Each year, the National Council of Lawyer Disciplinary Boards (NCLDB) holds its annual conference, bringing together disciplinary adjudicators and staff from around the country. This year’s conference, held in Long Beach, California from February 7th-9th, featured educational sessions on diverse subjects ranging from negotiated discipline to the use of artificial intelligence and its ethical implications for the legal profession.
The Honorable Tani Cantil-Sakauye, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California, delivered this year’s keynote speech. A longtime advocate for equal access to justice, former Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye impressed the importance of ethical law practice as the essential foundation for justice and public trust. Former Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye was the second woman and first person of color to serve as California’s Chief Justice.
Conference sessions addressed recruiting and training Hearing Committee Members, attorney well-being, a comparative look at negotiated discipline, artificial intelligence and attorney ethics, and more. Behavioral consultant, executive coach, and Former Disciplinary Board Chair Douglas W. Leonard led two interactive sessions promoting increased self-awareness. The first session, “Managing Energy”, explored layers of physical, social, and emotional energy behaviors and guided participants to better understand and manage stress. The second, “Argue Better: Improve Civility Through Enhanced Self-Awareness”, highlighted participants’ productive behaviors, perceptual filters, and sometimes-problematic reactions that can disrupt decorum and mar professional relationships.
Executive Director of the Disciplinary Board, Jesse G. Hereda, currently serves as President of the NCLDB Board of Directors. At the conference, Mr. Hereda was presented with a commemorative plaque by Immediate Past President Jeffrey D. Woolf (Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers) on behalf of the NCLDB Board. Mr. Hereda’s term will end on June 30, 2024 at which time he will be succeeded by current President-Elect Aisha L. Cassis, Deputy Executive Attorney of the District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility.
In addition to the week’s legal discourse, conference participants also attended a special joint networking reception with the National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC) aboard the Queen Mary, retired and permanently docked in Long Beach. The event included private tours of many of the Queen Mary’s decks and quarters, exploring the history of its construction and its time as both an ocean liner and troopship as well as the very human stories to which it bore witness. In an oration to the convocation, Commodore Everette Hoard reflected upon personal lessons in leadership and service. He regaled attendees with a magnetic narrative of the ship’s past, noting, “We can take you on an incredible adventure across the waves of time.” The event also included a silent auction that raised $560 for the State Bar of California’s Justice Gap Fund which helps to fund approximately one hundred legal aid organizations providing free civil legal services to low-income Californians.
The National Council of Lawyer Disciplinary Boards is a non-profit organization serving as a clearinghouse for the adjudication process of attorney discipline throughout the United States and Canada.