Online CLE Courses | Jim Blackburn Seminars

Category: Ethics, Professionalism, Mental Health
Course Description: Joy Comes in the Morning - The Scriptures tell us that "Weeping may stay for a night, but Joy comes in the Morning". Such words perfectly capture the highs and lows of our careers. There are often tough and challenging times when we do not know how we will make it even through the day. But if we hang on and persevere, we too can survive and have that joy in the morning. I know, probably as many of you do, that is possible.

This three-hour program, including one hour of both substance abuse and mental health study, is an upbeat optimistic story of how to manage our lives and even start over if we must. In the end, if we try, more often, we will be all right.

Joy Comes in the Morning - Turning Darkness into Light - Geoff Hulse, a long time successful criminal defense attorney in Goldsboro, takes forty minutes of your time to tell the struggle he encountered with the illness of alcoholism in a refreshingly honest account of his life in dealing with this illness, how he overcame it, and what life is like for him today. This segment is taken from a podcast with him on Grit - Stories of Resilience.

Then, for the final twenty minutes of this hour, I talk about the mental health problem of loneliness, how it can affect you, and what you can do to make life better for yourself.
Duration/Credit(s): Ethics and Professionalism - 2 Hours / Joy Comes in the Morning - 1 Hour-Turning Darkness into Light
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism
Course Description: Grit can mean pebbles on the beach. It can also mean courage, passion, perseverance and even humility. It is doing in an honorable way whatever it takes.

Grit is an essential characteristic of starting over in life when someone has hit a rough patch. With it anything is possible. Without, not so much.

This is a program about facing adversity and starting over. Hour One features two well-known North Carolina attorneys, Leslie Van Der Have, a successful family law attorney in Greenville and Allen Thomas, a long-time criminal defense attorney in Wilson. Each of them is presented in a video of their interviews they did with me on my new podcast by the same name as this program – Grit – Stories of Resilience.

Hour Two my take on Waiting Tables and Resilience. I offer an in-depth look at what serving tables at the 42nd Street Restaurant was like for me when I was trying to learn how to start over myself.

Hour Three is what I call Friends in Low Places, using part of the title ot the popular song by Garth Brooks and My Unfortunate Incarceration from an often-used line in the television series Designing Women.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism
Course Description: Watch and listen to two prominent North Carolina lawyers and two prominent North Carolina paralegals tell about their successes, and the challenges they faced, what they would do differently and how they view the practice of law today.

Pridgen Green is a former State Magistrate who left her position to join a large North Carolina law firm only to leave her position to become a State Magistrate again and now works for the City of Winston-Salem, in part so she could raise her family and have a good quality of life. Alice Gill came to North Carolina from Charleston, West Virginia forty years ago with no job or hint of one, only to find her niche and place in a small Wilmington law firm. She rose from a beginning paralegal to someone who watches now over the entire office and loves it. Debra Maschinot is a paralegal with the Public Defender’s office in Greensboro where she has experienced the highs and lows of being involved with the representation of indigent defendants. Hear her tell what it is like to be on the front line of a criminal law practice. Finally, there is Leslie Van Der Have, a longtime solo practitioner of family law in Greenville who works every day to run a successful law office, strongly represent her clients and raise a family as a single parent. Talk about the stresses of life.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism
Course Description: Watch and listen to four prominent North Carolina lawyers tell about their successes, and the challenges they faced, what they would do differently and how they view the practice of law today.

Duke Lineberry has practiced domestic family law in Wilmington for years and has the scars and stories to prove it. He is spot on in his discussion with respect to handling sensitive and difficult situations. Bob Roupe is a long time resident of Jacksonville and for many years has been a leading Assistant District Attorney in Onslow, Duplin, Jones and Sampson counties. He can put you right there in the courtroom as he tells you how he does it and when he thinks cases should and should not be prosecuted. Scott Davis has practiced law in New Bern for years as the City Attorney and now as someone who practices creditors’ rights, bankruptcy, municipal law and banks and banking. In a civil practice in eastern North Carolina, he does it all. Finally, Eddie Caldwell has been for so long the Executive Director of the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association. He is one of the state’s best in talking about criminal law and the role our sheriffs in every county play in its enforcement.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism, Mental Health
Course Description:
An Invincible Summer (1) - Albert Camus once wrote “In the depth of winter, I found within me there lay an invincible summer”. First, there is winter, then spring and finally summer. Anyone who has ever fallen down and met adversity knows this to be true. It seems hopeless at first, but slowly determination and the desire not to give up leads into spring. Then if you hold on, hope and optimism take over and you find your way back to a new and often time better place. This is true in all professions, including law. Most importantly it is true in your personal life. These thoughts and ideas are the essence of this program.
An Illness Hidden With A Smile - Based upon my own experiences and those of others, including not only lawyers and paralegals but young people of all ages, this is the most straightforward presentation I have ever done. It contains up to date thoughts on depression and thoughts of suicide among particularly the young. Most importantly, I go from a conversation of darkness to one of survival, recovery and light. It is possible to have a happy ending.
Duration/Credit(s): Ethics and Professionalism - 2 Hours - An Invincible Summer (1), Mental - 1 Hour - An Illness Hidden With A Smile
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Mental Health
Course Description: Based upon my own experiences and those of others, including not only lawyers and paralegals but young people of all ages, this is the most straightforward presentation I have ever done. It contains up to date thoughts on depression and thoughts of suicide among particularly the young. Most importantly, I go from a conversation of darkness to one of survival, recovery and light. It is possible to have a happy ending.
Duration/Credit(s): 1 Hour
Pricing: $95.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism
Course Description: Robert Frost wrote in the poem, “The Road Not Taken”…”Two roads diverged in a yellow road…And Sorry I could not travel both…I shall be telling this with a sigh…Somewhere ages and ages hence:…I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” It is a poem about the choices we make in life. So it is with those in the legal profession, every day…choices.

The choices that are made affect not only clients but attorneys, paralegals and law firms. On questions of openness, transparency, honesty, passion, doing your best, humility, and simply being the best you can be, you have to answer these almost every day of your life and career. How you respond and the choices you make will determine your future and that of your clients as well.

In this program, we talk about those choices and how to make them for the best. It is not always easy. It is sometimes uncomfortable but there is no denying or putting them off. There are consequences, good and bad, for almost every choice to be made.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism
Course Description: The Greek legend of the Phoenix is the story of a giant beautiful bird that dies, and out of the ashes, a new and even more beautiful bird is reborn.  That is the story of resilience.  How to hold on, and in many cases, start over is the challenge to everyone, including everyone in the legal profession.

The attorney or paralegal who best knows how to do this, both personally and with clients, is well on the way to success. The idea of well being, of enjoying your life and career, of having purpose, is, I think, what we all want.

If not this year…when? This program is an in depth search of how best to ultimately meet that moment…now. It is a thought provoking study of what is important to you in your life and career and how to accomplish that.

And most importantly, if you have ever been knocked down, how to get yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism, Mental Health
Course Description: In May, 2014, at the graduation exercises at Wake Forest University, the speaker was to be the Executive Editor of the New York Times. But before she could speak, she was fired. Still, Jill Abramson showed up, spoke and just before getting one of the loudest and longest standing ovations for her address, told the graduates that day that they would face challenges and adversity in their lives ahead. They would get knocked down a series of times. The question was whether they would recover. She told them they would have to get back up and show what they were made of.

This program is a study of responding to adversity of your own or that of your client, law firm or family. It is a study of doing just that. The last hour, dealing with depression and mental health in today’s world, is no different. Fighting depression and mental health issues can challenge you immensely. But you can over come it. You can get better. This is the final hour.
Duration/Credit(s): Ethics and Professionalism - 2 Hours, Mental - 1 Hour
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism, Mental Health
Course Description: Gracie Allen wrote her husband George Burns a note that he opened shortly after her death that read in essence, “George, do not put a period where God has only put a comma.” She thought he should continue and find a new life. I believe that is what all of us, including those of you in the legal profession as well as your clients, want and need as well.

Clients want HOPE or a PLAN B or a SECOND CHANCE as they face legal challenges. Those professionals who recognize and offer this will be the ones most likely to succeed. Join us for an open and wide ranging discussion of why and how to do this, not only for clients but also for yourself as well. You will want to learn to think in commas and not periods and enjoy your life and career so much more.
Duration/Credit(s): Ethics and Professionalism - 2 Hours, Mental - 1 Hour
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism
Course Description: Watch and listen to five prominent North Carolina lawyers tell about their careers, their successes, the challenges they faced, what they would do differently and how they view the practice of law today. Jim Parish from Fayetteville, Carter Lambeth from Wilmington, Tony Copeland from Raleigh, David Ward from New Bern, and Dick Horgan from Wilmington all open up to you.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism
Course Description: Watch and listen to four prominent North Carolina lawyers tell about their careers, their successes, the challenges they faced, what they would do differently, and how they view the practice of law today. Allen Thomas from Wilson, Gerald Hayes from Dunn, Bob Whitley from Raleigh, and Herman Gaskins from Washington all open up to you.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism
Course Description: Watch and listen to four prominent North Carolina lawyers tell about their careers, their successes and the challenges they faced. Hear Michael Schmidt, a long time state prosecutor talk about ethically seeking justice for victims of crime, one of which he chronicles in a highly successful book, Geoff Hulse tell of his very effective criminal defense practice in Goldsboro and his own personal challenges, Sarah Miranda, a well known and successful attorney in family law in Fayetteville give you insight as to how she handles the stresses of that practice, and then Wade Smith thinking back on an almost sixty year legal career, touching on some of the highlights of his time, including Duke lacrosse and Jeffrey MacDonald. What he views as one of his most successful cases will surprise you.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism
Course Description: Watch and listen to four more additional prominent North Carolina lawyers tell about their careers, their successes and the challenges they faced and still face today. Hear Alan Schneider, a long time representative and advocate for lawyers with issues before the North Carolina State Bar give insights as to how to stay out of trouble, and have a happy law practice, Rick Gammon, a very successful criminal defense attorney in both state and federal courts as well as a past Chairman of the Bar’s Disciplinary Hearing Commission talks of his practice and how lawyers can have a better relationship with their client, and also stay away from that Commission, Chekesha Hukins, for the past 22 years an Assistant District Attorney in New Bern, now a very excellent drug prosecutor talks about those she prosecutes and the lawyers she faces, including her take on criminal law and finally Rufus Edmisten, takes you back in time with the Watergate Select Committee, and Sen. Sam Ervin, being North Carolina’s Attorney General and Secretary of State, now in private practice, his work with the Super Kids and of course his gardening.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics, Mental Health
Course Description: Finding Resilience in your Life and Career is an in-depth discussion of learning how to find resilience in both your career in the legal profession and your life as well. Of all the things we have to do, starting over again, from whatever basis, can be one of the most daunting things to accomplish. It is often hard to put one foot in front of the other. But from my own experiences these last years, I have found this journey to be rewarding and promising if you learn the art of well-being. More specifically, it is amazing how the simple but, sometimes difficult to do, traits of kindness, persistence, keeping your promises, and just showing up can help you remake yourself and what you do. This program also contains one hour of Mental Health study, in addition to two hours of Ethics, and is devoted to a discussion of depression, something that has been described in a New York Times column as "an illness hidden with a smile".
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics
Course Description: Stupid has Consequences is something we learned when we were young, but some of us forgot a bit when we got older. At least I did. But if making mistakes can cause a change in our lives and careers, so too can hope. So this is an optimistic journey in how to handle adversity, how to survive it, and how to start over. As the late Gracie Allen once wrote to her husband, George Burns, just before she died, "Do not put a period where God has only placed a comma." In today's world, that means always trying again, living in the present, doing your best, being prepared, learning a new humility, and not forgetting to laugh.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Ethics
Course Description: Starting Over Today reflects my belief that anyone can restart a life or career or just a bad day or week at any time. It is never too late, and one is never too old. The only thing holding anyone back is the willingness to try and to never give up. Always remember not to put a period where God has only placed a comma.
Duration/Credit(s): 2 Hours
Pricing: $150.00

Category: Mental Health
Course Description: Hiding In Plain Sight is a one hour mental health program that gets its name from the truth that depression is all around us, often hiding with a smile. Learn more about this insidious but treatable illness, and how you can fight back.
Duration/Credit(s): 1 Hour
Pricing: $95.00

Category: Ethics
Course Description: Good To Great is the story of how anyone, paralegal or attorney, can be great in the legal profession in the representation of clients. All you have to do is make a promise that when the client leaves you, he or she is in a better position than when you first started to help them. It is a result oriented formula for success that will make you smile.
Duration/Credit(s): 2 Hours
Pricing: $150.00

Category: Ethics
Course Description: Wade is one of the preeminent attorneys in North Carolina, whom I first met in the spring of 1979 when he became one of Jeffrey MacDonald’s defense attorneys. We were opponents, on the same side in other cases and finally, he became one of my attorneys in 1993. This brief conversation with him is a glimpse inside what makes attorneys great. He is unmatched. Alan Schneider is simply the best attorney in North Carolina to represent other lawyers when they encounter legal and ethical difficulties. Alan is at his best here gently telling everyone how to stay out of trouble.
Duration/Credit(s): 1 Hour
Pricing: $95.00

Category: Mental Health
Course Description: Whipping Up Justice is the national award winning result of a collaboration between the South Carolina Bar and myself. A retired District Court Judge, who loves to cook, teaches me to cook cornbread and chili, and we talk about my story in an upbeat format with the South Carolina State Bar Disciplinary Counsel. You get CLE credit and a cooking lesson all at the same time.
Duration/Credit(s): 1 Hour
Pricing: $95.00

Category: Mental Health
Course Description: Depression in all its forms can come into you at any time and any age. It is presently considered to be the leading cause for suicides in this country. It can cripple your life and destroy your career. But it does not have to be that way. Depression can be successfully treated, and you can be mae well. For some it takes medication and therapy. For others it takes a change in life style. For me it took all of these. In this hour, I talk about overcoming this illness and regaining the balance in your life.
Duration/Credit(s): 1 Hour
Pricing: $95.00

Category: Ethics
Course Description: I wish that I had known as an attorney what I learned as a client. From being scared and uncertain of the future, not knowing the way out of a legal and ethical mess, I found that the two things clients want most are hope and empathy followed with a good dollop of Plan B. The folks who figure that out will be by far the most successful and be remembered well by their clients. I go into much detail in this in depth seminar, fresh from the point of view of the client.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00

Category: Mental Health
Course Description: The Other Side of the Curtain video is a never before seen in North Carolina program I did several years ago in Kiawah, South Carolina for the North and South Carolina Probate Conference specifically on mental health issues. It is a very personal walk through of my experiences of depression and how I learned how to come out the other side to recovery. But it is a real trip to a side of life so many people know all too well.
Duration/Credit(s): 1 Hours
Pricing: $95.00

Category: Ethics, Professionalism
Course Description: Attorneys and Paralegals – Why did you become a lawyer or paralegal? What is it that you want to accomplish? Is your career everything you thought it would be? This three hour program examines those and many more questions as I also talk about keeping or regaining the passion in your career. Learning to fight the immense pressure of being successful in the legal profession is an always constant struggle. Take this course and perhaps get some new ideas for your future.
Duration/Credit(s): 3 Hours
Pricing: $185.00