CROWDFUNDING, CYBERSECURITY, CONSTITUTION & CIVIL RIGHTS TOP NYS BAR ASSOC. ANNUAL MEETING AGENDA

ALBANY, NY (01/08/2016)(readMedia)-- The New York State Bar Association's 139th Annual Meeting in New York City will feature discussions on social media, legal ethics, the New York State Constitution, music rights management, crowdfunding, data protection and electronic surveillance in the workplace, human trafficking, mediation and arbitration, manipulation in the financial services industry and other current legal topics.

More than 4,000 attorneys are expected to attend the week-long conference at the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan from Monday, January 25, through Saturday, January 30.

"Attorneys from New York, and across the nation and the globe will gather at our Annual Meeting to network and participate in programs on cutting-edge legal issues," said David P. Miranda, president of the New York State Bar Association. "They will return home with new tools, resources and insights that will enhance their legal practices and the profession at large."

Scheduled speakers during the week-long event include: New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton; M. Patricia Smith, solicitor of labor; U.S. Department of Labor; U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin, Southern District of New York; Associate Judge Leslie E. Stein, New York State Court of Appeals; Jason Furman, chairman, Council of Economic Advisers; and Donna Lieberman, executive director, New York Civil Liberties Union.

The centerpiece of the Annual Meeting will be the Presidential Summit on Wednesday, January 27, from 2 to 5 p.m. Hosted by Miranda of Albany (Heslin Rothenberg Farley and Mesiti), the summit will feature panel discussions on social media and a potential state Constitutional Convention.

The first Summit forum will examine social media in the legal profession, including attorney advertising, mining social media for evidence, juror research and legal ethics. Ari Kaplan, legal analyst and author of "Reinventing Professional Services: Building Your Business in the Digital Marketplace" will deliver a keynote address about how to demonstrate social media savvy for client service and litigation, as well as firm marketing. He also will moderate a panel discussion with Mark A. Berman (Ganfer & Shore), chair-elect of the Association's Commercial and Federal Litigation Section; Nicole Black, attorney and author of "Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier;" and Casey Sullivan, a journalist with Big Law Business, a Bloomberg BNA website.

The second Summit forum will focus on how the state Constitution impacts the practice of law and the lives of New Yorkers. New Yorkers will vote in 2017 on whether to authorize a convention to rewrite, revise or amend the state Constitution. Henry Greenberg (Greenberg Traurig), chair of the Association's Committee on the New York State Constitution, will moderate a discussion featuring Professor Gerald Benjamin, SUNY New Paltz; Professor Richard Briffault, Columbia Law School; and former state Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch.

The Presidential Summit will be available via live webcast at www.nysba.org/AMSummit.

On Friday, January 29, the State Bar's House of Delegates will hold its quarterly meeting. It can be viewed via live webcast at www.nysba.org/HODWebcast.

For more information about Annual Meeting programs and registration, visit www.nysba.org/AM2016. Also follow Annual Meeting proceedings on Twitter at @NYSBA (#NYSBA2016) and on our Facebook page, New York State Bar Association.

The New York State Bar Association, with 74,000 members, is the largest voluntary state bar association in the country. It was founded in 1876.

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