Philip Bogdanoff
Attorney & Instructor

Richard “Alex” Murdaugh was convicted of Murder and he filed a motion for new trial alleging that the clerk of courts tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict. After an evidentiary hearing where a juror indicated they were influenced by the clerk to return a guilty verdict, the judge overruled the motion finding that there was insufficient evidence to overturn the jury’s verdict. In this presentation, we will examine the Murdaugh case, Ohio law on jury misconduct, and how the State can respond to allegations of juror misconduct to prevent a reversal of a conviction or the granting of a motion for new trial.

On October 21, 2021, Alec Baldwin shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while rehearsing a scene for the movie Rust. Alec Baldwin was charged with Involuntary Manslaughter. Critics argue that charges should not be filed since Baldwin believed the gun did not contain live ammunition. In this presentation, we will discuss the screening process in criminal cases and civil cases. Attendees will discuss charging decisions, factors to consider, the evidence supporting the Baldwin charges and the State’s two theories of criminal liability. The goal of the presentation is for attendees to review the evidence including film clips relating to the charges and determine whether the prosecutor made the correct charging decision. We will be discussing Rules of Professional Conduct 3.8, regarding a prosecutor’s ethical duties to have probable cause and Rule 3.1 regarding an attorney's ethical duty not to file frivolous.

Ethical conduct is a key to being an effective attorney. Each week we read about disciplinary cases where attorneys are suspended for misconduct involving clients, the courts, or other attorneys. In this presentation we examine disciplinary cases involving the misuse of social media and the types of conduct that result in disciplinary action and suspensions. We will examine the rules of professional conduct as it relates to giving legal advice on social media and advertising on social media. We will review a disciplinary case where a prosecutor used social media in order to persuade a defense witness not to testify at trial. Most importantly, we learn how to avoid professional misconduct with regard to the use of social media.

On May 15, 1981 Len Barker is pitching a no hitter in the ninth inning. It is a tense time for the pitcher. However, he does not have to worry about a player bunting the ball. There are un-written rules of professionalism in baseball based upon respect for the game. One of these rules is that you do not break up a no hitter by bunting in the ninth inning. However, in the legal profession, courts have noted a lack of professionalism and civility among attorneys even though these traits are the mainstays of our profession and the foundations upon which lawyers practice law. In this interactive presentation, attorneys will learn the unwritten rules of professionalism in baseball, how they are passed on from generation to generation and whether these same concepts of professionalism can apply in the legal profession. Attorneys described this presentation as "informative, entertaining, instructive, fantastic and awesome."

It is time to learn about Judicial Misconduct, what judges should and should not be doing in and out of the courtroom. The Rules of Professional Conduct indicates that an attorney who possesses unprivileged information that a judge has violated the Rules of Judicial Conduct shall inform the appropriate authority and that that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to knowingly assist a judge in conduct that is a violation of applicable rules of judicial conduct. Therefore it is incumbent for every attorney to be familiar with the rules of Judicial Conduct and the type of conduct that is to be expected from the Bench. In this interactive presentation attorneys will gain a working knowledge of the Rules of Judicial Conduct and we will review recent ethical decisions where judges were disciplined for ethical misconduct. This ethics presentation was recently presented to 400 attorneys where it was described as “educational, engaging, interactive, entertaining, lively, informative, humorous, useful and really well done.”