OVERVIEW • SEMINARS • SPEAKERS • SPONSORS • ON-DEMAND
8:30 a.m.
Registration and breakfast sponsored by LawPay
9:20 - 9:50 a.m.
Putting "Community" Back in the "Legal Community"
Michelle Cotter Richards, MCR Strategies
Quick, call to mind your most positive memory about your legal career... got it? Chances are, it involves you and at least one other person – maybe it was a mentor, a client, or a vanquished adversary. Much like the rest of society, technology and overload have conspired to create increasing isolation for lawyers.
Start your 2019 Practice 360° off on the right foot by learning more about community and how it can help you, both as a lawyer and a human being, at this fun and invigorating presentation!
10:00 - 10:50 a.m.
Practicing with the Machines
Nicole “Niki” Black, MyCase
Artificial intelligence (AI) for law firms is a hot topic these days, and for good reason. AI has the potential to save lawyers time and money. AI technologies hold the promise of automating the mundane aspects of practicing law, allowing lawyers to focus on more interesting, high level analytical tasks. However, AI software is still in its infancy and has a ways to go before it becomes both useful and affordable for solo and small firm attorneys. The good news is that you don’t need AI software to get started with automating your solo or small firm law practice. There are a host of tools already in existence that will automate your law firm’s processes. In this talk you’ll learn about technologies that will help you streamline your law firm, whether you’re looking to automate document assembly, billing and invoicing processes, or case to-dos and deadlines.
Fastcase Legal Research
Erin Page, FastCase
A hands on tour of Fastcase 7, showing the latest innovations of our Mercury upgrade with sneak peaks of our future features. This program provides an introduction, and general overview of the features available with Fastcase, a Bar member benefit and the leading next-generation legal research service that puts a comprehensive national law library and smarter and more powerful searching, sorting, and visualization tools right at your fingertips. The Fastcase collection includes cases, statutes, regulations, court rules, and constitutions. Fastcase also provides access to a newspaper archive, legal forms, and a one-stop PACER search of federal filings.
10:20 - 11:10 a.m.
Unconscious Bias: The Biology and Psychology of Decision-making
Claude Ducloux, LawPay
So much of the practice of law involves decision-making and convincing others to make better decisions based upon fact rather than emotion. This course is intended to guide you to appreciate how you involuntarily make decisions and help you to recognize and prevent bias. We will also discuss how to effectively communicate with persons whose bias affects others and those with very different opinions.
Marketing for Lawyers: How to Get More Bang for Your Buck!
Conrad Saam, Mockingbird Marketing
This session guides lawyers through a series of easily implementable tactics they can handle on their own and benchmarks for keeping their vendors on task. We cover everything marketing - from defensive branded Google Ads campaigns to improved intakes through mystery shopping to the affordable hardware needed to record and produce high-end video content.
10:20 - 11:20 a.m.
I'm the Best Lawyer in Town and Other Things You Can't (Ethically) Say When Branding or Marketing Your Law Practice (CLE)
Daniel Schumack, Schumack Law Firm
This 1.0 ethics credit hour program explores common missteps that get lawyers into disciplinary trouble, which include surrendering too much control to an outside referral agency, advertising so well targeted that it triggers a solicitation violation, and things other professionals do with their firm names and ad campaigns that the D.C. Bar frowns upon. Join us for this engaging and insightful program that will compare the D.C. ethics rules concerning these topics with those of Maryland, Virginia, and other ABA-following jurisdictions.
11:10 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Law Firm Cybersecurity Briefing
Rebecca Sattin, Worldox
The increasing emphasis on collaboration and security presents today’s law firms with a growing challenge – how do you implement both while maintaining the simplicity that law firms require to ensure user adoption? While these challenges face both large and small firms, they each must implement security in ways that fit their environment, culture, and budget. Learn how to bring your content security to the next level.
Unbundling, Outsourcing and Working with Virtual Help
Nakia Gray, Gray Legal PC
One of the greatest challenges for practitioners is figuring out how to generate more income without burning yourself out. Unbundling, or limited scope representation is an alternative to traditional, full-service representation, and a great way for practitioners to increase profits without getting overwhelmed, enabling you to help more people. In this session, Nakia Gray will share how embracing the changes in technology and the delivery of unbundled legal services allowed her to transition from handling 100% of her practice alone to hiring virtual staff and contract attorneys to build a profitable small law firm.
11:20 a.m. - 12:10 p.m.
How to Increase Your Firm's Profitability and Your Take-home Pay
Mary Ellen Hickman, Hickman Consulting Partners
If you’re not satisfied with your firm’s profitability – or your take-home pay – Ms. Hickman will show you where to find the best opportunities to increase revenue and lower costs. We’ll discuss how to identify the key obstacles to higher profitability, whether in operations, finance, or marketing, and how to cut marketing costs while improving the results of marketing activities. You’ll leave with a practical plan to significantly increase profitability before the end of the year.
Imposter Syndrome: Know It, Name It, Tame It
Denise Perme and Niki Irish, D.C. Bar Lawyer Assistance Program
You are a high achiever and everyone seems to know it, except YOU. Do you ever feel like you are faking your way through accomplishments or don’t deserve them? Do you believe your success is due to luck, timing, or connections? Do you find yourself terrified of making mistakes no matter how far into your career you are? If so, come learn about “imposter syndrome,” the belief of not being good enough that is common among high achievers. This program will explore the impact of imposter syndrome on your career and will provide tips and strategies to embrace a different mindset.
11:40 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
The War Law Firms are Waging Against Data Breaches
Sharon Nelson and John Simek, Sensei Enterprises Inc.
The cone of silence surrounding law firm data breaches shattered several years ago as headlines revealed breaches with increasing frequency. The legal world was rocked when DLA Piper, one of the top 10 firms in the country, was breached. Law firms are at war with garden variety and organized crime hackers – and hackers backed by nation-states. They are hampered by the mistakes of their IT support staff – and by their click-happy employees. The Am Law 100 is spending millions each year on cybersecurity. It truly is a war. Come into the trenches with us and hear the real-life tales of law firm data breaches, how they happened, and how they might have been prevented.
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch sponsored by Clio
Clio’s 2019 Legal Trends Report
Jack Newton, CEO of 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 service their clients in a more efficient, effortless fashion. Research that demonstrates the chasm between lawyer and client expectations has the power to transform the delivery of legal services.
1:40 - 2:30 p.m.
Automating Billing and Accounting for Lawyers: How to Select the Right Solution
Deborah Schaefer, CPA
Selecting and implementing accounting software is critical to the adoption and success of any time and billing system. Proper accounting and recording of all fees and costs that are billed and collected directly impact the earnings of your law firm. There are many potential solutions for law firm billing and accounting, and it is often difficult to decide what is the right solution for you. Join this session to discover how to select your law firm billing and accounting software.
Harnessing the Power of Social Media: What Lawyers Need To Know Today
Tasha Cooper, UpwardAction LLC
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 50-minute program as she teaches exactly what you must know about the new rules for winning influence and clients using social media.
Thriving Not Just Surviving: Boundary Setting in Practice
Denise Perme and Niki Irish, D.C. Bar Lawyer Assistance Program
Building and maintaining a successful law practice requires dedication and hard work. To sustain your peak performance and achieve success, you will need to take care of yourself as well as your clients. Self-care is a challenge for many lawyers. Setting healthy limits in your work relationships, whether with clients or colleagues, is essential. This presentation will teach you why, when and how to set good (strong, clear) boundaries so that you are successful and happy in your law practice.
Using and Managing Experts in Litigation
David Kaplan and Jeff Klenk, Berkeley Research Group
David Kaplan and Jeff Klenk, economic experts at Berkeley Research Group, will discuss the general role of experts in litigation and how to effectively manage experts so that they can provide valuable insight related to the merits of a particular case. Also covered will be how to select the best expert for a case, things to consider when deposing the other side’s experts, and important caveats to remember when using experts.
1:50 - 3:50 p.m.
Using Technology in the Courtroom (CLE)
Hon. Herbert B. Dixon, Jr. (Ret.), Superior Court of the District of Columbia; Kristin Thomas, KT Designs LLC; and Daniel M. Mills, D.C. Bar Practice Management Advisory Service.
Those who attend this 2.0 credit hour program will learn the basics and more of using technology in the courtroom. Our expert faculty will cover what kinds of technology are available to you, the use of technology in complex cases, and budget friendly applications that can help you in trial. Topics include:
- Universal similarities in technology-enhanced courtrooms, including video display systems and document cameras
- How to prepare for the effective use of courtroom technology
- Creating demonstratives, and using them responsibly in the courtroom
- Using technology in complex cases, including contract disputes, automobile accident cases, medical malpractice, and patent infringement
- Technology on a budget or for small cases
- Using the iPad with the popular TrialPad application in the courtroom.
2:50 - 3:40 p.m.
It's Stressful Being a Lawyer! Identifying Stress and Managing It
Bonnie Prober, D.C. Bar Lawyer Assistance Committee Member
The practice of law is stressful. As attorneys, we face a unique set of pressures: endless demands from clients and superiors, adversarial opposing counsel, long hours, tight deadlines, unpredictable schedules, and competition among colleagues. In addition to these workplace stressors, we struggle to balance work, relationships, children, aging parents, financial stress, and other life circumstances. As a result, lawyers experience high levels of stress and anxiety, as well as a host of other stress-related physical and mental health conditions. This presentation will address the symptoms and physiological impact of chronic stress and will explore concrete techniques to help manage and cope with stress. In addition, this presentation will discuss the foundations and benefits of mindfulness, as well as strategies to incorporate mindfulness practice into your daily work routine.
What Small Firms Need to know about Malpractice and Cybersecurity Insurance
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.
3:00 - 3:50 p.m.
Dealing with Difficult Clients and the Ethics of Managing Them
Hope Todd and Erika Stillabower, D.C. Bar Legal Ethics Program
This program focuses on the ethical issues that lawyers wrestle with when dealing with “difficult” clients, a topic that many lawyers are all too familiar with. Specifically, we will focus on identifying, communicating with, and setting boundaries with difficult clients. Additionally, we will consider how Rule 3.3 (Candor to Tribunal) and Rule 4.1 (Truthfulness in Statements to Others), guide and limit lawyers when their clients present ethically challenging behavior. Finally, we will review when and how to withdraw from a representation consistent with Rule 1.16.
Small Firm Technology in Practice: Top Technology Tools to Increase Efficiency
Mark Rollins and Ada Chan, Rollins and Chan Law Firm
Some small law firms have not changed with the times. There has been a revolution in the practice of law which requires lawyers to be efficient while increasing productivity. Small modern law practices need to focus on the cost of legal research, cloud computing, advertising costs, and the automation of the practice of law. This program will focus on developing and maintaining a small modern law practice to suit the modern-day client by using customer relations management software integrated with case management software.
During this program, we will take a case from start to finish using cloud-based software, specifically focusing on the most commonly used software programs including; Clio, MyCase, Lexicata, LawPay, QuickBooks, G Suite, Dropbox, and Microsoft. We will also briefly touch on website development and website management.
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
After-event (networking hour) sponsored by Berkeley Research Group
