DEI for Lawyers: Risk, Reputation, and Professional Survival

DEI for Lawyers: Risk, Reputation, and Professional Survival
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Schedule
See specific date (3h)
Course cost
349.99$ $
New
2026
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DEI: Risk, Reputation, and Professional Survival

In today’s legal environment, lawyers are expected not only to know the law, but to demonstrate professional judgment rooted in fairness, respect, and ethical decision-making—across client interactions, workplace leadership, and professional conduct.

DEI for Lawyers: Risk, Reputation, and Professional Survival delivers a clear, practice-driven framework for understanding how unconscious bias, privilege, and intersectionality can shape everyday legal realities— from hiring and mentorship to performance feedback, client communication, credibility assessments, and advocacy.

This seminar is grounded in real-world professional context, drawing on history, ethics, and practical experience to help participants sharpen their judgment, strengthen working relationships, and navigate complex conversations with clarity and confidence.

Designed intentionally in a lawyer-to-lawyer format, the program supports thoughtful dialogue, respects diverse viewpoints, and equips participants with practical strategies aligned with professional obligations in both Canada and the United States.

Objectives:

This workshop will help you to:

  • Understand core DEI concepts in a legal and professional context
  • Identify unconscious bias and its impact on legal judgment and workplace decisions
  • Recognize privilege and intersectionality in client, colleague, and leadership interactions
  • Apply DEI principles to firm culture, client relations, and ethical obligations

 

 

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Course outline Corporate training

Andy Semotiuk

Andy Semotiuk Learn more

This seminar is deliberately lawyer-to-lawyer, grounded in history, ethics, and practice—not ideology. It respects free expression, encourages honest dialogue, and fulfills professional obligations without preaching.

Program Contents:

Privilege and Unconscious Bias

Welcome & Framing

  • Facilitator introduction
  • Facilitator disclosure
  • Brief discussion on psychological safety and respectful dialogue
  • Program objectives

 

Elimination of Bias

  • Identity awareness concepts
  • Video presentation
  • Privilege analysis – ‘Who is at the table?’ — decision-making and representation
  • Unconscious bias : Video Presentation + analysis

 

DEI in Legal Practice & Professional Responsibility

Diversity in the practice of law

  • Group discussion
  • Definition
  • Types of Diversity

 

Equity in the practice of law

  • Group discussion
  • Definition
  • Legal fairness principles

 

Inclusion in the practice of law

  • Group discussion
  • Practical example
  • Definition

 

DEI Cheat Sheet

  • Video Presentation
  • DEI Summary: Key takeaways

 

Intersectionality & Legal Requirements

Intersectionality

  • Video presentation
  • Group discussion
  • Definition
  • Examples

 

Legal and ethical requirements

  • Comparative jurisdictions
  • Practical examples and applications in a legal context

 

Final remarks, conclusions, and practical applications

  • Common ethical risks
  • DEI principles in your daily legal work

 

Closing Note :

This seminar is deliberately lawyer-to-lawyer, grounded in history, ethics, and practice—not ideology. It respects free expression, encourages honest dialogue, and fulfills professional obligations without preaching.

 

Specialized corporate training

Andy Semotiuk

Andy Semotiuk

Biography

Andy Semotiuk is a cross-border immigration lawyer admitted to the bars of New York and California in the United States, as well as Ontario and British Columbia in Canada. He has supported over 10,000 clients throughout his career—helping individuals navigate complex immigration and cross-border legal challenges with experience, precision, and professionalism.

Over the years, Andy has also built a strong reputation as a respected communicator and thought leader on immigration and international themes. He has travelled extensively and delivered talks around the world, including in the U.K., Hong Kong, New Delhi, Ukraine, and Fiji, bringing a global perspective and real-world insight to every presentation and training session.

He is also a recognized author and contributor in the field. As a current Forbes contributor, his articles on immigration have reached more than one million readers. He is also a former United Nations correspondent, writing on international law, immigration, and human rights themes, and previously contributed to Canada’s Southam newspaper chain.

Highly regarded for his leadership and communication skills, Andy was formerly a member of both the National Speakers Association in the United States and the Canadian Professional Speakers Association in Canada—professional associations requiring recognized speaking credentials for membership. He also earned the prestigious Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) designation, a milestone recognizing exceptional speaking and leadership abilities and achieved by less than one percent of the approximately 330,000 Toastmasters members worldwide.

As an educator, Andy taught courses on effective presentation skills, journalism, and the development of human potential at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine. He previously taught public speaking in the Faculty of Commerce at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and has delivered presentations in law, business, and history in similar venues.

Andy is the author of four books, including The Young Professional (Cengage Learning, Boston, MA), A Promise Kept: A Tribute to a Mother’s Love (Create Space Independent Publishing Network), Solomea: Star of Opera’s Golden Age (Rodovid Publishing and Courageous Heart Productions), and A Treasure Chest of Humor (self-published).

He also served for three years as a Member of the Tribunal Panel of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, adjudicating cases involving federal human rights complaints. As a lawyer, he has appeared before the Canadian Immigration Appeal Division, the Refugee Board, and federal and provincial civil and criminal courts.

Andy holds a law degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver through a combined Business–Law program, and he currently practices U.S. and Canadian immigration law with Pace Law Firm in Toronto.

Areas of specialization:

  • U.S. and Canadian immigration law

  • International law, immigration, and human rights themes

  • Public speaking and effective presentation skills

  • Journalism and professional communication

  • Immigration writing and thought leadership

  • Cross-border legal perspectives and immigration advocacy

       

This Live webinar program contains 3 hours of EDI Professionalism content from LSO.*

This program contains 3 hours of Approved CPD content from The Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC).

3 hours of Continuing Education (CE) for the mandatory continuing education requirement from the Barreau du Québec**

3 hours of Continuing Education (CE) for the mandatory continuing education requirement from the Law Society of Alberta***

Application for New York accreditation of this course or program is currently pending

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*As EDI Professionalism Hours are a subset of Professionalism Hours, the same EDI hour counts for both EDI and regular Professionalism CPD hours and the extra hours goes toward Substantive CPD Hours.

**After completing the workshop, a 3-hour Continuing Education Certificate will be given to you which can be used to accumulate your Mandatory Continuing Education requirement (FCO) from the Barreau du Québec.  As indicated in the Guide to Mandatory Continuing Professional Development members must complete at least 30 hours of professional development activities related to the practice of law during each two-year reporting period and are responsible for selecting the training activities that best meet their professional development needs.

***After completing the workshop, a 3-hour Continuing Education Certificate will be given to you which can be used to support your Continuing Professional Development requirements with the Law Society of Alberta. As indicated by the Law Society of Alberta’s Continuing Professional Development program, lawyers are responsible for planning and maintaining their professional development and for determining whether a learning activity qualifies as CPD and should be recorded in their CPD Profile/Plan.