25-Hour Full MCLE Compliance Package: Real Estate, Construction, and Land Use

Mr. Osman will address various ethical issues confronting real estate practitioners in creating attorney client relationships and dealing with conflicts of interests in the course of the representation.

Joel A. Osman, Senior Counsel, Parker Mills LLP
Moderated by Howard N. Gould, Gould Law

This webinar will explore ethical issues that occur in major real estate development projects for the transactional attorney. Our panelist will cover key considerations for the initial client consultation, specifically those related to entity formation and ownership structure; identifying the client and the scope of representation; the importance of the engagement letter; conflicts of interest, including unwaivable and springing conflicts; and the termination of the engagement and management of client files. Complex real estate developments generally involve multiple parties and various phases which can occur over a substantial period of time. The discussion will also explore the ethical issues that arise during each stage of the development process, as well as the applicable California Rules of Professional Conduct, relevant case law, and ethics opinions.

Please join us to explore the latest in trends and tips in the risk management world for lawyers. In this presentation, Heather L. Rosing of Rosing Pott & Strohbehn will give a curated presentation on specialized risk management tips for lawyers who practice in the real estate space. Attorneys will learn about the latest in client trust accounting, developments in conflict-of-interest standards, lateral hiring risks and rewards, ethical management of AI tools, brand-new legislation on lawyer advertising, and more. Now is the time to make sure that your firm's risk management framework is up-to-date and ready to go, to best serve your clients, and to avoid inquiries from the State Bar and claims of malpractice. Risk avoidance and compliance are the new words of the day. Stay up to speed by attending this cutting-edge seminar with one of the top “lawyers’ lawyer” in the state.

Heather Linn Rosing, Rosing Pott & Strohbehn

Join Certified Legal Malpractice Specialist Annie Thompson, Chief Claims Officer of Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company, for a presentation on the Top 5 Ethical Issues seen in the Practice of Law, and How to Navigate Them. This program will include discussions on disengagement, conflicts, disclosing mistakes, setting boundaries, civility, and more.

Dr. Kimberly Morton Cuthrell, a practicing immigration attorney and clinical-level therapist, provides the tools every attorney needs to detect and prevent the most prevalent issues impacting attorney competence today by enhancing self-care and self-awareness.

Substance use disorders, mental illness, and mental and physical impairments are the some of the leading roadblocks to attorneys’ ability to perform their legal duties with competence. However, many signs and symptoms of impairment go unnoticed due to lack of self-awareness. Self-care and self-discipline are key to instilling attorneys with the ability to enhance their self-awareness. This program will provide attorneys with the tools necessary to enhance and focus on development of self-care and self-discipline in order to build up self-awareness which is crucial to the detection and prevention of the most common roadblocks to competence. Dr. Cuthrell will bring attention to some behavioral health patterns and trauma exposures that compromise competence and present strategies to improve it.

In the demanding world of legal practice, self-care often takes a back seat to client demands, billable hours, and endless to-do lists. This wellness workshop is designed to help lawyers step off the treadmill of overwhelm and onto a path of intentional self-care. Grounded in practical strategies and real-world insights, this session will equip you with tools to recharge, refocus, and prevent burnout while maintaining your professional edge.

Through engaging discussions, hands-on exercises, and actionable advice, you’ll learn how to integrate meaningful self-care into your busy life. Whether you’re already teetering on the edge of burnout or simply seeking a better work-life balance, this workshop will inspire and empower you to prioritize your well-being.

Key Takeaways:

Understand the early signs of burnout and develop a proactive plan to maintain your mental and emotional health.
Discover realistic, sustainable self-care practices that fit into your demanding schedule.
Learn actionable strategies to reduce stress, enhance focus, and manage your energy more effectively.
Explore time-blocking, prioritization, and boundary-setting techniques tailored for legal professionals.

This workshop is perfect for legal professionals at all career stages who feel stretched too thin and want to reclaim balance and joy in both their personal and professional lives.

Sonya L. Sigler, Founder, PractiGal.

Ask the speaker a question. Email and be sure to include the program name in the subject line.

A discussion of the benefits gained through professionalism and civility and the ramifications of poor behavior, including the impacts on clients, counsel, judges, and juries. Persuasive advocacy is focused on the facts and the law. It is not persuasive to be loud or abusive. Civility gains the respect of your peers, builds a strong reputation with the judiciary, and makes the practice of law more enjoyable.

The panel will explore how incivility arises and escalates and offer ways for counsel to avoid and react to incivility without violating their own obligations of professionalism and civility. The panel will discuss the ways in which trial and appellate courts have reacted to bad behavior by counsel, including commentary from cases imposing sanctions and reducing fee awards because counsel were jerks.

Judge Stephanie Bowick,LASC
Edith R. Matthai, Mediator, Arbitrator, Neutral Evaluator JAMS
Ryan D. Saba, Partner Fox Rothschild LLP

The legal landscape is transforming faster than ever, and firms that don't adapt risk losing clients to tech-savvy competitors. This session cuts through the hype to deliver actionable intelligence on AI and emerging technologies that are already reshaping how successful firms operate. Learn to identify game-changing tools, avoid costly implementation mistakes, and position your firm to better serve your clients.

Danny Abir, ACTS Law

What is implicit bias and how can it manifest in almost undetectable ways in all aspects of the legal profession? Our distinguished panelists have been on every side of the legal profession: attorney, mediator, and judicial officer. They will discuss two prevalent, yet covert ways implicit bias affects every sphere of the legal profession: microaggressions and gaslighting. They will provide real life examples from the legal profession and what we as attorneys can do better to move the legal profession forward.

Experienced employment law practitioner Beth W. Mora will discuss the new Bias Incivility MCLE, what it is and why it matters to the legal community. Beth will share suggestions on how the legal community can promote civility, eliminate bias-driven incivility in the profession, including incivility and bias by and between at parties, counsel, and the judiciary.

Beth W. Mora, Owner/Managing Partner, Mora Employment Law

This program will provide an overview of partition law with a focus on the Partition of Real Property Act, including when partition actions are required, the steps in the process, and recent statutory changes such as buyout rights, appraisal requirements, and contribution issues. The discussion will also address common challenges in partition cases, including joint tenancy disputes, treatment of mortgage versus living expenses, motions for interlocutory judgment, and enforcement issues such as eviction and contempt.

Elijah Underwood, Underwood Law Firm, P.C.

The recently-enacted Partition of Real Property Act creates new procedures for properties held as a tenancy in common. In the absence of published appellate cases interpreting the new statute, what are the best practices for navigating the new procedural requirements? Join real property/partition litigator Curtis Holdsworth, partition referee and attorney Matthew Taylor, and the Hon. Elizabeth Feffer (Ret.), as they provide an overview of California’s long-established partition statutory scheme, and also offer their perspectives on the impact of and implementation of the new statute. By the end of this session, attorneys with or without experience litigating partition actions will have an understanding of the Partition of Real Property Act, and will also receive practical tips and strategies to deploy in or out of the courtroom.

Curtis Holdsworth, Bartko Pavia LLP
Hon. Elizabeth Feffer (Ret.), ADR Services, Inc.
Matthew Taylor, Law Offices of Matthew L. Taylor

Even seasoned litigators can find themselves on shaky ground when a case involves California real estate. Drawing on real-world mediation experiences and case law, this course will demystify zoning and land use rules, highlight the hidden risks associated with relying too heavily on title reports, and provide practical strategies for approaching partition disputes. You’ll also gain clarity on California’s expansive disclosure obligations and how they can tip the scales in mediation when properly understood—or completely blow up a case when they’re not.

Whether you’ve taken a handful of property cases or are suddenly faced with one involving an inherited duplex, hillside drainage issues, or a CEQA-triggered land use mess, this program will help you spot and avoid the most common—and costly—pitfalls. By the end of this session, you’ll leave with a better sense of when to dig deeper, when to call in subject-matter experts, and how to guide your client toward resolution without getting derailed by outdated assumptions or faulty litigation strategies.

David Coher

Tenant buyouts, sometimes known as “Cash for Keys,” are a voluntary lease termination method available to landlords and tenants that can benefit both parties. Buyouts allow landlords to regain control of the residential rental unit by entering into a voluntary lease termination agreement with the tenant by paying the tenant, often substantial sums, to permanently move out of the unit.

In this program, Attorney Sasha Struthers of Struthers Legal and Eli Appel with The Appel Group of Marcus & Millichap will examine tenant buyout agreements from all sides. The program will address the legal requirements and ramifications, and the financial implications, attorneys must know to guide their clients through a successful voluntary buyout. Attorneys will leave better equipped to advise on strategy, protect clients from liability, and ensure their agreements meet all jurisdictional statutory standards.

Join us for an exploration of construction agreements . Our speaker, Polina Ross, an experienced litigator, brings her expertise to effectively navigate complex legal issues in partnership, contract, and real estate disputes, as well as construction claims and unlawful detainers. Topics include defining the scope of work, managing payments, addressing change orders, dealing with subcontractors, and resolving disputes.

Wildfire risk is a clear and present danger, as made clear by the Palisades, Eaton and other recent wildfires that have spread into urban areas. Cal Fire is required by state law to assess wildfire hazard areas, and it has just released new maps that show a 168% increase since 2011 in the total area of California subject to high and very high wildfire hazards. Almost 1 in 10 Californians now live in those areas, including parts of Beverly Hills and nearby cities, and are subject to a gauntlet of special construction, land clearance and disclosure laws. Furthermore, property owners need to get insurance from insurance companies which want to reduce their fire risk, and which follow their own hazard maps and underwriting standards, not the state maps.

Our speakers, Don Schmitz, a land use consultant, and Michael Lynch, a casualty insurance broker respectively, will explain how fire maps and insurance requirements impact land use, construction, maintenance, and costs. The seminar will strive to help prepare attorneys to guide their clients in a complex and changing situation.

Don Schmitz, Schmitz & Associates, Inc.
Laurence Hummer, Laurence L. Hummer, A Law Corporation
Michael Lynch, Marsh McLennan Agency

In this program, join Bryan Mashian as he addresses important items to consider negotiating when using AIR’s Commercial Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement form, including:

Active vs. Passive Removal of Contingencies
Inspection and Repair Request Process
Allocation of Costs
Seller Representations and Warranties
Assignments
Dispute Resolution
Estoppel Certificates and more.

Bryan Mashian, Mashian Household

Disagreements between equity holders can deadlock the management of a real estate entity, potentially causing loan defaults and the inability to maximize the value of the property. State court remedies are limited and time-consuming. Under certain circumstances, a single partner or member can cause the entity to file a bankruptcy petition, which if successful may permit the entity to override operating restrictions causing the deadlock.

Find out how bankruptcy may be the solution to your otherwise unsolveable problem.

What is the duty to disclose in a real estate transaction? What items are required to be disclosed? Who is obligated to disclose? What are the consequences for failure to disclose? In this program, hear from leading professionals regarding how failure to disclose plays out in real estate litigation with real world examples.

Part I of this most timely program will address Real Estate Geographic Targeting Orders and the related reporting requirements implemented as part of the Treasury Department's anti-money laundering efforts for entity buyers of residential real estate which do not obtain conventional financing.

Part II will explore the Justice Department’s antitrust case against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the civil outgrowth of the NAR case in the plethora of civil lawsuits which together are changing the commission structure and advertising of commissions throughout the country for residential transactions.
Silvana Naguib, Senior Counsel, EPGR Lawyers

Attorneys assisting clients with real property transactions need to have at least a general familiarity with insurance coverages. Leases, licenses for pop-up stores, construction contracts and other common agreements include insurance provisions. The requirements, the endorsements, and the policy language can be very specialized. The availability of different coverages and their costs can be significant. California’s insurance market currently is experiencing turmoil, with some insurers leaving the market. This seminar will be presented by an insurance agent and a lawyer with substantial experience in the area.

This program will look at typical short-term rental regulations with some comments on local LA area ordinances, HOA considerations, leasing issues, tips for short-term rental agreements, insurance, and compliance issues. Our speakers have also presented for CEB and are joining us from San Diego and San Francisco with a state-wide perspective.

The subject of creating affordable housing in California is constantly in the news but we do not seem to be making great progress in the state’s urban areas.

There are many reasons - political, economic, social -- which come into play. For example, how do we incentivize developers to tackle projects which include (or totally consist of) low or very low income residential units? How do we convince local communities to accept housing components which they otherwise might reject on “NIMBY” (not in my backyard) grounds? What controls does the state possess to compel cities and counties to assure that their housing element plans comport with affordability needs?

This is where the Housing Accountability Act and its “Builder’s Remedy” feature have emerged as an instrument to change the legal landscape, becoming a very hot topic for real estate lawyers, developers, urban planners and local government leaders. Our speakers will describe the history of the Builder’s Remedy, its uses to date (including projects which they are personally working on) and what they see as its short-term and long-term impacts.
Ask the speaker a question. Email and be sure to include the program name in the subject line.

Join Michael Kostecka and Elizabeth Dryden, who have over 27 years of leasing experience between them, as they discuss how to successfully address some common hurdles during lease negotiations from both the landlord and tenant perspective.

Michael Kostecka, Partner at Allen Matkins
Elizabeth Dryden, Partner at Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

We've all been there. Your client wants to do a real estate deal. Maybe he or she wants to invest, maybe arrange the deal. How do you advise the client and avoid landmines? Join us for a discussion of securities, limited lability company agreements and tax traps for the unwary in syndicated real estate deals.

Chris Manderson, Partner, Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP
Elizabeth Dryden, Partner, Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP