Wellness Webinar
2025-01-21 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
The Attorney’s Guide to Stress Mastery: Evidence-Based Strategies for Resilience
Legal professionals operate in high-stress environments, where stress management and resilience are crucial for success. This workshop offers evidence-based strategies such as mindfulness, cognitive restructuring, and self-care, validated to reduce stress and enhance well-being. Gain valuable tools to find more productivity, more income, and most importantly more peace.
Participants will gain insights into the impact of chronic stress on legal professionals, emphasizing the significance of resilience. Through interactive discussions and practical exercises, attendees will learn to integrate stress-reducing habits into their daily routines, supported by scientific research and real-life case studies.
Speaker: Brooke Walker

Public Comment Webinar
2025-01-22 13:00 - 14:30
Public Comment – The Good, The Bad, and The Legal
As Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) from the show Parks and Rec humorously stated: “What I hear when I’m being yelled at [during a public meeting] is people caring loudly at me.” This presentation will explore the benefits of public comment, some of the issues commonly associated with public comment, and what you can do to address those issues.
Speaker: Randall “Randy” Van Vleck, Todd Sheeran & Neal Falgoust

Super Saver Rates for the Mid-Year Seminar End
2025-01-24
2025 IMLA Mid-Year Seminar
Washington, D.C.: April 25 – April 28, 2025
Omni Shoreham Hotel
Click here to learn more about the conference.

Technology Webinar
2025-01-28 13:00 - 14:00
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Public Safety Trainers, Educators, and Instructional Designers
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here and is not something futuristic. AI will not take away your job, but someone who knows how to use AI will take it!
As a public safety trainer, educator, supervisor, instructional designer, or expert witness, learn how to integrate cutting-edge technology into your education and training programs!
Here are some key topics discussed in this timely webinar:

Understanding AI Basics and Applications: Gain insights into what AI is, its current applications in various fields, and why it’s becoming increasingly relevant in educational contexts.
Applying AI to Public Safety Training: Explore specific ways AI can be leveraged to enhance public safety training and instructional design, potentially improving efficiency and effectiveness.
Incorporating AI Tools into Training Programs: Learn practical methods to integrate AI tools into existing training programs to achieve better learning outcomes. This could include using AI for content creation, lesson planning, quizzes, scripting, voice generation, and more.
Developing Effective AI “Prompts”: Understand how to create prompts or cues that effectively guide AI systems to produce desired outputs, enhancing the usability of AI tools in training.
Demonstrating AI Tools: Get hands-on demonstrations of select AI tools for content creation and learner data analysis. This can include creating lesson outlines, generating lesson plans, analyzing quiz results, and utilizing AI for scripting and voice generation tasks.
Discussing Ethical Issues and Agency AI Policy: Address the ethical considerations of using AI in public safety training, focusing on privacy, security, and fairness. Understand the importance of developing clear agency policies regarding AI usage to mitigate potential risks.
Summarizing AI Copyright and Legal Limitations: Learn about the legal aspects of AI usage in educational contexts, including copyright issues related to AI-generated content. Understand your rights and limitations when using AI tools for content creation.
Participants can expect to gain practical knowledge on how to integrate cutting-edge AI technology into their educational and training programs, potentially revolutionizing how they develop, deliver, and update their curriculum. This session promises to be a valuable, non-technical opportunity for anyone looking to stay ahead in educational technology and innovation within the realm of public safety training.

Stay ahead of the AI technology curve! Equip yourself with the knowledge to leverage AI in your field while discovering innovative ways to improve training effectiveness and efficiency.
Speaker: John G. Peters, Jr., Ph.D.

Professionalism & Ethics Webinar
2025-01-30 13:00 - 14:00
Managing the Minefield: Practical Approaches to Difficult Lawyers and Clients
This program will tackle the complex ethical challenges posed by bullying and uncivil behavior in the legal profession—not only from colleagues but also from clients. In addition to addressing how bullying and harassment among lawyers can undermine ethical practice, harm workplace culture, waste the client’s time and resources, and compromise mental health, the program will explore situations where clients pressure their attorneys to act aggressively or unprofessionally. We will discuss the relevant Texas disciplinary rules and look at some real-world examples to learn how to identify and respond to both peer and client-driven bullying and unprofessional expectations, equipping you with strategies to maintain your ethical obligations. This program emphasizes the importance of being prepared to manage difficult behaviors without compromising your professional integrity.
Learning Objectives:

Know the key ethics Rules and other resources that govern ethical and professional conduct in the practice of law
Identify bad behavior by other lawyers in any situation and develop strategies for dealing with it
Recognize that communication is the key to managing clients
Have a plan to take action when you encounter “bad behavior” whether from lawyers or clients

Main Texas Disciplinary Rules Covered:

Competent and Diligent Representation: Rule 1.01
Communication: Rule 1.03
Meritorious Claims and Contentions: Rule 3.01
Minimizing the Burdens and Delays of Litigation: Rule 3.02
Candor Toward the Tribunal: Rule 3.03 (and it’s 15 Comments)
Fairness in Adjudicatory Proceedings: Rule 3.04
Rule 4.01: Truthfulness in Statements to Others
Rule 4.04: Respect for Rights of Third Persons

Speaker: Jeanne M. Huey

Homelessness Working Group Call
2025-02-06 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-03-06 14:00 - 15:00
If you care to take part in this call, please email cstorer@imla.org.

Early Bird Rates for IMLA in Canada End
2025-02-14
2025 IMLA in Canada
Toronto, Ontario: May 8, 2025
Click here to learn more about the conference.

Immigration Webinar – Free Live For IMLA Members
2025-02-18 13:00 - 14:00
Federal Immigration and Local Governments
This webinar will cover immigration laws and recent legal actions affecting local government. The presentation will analyze recent lawsuits filed by the federal government against state and local governments, which will include a discussion of a) express preemption under 8 USC 1373; b) allegations of discrimination against the federal government; and c) conflict preemption regarding federal immigration enforcement. The presentation will also discuss the withholding of funds and new grant conditions, which will include a review of what happened in the litigation concerning the Byrne Jag litigation during the first Trump administration. Additional topics may be added given the rapidly changing legal landscape.
Speakers: Rick Su & Amanda Karras

Police Alternatives Working Group Call
2025-02-18 14:00 - 15:00

Immigration Working Group Call
2025-02-19 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-03-05 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-03-19 14:00 - 15:00

Early Bird Rates for the Mid-Year Seminar End
2025-02-21

DEIWorking Group Call
2025-02-26 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-12 15:00 - 16:00
If you care to take part in this call, please email amorris@imla.org.

DEI Working Group Call
2025-02-26 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-12 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-26 15:00 - 16:00

Environmental Webinar – Free Live For IMLA Members
2025-03-04 13:00 - 14:00
Products Liability Law and Emerging Water Contaminants: Legal Strategies to Recover Regulatory Compliance Costs
CLE available to Kitchen Sink Subscribers and in some cases to others but fees may apply.
This webinar will first provide a brief update on state and federal standards for contaminants in drinking water, wastewater, and biosolids, as well as the challenges and costs that recent and anticipated regulatory developments present for municipalities. Contaminants addressed may include PFAS, 1,4-dioxane, 1,2,3-TCP, perchlorate, and others pending legislation at the time of the webinar. Then, we will discuss how municipalities affected by contamination have used products liability principles to pursue legal action against the manufacturers responsible for pollution, referencing several case studies from successful litigation. Ken Sansone will explain the full legal process used in these cases, from initial detection of contaminants to the receipt of compensation. Attendees will gain a greater understanding of how local governments can reduce the financial impact of compliance with new water quality regulations by shifting the costs to manufacturers.
Speaker: Ken Sansone

Counties Working Group Call
2025-03-05 15:00 - 16:00

Constitutional Law/Home Rule Webinar
2025-03-06 13:00 - 14:00
Constitutional Framework of the United States and the Role of Local Government Attorneys
This course will provide an overview of the governing structure in the United States (think Civics 101) and discuss how the dynamics of federalism and home rule authority impact the role of the local government attorney in the US.
Speaker: Katie Hodgdon

Super Saver Rates for the Annual Conference End
2025-03-07
2025 IMLA 90th Annual Conference
New Orleans, Louisiana: Wednesday, Friday, October 17 – Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Hilton New Orleans Riverside
Click here to learn more about the conference.

Religion Webinar
2025-03-11 13:00 - 14:00
Practical Implications of the Supreme Court’s Recent Free Exercise and Establishment Decisions
This webinar will address the practical implications of recent Supreme Court decisions about the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses. Led by a practicing First Amendment lawyer and a First Amendment specialist at UVA Law School, it will cover religious exemptions from civil rights law, prayer in public schools, school funding decisions, and ways in which rhetoric about religious freedom can affect case outcomes. Both of the speakers have substantial expertise working with (and representing) local governments, and will aim to provide useful guidance to lawyers seeking to navigate the Supreme Court’s rapid transformation of the First Amendment
Speaker: Joshua Matz & Rich Schragger

World Cup Working Group Call
2025-03-12 14:00 - 15:00

Federal Funding Call
2025-03-13 15:00 - 16:00

Regular Rates for IMLA in Canada End
2025-03-14

Small/Rural Communities Working Group Call
2025-03-17 14:00 - 15:00

Affirmative Litigation Working Group Call
2025-03-18 14:00 - 15:00

Procurement & Contracting Webinar
2025-03-20 13:00 - 14:00
Advanced Contracting for Municipal Attorneys
This program will focus on the complexities of advanced public contract with value or qualification based procurement processes and alternative project delivery models becoming more common to sustainable govern programs, construction and climate response. Learn how to move from traditional, price based selection to advanced, performance based contracting that lends itself to both sustainable facilities and practices. Learn the traps for the unwary in P3 contracting and know how to protect your municipality while ensuring a deal that’s financeable.
Speaker: Steven “Tip” Torres
