Monday, June 13, 2022
2:30 PM
to
4:30 PM
Back to Event
The President's Track
Presented by the Executive Committee
About the Program
On December 14, 2012, a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Ten years later, Sandy Hook has become a foundational story of how false conspiracy narratives and malicious misinformation have gained traction in society. In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy, the families of the victims have fought a battle to preserve their loved ones’ legacies even in the face of threats to their own lives. This pattern of attack, denial, misinformation, and conspiracy theories have come to characterize some Americans’ response to almost every major event in the past ten years. The rise of misinformation and rapid spread of conspiracy theories through American society pose serious threats to the pillars of our democracy and the rule of law, raising national security concerns, and undermining confidence in our legal institutions. Join us to hear from Elizabeth Williamson, author of Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth, who has chronicled the stories of the Sandy Hook families in the aftermath of that great tragedy, and Attorney Monte Frank, who played a pivotal role in advocating for the Sandy Hook families through their ensuing struggles. Karen Burgess is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Society of Barristers. She recently delivered the Dean’s Address for the Academy—Truth or Consequence: Protecting Justice and the Rule of Law Against a Crisis of Deception. Karen will speak to the broader implications of the rise of misinformation in our society, as we collectively consider our obligation, as a profession, to uphold and protect the rule of law and our legal institutions.
The first 100 attendees of this seminar will receive a free copy of Elizabeth Williamson's book: Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth.
You Will Learn
• The Sandy Hook families’ battle to preserve the truth in the aftermath of that terrible tragedy
• The cause and effects of the rise of misinformation and conspiracy narratives in our society
• The effects of these phenomena on the strength of our civic society and our democratic and legal institutions
CLE Credits
CLE Credit: 2.0 CT (General); 2.0 NY (AOP)
The Connecticut Bar Association/CT Bar Institute is an accredited provider of New York State CLE. This program qualifies for transitional and non-transitional CLE credits.
Attorneys seeking NY CLE credit who have been admitted to the New York State Bar for two years or less must attend the live seminar for skills or ethics credit, or a fully interactive videoconference. Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias CLE credits are only available as non-transitional credits. For further information about transitional and non-transitional courses, please see the NYCourts.gov page on CLE: http://ww2.nycourts.gov/attorneys/cle/index.shtml.
Financial hardship information is available upon request.