Seminar Descriptions and Schedule
8:30 a.m.
Registration and breakfast sponsored by LawPay
9:15 a.m.
Keynote: Bringing Artificial Intelligence to the Law by Thomas J. Hamilton, LL.B., B.C.L. of Ross Intelligence
10:00 - 10:50 a.m.
Using Social Media in Litigation: The Ethics and Practicalities
Presenter: Niki Black, MyCase
Social media is impacting litigation in ways never before seen. To provide effective representation to your clients, you must understand how the different platforms work and how to ethically obtain evidence from social media. This presentation will cover recent ethics decisions and ethics resources on using social media to obtain information for litigation. You'll also learn how to ethically mine social media for evidence and how to ethically use social media to research jurors.
- ABA on lawyers mining social media for evidence
- Courts still grapple with social media evidence discovery
- Decision of mining social media for evidence
- D.C. Bar on mining social media for evidence and more
- NYSBA issues updated social media guidelines for lawyers
- Researching social media for evidence (Part 1)
- Researching social media for evidence (Part 2)
- Judges weigh in on researching jurors online
Tax Planning for Lawyers: 7 Expensive Tax Mistakes that Cost Lawyers Thousands
Presenter: Kim Bey, Bey & Associates, CPAs, PC
Experience has taught us that many small firm owners waste thousands of dollars every year in taxes they really don't owe. During this session participants will learn key tax strategies including: how to avoid making the single most expensive tax mistake of all; how to slash the risk of an IRS audit; how to qualify for home office deductions; retirement savings strategies and much more.
To receive more information about this program, including program materials, please contact the speaker directly at [email protected].
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Hands-on: Performing a Market Audit Using Google Analytics
Presenters:Conrad Saam of Mockingbird Marketing and a Representative from Google
During this session, we will layout a framework for law firms to accurately track the efficacy of various marketing channels. We'll discuss various conversion types - phone, form fills, chat and even text messages and learn how to tie new matters back to the specific marketing channel.
10:20 - 11:20 a.m.
That's a UPL Violation? Really? (CLE)
Presenter: Daniel Schumack, Schumack Ryals, PLLC
This one hour course will explore fairly common activities that – to the great horror and surprise of audience members – may result in a disciplinary sanction for the unauthorized practice of law. We will address six common UPL violations that emerge out of: (1) advertising in a jurisdiction where you are not licensed; (2) sending a letter (or email) into a jurisdiction where you are not licensed; (3) claiming an office address in a jurisdiction where you are not licensed; (4) working occasionally in a jurisdiction where you are not licensed while imagining this is acceptable because you are working under the direction of a licensed supervisor; (5) claiming federal exemption from state bar regulations without also following the state’s requirements for that exemption; or (6) using “Esq.” on your personal letterhead after you retire. This isn’t just for sole practitioners. Big firm lawyers make these mistakes too.
11:00 - 11:50 a.m.
Standing Out: How to Set Yourself Apart from Other Law Firms
Presenter: Mary Ellen Hickman, Hickman Consulting Partners LLC
Learn how to identify and communicate what makes your firm different from other law practices; how to express the value you give your clients in dollars and cents (and charge more); and how giving potential clients a choice helps them choose you.
Ten Tips to Improve Your Law Firm’s Financial Security
Presenter: Rick Kabra, Ph.D., CosmoLex Cloud, LLC
Your clients come to you for competent legal expertise. That’s the easy part. Managing & protecting your finances, now that’s the hard part for just about every small law firm.
The potential for loss permeates your law practice from end-to-end. From billing leakage to growing receivables; from fuzzy accounting compliance to misrecognized revenue; from bank statements that refuse to reconcile to outright fraud.
A systematic approach to finance management is essential. During this session we will demonstrate 10-tips to help you keep your firm’s finances healthy and strong. Finance management and security is one area where every attorney can not afford (literally) to take their eye off the ball.
11:10 a.m. - 12:10 p.m.
Hands-on with Google: How to Use Search Engine Optimization for Your Local Area
Presenters: Conrad Saam of Mockingbird Marketing and a Representative from Google
Local search now drives a large portion of business to law firms. During this session, we'll help attorneys diagnose their NAP (name, address, phone number) issues, count citations and learn how to leverage Google My Business to its fullest. Lawyers will also learn how to deal with fake offices that are being used by out of town lawyers (and even non-lawyers) to siphon business away from local attorneys.
11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
Hot Topics in Social Media Marketing
Presenter: Tasha (TC) Cooper, LawyersLaunchPad.com and UpwardAction, LLC
Social Media is certainly here to stay and it continues to change and evolve at a rapid pace. LinkedIn overhauls its entire platform. Twitter increases its character limit from 140 to 280 characters. Instagram stories become a powerful tool to share your message. Facebook continues to update its algorithms to reduce visibility for business pages and now groups too!
The Internet has become so noisy with junky content that lawyers MUST have a social media and content marketing strategy to get noticed, be heard and attract ideal clients. Join TC Cooper in this 60-minute program as she teaches exactly what you’ve got to know about the new rules for winning influence and clients using social media.
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch: Legal Trends Report - What Every Small Firm Lawyer Should Know (Sponsored by Clio)
Presenter: George Psiharis, Clio
Data has the power to transform industries. Despite being a potential treasure trove of insights, the legal profession has not leveraged data to drive better decisions. The Legal Trends Report changes all of that. In this talk, learn how lawyers have the opportunity to leverage data and technology to become an order of magnitude more productive and to service their clients in a more efficient, effortless fashion. This talk will look at the implications of Comment [8] to Rule 1.1 Competence of the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Focusing on maintaining technical competency in a rapidly changing world, this rule has been enacted by 28 states to date.
1:40 - 2:30 p.m.
Clearing Clutter: Tuning in to Time, Space and Mind
Presenters: Niki Irish and Yvette Mitchell, D.C. Bar Lawyer Assistance Program
Participants will learn techniques to help them manage daily physical and mental clutter to improve productivity and decrease stress. The session will address time, physical/digital work space, and brain space clutter.
- Slides for Clearing Clutter: Tuning in to Time, Space and Mind
- Declutter Resources
- Questions to Ask Yourself
How Instant Discovery is Rescuing Small Firm Lawyers from the Pit of eDiscovery Hell
Presenter: Todd Eastman, Logikcull
eDiscovery can be complex, insecure, and extremely expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. In this session learn what forward-thinking legal professionals are doing to control cost, eliminate risk, and gain the upper hand in litigation. Join Mr. Eastman, Logikcull's VP of Business Development and an industry veteran, to address how cloud-based platforms and the rise of instant Discovery are rescuing attorneys and their staff from eDiscovery hell.
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Hands-on Marketing Audit with Google: How to Use Organic Search Engine Optimization
Presenters: Conrad Saam of Mockingbird Marketing and a Representative from Google
This hands-on session will introduce attendees to the practical tools professional SEOs use daily to audit their SEO campaigns. During this phase, we'll dive into authority, site speed, and review a framework for assessing content effectiveness.
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Ethics: Frequently Asked Questions for Solo and Small Firm Lawyers (CLE)
Hope C. Todd and Erika Stillabower, D.C. Bar Legal Ethics Program
This CLE will pose and answer ethics questions that frequently arise in the legal practices of small firm and solo practitioners. Using hypothetical scenarios loosely based on inquiries to the D.C. Bar Ethics Helpline, legal ethics counsel will guide attendees through the applicable D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct, formal Legal Ethics Opinions, disciplinary cases and best practices to resolve ethical issues ranging from the mundane to the insane. The course will cover such topics as duties to prospective, current and former clients; structuring fee agreements and handling fee disputes; bank accounts, trust money and money in dispute; files; referral fees and fee sharing; advertising, solicitation and using social media; conflicts; withdrawing from representations; communicating with clients; parties represented by counsel and pro se litigants; limited scope representations; and last, but not least, the overarching duty of confidentiality.
2:40 - 3:30 p.m.
Successful Negotiation Strategies: The Psychology of Settlement
Presenter: Claude E. Ducloux, LawPay
This Presentation discusses:
- The biology of decision-making (how your brain works);
- The psychology of decision-making (how you outsmart yourself);
- The seven steps to good decisions;
- Client management and control;
- How to speed up the process with honest and reliable advocacy; and
- Identifying conduct and practice techniques which foster opportunities for settlement at each stage of a conflict.
The Criminal Lawyer and Technology
Presenters: Ada Chan and Mark Rollins, The Rollins and Chan Law Firm
This presentation will focus on:
- marketing for criminal and general law practices in the District of Columbia;
- using technology to remain competitive;
- using cloud based management software to set up templates for documents from engagement letters to motions; and
- using software such as Clio, LawPay, DocuSign, QuickBooks self-employed, WordPress, YouTube, Facebook, Google AdWords, and Ruby Receptionists to manage an efficient law practice in the District of Columbia.
3:10 - 4:10 p.m.
Hands-on: How to Advertise Using Google
Presenters: Conrad Saam of Mockingbird Marketing and a Representative from Google
With budgets ranging from $200 to over $100K a month - Pay per Click (PPC) is a massive driver of business for law firms. We'll learn how to: implement advanced targeting; leverage dynamic bidding strategies; identify under competitive terms; and review Google's expectations for delivering a great customer experience.
3:40 - 4:30 p.m.
How to Use AI to Drive Practice Efficiencies
Presenter: Matthew Volm, Tali
On average, lawyers bill 2.3 hours of time over the course of a workday, yet they work 9 or 10 hours per day. In order to improve efficiency, legal professionals need to focus on automating non-billable, administrative tasks, and there are several processes and tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that can help. During this program, we'll take a look at some of these tools and discuss how you can incorporate them into your practice. Leveraging AI to perform these administrative, manual tasks can help free up time, allowing you to do more of what you ultimately want to do - practice law.
What Small Firm Lawyers Need to Know About Malpractice Insurance
Presenter: Greg Cooke, USI Affinity
Selecting malpractice coverage is important for lawyers in a firm of any size. How much coverage is needed? How much should it cost? How does the cost of defense affect the premium and coverage? How can a fee dispute affect coverage? What happens if the lawyer changes providers? This informative program will explore topics and issues such as where malpractice claims originate; malpractice insurance policies; how to determine appropriate coverage; and selecting a carrier, policy, and broker.
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
After-event (networking hour) sponsored by Carr Work Places.
