Brief Encounters D.C. Bar Communities Office

Join the Family Law Community to learn about the recent updates to divorce laws in the District of Columbia. Supervising Attorney Meridel Bulle-Vu of Legal Aid DC discusses the legislative changes with Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau of Ward 1. Councilmember Nadeau and Ms. Bulle-Vu talk about the origin of this new legislation, what changes to the law have been made, and how District residents, especially survivors of domestic violence, will benefit from more expansive divorce relief.



Please note, the positions and opinions expressed by the speakers are strictly their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, nor those of the D.C. Bar, its Board of Governors or co-sponsoring Communities and organizations.

In January of this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “SEC”) adopted final rules regulating SPAC IPOs and business combinations.  Central to this rulemaking was the SEC’s updated and expanded guidance on the use of projections in all SEC filings as well as rulemaking specific to projections in de-SPAC transactions.  The evolving regulatory environment combined with market headwinds have made strategies to
manage potential liability exposure while executing de-SPAC transactions top of mind for many market participants.

In this episode, James Zukin, founder of Zukin Certification Services, and Michelle Heisner, partner at Baker McKenzie LLP, discuss the SEC’s rules on disclosure and liability related to projections used in de-SPAC transactions.  Zukin Certification Services launched a Reasonable Basis Review service that provides SPACs and their business combination partners with an independent review of such partner’s projections and readiness to operate as a public company.  This service was designed in part to address SEC rulemaking focused on projections included in SEC filings having a reasonable basis.



Please note, the positions and opinions expressed by the speakers are strictly their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, nor those of the D.C. Bar, its Board of Governors or co-sponsoring Communities and organizations.



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The Art Finance industry grows each year, driven by art’s high value and tightening credit markets. Securing an art loan to fund other investment opportunities has become an increasingly viable source of liquidity and a popular alternative to selling.

In this episode, entertainment lawyer, Kirk Schroder, talks with Rebecca Fine, a founding member and CEO of Athena Art Finance. Rebecca has more than 25 years of experience the intersections of art, law and finance. Prior to Athena, Rebecca was an art lawyer, advising world-renowned art galleries, dealers, private collectors, museums, and artists on both contentious matters and transactions.



Additional Resources:


Deloitte Art Finance Report: Painting a picture of the art lending landscape
The Holy Grail for Passive Income: Art-Debt Investing
Worth Magazine: Investing in Art 
Reasons to Love Investing in Art-Backed Debt





Please note, the positions and opinions expressed by the speakers are strictly their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, nor those of the D.C. Bar, its Board of Governors or co-sponsoring Communities and organizations.


Thank you to our sponsors!⁠⁠⁠

⁠LawPay⁠⁠ was developed specifically to help law firms streamline billings and collections, providing a simple, secure solution for legal clients to pay their bills. LawPay is the industry leader in legal payments, providing a cost-effective solution for more than 50,000 law firms around the country.

MyCase⁠ is an intuitive and powerful legal case management software designed to cover the entire client lifecycle, including lead and document management, billing and invoicing, and comprehensive reporting.

Daily, entertainment lawyers are bombarded with marketing messages that, with GenAI, we can and should be doing all our lawyering tasks at the speed of light. Entertainment lawyer Kirk Schroder talks with Heidi K. Brown, Professor and Associate Dean for Upper Level Writing at New York Law School, about giving ourselves permission to first decelerate, ease up on the throttle that’s materialized in our hands, and unhurriedly practice using GenAI writing tools (and AI-driven legal research tools) to generate high-quality legal work.

Professor Brown will share techniques and strategies for “shaking hands with” and introducing ourselves to these potentially transformative tools and incorporating them into our workflow in a way that does not short-change depth with velocity.


Please note, the positions and opinions expressed by the speakers are strictly their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, nor those of the D.C. Bar, its Board of Governors or co-sponsoring Communities and organizations.



(1) Heidi’s blog on "shaking hands" with the chatbots: Shaking Hands with Generative AI Chatbots | by Heidi K. Brown | Jan, 2024 | Medium(2) Heidi’s blog on applying the medical profession's teaching/learning model to legal writing: Enhancing GenAI Writing Output Through “See One, Do One, Teach One” | by Heidi K. Brown | Feb, 2024 | Medium (3) Professors Ethan and Lilach Mollick of Wharton, Practical AI for Instructors and Students Part 1: Introduction to AI for Teachers and Students: https://youtu.be/t9gmyvf7JYo(4) Write.law's course: W7: GPT for Legal Writers(5) Writing.io's AI Courses: Home | Writing.io Academy(6) Jordan Furlong's article about the newest lawyer competence: quality control Jordan Furlong | Substack(7) Professor Scott Graham's article on new GenAI skills we need to teach and learn: Composition Studies 51.1 (Spring 2023) (wordpress.com)

(8) Heidi’s website with links to all her books: www.theflourishinglawyer.org (9) Litigation, Comparison Table - Federal ...ding Orders on Artificial Intelligence (blackboardcdn.com) This is the spreadsheet summarizing all the judges' standing orders on the use of AI in court filings--across the country--as of 1/30/24(10) This is a good reference for all the cases so far in which lawyers have been reprimanded for improperly using AI in court filings: Beware the Legal Bot: Spooky Stories of AI in the Courtroom - AI Law Librarians




Thank you to our sponsor!⁠

LawPay⁠ was developed specifically to help law firms streamline billings and collections, providing a simple, secure solution for legal clients to pay their bills. LawPay is the industry leader in legal payments, providing a cost-effective solution for more than 50,000 law firms around the country.

Join the International Law Community as we navigate the complex world of legal options available to individuals affected by international incidents. D.C. Bar Communities Program Attorney Caroline Lannon and Mike Ehrenstein, trial lawyer and founder of Ehrenstein | Sager, discuss the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), crucial instruments in the legal landscape of international law. The podcast explores how these laws have been used in the past and examine their potential use in response to recent incidents.


Please note, the positions and opinions expressed by the speakers are strictly their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, nor those of the D.C. Bar, its Board of Governors or co-sponsoring Communities and organizations.



Thank you to our sponsor!
LawPay was developed specifically to help law firms streamline billings and collections, providing a simple, secure solution for legal clients to pay their bills. LawPay is the industry leader in legal payments, providing a cost-effective solution for more than 50,000 law firms around the country.

The 2023 Merger Guidelines are finally here after nearly 2 years of substantial work and discussion. Join Teisha Johnson, Antitrust Partner at Baker McKenzie, and Joanna Tsai, economist and Cohead of Cornerstone’s Merger Practice, for a discussion of their thoughts on the latest merger guidelines.



Please note, the positions and opinions expressed by the speakers are strictly their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, nor those of the D.C. Bar, its Board of Governors or co-sponsoring Communities and organizations.



Thank you to our sponsor!

MyCase is an intuitive and powerful legal case management software designed to cover the entire client lifecycle, including lead and document management, billing and invoicing, and comprehensive reporting.