Lawyers’ Ethical Duties in the Digital Age
Date & time: 15 October 2024, 3.00pm – 4.00pm AEDT
Join our one-hour live webinar to ensure you're up-to-date with the ethical challenges lawyers encounter in the digital age. Receive the latest updates on the legal technology landscape and learn how it impacts specific practice areas. Additionally, receive a framework to assist with your ethical obligations compliance.
Topics include:
- Duty to deliver legal services competently and diligently.
- Duty of confidentiality
- What's happening overseas and what changes might we expect in Australia?
- Tech and security issues for legal practices. What is the required standard?
- Impact of technological change on specific practice areas such as in wills & estates law, family law, commercial law and property law
- And don't forget about Generative AI
Facilitated by: Cathryn Urquhart - Facilitator, Legal Practice Management Course, The College of Law, WA
Course Outline
Technology is used by almost all lawyers to serve their clients. But how does your use of technology affect your ethical duties to your clients? Lawyers have ethical duties to act competently and preserve client confidentiality. But if you use technology inappropriately or insecurely you run the risk of breaching these ethical duties – facing significant reputational damage or even disciplinary proceedings. So how can you successfully uphold your ethical duties in a time of rapid technological change?
Topics include:
- Duty to deliver legal services competently and diligently.
- Duty of confidentiality.
- What's happening overseas and what changes might we expect in Australia?
- Tech and security issues for legal practices. What is the required standard?
- Impact of technological change on specific practice areas such as in wills & Estates law, family law, commercial law and property law.
- And don't forget about Generative AI.
This course is for a wide range of legal professionals, from sole practitioners to lawyers working in small-medium practices.
If you have an interest in these emerging issues and don't have an in-house team looking after these matters, it's a good idea to take an hour and check that you are across the issues, know where to go to get more information and have a framework for complying with your ethical obligations.
Facilitator, Legal Practice Management Course, The College of Law, WA
Cathryn Urquhart studied Law at the University of Western Australia and was admitted in WA in 1988.
She has had a diverse career working for national law firms mainly in Insurance and Construction litigation, as well as time spent as a Claims Solicitor at Law Mutual, the professional indemnity insurance section of the Law Society of WA. She has lectured and tutored at universities in WA.
Currently, Cathryn is the Facilitator of the Legal Practice Management Course at the College of Law in WA. She also has her own business and works for a range of law firms and other businesses as a Professional Skills Trainer and Coach.
Ethics and Professional Responsibility – 1 Point
AEDT: Australian Eastern Daylight Time
If you intend to claim CPD units for this educational activity, please note that CPD activities are not accredited by the Law Society of NSW or any other equivalent local authority, with the exception of Western Australia. If you hold a practising certificate in a state or territory other than Western Australia and this educational activity extends your knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to your practice needs or professional development, then you should claim one (1) "unit” for each hour of attendance, refreshment breaks not included. The annual requirement is ten (10) CPD units each year from 1 April to 31 March. Some practitioners, such as accredited specialists are required to complete more than ten (10) units each CPD year.
Practitioners holding WA practising certificates are eligible to earn CPD points for this course. For instructions to earn CPD points, please click here.