DESCRIPTION
2026 Ethics in Litigation Update, Part 2
Build on foundational litigation ethics concepts with advanced guidance on complex professional responsibility scenarios and emerging challenges in adversarial practice. This program addresses sophisticated ethical dilemmas involving conflicts of interest, witness preparation, and advocacy boundaries that define excellent litigation practice. Develop the nuanced ethical analysis required for complex litigation representation.
-
Navigate advanced conflict scenarios involving multiple parties, insurance carriers, and related litigation
-
Address ethical boundaries in witness preparation, expert consultation, and advocacy strategy
-
Understand enhanced competence requirements for specialized litigation practice and emerging legal areas
-
Master professional conduct standards affecting settlement negotiations and alternative dispute resolution
Speakers:
Thomas E. Spahn is a partner in the McLean, Virginia office of McGuireWoods, LLP, where he has a substantial practice advising clients on properly creating and preserving the attorney-client privilege and work product protections. For more than 30 years he has lectured extensively on legal ethics and professionalism and has written “The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine: A Practitioner’s Guide,” a 750 page treatise published by the Virginia Law Foundation. Mr. Spahn has served as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility and as a member of the Virginia State Bar's Legal Ethics Committee. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale University and his J.D. from Yale Law School.
Lucian T. Pera is a partner in the Memphis office of Adams & Reese, LLP. His practice includes professional malpractice litigation as well as counseling lawyers and law firms in the area of ethics and professional responsibility. He was a member of the ABA’s Ethics 2000 Commission and is co-author of "Ethics and Lawyering Today," a national e-mail newsletter on lawyer ethics, which is accessible at: www.ethicsandlawyering.com. He is the immediate past Treasurer of the ABA and currently serves as Vice President of the Tennessee Bar Association. Before entering private practice, he served as a judicial clerk to Judge Harry W. Wellford of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Disclaimer: All views or opinions expressed by any presenter during the course of this CLE is that of the presenter alone and not an opinion of the Oklahoma Bar Association, the employers, or affiliates of the presenters unless specifically stated. Additionally, any materials, including the legal research, are the product of the individual contributor, not the Oklahoma Bar Association. The Oklahoma Bar Association makes no warranty, express or implied, relating to the accuracy or content of these mat