Conflicts of Interest in Practice: Case Studies, Cognitive Biases, and Ethical Boundaries

Tracy L. Kepler | CNA

Tracy L. Kepler is the Director of Risk Control for CNA’s Lawyers’ Insurance Program. In this role, she leads the lawyers’ professional liability team, is accountable for business results through delivery of risk control services and designs and develops content and distribution of risk control initiatives relevant to the practice of law. Tracy reviews and directs the evaluation and assessment of loss exposures and the application of risk control policies, guidelines, regulations, and drives the resolution of risk control issues and problems. She also collaborates with the underwriting and claims teams to develop and execute strategies for the profitable growth of the program. Tracy lectures frequently at CNA-sponsored events and at state and local bar associations and national seminars hosted by industry-leading organizations. She also writes articles focusing on law firm risk control and professional responsibility issues.

Prior to joining CNA, Tracy served as the Director of the American Bar Association’s Center for Professional Responsibility (CPR), providing national leadership in developing and interpreting standards and scholarly resources in legal and judicial ethics, professional regulation, professionalism, client protection, professional liability and attorney well-being. Ms. Kepler has nearly 20 years of experience in attorney regulation as she served as an Associate Solicitor in the Office of General Counsel for the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), where she concentrated her practice in the investigation, prosecution and appeal of patent/trademark practitioner disciplinary matters before the Agency, U.S. District Courts and Federal Circuit, provided policy advice on ethics and discipline related matters to senior management, and drafted and revised Agency regulations. She also served as Senior Litigation Counsel for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), where she investigated and prosecuted cases of attorney misconduct.

Ms. Kepler has served in various volunteer capacities, including as President, on the Board of the National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC), a non-profit organization of legal professionals whose members enforce ethics rules that regulate the professional conduct of lawyers who practice law in the United States and abroad. Ms. Kepler is currently an Adjunct Professor at American University’s Washington College of Law, Georgetown University Law Center and Loyola School of Law (Chicago) teaching Legal Ethics. Committed to the promotion and encouragement of professional responsibility and attorney wellbeing throughout her career, Ms. Kepler has served on the ABA’s Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs, is an Advisory Board member of the Institute for Well-Being in Law and is an author of its Well-Being Report. She is also a Board Member of the Mindfulness in Law Society, the Chair of the ABA IPL Section’s Attorney Well-Being Committee and a Commissioner on the International Bar Association’s Professional Wellbeing Commission. She is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and received her law degree from New England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts.

Timothy L. Fort | Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Timothy L. Fort holds the Eveleigh Professorship in Business Ethics and is Professor of Business Law & Ethics at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He is also an Affiliated Faculty at the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Fort received the 2022 Distinguished Career Faculty Award from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. In 2023, he was nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

He has written one hundred articles/book reviews/book chapters along with twelve books; he has edited an additional twenty-five books. Two of his books have won the Best Book Award from the Academy of Management for Social Issues. He has won twelve research awards from three different academic associations, the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, the Society for Business Ethics, and the Academy of Management and has served on the editorial boards of the flagship journals of each of these associations. He has won five teaching awards and has served as academic director for a unique program for players from the National Football League; he also co-taught a course with then Federal Reserve Chair, Ben Bernanke. He has served as director of an institute, as department chair, and as an interim associate dean. He has been a coach/consultant for Alexandra, Countess of Fredriksborg (Denmark) in her role as a member of the Board of Directors of Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Complementary to his work on business and peace, Tim’s research interest concerns how ethical business conduct can create positive organizational cultures, which in turn foster sustainable peace.

He co-chaired a task force on the topic with the U.S. Institute of Peace and helped to develop a program with the U.S. State Department where MBA students served as pro bono consultants to entrepreneurs in conflict sensitive zones. He has also partnered with NGOs, such as International Peace Through Tourism and Peace Through Commerce. He has extended that work to music, sports, and film to create a research stream of “Cultural Foundations of Peace” where cultural artifacts serve as a nudge to make ethical decisions and to provide common ground for individuals who might otherwise disagree on social issues. In that regard, he has organized multiple conferences with faculty from the Jacobs School of Music, co-edited a book, written two articles, and organized a film series with the IU Cinema. He is currently writing a book with Kristin Hahn, Executive Producer of Apple TV’s The Morning Show, author of two HarperCollins books, and who co-owns Echo Films with Jennifer Aniston.

His pre-tenure work on how businesses can be “mediating institutions” is drawn from natural law and from bioanthropology. That work integrates leading theories of business ethics and emphasizes optimal corporate culture. Fort received his BA and MA from the University of Notre Dame and his PhD and JD from Northwestern University. He taught at the University of Michigan from 1994-2005 and at George Washington University from 2005-2013.

Session I – Exploring Case Studies, Cognitive Biases, and Creative Approaches to Resolving Conflicts of Interest | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

• Awareness of the range of conflicts that can exist
• Learning the cognitive biases that parties bring to bear in identifying conflicts of interest
• Imagining ways in which attorneys can explore resolution of conflicts of interest among clients

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

Session II – Ethical Boundaries: Managing Client Conflicts and Personal Values | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

• Interpret and apply Rule 1.7 to identify and manage conflicts of interest between current clients, including the necessity of informed consent
• Evaluate personal value conflicts and determine when they may ethically justify withdrawal under Rule 1.16
• Implement proper procedures for withdrawal from representation in accordance with Rule 1.16, ensuring minimal adverse impact on the client
• Develop documentation practices for recording conflicts, client consent, and withdrawal decisions to support ethical compliance and risk mitigation