NYSBA offers wide variety at annual meeting

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Programs at the New York State Bar Association’s 135th annual meeting will feature immigration, court funding, representation of veterans, diversity in the legal community, representation of charities and the burgeoning field of animal law.

More than 5,000 attorneys are expected to attend the weeklong conference, which runs today through Saturday at the Hilton New York in New York City.

Among those scheduled to speak are William Robinson III, president of the American Bar Association; Jack Rives, executive director of the American Bar Association; state Chief Judge Jonathan Lipmann; state Chief Administrative Judge A. Gail Prudenti; former state Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye; and former Gov. David A. Paterson.

On Saturday evening, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will receive the Gold Medal, NYSBA’s highest award, for his civic contributions and lifelong excellence in the legal profession.

The centerpiece will be the presidential summit from 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, featuring a panel on the crisis in state court funding across the nation and another on improving legal representation of immigrants.

The first forum will address court funding, also the topic of a NYSBA report released this month that identifies problems with the court system in the wake of state budget cuts. They include long delays and postponements in civil and criminal cases, overcrowded court calendars, problems with jury selection and jury service, limited citizen access to legal services and overworked court employees. Judge Kaye will moderate a panel of state and national experts on the topic.

The second forum will feature a discussion on the representation of immigrants, offering insight into the related problems and solutions. The panel will focus on the Padilla v. Kentucky decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the right to counsel to include a provision that immigrants in criminal proceedings receive competent advice on the consequences of penalties they could face.

Other highlights include:

• Serving Those Who Served: A daylong forum addressing legal representation of the state’s more than 1 million veterans on issues rangaing from family law to consumer debt and credit issues, foreclosure and evictions.

• Bernie Madoff fraud case: A panel led by David J. Sheehan, chief counsel to Securities Investor Protection Act trustee Irving Picard, featuring discussion of the ground-breaking impact of the case on cross-border and international litigation.

• The Nuremberg Trials: A special screening of the documentary, “Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today,” followed by a panel discussion.

• Life in the Cloud: A daylong session on legal remedies for hacking and intellectual property risks associated with cloud computing.

• Tax Matters: Ethical issues relating to representation in tax cases, the latest developments in corporate tax and financial products and an answer to the question: “Tax reform: What’s all the noise about?”

• Publishing on the Internet: Trending topics in licensing and branding, new models of publishing (e-books, enhanced e-books and apps) and how they’ve transformed the world of publishing.

• New York Real Estate: A variety of real estate-related issues unique to New York, including current development issues, rebuilding the World Trade Center, the residential mortgage landscape and skyscrapers in New York City.

• Animals and the Law: Growing legal issues relating to animals, including veterinary malpractice law, understanding the law as it relates to dangerous dogs and animal negligence cases.

• Representing Charities: Understanding the intricacies with representing charities and how to strengthen their relationships with them as attorneys and members of charity boards.

For a complete list of speakers, program and events, and registration information, visit www.nysba.org/am2012.