECOND PLACE
Discovery Abuse - An Intervention (P11678)
The Sagamore AIC — Indianapolis, IN
The premise in this program is that discovery, designed to disclose relevant evidence in order to narrow issues and expedite resolution of cases, now contributes to protracted litigation, in great part due to some practitioner’s misguided litigation philosophies, passed on to associates who perpetuate the cycle. Through a 40-minute short film, the team presents the exploits of Adam Abuser, one such misguided associate, in his dealings with opposing counsel and other colleagues, and in his appearances in court. After the film, a judge reviews the latest Federal and state case law on sanctions for violations of the discovery rules, and offers the perspective from the bench.
Download P11678 here: www.innsofcourt.org/programs/P11678.pdf
Download the PowerPoint for P11678 here: www.innsofcourt.org/programs/P11678.ppt
THIRD PLACE – three way tie
Insider Trading: Under the Microscope (P11663)
The New York AIC—New York, NY
The program addressed issues regarding current trends and cases in Insider Trading, including recent cases, etc. The format of the program involved a roleplay scenario, in which team participants acted out roles as company executives, legal counsel (general and outside) and representatives of the public (spouses, employees, store clerks, etc.) with respect to consideration of who is an “insider” and who is not in the context on insider information.
Download Part 1 of P11663 here: www.innsofcourt.org/programs/P11663PartA.pdf
Download Part 2 of P11663 here: www.innsofcourt.org/programs/P11663PartB.pdf
Download Part 3 of P11663 here: www.innsofcourt.org/programs/P11663PartC.pdf
The Difficult Client (P11731)
The Villanova Law J. Willard O'Brien AIC— Villanova, PA
This program addressed issues regarding the problem of a powerful client exerting pressure on the firm to take certain steps—including structuring of fees, choice of associates, asserting questionable legal theories and obstructing a deposition – to present the firm’s lawyers with dilemmas to discuss and resolve. After each scene they had the audience answer a brief questionnaire as to how he/she would resolve the dilemma. Members of the team collected and collated the responses. In the final scene, the firm’s founding and managing partners discussed the ethical rules and caselaw applicable to each scenario, and reported their results of the questionnaires.
Download P11731 here: www.innsofcourt.org/programs/P11731.pdf
WWLD? What Would Lincoln Do? - An Interactive Program in Legal Ethics (P11737)
The Louis M. Welsh AIC— San Diego, CA
Taking as its reference point the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth in 2009, this program presented three ethical dilemmas that Abraham Lincoln confronted as a practicing lawyer, and called on the audience to apply modern-day California ethics rules to the resolution of those dilemmas and similar dilemmas confronting the 21st century California practitioner.
Download P11737 here: www.innsofcourt.org/programs/P11737.pdf
OUTSTANDING PROGRAM DISTINCTION
Programs are listed in program numeric order
Name That Tainted Tune - Copyright Law Issues (P11665)
The Henry Woods AIC—Little Rock, AR
The legal focus was a fun way to discuss copyright infringement law as it relates to the music industry. The program is loosely based on the old T.V. game show, “Name that Tune.” Each member of the pupilage group was assigned a situation where there had been a legal dispute among artists, publishers, record labels, etc. regarding two songs with similar note structure, melody, or other characteristics.
The Case of the Lying Juror or, Why Didn’t I Ask About That on Voir Dire?—Juror Qualifications and Grounds to Disqualify Jurors (P11671)
The C.H. Ferguson-M.E. White AIC— Tampa, FL
The program focuses on the difficulties in addressing the juror who lies or conceals information, either intentionally or unintentionally, during voir dire. A video presentation utilizing clips from various cinematic features will be used to jump start the program after which the audience will be introduced to the leading case law addressing the right to a new trial when a juror fails to disclose relevant information. Following the video presentation, the audience will be presented with a number of factual scenarios involving a lying juror or juror who fails to disclose the whole truth which will be followed by a question and answer segment.
The Art of Cross-Examination (P11736)
The Centennial Chapter AIC—Flint, MI
This program is intended to highlight some of the challenges of cross-examination in the context of a divorce case. The presentation consisted of giving the Inn members a written transcript of each party’s purported direct examination. The unique aspect of the program was that each of the four cross-examinations was unscripted and, as in court, spontaneous for both the parties and for the examiners. At the end of the cross-examinations the Inn membership discussed the positive and negative aspects of the examinations and the general principals of cross-examination generally.
It is All in the Branding: The Art of Mediation in Today's World (P11738)
The Temple AIC—Philadelphia, PA
This multimedia program took a stimulating look at the arbitration/mediation process by focusing on issues raised during such ADR processes, including confidentiality and conflicts of interest. It also addressed issues that a “new” lawyer should look for or be aware of when agreeing to such a process.
It’s 2008: Do U Know Where UR Associates R? - Civility, Liability and Privacy Implications of e-Communications (P11743)
The Anthony M. Kennedy AIC—Sacramento, CA
This program is an ambitious effort to explore the civility, liability and privacy problems that flow from the growing issue of e-communications. The issues posed here are by their very nature challenging to a wide variety of attorneys and judges, as practitioners schooled in the “traditional” forms of practice are joined by a younger generation of lawyers that cut its teeth on today’s new technologies.
Writing for Lawyers (P11748)
The Honorable Fiorenzo V. Lopardo AIC—Vista, CA
This program provides rules, suggestions, and tips on clear and persuasive legal writing; it is set up in a “survey” format of eight individual presentations, which include several examples – good and bad – of the topics discussed.
Legal “Jaywalking”: The Comments, Perceptions and Biases of Your Potential Juror (P11758)
The American Inn of Court of Acadiana—Lafayette, LA
This program was cast in the format of the Jay Leno’s late night talk show, “The Tonight Show.” Team members conducted “on the street” interviews of men and women about topics that relate to lawyers, judgments and the legal system in general. There were four separate “Jaywalking” segments that were videotaped. The candid and insightful comments received from the persons who were interviewed provided the Inn members with a wonderful springboard for discussing what lawyers and judges should be aware of (or even concerned with) that was inherent in the information provided by these “potential jurors.”
Prejudice: The Musical! (P11771)
The Earl Warren AIC—Oakland, CA
The intent of this program was to show the pervasive nature of prejudice and the cases which have dealt with various types of prejudice. The timing of the program was in part motivated by the very recent California Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage which made the entire topic very timely.
For additional information on ordering programs, please send an e-mail to info@innsofcourt.org.