Bankruptcy: Help Us Put the Pieces Together Bankruptcy cases can have implications for a City beyond the collection of revenue. When that happens, the attorneys in the City of Philadelphia Law Department’s Bankruptcy Unit rely heavily on the expertise of other members of the Law Department to issue spot, educate, marshal documents and more. Achieving this type of symbiosis at the very outset of a bankruptcy proceeding is critical. The presentation will provide a brief overview of bankruptcy basics, review...

Public Records Responses: Then and Now Hilary Ruley has worked in Baltimore’s Public Records Response process for over 15 years.  In this presentation, Hilary will discuss key and current legal cases on body cameras.  This presentation will also discuss video redaction and some of the practical challenges of being an attorney involved in the public records process. Speaker: Hilary Ruley & Jen Snyder

Back to Basics: Guide to Resolving Construction Claims The construction industry has faced many unique challenges since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. As the industry adjusts to the new “normal” way of working, it is important for construction project participants to maintain their focus on the basic techniques that are effective in managing construction risks inherent to every construction project. This session will bring participants “back to basics” and provide guidelines to apply for the mitigation and...

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