Calendar

FELTG Executive Director Deborah Hopkins instructing a class
Oct
19
Wed
Webinar – Legal Ethics for Government Attorneys
Oct 19 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

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Earn your Ethics CLE credits the FELTG way. Attend this special two-hour webinar with Ethics content focused especially on government attorneys.

Instructor

Deborah Hopkins

Agenda:

1:00-1:05         Welcome, Opening Remarks

1:05-1:25         A Lawyer’s Responsibilities

Virginia State Bar, Rules of Professional Conduct

1:25-1:45         Agency Lawyers: Defining the Client

1:45-2:05         Agency Lawyers: Relationship to Managers

2:05-2:25         Agency Lawyers: Filings and Pleadings

2:25-2:55         More on Agency Lawyers:

— Professional conduct

— Communication with nonclients

— Personal Attorney/Client Privilege

— Contractors

— Agency Lawyer as witness and possibility of OSC investigations

2:55-3:00         Q & A, Closing remarks

Pricing

  • $310 per site; register a teleworker (in addition to a main site registration) for only $35
Oct
31
Mon
Settlement Week: Resolving Disputes without Litigation @ International Student House (ISH) – Ella Burling Hall
Oct 31 – Nov 4 all-day

Download Registration Form

Settlement makes up a major part of federal employment law practice. Most disputes in our field settle – whether they initiate as grievances, EEO complaints or as appeals of agency disciplinary actions – before they ever get to hearing. You might be thinking, “Settlement just doesn’t feel right. It’s like saying the employee did nothing wrong and the agency is at fault.” That’s a common misconception, but it’s not actually grounded in truth; settlement has no direct tie to liability or admissions of wrongdoing.

Settlement happens – a lot. Yet somehow, this is a topic that doesn’t get a lot of love in the training world. Few people actually ever trained in the skills required to negotiate settlement agreements. That all changes now. Join FELTG for this brand-new seminar and learn the skills you need to save your agency time and money, and successfully resolve federal employment law disputes without litigation.

Instructors

William Wiley, Rock RockenbachDeborah Hopkins

Daily Agenda

Monday

Why Settle in Federal Sector Employment Disputes?: Why settlement is important; select options to discipline; rescinding the removal; statistics and writing; protective agreement provisions; unlawful agreements and duress.

Tuesday

Knowing the Players: The Office of Special Counsel, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and Unfair Labor Practices; Interest-based negotiation in practice; positive framing; impasse; void agreements.

Wednesday

Determining Objectives and Methods: Why complainants and managers don’t want to resolve disputes without litigation (and how to combat that);  statements v. objectives; separating the people from the problem; creating and evaluating options for mutual gain; settlement options.

Thursday

Alternative Dispute Resolution: Calculating the costs of litigation; preparing for settlement; mediations; arbitrations; settlement conference; using settlement memoranda; offers of resolution; compensatory damages; tax consequences; red flags: union impact.

Friday

Drafting Enforceable Settlement Agreements: Organizing for the agreement; settlement agreement writing style and conventions; parts of an agreement; OPM restrictions; sentence and paragraph structure; best practices for word selection; deconstruction of a sample report.

Pricing:

Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.

  • 5 days = $2050
  • 4 days = $1680
  • 3 days = $1290
  • 2 days = $910
  • 1 day = $490

Jun
5
Mon
Legal Writing Week – Washington, DC @ International Student House (ISH) – Ella Burling Hall
Jun 5 – Jun 9 all-day

Download Registration Form

Did you hear about the recent case in Maine where there was a dispute between a company and its truck drivers about the interpretation of guidelines regarding overtime pay? The punchline: the company lost the case and now has to pay millions of dollars of overtime to a group of workers because there was a missing comma in the guidelines. That’s one expensive grammatical error.
In our world, we regularly see cases where agencies lose appeals of removals that they shouldn’t have lost, because of mistakes in the way the charges were drafted.
What about a motion for summary judgment that should have been granted because there truly were no disputes of material fact, yet wasn’t granted because of a technicality in how the motion was written? Yep, that happens too.
Legal Writing Week is a writing-based workshop program that focuses specifically on effective legal writing in federal sector employment law cases. We’ll start you off with the fundamentals of good legal writing and then build on those basics with sessions targeted to material organization, persuasive factual narratives, writing for your audience and drafting specific documents for the MSPB and EEOC. Analysis and evaluation of writing exercises allows you to receive immediate feedback from our instructors. Come prepared to write!

Sessions are held daily from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Instructors

Deborah HopkinsErnest Hadley

Daily Agenda

Monday

Legal Writing I — The Basics: Legal writing and citation formats, argumentative approaches, writing from the reader’s perspective, organizational logic, word choice and structure, legal terms and court structure. Workshops: Spin Words, Speed Ball Exercise & Spin an Issue, Putting it All Together

Tuesday

Legal Writing II — Writing for Your Audience: Defining and distinguishing claims, defenses and issues, the factual narrative, identification of material facts, and persuasion. Workshops: Defining Claims, Writing the Agency Factual Statement, Writing the Employee Factual Statement

Wednesday

Legal Writing III — Writing for Your Audience (con’t.): Educating the reader, analyzing the evidence, organizing the arguments, distinguishing cases. Workshops: State the Rule, Writing the Analysis.

Thursday

Legal Writing IV — Writing for the MSPB and EEOC: Charges and penalties, drafting proposed discipline and decision documents. Workshops: Writing a Notice of Proposed Discipline, Writing a Final Agency Decision.

Friday

Legal Writing V — Writing for the MSPB and EEOC (con’t.): Motion practice and summary judgment, MSPB petitions for review and EEOC appeals, deconstruction and critique of final decisions, editing your work. Workshop: Deconstruction of a Final Decision.

Pricing

Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.

  • 5 days = $2070
  • 4 days = $1700
  • 3 days = $1310
  • 2 days = $930
  • 1 day = $510
Oct
30
Mon
Settlement Week: Resolving Disputes without Litigation – Washington, DC @ International Student House (ISH) – Ella Burling Hall
Oct 30 – Nov 3 all-day

Download Registration Form

Settlement makes up a major part of federal employment law practice. Most disputes in our field settle – whether they initiate as grievances, EEO complaints or as appeals of agency disciplinary actions – before they ever get to hearing. You might be thinking, “Settlement just doesn’t feel right. It’s like saying the employee did nothing wrong and the agency is at fault.” That’s a common misconception, but it’s not actually grounded in truth; settlement has no direct tie to liability or admissions of wrongdoing.

Settlement happens – a lot. Yet somehow, this is a topic that doesn’t get a lot of love in the training world. Few people actually ever trained in the skills required to negotiate settlement agreements. That all changes now. Join FELTG for this brand-new seminar and learn the skills you need to save your agency time and money, and successfully resolve federal employment law disputes without litigation.

Instructors

William Wiley, Rock RockenbachDeborah Hopkins

Daily Agenda

Monday

Why Settle in Federal Sector Employment Disputes?: Why settlement is important; select options to discipline; rescinding the removal; statistics and writing; protective agreement provisions; unlawful agreements and duress.

Tuesday

Knowing the Players: The Office of Special Counsel, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and Unfair Labor Practices; Interest-based negotiation in practice; positive framing; impasse; void agreements.

Wednesday

Determining Objectives and Methods: Why complainants and managers don’t want to resolve disputes without litigation (and how to combat that);  statements v. objectives; separating the people from the problem; creating and evaluating options for mutual gain; settlement options; OPM restrictions.

Thursday

Alternative Dispute Resolution: Calculating the costs of litigation; preparing for settlement; mediations; arbitrations; settlement conference; using settlement memoranda; offers of resolution; compensatory damages; tax consequences; red flags: union impact.

Friday

Drafting Enforceable Settlement Agreements: Organizing for the agreement; settlement agreement writing style and conventions; parts of an agreement; sentence and paragraph structure; best practices for word selection; deconstruction of a sample settlement agreement.

Pricing:

Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.

  • 5 days = $2070
  • 4 days = $1700
  • 3 days = $1310
  • 2 days = $930
  • 1 day = $510

Lodging

A limited block of rooms is reserved at the Kimpton Carlyle Hotel Dupont Circle, through September 28. Book here directly or call 1-800-KIMPTON to make a reservation through the reservation desk with the special code 1029FELT.

May
8
Tue
Writing for the Win: Legal Writing in Federal Sector EEO Cases @ International Student House (ISH) – Ella Burling Hall
May 8 – May 10 all-day

Download Registration Form

In the world of federal sector EEO, we often see cases where agencies lose appeals of EEO decisions not on merit but because of the way the appeal is written, or breach settlement agreements over ambiguously written clauses. Or, what about a motion for summary judgment that should have been granted because there truly were no disputes of material fact, yet wasn’t granted because of a technicality in how the motion was written? These things happen too often – but they shouldn’t. Luckily, we have a fix for these mistakes!

 

Join FELTG for this writing-based workshop program that focuses specifically on effective legal writing in federal sector EEO cases. After a quick overview of the fundamentals of good legal writing we will build on those basics with sessions targeted to material organization, framing claims, neutral and persuasive writing, and drafting specific documents for the EEOC, including Letters of Acceptance/Dismissal, Final Agency Decisions, Motions for Summary Judgment, Appeals, and EEO Settlement Agreements. Analysis and evaluation of writing exercises allows you to receive immediate feedback from our instructors. Come prepared to write!

 

Sessions are held daily from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Instructors

Katherine Atkinson, Meghan Droste

Tuesday

EEO Writing I: The Foundation: Legal writing and citation formats; argumentative approaches; writing from the reader’s perspective; plain language; defining and distinguishing claims, defenses and issues; fixing fragmentation.

 

Wednesday

EEO Writing II: Neutral Legal Writing: educating the reader; Writing Letters of Acceptance/Dismissal; understanding settlement in federal sector EEO cases; parts of a settlement agreement; drafting legally enforceable settlement agreements; mistakes to avoid.

 

Thursday

EEO Writing III: Persuasive Legal Writing: Identification of material facts and persuasion; analyzing the evidence, organizing the arguments; distinguishing cases; writing Final Agency Decisions; motion practice and summary judgment; writing an effective Motion for Summary Judgment; OFO briefs; EEOC appeals.

Pricing

Most people attend the full three days, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.

  • 3 days = $1340
  • 2 days = $950
  • 1 day = $520

Metro, Parking, Directions

Metro: The International Student House (1825 R Street NW) is located in convenient proximity to the Red Line. Exit Metro at the Dupont Circle station and proceed to the Q Street/North exit. Head north (you will come off the escalator facing north; if you use the elevator take a left after exiting) on Connecticut Avenue to R Street NW (approximately one block). Turn right onto R Street NW. Cross 19th Street NW and the International Student House will be on the left side of the street approximately halfway down the block. If you reach the Bikeshare dock, you’ve gone too far. Approximate walk time: 7-10 minutes.

Parking: Street parking is metered and is limited to two hours, unless you have a Washington, DC, Zone 2 parking pass. The closest parking garage is at 11 Dupont Circle, approximately two blocks from the International Student House (1825 R Street NW). Approximate walk time: 5 -7 minutes.

From the Carlyle Hotel: After exiting the Carlyle Hotel, turn left. At the first intersection, R Street NW, turn right. Proceed approximately one block. The International Student House (1825 R Street NW) will be on your right, just past the Bikeshare dock. Approximate walk time: 4-6 minutes.

Oct
7
Mon
Legal Writing Week – Washington, DC @ International Student House (ISH) – Ella Burling Hall
Oct 7 – Oct 11 all-day

Download Registration Form

All too often, legal cases are lost not for lack of evidence, but based on some procedural issue that could have been avoided through careful drafting of legal documents. Whether it’s a motion for summary judgment, a prehearing brief, or a final agency decision, words matter.

So back by request, it’s FELTG’s new and improved Legal Writing Week, a writing-based workshop program that focuses specifically on effective legal writing in federal sector employment law cases. We’ll start you off with the fundamentals of good legal writing and then build on those basics with sessions targeted to material organization, persuasive factual narratives, writing for your audience and drafting specific documents for the MSPB and EEOC. Analysis and evaluation of writing exercises allows you to receive immediate feedback from one of the preeminent authors in the field.

Sessions are held daily from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Friday.

Instructor

Ernest Hadley

Daily Agenda

Monday

Legal Writing I — The Basics: Legal writing and citation formats, argumentative approaches, writing from the reader’s perspective, organizational logic, word choice and structure, legal terms and court structure. Workshops: Spin Words, Speed Ball Exercise & Spin an Issue, Putting it All Together

Tuesday

Legal Writing II — Writing for Your Audience: Defining and distinguishing claims, defenses and issues, the factual narrative, identification of material facts, and persuasion. Workshops: Defining Claims, Writing the Agency Factual Statement, Writing the Employee Factual Statement

Wednesday

Legal Writing III — Writing for Your Audience (con’t.): Educating the reader, analyzing the evidence, organizing the arguments, distinguishing cases. Workshops: State the Rule, Writing the Analysis.

Thursday

Legal Writing IV — Writing for the MSPB and EEOC: MSPB prehearing submissions, drafting final agency decisions. Workshops: Drafting a Prehearing Submission, Writing a FAD.

Friday

Legal Writing V — Writing for the MSPB and EEOC (con’t.): Motion practice and summary judgment, MSPB petitions for review and EEOC appeals, MSPB petitions for review and EEOC appeals, editing your work. Workshop: Deconstruction of a Final Decision.

Pricing

Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.

Early Bird Tuition (register by Sept. 23):

  • 5 days = $2180
  • 4 days = $1790
  • 3 days = $1380
  • 2 days = $980
  • 1 day = $540

Standard Tuition (register Sept. 23-Oct. 11):

  • 5 days = $2280
  • 4 days = $1890
  • 3 days = $1480
  • 2 days = $1080
  • 1 day = $640

Metro, Parking, Directions

Metro: The International Student House (1825 R Street NW) is located in convenient proximity to the Red Line. Exit Metro at the Dupont Circle station and proceed to the Q Street/North exit. Head north (you will come off the escalator facing north; if you use the elevator take a left after exiting) on Connecticut Avenue to R Street NW (approximately one block). Turn right onto R Street NW. Cross 19th Street NW and the International Student House will be on the left side of the street approximately halfway down the block. If you reach the Bikeshare dock, you’ve gone too far. Approximate walk time: 7-10 minutes.

Parking: Street parking is metered and is limited to two hours, unless you have a Washington, DC, Zone 2 parking pass. The closest parking garage is at 11 Dupont Circle, approximately two blocks from the International Student House (1825 R Street NW). Approximate walk time: 5 -7 minutes.

From the Carlyle Hotel: After exiting the Carlyle Hotel, turn left. At the first intersection, R Street NW, turn right. Proceed approximately one block. The International Student House (1825 R Street NW) will be on your right, just past the Bikeshare dock. Approximate walk time: 4-6 minutes.

Cancellation and No-show Policy for Registered Participants: Cancellations made after the cancel date on the registration form will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses. Pre-paid training using the “Pay Now” option will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses. No-shows will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses.

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