The Attorney’s Handbook Playbook: Adaptive Drafting Strategies, Critical Policies, Structural Choices, Risk Management, and Compliance (2026 Edition)
Chelsea's practice focuses on advising employers concerning various employment related issues, including compliance with California and federal anti-discrimination, anti-harassment and leave laws, and other human resources practices, as well as negotiating and documenting employment and severance agreements.
Eric Emanuelson, an Associate in Epstein Becker Green’s Washington, D.C. office, and a regular presenter of continuing legal education webinars. Eric counsels multi-state employers on all facets of employment law, with an eye towards minimizing risk and achieving optimal workplace outcomes.
2 hour CLE
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Program Summary
Employee handbooks are written to shield employers, yet the provisions counsel inherits from old templates increasingly do the opposite — handing plaintiffs admissions, undercutting at-will status, and carrying outdated language that creates more exposure than it prevents. The 2026 cycle forces the issue: shifting anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and leave obligations, the tightening interaction between the ADA and state and federal leave laws, expanding equal pay requirements, and WARN Act exposure that triggers the moment a reduction in force begins. Any lawyer advising a multi-state employer off a handbook drafted before these developments is carrying risk that surfaces only once a claim lands. Chelsea Hoffman and Eric Emanuelson map effective handbook structure and formatting, the critical policies that belong in, the provisions that create avoidable liability, and the specific 2026 updates that cannot wait. You leave able to audit a handbook for the gaps and stale language that turn protection into liability — and redraft it to function as shield, not sword.
What Will You Learn
Attorneys will learn approaches for drafting handbooks aligned with an ever-changing legal environment, including critical policies, formatting strategies, and 2026 legal developments requiring updates.
What Will You Gain
They will gain practical strategies for designing and maintaining a handbook that balances guidance and protection without creating unnecessary risk, supporting a productive and compliant workplace.
Key topics to be discussed:
- Respectful workplace
How handbooks promote a respectful work environment while helping shield the organization. - Structure & formatting
Recommended approaches to organizing and formatting an effective employee handbook for clarity. - Critical policies
Critical policies that should be included, along with provisions creating avoidable legal exposure. - 2026 compliance
Keeping your handbook compliant with key legal developments requiring changes for 2026. - Shield and sword
Using a handbook as both a shield and a sword for employers. - Risky provisions
Uncovering underestimated gaps and eliminating provisions that create more risk than benefit.
This course is co-sponsored with myLawCLE.
Date / Time: June 18, 2026
- 2:00 pm – 4:10 pm Eastern
- 1:00 pm – 3:10 pm Central
- 12:00 pm – 2:10 pm Mountain
- 11:00 am – 1:10 pm Pacific
Closed-captioning available
Speakers
Chelsea Hoffman | Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Chelsea’s practice focuses on advising employers concerning various employment related issues, including compliance with California and federal anti-discrimination, anti-harassment and leave laws, and other human resources practices, as well as negotiating and documenting employment and severance agreements. Chelsea also counsels clients on their employment policies, and performs trainings on all aspects of employment conduct, including California-mandated sexual harassment training, discrimination training, and training on the interplay of the Americans with Disability Act with state and federal leave laws. In addition, Chelsea advises employers on hiring and termination decisions, including those where federal and state WARN requirements are triggered, and handling performance deficiencies and evaluations.
Eric Emanuelson | Epstein Becker Green
Eric Emanuelson, an Associate in Epstein Becker Green’s Washington, D.C. office, and a regular presenter of continuing legal education webinars. Eric counsels multi-state employers on all facets of employment law, with an eye towards minimizing risk and achieving optimal workplace outcomes.
Clients turn to him for assistance reviewing handbooks, compliance with equal pay laws, support for reductions in force, and information regarding the latest federal, state, and local employment law developments. In addition to day-to-day employment counseling, Eric leads workplace training programs on anti-harassment and workplace conduct, assists clients with internal investigations, and conducts employment-related due diligence for corporate transactions.
Agenda
Session I – Balancing Compliance and Clarity in Employee Handbooks | 2:00pm – 3:00pm
- How employee handbooks promote a respectful work environment while helping shield the organization
- Recommended approaches to organizing and formatting an effective handbook
- Critical policies that should be included, along with provisions that may create avoidable legal exposure
- Keeping your handbook compliant, including key legal developments that may require changes to your handbook for 2026
Break | 3:00pm – 3:10pm
Session II – Handbook Provisions That Safeguard You and That Present Risks | 3:10pm – 4:10pm
- Exploring areas of concern in 2025 and expected trends in 2026
- A handbook as a shield and a sword
- Uncovering gaps that are often missing or underestimated
- Eliminating provisions that create more risk than benefit
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