Seminar Descriptions and Schedule
9:30 a.m.
Keynote with William R. (Billy) Martin, Principal at Miles & Stockbridge, PC.
10:00 - 10:50 a.m.
Good Billing Habits: What They Don't Teach You in Law School
Presenter: Claude E. Ducloux, LawPay
From the initial consultation to final billing process, it is imperative that attorneys develop good habits in keeping, reporting, and billing their time. Learn how to set your hourly rate, create your budget, properly report billable hours, and more. To ensure on-time payments, we will discuss current trends in the legal industry, including online payments and the LawPay solution.
Key takeaways:
- Good habits in keeping, reporting, and billing your time
- The billing process and best practices
- Online payments and the LawPay solution
- Slides for Good Billing Habits: What They Don't Teach You in Law School
- Good Billing Habit Presentation Audio
Why You Must Generate Trust in Your Legal Marketing Videos in Order to Meet Your Ideal Client Online
Presenter: Gerry Oginski, The Lawyer's Video Studio and The Law Office of Gerald Oginski, LLC
In this program you'll learn:
- Why trust is the most important component of your marketing message
- Why failing to generate credibility and trust with your ideal viewer means they'll go elsewhere
- How to generate trust with an online viewer in only 2–3 minutes, and more
- No program handouts.
10:15 - 11:15 a.m.
Data Security for Small Firms and Solo Practitioners (CLE)
Presenter: Allison Lefrak, Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Data security should be an important area of concern for all legal professionals. This course will cover various data security and privacy laws and the measures that small firms and solo practitioners need to take to protect their clients' and employees' personal, confidential, and sensitive information. The course also will highlight efforts and privacy initiatives undertaken by the FTC.
- Handout #1 - Copier Data Security: A Guide for Businesses
- Handout #2 - Small Business Scams
- Handout #3 - Security Breach Notification Laws
- Handout #4 - Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business
- Handout #5 - Start with Security: A Guide for Business
10:30 - 11:20 a.m.
Mining Social Media for Evidence
Presenter: Nicole Black, MyCase
Review recent ethics opinions and resources on using social media to obtain information for litigation. Topics include how to ethically review social media for evidence and using social media to research jurors.
- Slides for Mining Social Media for Evidence
- Ethically Mining Social Media for Information and Evidence Audio
- Handout #1 - ABA on Lawyers Mining Social Media for Evidence
- Handout #2 - Courts Still Grapple with Social Media Evidence Discovery
- Handout #3 - Decision of Mining Social Media for Evidence
11:00 - 11:50 a.m.
Fee Sharing the Right Way
Presenter: Hope C. Todd, District of Columbia Bar
In October 2015, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals amended D.C. Rule 7.1 to prohibit the payment of referral fees. Come to this interactive session to learn the answers to such burning questions as: Can lawyers in different firms still refer cases to one another? Can they share legal fees? What if one lawyer only refers the case to the second lawyer, but does no other work? Can a lawyer pay her paralegal for bringing in firm clients? And what about online marketing and lawyer referral services? Can a lawyer share fees with them? This session will help you navigate the D.C. Rules and legal ethics opinions on referrals and fee sharing arrangements to keep you out of ethical hot water.
- Slides for Fee Sharing the Right Way
- Ethics of Lawyer Advertising and Fee Sharing in DC Audio Presentation
What Solos and Small Firms 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 addresses these questions and 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.
11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
Encryption Is Now Cheap and Simple—and May Be Ethically Required
Presenters: Sharon Nelson and John Simek, Sensei Enterprises Inc.
Five years ago, encryption was genuinely cumbersome to use and was not a de facto standard of protecting data. including e-mail, in most enterprises. More than half of all Americans had their data exposed to hackers from July 2014 to July 2015. Now that encryption is simple to use—and inexpensive—there are a number of legal ethicists who believe that encryption, in some cases, is ethically required under Model Rules 1.1 and 1.6. Let our experts decrypt the mysteries of encryption for you so that you can securely protect your confidential data.
- Slides for Encryption Is Now Cheap and Simple—and May Be Ethically Required
- Handout - Encryption Is Now Cheap and Simple—and May Be Ethically Required
- Video Presentation: Encryption Is Now Cheap and Simple and May Be Ethically Required
iPad for Lawyers: Technology in the Courtroom
Presenter: Judge Herbert Dixon Jr., D.C. Superior Court
D.C. Superior Court Judge Herbert Dixon, Jr. will demonstrate the use of the iPad to enhance the effectiveness of courtroom presentations. He also will discuss techniques you should consider with both your own device and equipment typically available in a technology-enhanced courtroom. Although Judge Dixon will conduct this session using an iPad, the techniques and other considerations he will discuss are equally appropriate for other types of tablets, laptops, and phablets.
- Slides for iPad for Lawyers: Technology in the Courtroom
- Handout #1 - The Evolution of a High-Technology Courtroom
- Handout #2 - PowerPoint Jury Instructions
- Handout #3 - Technology and the Courts
Lunch
Fastcase 7 Preview
1:30 - 2:20 p.m.
Delivering an "Effortless Experience" to Your Clients
Presenter: Jack Newton, Clio
This talk will describe how you can leverage cloud computing to deliver an entirely new experience to your clients. Learn how Uber, Airbnb, Amazon, and other companies deliver "effortless experiences" and how these strategies can be employed in your work.
- Slides for Delivering an "Effortless Experience" to Your Clients
- Audio Presentation: Delivering an "Effortless Experience" to Your Clients
Magnetize Your Law Practice With LinkedIn
Presenter: Tasha (TC) Cooper, LawyersLaunchPad.com and UpwardAction, LLC
LinkedIn is a powerful social platform for lawyers that can add tremendous value to your practice, if you know how to leverage it. Join TC Cooper as she shares practical tips for using LinkedIn groups, company pages, and your personal profile to magnetically attract your ideal clients. You'll walk away with a clear plan of action for using LinkedIn to increase your impact on your online audience, including potential new clients.
- Slides for Magnetize Your Law Practice With LinkedIn
- Video Presentation: Five Things You Must Know to Use LinkedIn Effectively
- Video Presentation: How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
2:00 - 2:50 p.m.
Choosing the Right Business Entity for Your Law Firm
Presenter: Heather Batzel, Batzel Law PLLC
You're ready to create a law firm. Should it be a sole proprietorship or general partnership, or should you form a corporation, LLC, or LLP? What's the difference and why does it matter? What considerations are specific to lawyers forming law firms? Batzel will tackle these questions and more, including practical guidance on complying with applicable provisions of the D.C. Code.
- Slides for Choosing the Right Business Entity for Your Law Firm
- Audio Presentation: Choosing the Right Business Entity for Your Law Firm
Streamline and Organize Your Client Intake Process by Leveraging Technology
Presenter: Michael Chasin, Lexicata
Explore the common pitfalls of the traditional client intake method and discuss how technology will help your firm improve efficiency and overall client communication while saving you time and money, and growing your revenues.
- Audio Presentation: Streamline and Organize Your Client Intake
2:30 - 3:20 p.m.
Legal Research for the Rest of Us
Presenter: Morgan Morrissette Wright, Fastcase
Legal research does not have to be costly and time consuming. There are more free and low-cost alternatives for conducting legal research than ever before. This presentation will explore many of these options, with a special emphasis on Fastcase, an online legal research database that is a free member benefit available to all active members of the D.C. Bar.
Strategies for Creating Compelling Content When You Have No Time
Presenter: Tasha (TC) Cooper, LawyersLaunchPad.com and UpwardAction, LLC
Compelling content is important to having an influential digital brand. Join this session to learn practical tips for creating content that is of value to the reader, serves your online community, expands your influence, and makes the most efficient use of your time. You'll walk away with a clear plan of action for making digital content work for you.
- Slides for Strategies for Creating Compelling Content When You Have No Time
- Video Presentation: Strategies for Creating Compelling Content
3:00 - 3:50 p.m.
10 Most Expensive Tax Mistakes That Cost Attorneys Thousands!
Presenter: Kim Bey, CPA, Bey & Associates, CPA, PC
Experience has taught us that many small law firm owners waste thousands of dollars every year in taxes they really don't need to pay. During this session you 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].
The Perils & Pitfalls of Law Firm Accounting
Presenter: Rick Kabra, Ph.D., CosmoLex Cloud, LLC
Compared to a typical small business, the accounting requirements for law firms are unique. The penalties for client trust accounting violations are much worse than a slap on the wrist or even a big fine. Accounting infractions can lead to disbarment, and for many small firm lawyers this means closing your practice. Every law firm should have a "zero tolerance for error" policy in the firm and systems to support it. In this session, you will learn the fundamentals of both business and client trust (including IOLTA) accounting.
3:30 - 4:20 p.m.
Chaos Cures: Planning Around Death of Lawyers (or Their Computers) in a Small Firm
Presenter: Daniel Schumack, Schumack Ryals PLLC
As the profession moves toward digitizing everything, what would happen to your practice if your primary computer died? Do you replicate your data? What would happen to your clients if you died? Where are their files? Where is your calendar? Where are your time sheets? Where are the records that prove what you've earned from client trust accounts? Who knows where you keep digitized records? Who has your passwords or decryption keys? Join us to learn how to prepare the continuity plan that D.C. Rule 1.3 expects of you.
- Slides for Chaos Cures: Planning Around Death of Lawyers (or Their Computers) in a Small Firm
- Handout #1 - D.C. Checklist for Closing a Law Office (Sample Form)
- Handout #2 - Appointment of Executors (Sample Form)
- Handout #3 - Practice Agreement (Sample Form)
- Handout #4 - Special Power of Attorney (Sample Form)
Digital Marketing 101: First Steps to Building Your Online Presence
Presenter: Seth Price, Price Benowitz LLP
Price, managing partner at Price Benowitz, will discuss the issues surrounding how attorneys can use digital marketing to grow their practices and the necessary steps needed to acquire new clients and increase business in the digital age. From social media to blogs and Web sites, he will examine the best practices and common pitfalls when using social media platforms to promote your practice, including choosing the right platform to reach your target audience. The presentation also will explore the fundamental marketing elements of building a firm Web site, the different approaches to creating a successful blog, and strategically using newsletters to maximize the impact on your business. Bring your questions and plan to set goals to take your practice to the next level.
