Professionalism, Ethics and Malpractice

Mr. Jeffrey M. Smith Related Seminars and Products

Greenberg Traurig LLP

A.  PRACTICE

Securities law, including ethics and malpractice litigation involving attorneys and accountants; entertainment industry joint ventures and audits; and food and beverage industry joint ventures and audits. 

B.  EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, University of Minnesota, 1970.  University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1966-67.  Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, University of Minnesota, 1973. Member, 1971-72, and President 1972-73, Minnesota Law Review.

 C.  HONORS AND AWARDS

1. The Best Lawyers in America: Plaintiffs’ Legal Malpractice;
2. The Best Lawyers in America: Defendants’ Legal Malpractice;
3. The Best Lawyers in America: Corporate Law;
4.   Who’s Who in American Law;
5.  Who’s Who in America and;
6.  Who’s Who in the World.

D.  SUMMARY OF TEACHING ACTIVITIES

1. Semester courses in Ethics and Legal Malpractice at Duke, Emory and Vanderbilt Law Schools.
2. Chair, 1983 – 2022, Georgia ICLE Professionalism, Ethics and Malpractice Seminar.
3. Southwestern University of Finance and Economics: Guest Lecturer, English Language Instruction, 2013 (Chengdue, China).   
4. Central University of Finance and Economics:  Honorary Professor and Guest Lecturer, Securities Laws, and Legal Opinions, 2008-present (Beijing, China).
5. Suzhou Institute:  Guest Lecturer, Securities Regulation, 2009 (Suzhou, China).
6. China Supreme Court: Guest Lecturer, Evolution of the Federal Securities Laws in the United States and comparison to China’s Securities Laws, May 13, 2008 (Beijing, China).   

E. PUBLICATION

1.  1976: Author, Preventing Legal Malpractice (West Publishing), the first book on this subject.
2.  1981:  Editor and reviewer, Levinson, Accountant’s Legal Liability (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.).
3.  1999: Co-author, Fourth Edition of Preventing Legal Malpractice (Thomson/West).  4.  1985-2015:  Co-author, Legal Malpractice (Thomson/West), a five-volume, 7,000-page treatise.           
5.   2007-Present:  Co-author, Second, Third and Fourth Editions, Legal Opinions In Business   Transactions (American Bar Association), a three-volume, 2,000-page treatise. 
6.   2021: Co-editor, Harvard Professor Michael Witzel, The Veda in Kashmir (Harvard Press). 
7.   2023: (estimated):  Co-author with Harvard Professor Michael Witzel, Teaching English Strategically to Native Mandarin Speakers.

Mr. Joseph C. Chancey Related Seminars and Products

Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP

Joseph C. Chancey is the managing partner for all offices of the Firm. In this role, he is responsible for guiding and implementing the strategic vision of the partnership and managing the firm’s C-level executives. Joseph has 36 years of experience serving as counsel for employers and continues to consult on day-to-day employment, business, and compliance issues for his clients.

Joseph focuses in the areas of commercial and employment law. He has effectively defended cases that run the gamut of employment laws, including discrimination and harassment claims, wage and hour claims, and claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and Age Discrimination in Employment Act. He also has substantial experience in cases involving non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. He is a frequent and popular speaker on employment law topics. In 2018, he was selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America© 25th edition in Real Estate Litigation in Atlanta.

Presentations

“Employment Law Considerations: ADA, FMLA, Age Discrimination, Union Rights.”ADR in the Workers’ Compensation Arena. Atlanta, Georgia. January 2016.“Hot Topics in Employment Law.” Presentation Georgia Safety, Health, and Environmental Conference, Savannah, Georgia. September 2015.

“Hot Topics in Employment Law.” Presentation for Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce Employment Law Seminar. October 2015.

“Dealing with the Disabled Employee: Potential Issues with Discipline and Discharge.” Presentation for HB Next Educational Series, Atlanta, GA.  March 2015.

“The Aging Workforce, Employment Law Concerns, And Whether Your Workers’ Compensation General Release Really Resolves All Of Your Employment Law Issues.” Presentation for ICLE’s ADR in the Workers’ Compensation Arena, Webcast.  January 2015.

“Growing Pains – Legal Issues That Crop Up for Small and Growing Businesses.” Presentation with Meredith Guerrero and David Smith for the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Section. February 2014.”Employee Handbooks: What is, and isn’t, in your handbook can cost you.” Presentation for Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce Employment Law Seminar. September 2014.

Co-author, Employment Law Desk Manual, 2011, publication for clients of Drew Eckl & Farnham.

“2011 Employment Law Update” and “Navigating the Bermuda Triangle of Workers’ Compensation, The Americans with Disabilities Act and The Family and Medical Leave Act.” Joe Chancey and Dan Kniffen.  Presentations to the Georgia Department of Labor, Savannah Georgia.  September 2011.

Ms. Taylor S. Poncz Related Seminars and Products

Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP

Taylor Poncz has been litigating cases for over a decade and focuses her practice exclusively in the defense of Workers’ Compensation claims for employers, insurers and self-insurers throughout the state of Georgia. She serves clients of all sizes across many industries, with particular experience in:

• Construction
• Food & beverage
• City and County government
• Manufacturing plants
• Universities
• Healthcare
• Self-Insured Guaranty Trust Fund
• Trucking and Transportation

Taylor has taken and defended hundreds of depositions including those of physicians, injured workers and employer witnesses.

She has handled hearings before Administrative Law Judges across the state and has extensive experience in settlement negotiations and mediations. In addition to her experience in litigation, Taylor counsels clients about loss prevention and financial savings when a loss occurs.

Taylor is a trained Mediator. For many years, she has also been an active member of a leading international defense organization, Defense Research Institute, where she has served in various leadership positions for the Women in the Law Committee.

In 2022, Taylor was honored with the On the Rise Professional Excellence Award from the Daily Report’s Georgia Legal Awards. The award recognizes Georgia’s most promising lawyers as innovators, developing unique practice niches, amassing robust books of business, demonstrating strong leadership qualities, showing expertise in litigation or transactional work, and committing themselves to pro bono, charitable and professional volunteer work. In 2016, Taylor was selected as a Georgia Rising Stars®, voted as one of Atlanta’s best lawyers. Only 2.5 percent of the attorneys in Georgia are honored on the Georgia Rising Stars list.

Taylor’s philosophy is, and has always been, about communication, collaboration with clients and closing cases efficiently and expeditiously. Most recently, she and some fellow mom lawyers at the firm started a Podcast called The Mother Board, which focuses on the challenges and issues female lawyers face when taking an active role in their families while taking charge of their careers.

Publications:

The Power of the Panel: Will Strict Compliance Be Enforced?  ABA Tort, Trial and Insurance Section, Workers’ Compensation & Employers’ Liability Law Committee, Winter 2014

Illegal Aliens’ Entitlement to Benefits: Georgia Employers Scramble for a Defense 

All in the Family: A Look at a Spouse’s Right to Payment for Home Healthcare Services 

The Continuing Continuance: The “Right” to Continue in Perpetuity 

A Look at Georgia And Illinois Legislation Addressing Dismissal of Workers’ Compensation Claims and Hearings

The Scope of Discovery Pursuant to the Statutory Amendment to OCGA 34-9-207

Education, Admissions, and Memberships

• Georgia State University, College of Law (JD, cum laude, 2007)
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA, 2004)

Bar Admissions

• Georgia

Court Admissions

• Supreme Court, Georgia
• Court of Appeals, Georgia
• U.S. District Court, Northern District, Georgia

• State Bar of Georgia
• Defense Research Institute (DRI)
  • Membership Co-Chair of Workers' Compensation Committee
  • Women in the Law Committee
• Atlanta Bar Association

Ms. Paula J. Frederick Related Seminars and Products

State Bar of Georgia

Paula Frederick is General Counsel for the State Bar of Georgia, a unified bar organization with 54,000 members. As general counsel, Frederick is responsible for interpreting the ethics rules for lawyers, prosecuting lawyer discipline cases, and providing legal advice to the officers and directors of the organization. She has served in the Office of the General Counsel for 35 years, and was Deputy General Counsel for Discipline before assuming the General Counsel role.

Frederick is a 1982 graduate of the Vanderbilt University School of Law and a 1979 graduate of Duke University. Prior to joining the Office of the General Counsel, she spent six years as a staff attorney with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society handling civil legal matters for low-income people.

Frederick is a past president of the Atlanta Bar Association and the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys. She is also an active member of the American Bar Association, where she is chair of the Center for Professional Responsibility.  In the past she has served the ABA as chair of its Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, chair of the Standing Committee on Lawyer Regulation, as a member of the Board of Governors, and as chair of the Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity.