Columbian Lawyers get updates on Court of Appeals cases at CLE

The Columbian Lawyers Association invited attorney Brian Shoot to its monthly meeting at Marco Polo Restaurant last Tuesday for a continuing legal education lecture on updates in Court of Appeals civil cases.

“I met Brian Shoot back in 1996 when I was just a lowly associate and he was a partner at the law firm,” said Joseph Rosato, president of the Columbian Lawyers. “He was the ‘law man’ for the entire firm, which was about 25 lawyers at the time.”

Rosato explained that he invited Shoot to speak at the Columbian Lawyers meeting because of Shoot’s ability to help other attorneys despite his own hectic caseload.

“I remember that I had a dogfight case that I was trying and I had some questions about it,” Rosato said. “I didn’t think that he would take the time to help me, but I quickly learned that he was the type of person who would always make time for the lowly associates and was a wealth of knowledge.”

Shoot, who graduated from Union College and New York University School of Law, is a member of the Office of Court Administration’s Committee on Civil Practice. He often lectures and writes articles on subjects related to Civil and Appellate practice.

As part of the lecture, Shoot handed out a packet filled with information on cases that were heard at the Court of Appeals over the past year. He not only explained each case with tremendous detail, but he did it by presenting hypothetical scenarios to the attorneys in attendance to get them to engage with him in a discussion.

In one hypothetical, he discussed cases involving out-of-state plaintiffs revolving around which set of laws would be applied during contract disputes. He introduced the fact patterns, explained the law and then quizzed those in attendance.

The Columbian Lawyers will host its annual spring conference later this month. After relocating to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut last year, the group is headed back to the Borgata in Atlantic City April 25 through April 26.

There will be a reception on Thursday night followed by a slate of continuing legal education lecturers on Friday afternoon. The speakers will include Gregory Laspina, Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix, Hon. Sylvia Ash, Mario Romano, Hon. Joanne Quinones, Hon. Ellen Spodek and others.

“We have a tremendous array of speakers including our very own past president Gregory Laspina who will be speaking with judges Hon. Sylvia Ash and Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix about commercial litigation,” said Steve Bamundo. “We have our board member Mario Romano and Judge Quinones will be giving a lecture on DUI and what happens if you get stopped and end up in Criminal Court. You also have our member Justice Ellen Spodek talk about judicial ethics.”

Retired referee Nina Kurtz will lead a fitness class prior to Friday’s lectures, which is new this year.

“Besides being a lawyer or referee, I’ve been a fitness teacher for 30 years,” Kurtz said. “I’ve developed this class for all ages and abilities. We use weights, we stretch, we do a lot of core work and it will make you feel much better when you are sitting around listening to these lectures.”