Paul R. Kiesel | Kiesel Law LLP

Paul Kiesel received his Juris Doctorate from the Whittier College School of Law in Los Angeles in 1985. In 2005, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Whittier Law School. His practice is devoted to representing consumers in personal injury, class action, environmental, and toxic tort litigation.

Mr. Kiesel has repeatedly been selected as one of the top plaintiff attorneys in the State of California and the country. The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized Mr. Kiesel as one of the Top 50 Trial Lawyers. The Daily Journal named Mr. Kiesel one of the 100 most influential attorneys in the State of California. He was also selected as one of the top 500 attorneys in the United States by Law Dragon. In addition, Mr. Kiesel is rated A.V. (highest rating) by Martindale-Hubbell.

Paul Kiesel is very active in the legal community. He was the president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association for 2015-2016 and was the past Chair of the Litigation Section. He was appointed by former Chief Justice Ronald George to the State of California Judicial Council Civil and Small Claims Advisory Committee. He served on the Board of Governors for the Consumer Attorneys of California and the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles for over 25 years. In recognition of his service, Mr. Kiesel was elected an emeritus (lifetime) board member of both organizations. From 2001-2005, Mr. Kiesel sat on the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. Mr. Kiesel was the Co-Chair of the Open Courts Coalition, a bipartisan committee of attorneys from throughout California advocating full-funding of the civil justice system. Members of the Open Courts Coalition include the Honorable Carlos Moreno, former Governors Gray Davis and George Deukmejian, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaragosa, and former California Attorney General John VanDekamp. Recently, Mr. Kiesel was named a Senior Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers, dedicated to promoting superior advocacy, professionalism and ethical standards in the legal profession.

Jeffrey Koncius | Kiesel Law LLP

Jeff, again nominated in 2023 as a Southern California Super Lawyer, has been a civil litigator on behalf of plaintiffs for his entire career handling complex matters in federal and state courts, and arbitration. With experience in all aspects of civil trial and appellate practice, he has concentrated on consumer class actions in courts throughout the country representing consumers against large corporations and now does the same in financial services litigation and mass torts.

In the area of class actions, Jeff recently represented several notable musicians, among them, The Temptations and The Motels, in class actions seeking compensation relating to the payment of digital download royalties from their record labels including Universal Music Group, Capitol EMI and Warner Brothers. Jeff has also represented various Hollywood notables, including the estates of Charles Bronson, Peter Sellers and Richard Pryor, seeking payment of home video royalties from major movies studios including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, and Sony Pictures. The settlements with the studios resulted in payments to class members exceeding $51 million. He has also been active against major automobile manufacturers such as BMW relating to the timing chain in MINI Cooper vehicles, Toyota for HVAC systems, GM for braking issues and Mazda for water pump failures. Jeff also litigates on behalf of individual investors as a result of wrongdoing by their financial services advisors including currently litigating a $10+ million loss suffered by an Indian Tribe.

Jeanne Huey | Hunt Huey, PLLC

Jeanne has been fighting for businesses and individuals for more than twenty years in both state and federal courts. After a career with a major regional law firm representing businesses ranging from multi-nationals to small local companies, Jeanne turned her attention for a number of years to serving those going through divorce and living with its aftermath.

Chosen to serve as a member, then panel chair and finally district chair of the District 6 Grievance Committee of the State Bar of Texas in addition to business litigation Jeanne’s practice now focuses on legal ethics and professional responsibility. She helps lawyers navigate the disciplinary process and counsels law firms and individual attorneys on matters of professional responsibility and malpractice. She brings to this practice the same commitment to excellence and the needs of her clients that she has always brought to business and other cases.

Jeanne is the author of the “Legal Ethics Today” blog found at legalethicstoday.com. She is also a frequent speaker on ethics and professionalism issues to local and national bar associations. She is the web content editor for the Ethics and Professionalism Committee of the American Bar Association Litigation Section and the program coordinator and immediate past chair of the Dallas Bar Association Solo and Small Firm Section.

Session I – The Future of Law is AI | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

I. What Exactly is AI?

• AI systems and how they work
• Potential benefits to lawyers

II. Uses of AI Generally

III. Practical Uses of AI in a Law Practice

• Intake
• Document review
• Contract applications
• Summarizing depositions and medical records
• Draft pleadings
• Correspondence
• Trial Documents
• Actual results hits and misses

IV. Other Practical Uses of AI

V. The Future of AI and the Practice of Law

• Current products available
• Expected products

VI. Conclusion and Wrap Up

Break | 3:10pm – 3:20pm

Session II – Smart Ethics for Smart Tools: A Lawyer’s Guide to AI | 3:20pm – 4:20pm

I. ABA Model Rule 1.1 and Comment 8: Competence

• The intersection of legal ethics and AI advancements
• The evolving ethical obligations to be competent in the technology we use

II. ABA Model Rule 1.4: Communication

• Transparency in communication and disclosures of AI use
• Informed consent from the client before any information relating to the representation is input into any self-learning GAI tool and what that entails

III. ABA Model Rule 1.6: Confidentiality

• Upholding ethical duties to protect client information
• Navigating compliance with data protection

IV. Real-World Ethical Dilemmas

• Cases and cautionary tales showcasing ethical challenges in AI usage
• Court rules and disclosures regarding GAI use

V. Best Practices for Ethical AI Integration

• Developing guidelines for responsible AI use in law firms
• Rule 5.1 and 5.2: Training and Supervising on the Use of GAI within the Firm

VI. Future Implications for Legal Ethics

• The future of billing (ABA Model Rule 1.5)
• The role of legal ethics, as highlighted in ABA Formal Opinion 512, in guiding AI’s future within the profession