Understanding Implicit Bias in the Practice of Law
Date: Mar 29, 2024 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Location: Online
Member Price: $159
Non-Member Price: $199
Areas of Law: Diversity
Earn up to 3 credits, including 3.0 in Diversity! (More Information)
Keynote
Moderator
Presenters
- Catherine Finnerty, Esq.
- Goldman & Beslow, LLC, East Orangeis an associate with Goldman & Beslow, LLC with offices in East Orange, Newark, Paterson and Jersey City, New Jersey. She devotes a substantial portion of her practice to bankruptcy and debtor-creditor negotiations and handles all issues pertaining to Chapter 7, Chapter 13, foreclosure defense and mediation, debt collection defense, debtor-creditor negotiations and consumer representation. In addition to bankruptcy and debtor-creditor law, Ms. Finnerty has experience in real estate matters, simple Wills, powers of attorney, living wills, and municipal court matters involving traffic tickets, disorderly persons offenses, and violations of municipal ordinances. She also represents clients in residential real estate transactions, and has experience helping property owners who desire to sell their property via short sale, are at risk of foreclosure, or who cannot make their mortgage payments.
Admitted to practice law in New Jersey and New York, and before the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, Ms. Finnerty has been a member of the American and New York State Bar Associations and the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association. She has been a member of the NJSBA Bankruptcy Law and Women in the Profession Sections, and is Secretary of the Solo and Small Firm Section. Ms. Finnerty is a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and the American Bankruptcy Institute. She has also volunteered with South Jersey Legal Services, Legal Services of New Jersey and the Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, and represents clients throughout their entire bankruptcy cases.
Ms. Finnerty received her undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Barnard College, Columbia University, where she was the recipient of the New York Building Industry Scholarship and the Eugene Raskin Prizer for Spanish. She received her J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review and the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Torts.
(8/23) - Michael Kahn, Esq., LPC
- ReelTime Creative Learning Experiences, Vancouvera former attorney-turned counselor, is a co-presenter and co-founder of ReelTime CLE in Charlotte, North Carolina, which provides engaging and practical workshops, CLE seminars, law firm retreats and other training programs for attorneys on ethics and professionalism. The company presents training seminars and workshops on ethics, grief, self-care, diversity and inclusion, and other topics for attorneys and mental health professionals throughout the United States and abroad, including the United States Army.
A documentary filmmaker, Mr. Kahn has also worked with Cristina Cassidy Productions, which offers filmmaking as a team-building program and facilitates a discussion after the making of a film to help the staff transfer their observations from the experience to their day-to-day work life. After serving as Assistant Director of Career Services with the Tulane University School of Law, he became a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of North Carolina. Mr. Kahn’s areas of focus in his psychotherapy practice have included anxiety, depression, grief/loss, career satisfaction and men's issues, and he has worked with adolescents and adults in individual and group therapy settings. In addition to continuing his speaking career, he served as an Adjunct Professor at the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education & Counseling and also practiced law with the Attorney General’s Office for the State of New Jersey for six years.
Mr. Kahn received his B.A. from Emory University and his J.D. from Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University. He received his M. Ed. in Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
(8/23) - Ron McCormick, Esq.
- Assistant Prosecutor, Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, Hackensack
- Chris Osborn, Esq.
- ReelTime Creative Learning Experiences, Charlotteis a co-founder of ReelTime CLE in Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition to his ongoing work with ReelTime CLE, he is the founding Principal of Osborn Conflict Resolution, which provides Superior Court mediation, pre-litigation conflict coaching and dispute resolution, and Christian conflict conciliation services throughout North Carolina. He has been certified as a Superior Court mediator by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission since 2009, and has assisted the majority of his legal clients over the years to reach amicable resolutions in a wide variety of litigation matters, including business breakups, construction and employment law disputes, and Will caveat disputes.
Mr. Osborn joined Horack Talley Pharr & Loundes, PA, in 2001 and during his 11 years as an associate and Shareholder with the firm, handled construction and real estate litigation, business litigation and employment disputes. As the former Chair of the Mecklenburg County Bar “Professionalism, LawyerLife, and Culture” Committee, he helped lead the Bar’s efforts to support its members in times of personal or professional crisis, and its proactive promotion of good mental health practices and substance abuse awareness.
Mr. Osborn served as an Assistant Professor at the Charlotte School of Law, where he taught “Interviewing, Client Counseling, and Negotiations,” Civil Procedure,” “Contracts,” “Problems in Practice: Commercial Transactions,” and “Intro to the Study of Law.” While on the faculty, his scholarly research focused on ethics and professional responsibility, and particularly the interrelationship of both with mental health and substance abuse issues. He has been a frequent speaker at CLE seminars on construction disputes and mechanics’ lien law, and on several topics in employment law, in addition to the seminars on professionalism and legal ethics that he has helped develop and present through ReelTime CLE.
Mr. Osborn received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He served as a law clerk to former United States Magistrate Judge Carl Horn III.
(8/23) - Michael Poreda, Esq.
- Lydecker, Jersey City
Over 150 people logged in to “Illumination of Bias” in December. Don’t miss this related program which will fulfill your DEI credit requirements plus provide one of the required ethics credits.
One of the most significant, yet perhaps neglected, aspects of practicing law in the increasingly global economy (as well as communities that grow more multi-ethnic and multicultural each day) is the challenge of sustained interaction between people who are different from us in various ways, such as race, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual orientation etc. Even the simplest of encounters can often leave lawyers, paralegals, or clients themselves feeling confused, frustrated, offended, or seriously hurt—even when everyone involved began with the best of intentions.
This program tackles the tricky subject of “implicit bias” (or “unconscious bias”) in the practice of law. Poignant film vignettes will serve as the catalyst for interactive discussions that will feature a roundtable of some notable and experienced New Jersey practitioners. You will discover practical, more effective ways of developing cross-cultural competence to help you better represent your clients and gain a better working relationship with your colleagues.
Topics include:
- How to identify implicit biases and understand specifically how they show up or operate in your law firm, legal department, governmental agency, or other legal services provider.
- How to understand the potential risks, costs, and other consequences of unchecked implicit biases and cumulative indignities, for both individuals and your law firm or organization as a whole.
- A discussion of the tangible benefits that law firms and other legal services providers can gain from practical and sustained efforts to identify and reduce the impact of implicit biases.
- How to employ practical tools for catching implicit biases as they arise and limiting their impact within your law firm or other organization.
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