IMLA

2026 IMLA 91st Annual Conference
2026-09-23 08:00 - 2026-09-27 12:00 (America/New_York)
2026 IMLA 91st Annual Conference
Salt Lake City, Utah: Wednesday, September 23 – Sunday, September 27, 2026
Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City
Click here to learn more about conferences.

Ethics Webinar
2026-10-21 13:00 - 14:00
Disorder in The Court: The Crossroads of Incivility and Wellness in the Legal Profession
Abrasive or burned out? Overworked or uncivil? Zealous advocate or bully?
The legal profession is currently navigating a critical crossroads where the traditional, often adversarial culture of lawyering meets an urgent need for practitioner well-being. Based on recent reports, it is widely believed that civility in the legal profession is under severe strain, with many arguing it is in critical condition. While not entirely dead, the standard of courteous, professional behavior is facing unprecedented challenges from rising polarization, digital communication, and a “win-at-all-costs” mentality.
Evidence shows that incivility—ranging from bullying and excessive, unreasonable demands to routine discourtesy—is directly linked to substance misuse, burnout, anxiety, and depression, issues which lawyers andare already experiencing at significantly higher rates than the general population.
Mr. Quinn will discuss:

The link between incivility and poor wellness, with emphasis on stress and burnout in the legal profession.
How uncivil conduct can be confused with “zealous” representation.
Ethical issues created by incivility, including violations of Rules 3.3 (Candor Toward the Tribunal), 3.4 (Fairness to Opposing Party and Counsel) and Rule 3.5 (Impartiality and Decorum of the Tribunal).
A “master plan” for addressing mental health challenges facing lawyers.
Initiatives that can be developed on an individual, firm and cultural level to support wellness and reduce uncivil conduct.
How to access the free, confidential resources offered by Lawyer Assistance Programs.

Speaker: Brian Quinn

First Amendment Webinar
2026-10-22 13:00 - 14:30
Debugging City Hall: The Practical, Ethical, and Litigation Risks of Lindke v. Freed at Two Years
While the Supreme Court’s two-prong test is now familiar, the operational gap between the doctrine and its daily application remains the hard part for municipal counsel. Lindke v. Freed replaced appearance-based reasoning with a structured test: actual authority to speak for the government on the specific matter, and a purported exercise of that authority in the specific post or moderation action. Lower courts are still working out what that test means for individual officials, mixed-use accounts, and the moderation decisions that generate § 1983 claims. This program covers the doctrine, the litigation file it produces, and the practical problem of applying the test at the scale a municipal practice actually faces.
Professor Brian Owsley brings the bench’s reading of Lindke and the academy’s reading of how the lower courts are applying it. He is an author and IMLA presenter on First Amendment and § 1983 doctrine.
Tom Wright brings the operational side: what the litigation file looks like when it arrives, what the ethics rules require when the city attorney is simultaneously defending the municipality and advising the individual official, and how to structure compliance reviews that preserve privilege under model rules 1.6 and 1.13.
Chaz Stevens is the named plaintiff in Stevens v. LaMarca, a § 1983 social-media-blocking matter against an individual state legislator, the post-Lindke fact pattern lower courts are currently working out. He brings the plaintiff’s chair perspective and a structured method for measuring official-account exposure across the Lindke prongs, presented to show defense counsel how a plaintiff maps a municipal digital record before the city knows a claim is brewing.
Speaker: Chaz Stevens, Brian Owsley & Tom Wright

2027 IMLA 92nd Annual Conference
2027-10-14 08:00 - 2027-10-18 12:00
2027 IMLA 92nd Annual Conference
Denver, Colorado: Thursday, October 14 – Monday, October 18, 2027
Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center
Click here to learn more about conferences.
