The Practice Management Advisory Service of the D.C. Bar presents the Small Firm Lunch and Learn Series. Each program in this series will explore a topic of particular interest to members who are starting, managing, or growing law firms in the District of Columbia.
Sessions take place at noon via Zoom videoconferencing.
October 01 – Lunch and Learn | The Law Firm of the Future: Using AI to Build a Smarter, More Efficient Practice
Presented by Judith Anna Del Cuadro-Zimmerman and Tim Francis
AI can help lawyers work faster, but figuring out where it actually belongs in a law practice can be difficult. What should you automate? What should remain in the hands of a lawyer or staff member? And how can a firm take advantage of new technology while protecting confidential client information and meeting its professional obligations?
Join Judith del Cuadro-Zimmerman, founder of dCZ Legal and co-founder of Law Firm Partners, and Tim Francis, co-founder and CEO of Law Firm Partners, for a practical discussion about how small and midsize firms can approach AI and automation thoughtfully. Drawing in part on lessons learned from implementing these technologies in an operating law practice, they will offer a framework for identifying work that lawyers can delegate, automate, streamline, or eliminate, freeing attorneys to focus on the work that requires their judgment, experience, and relationships.
The presenters will also discuss privacy, confidentiality, security, and other considerations firms should evaluate when selecting and implementing AI tools. They will explore different approaches to building a law firm’s technology stack, including the use of firm-specific AI systems that can help organize and use a firm’s own knowledge and information.
Attend this program to learn how to identify useful opportunities for automation, evaluate AI tools more thoughtfully, and develop an approach to technology that supports both the business of your firm and your obligations to your clients.
This program is a joint production with the Law Practice Management Community of the D.C. Bar.
October 8, 2026 - Lunch and Learn: Thriving Under Pressure | The Predictable Impact of Chronic Stress on Health & Performance
Presented by Mark Brezzell, Founder and CEO of MDB LiveConnext LLC
Legal professionals routinely operate under sustained pressure, demanding workloads, high-stakes decisions, and limited opportunities for recovery. Although stress is often treated as an unavoidable part of legal practice, its effects on the body and brain are predictable, measurable, and increasingly important to professional performance.
“Thriving Under Pressure” examines how chronic stress can influence attention, judgment, emotional regulation, sleep, inflammation, glucose regulation, and cardiovascular health. The session connects medical science with the everyday realities of legal practice, helping attorneys recognize early warning signs and understand why traditional approaches to stress management may fall short.
Participants will leave with practical, evidence-informed strategies for reducing accumulated stress, recovering between demanding interactions, protecting decision quality, and supporting sustainable professional performance. You will learn how to:
- Distinguish short-term, adaptive stress from chronic stress that can undermine health and performance.
- Recognize the physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral warning signs of excessive stress.
- Understand how sustained pressure can affect attention, judgment, memory, emotional regulation, and decision quality.
- Identify connections among chronic stress, disrupted sleep, inflammation, glucose regulation, and cardiovascular risk.
- Apply brief, practical techniques to reduce physiological activation during demanding workdays.
- Use structured recovery strategies between meetings, negotiations, hearings, and other high-pressure interactions.
- Develop healthier daily practices that support resilience, professional effectiveness, and long-term career sustainability.
November 11 – Lunch and Learn | Building a Law Firm That Can Thrive Without You: Planning for Succession and Exit
Many law firm owners spend years building their practices but far less time thinking about what will happen when they are ready to step away. What makes a law firm attractive to a successor or buyer? What can you do now to make a future transition easier for your clients, your team, and yourself? And what if you have five months to prepare instead of five years?
Join Judith del Cuadro-Zimmerman, founder of dCZ Legal and co-founder of Law Firm Partners, and Tim Francis, co-founder and CEO of Law Firm Partners, for a practical discussion about preparing a law firm for an eventual transition. Drawing on their experience with law firm operations and ownership transitions, they will discuss the systems, financial information, client and file management practices, and other building blocks that can make a practice less dependent on its owner and easier to transfer.
The program will also explore different approaches to succession and exit, including transitions in which the departing lawyer remains involved with the firm, as well as ways technology and AI may help firms create more efficient and transferable systems.
Whether retirement is around the corner or years away, attend this program to learn practical steps you can take now to build a more organized, sustainable, and transferable law practice.
This program is a joint production with the Law Practice Management Community of the D.C. Bar.
For more information on this program and other services offered by the Practice Management Advisory Service you may contact Daniel M. Mills or Kaitlin McGee, practice management advisors, at [email protected].
