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Brooklyn Bar Association’s CLE Department gearing up for a busy week

LGBTQ Committee Set for First Ever CLE

March 16, 2016 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Brooklyn Bar Association will host three CLE lectures later this month, including one on wrongful convictions that will be hosted by Hon. Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix, associate justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the state of New York, Second Judicial Department. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese

The Brooklyn Bar Association will host three CLE lectures later this month, including one on wrongful convictions that will be hosted by Hon. Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix, associate justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the state of New York, Second Judicial Department. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese

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Amber Evans, the director of the Brooklyn Bar Association’s (BBA) Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Department, is busy prepping for what should be a busy week later this month as the BBA is set to host three CLE events in three days, including the first ever CLE lecture by the LGBTQ Committee.

“It’s a lot to have three in one week, but the faculty that is helping to organize the CLEs have been tremendous and very helpful in putting everything together,” Evans said. “Monday’s event is one that we have been working on for quite a while, and Wednesday’s is co-sponsored with the Kings County Criminal Bar. They should all be very well attended.”

The first of the three CLE seminars takes place on Monday, March 28. It’s titled “How to Probate a Will,” with Hon. Bruce Balter; Hon. Frank Seddio; Kevin McTernan, chief clerk of the Probate Department, Surrogate’s Court; and Daniel Antonelli with Paul S. Foster as the moderator.

“Basically this is one that Dan had mentioned to me some months ago and was finally able to come to fruition,” Evans said. “It’s a basic course that no matter what your specialty of law is, it’s something a lot of people will benefit from.”

On Tuesday, March 29, Christina Golkin, chair of the LGBTQ Committee, has organized a CLE lecture titled “Nuts & Bolts of Litigating LGBT Employment Discrimination Cases,” with Ezra Cukor, Colleen Meenan and Steven Mitchell Sack.

“We’re excited for the first LGBTQ Committee CLE,” Evans said. “It’s a very promising committee, especially with all the changes in the law that have occurred recently. This isn’t just a random LGBTQ CLE, this is coming from a new vessel that is dedicated to these types of topics at the Brooklyn Bar. It should be the first of many.”

Finally, on Wednesday, March 30, Hon. Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix will host a CLE seminar that is being co-sponsored with the Kings County Criminal Bar Association titled “Wrongful Convictions & Actual Innocence.” Worth two ethics credits, this CLE session will include Hon. John M. Leventhal, Hon. Matthew D’Emic, Mark J. Hale of the District Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit, and Karen A. Newirth of the Innocence Project.

“The new DA created a wrongful convictions review unit and has overturned, I think, 19 convictions now,” Leventhal said. “It’s a big part of what he has been doing, so we brought in someone from his office, we’ll have someone from the Innocence Project, I’ll talk about how we got to where we are regarding actual innocence in the law and Judge D’Emic will talk about what happens when he gets one of those applications before him as a trial judge.”

All three of the CLE sessions will be hosted by the Brooklyn Bar Association building at 123 Remsen St. There will be a brief reception at 5:30 p.m. and the programs will start at 6:00 p.m. For more information, check www.BrooklynBar.org.

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