Preempting to Thwart Racial Justice CLE available to Kitchen Sink Subscribers and in some cases to others but fees may apply. This session builds on our spring webinar documenting the 2021 legislative session as a session like no other.  To recap, state legislatures continued to target local authority, but the disturbing trend that this webinar will focus on was the use of preemption to prevent or limit local jurisdictions from taking steps to pursue racial justice initiatives.  In direct reaction...

Affirmative Litigation – The Municipality as Plaintiff This presentation is a review of various major affirmative litigation activities by local governments, including false claims, video services, e-cigarettes, PFAS, climate change, and opioids. This presentation will also discuss causes of action, defenses, and case trajectories. Speaker: Erich Eiselt, Sara Gross & Michael Bologna

Herding Cats- Augmenting Animal Services in a Post-COVID World 95% of Americans now view pets as members of their family and animal services is evolving to reflect new community values and expectations, similar to the evolving role of policing. Best Friends staff with expertise in these issues will discuss empowering animal field services officers to be more responsive and efficient in the field, effective policies concerning dangerous dogs and reckless owners, community engagement of volunteers and legal frameworks to reduce...

Ethics: the Local Government Attorney’s Role as a Competent Advisor One of the primary functions and a day-to-day responsibility of a local government attorney is providing advice. All attorneys advise clients, but the advice a local government attorney gives the local government governing body, boards, commissions, and staff affects an entire community and in a broader sense, our society. This presentation examines the interplay of ABA Model Ethics Rules 1.1 (Attorney Competence) and 2.1 (Attorney’s Role as Advisor) and how...

Equitable Housing Preemption CLE available to Kitchen Sink Subscribers and in some cases to others but fees may apply. This session examines state preemption of local authority to protect tenants, particularly during COVID, and expand affordable housing . Many state legislatures, in both “red” and “blue” states, preempt local governments from increasing housing supply, crafting inclusionary zoning, or implementing rent regulations to alleviate housing unaffordability. This dynamic has particularly come to a head during the COVID-19 pandemic as local governments...

Key Legal Issues: From Preliminary Assessment Through Detailed Project Planning In this two-part presentation, lawyers from Keller and Heckman LLP will address the critical legal and regulatory issues that public broadband initiatives and partnerships typically encounter at each stage of a project from initial opportunity assessment to ongoing operation and regulatory compliance.  They will focus on authority issues; federal and state funding opportunities; infrastructure challenges (rights-of-way, easements, franchises, pole attachments, wireless matters, etc.); and access to customers, content, and services. ...

How Denver Does It: The Creation of an Equity Program and Issues Faced Kwali Farbes and Deanne Durfee from the Denver City Attorney’s Office will speak about the Denver City Attorney’s Office’s program on equity.  The presentation will discuss how the program was created and curriculum used for the program.  The presentation will also discuss practical issues, including legal issues, that come with implementing such a program in a law office. Speaker: Kwali Farbes and Deanne Durfee

Office Management Solutions – Government Insights CLE available to Kitchen Sink Subscribers and in some cases to others but fees may apply. *Free live for Thomson Reuters Members with Registration Code. This session will give you deeper knowledge into what City and County Agencies are doing right now for office management solutions. The discussion will tackle what challenges they are trying to solve for and what they are investing in for people and technology solutions. Specifically, addressing matter management, document...

Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion (DEI) In the Workplace: Creating Impactful and Sustainable DEI Programs in Law Firms The presentation will largely be geared towards programming for law firms.  The topic of DEI in law firms has been discussed at some level for many years.  But just encouraging awareness and discussion is not enough.  The presentation will provide tips and strategies for attorneys, including those representing local governments, to successfully implement sustainable DEI Programs in law firms. The presentation will also...

An Assist from the Bench: Addressing Problem Properties with Dedicated Code Enforcement Courts CLE available to Kitchen Sink Subscribers and in some cases to others but fees may apply. Litigation frequently serves as the legal backstop when code enforcement agencies have exhausted other avenues to gain compliance or when properties pose special challenges or imminent threats to public health and safety.  While they can appear straightforward, today’s code cases involve complex legal issues related to ownership and title, interpretation of...