Why Accurate Legal Messages Still Get Misunderstood: Using AI to Pressure-Test Communication with Officials, Boards, and the Public Local government lawyers regularly have to explain nuanced legal conclusions to elected officials, boards, department leaders, law-enforcement personnel, and members of the public—audiences who may not share the lawyer’s vocabulary, assumptions, or objectives. Even when a message is legally accurate, it may be interpreted through a political, operational, or emotional lens. A recommendation may be heard as obstruction, an explanation as evasion,...

This is NOT an IMLA webinar and CLE will not be offered. Kitchen Sink Subscribers will need to register for this program, it will not be automatically sent. Hosted by the Local Government Legal Center (LGLC), join legal experts in a discussion of the new Supreme Court term and what decisions local governments should watch. The Supreme Court will rule on several major cases this term, including issues related to: The intersection of religious exercise and land use / zoning...

The First 24 Hours: Media, Messaging and Liability After a Critical Incident Critical incidents are judged twice: first by what happened, and then by how leaders explained it. In the first 24 hours after an officer-involved shooting, in-custody death, mass-casualty event or other high-liability incident, incomplete facts, intense media pressure and competing voices can turn an operational crisis into a lasting legal and reputational problem. This practical webinar examines how municipal attorneys, law-enforcement leaders, public information officers and elected officials...

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...