Selected Topics and Miscellany CLE

7:30 a.m. — Registration; Coffee and donuts will be provided.

8:00 a.m. — Analysis Courts

• John J. Francis, Senator Robert J. Dole Professor of Law, Washburn Law
  Will address analysis courts use when addressing lost or destroyed evidence in criminal cases.

8:50 a.m. — Break

9:00 a.m. — Federal and State Judicial Ethics: A Comparative Analysis (1.0-hour Ethics)

• Andrew H. Stewart, Visiting Assistant Professor/Assistant Director of Academic Enrichment and Bar Readiness, Washburn Law
• This presentation will start with a discussion of supreme court basics for the Kansas Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States. We will then conduct a survey of the ethics rules for the Supreme Court Justices, Kansas Justices, and the American Bar Association model rules. We will discuss where they are similar, and where they diverge from one another. After this, we will discuss how the rules in Kansas may be improved based on principles from the Supreme Court of the United States as well as the model rules from the American Bar Association. Alternatively, in this section, we will discuss what possible improvements could be made to the other codes based on Kansas' judicial ethics rules. We will wrap up with a discussion of judicial ethics in the media on both the Kansas and federal levels.

9:50 a.m. — Break

10:00 a.m. — New Frontiers in Copyright Infringement and Fair Use: Artificial Intelligence Training Materials

• Patricia Judd, Kurt M. Sager Memorial Professor of Law, Washburn Law
• This session explores the copyright implications of generative AI platforms’ use of pre-existing materials in training their models and generating outputs in response to user prompts. After a short overview of copyright acquisition standards, the session covers the statutory rights implicated by use of copyrighted works in AI model training, applicability of the traditional standards of copyright infringement in this context, and arguments about fair use. The session highlights pending cases in which these questions are at issue, as well as efforts by the U.S. Copyright Office to clarify standards to be applied by the courts. This is an unsettled area of the law, so don’t expect to come away with clear answers, but the questions have profound effects on copyright doctrine moving forward. 

10:50 a.m. — Break

11:00 a.m. — Choose Your Own Ethics Adventure – The Case of the Golfcart Collision Mishap (1.0-hour Ethics)

• Shawn Leisinger, Associate Dean for Centers and External Programs, Washburn Law
• Back in the late 1970’s there were a series of older children’s books broadly titled as “Choose your Own Adventure” which allowed the reader to walk through the story and contemplate what choice they would make and then move forward a few pages based on the decision to find out how that choice would play out. This continued throughout multiple choices until the reader reached their own ending. In this ethics hour we will walk through the Kansas ethics case of In the Matter of Mitchell J. Spencer, No. 125,500 which was decided and the opinion filed February 10, 2023 and “spoiler alert” – resulted in a reduced outcome of published censure. The case involved a simple accident in which Mr. Spencer drove a city golf cart under a truck bumper and the events that unfolded from there based on choices made moving forward. Attendees will be asked to consider each choice and what they would have done and what the ethics rules ultimately were considered to have required given that the Kansas Supreme Court ultimately applied a lower penalty that the parties jointly agreed to recommend.

11:50 a.m. — Lunch Break [1]

1:00 p.m. — Recent Developments in United States Supreme Court Cases (Part 1)

• Jeffrey Jackson, James M. Concannon Dean and Professor of Law, Washburn Law
• This session will walk through all of the decisions of the United States Supreme Court over the past year. The presenter will bring his insight into trends and approaches the Court has been taking to the myriad issues that they are choosing (and choosing not) to hear. A focus will be on the rules that are coming out that are consistent and that are changing in these cases.

1:50 p.m. — Break

2:00 p.m. — Recent Developments in United State Supreme Court Cases (Part 2)

• Jeffrey Jackson, James M. Concannon Dean and Professor of Law, Washburn Law
• A continuation of the previous session to finish covering all of the Supreme Court cases of the past year.

2:50 p.m. — Break

3:00 p.m. — Federal and State Developments in Agricultural Law and Taxation

• Roger McEowen, professor of Agricultural Law and Taxation, Washburn Law
• This session addresses recent cases and rulings of importance to professionals representing agricultural producers and rural clients. The issues are wide and varied, but also of a practical nature - from leases to fences, from estate planning to land transactions, this session covers the waterfront.

3:50 p.m. — Adjourn

[1] Glory Days Pizza will be available at the Law School. Additionally, the newly opened Ichabod Grille is across the street. 

7:30 a.m. — Registration; Coffee and donuts will be provided.

8:00 a.m. — Anatomy of a Complaint (1.0-hour ethics)

• Matthew Vogelsberg, Chief Deputy Disciplinary Administrator, Office of the Disciplinary Administrator of Kansas
• This CLE will discuss the rules governing the intake, investigation, and resolution of attorney disciplinary complaints. Additionally, the CLE will discuss common complaints that the Office of the Disciplinary Administrator (ODA) receives regarding attorneys, factors the ODA considers in determining whether to dismiss a complaint or docket it for investigation, and practical advice for responding to a disciplinary complaint.

8:50 a.m. — Break

9:00 a.m. — How to do Legislative Research from Your Desk.

• Eunice Peters, Associate Professor of Law, Washburn Law
• Join us for a practice-focused CLE presentation with Washburn Law Professor Peters, where she will dispel the myth that legislative research is a daunting task requiring a trip to Topeka. In this session, Professor Peters will demystify the process of legislative research, demonstrating how modern tools and online resources can help an attorney conduct legislative research from the comfort of their own desk. Whether you are a seasoned attorney or new to the field, this presentation will equip you with the knowledge and skills to navigate legislative history with ease and confidence.

9:50 a.m. — Break

10:00 a.m. — Ethics and Free Speech for Lawyers (1.0-hour ethics) 

• Jeffrey Jackson, James M. Concannon Dean and Professor of Law, Washburn Law
• It examines the restrictions on speech, both in and out of court, that are placed on lawyers by virtue of their profession, and how courts have interpreted those restrictions in order to strike a balance between the attorney right to free speech and the legal system's valid interest in safeguarding rights and administering justice in an impartial manner.

10:50 a.m. — Break

11:00 a.m. — AI Federalism

• David Rubenstein, James R. Ahrens Chair for Constitutional Law, Washburn Law
• Artificial intelligence (AI) has catapulted to the forefront of political agendas of all levels of government. Across every major market and facet of society, policymakers are confronting difficult choices and tradeoffs between individual rights and collective welfare, between innovation and regulation, and between economic growth and social equity. Federal and state institutions are resolving these tensions differently. This presentation will survey the political and doctrinal terrain shaping AI regulation with an emphasis on state-level initiatives.

11:50 a.m. — Break

12:00 p.m. — Tax Policy and Farm Policy

• Roger McEowen, professor of Agricultural Law and Taxation, Washburn Law
• 2025 is a significant year for tax legislation and a new Farm Bill. This session looks at the status of tax legislation as of the date of the presentation and what it means for clients - individuals and businesses. Also, Congress is working on a new Farm Bill, and this session will go over pending House and Senate versions and discuss what farm clients can expect in a new Farm Bill and how advisers can help them plan.

12:50 p.m. — Adjourn