State and City Government Ethics Are the Focus of One-Day Conference at NYU Wagner

Numerous states and cities have experienced a cascade of criminal and ethical violations by public servants in recent years. What can policy makers and professionals who interact with city and state government agencies and legislatures do to limit conflicts of interest?

City & State Reports and NYU Wagner on Oct. 31 presented a robust one-day conference that looked closely at how public officials, corporations, attorneys, lobbyists, nonprofits, and the public can work to create incentives, policies, and programs that can prevent problematic interactions with state and city government.

The conference, a training for attorneys which enabled participants to gain a Certificate of Completion from NYU Wagner (and 8.0 New York CLE credits in the area of Ethics), brought together leading   ethics experts and decision-makers from both the public and private sectors to discuss the big ideas and practical solutions. Participants came away with an enlarged understanding of and ability to make a positive impact on the ethical challenges facing individuals and organizations.

The distinguished roster of highly knowledgeable and experienced speakers included:

Cyrus R. Vance Jr., Manhattan District Attorney; Richard Briffault, Chair, New York City Conflicts of Interest Board & Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation at Columbia Law School; Mark Davies, Former Executive Director, New York City Conflicts of Interest Board & Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School; Eleanor Randolph, Contributing Editor, The New York Times, and Visiting Scholar at NYU Wagner; Jennifer Levy, General Counsel–Litigation, Office of NYC Public Advocate; Ivy Walker, Chief Executive Officer, Helios Digital Learning, Inc.; Seth Agata, Executive Director, New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE); Mark Glaser, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig; Kenneth Fisher, Member, Cozen O'Conner; Blair Horner, Legislative Director, New York Public Interest Research Group, and Laurence Levy, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig.