Category Archives: CLE

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Register Today for the ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference

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Today is your last day to get the early bird pricing to attend the ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference. I have attended each of these conferences and I have always had a great time and learned something. More information can be found here and the complete conference schedule can be found here (downloads as a PDF).

I will admit that I am not an entirely neutral party here. I serve on the planning committee for this conference and I am scheduled to speak there. However, I really do think that this is a great conference and well worth attending.

In addition, one of the sessions that I am speaking at will be unique. This year the Wisconsin Solo and Small Firm Conference is occurring at the same time that our conference is. Thus, on Friday, we are trying something that I am not sure has been tried before. We are doing a joint presentation on working remotely. We are going to have two speakers at the Wisconsin conference and two speakers at our conference and we will be making the same presentation to both conferences at the same time.

Even if you don’t want to see our joint session, please join us for the conference, and sign up today to make sure you get early bird pricing.

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2010 ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference

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The 2010 ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference will be on October 21 through 23 in Springfield, Illinois. We had a great time there last year. I anticipate that year will be even better now that we are in the Hilton. If you don’t have other plans, I urge you to consider attending.

I will be speaking at two sessions. One will be on using Acrobat to help you migrate to a paperless practice. The other is on time and billing and the associated IOLTA issues.

If you can’t attend, you can follow other attendees on Twitter. The hashtag we will be using is #isbassf.

You can find further information here.

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Register for the ISBA Solo & Small Firm Conference

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Don’t forget to register for the ISBA Solo & Small Firm Conference. It is in Springfield again, although not at the same hotel as last year. This time the conference will be at the Hilton. I have attended every ISBA Solo & Small Firm Conference and I think it has gotten better every year.

Register by August 27, 2010 to receive the early bird discount. After that, the registration price increases.

You can download the complete schedule here.

I will be speaking at two sessions. One titled Your Secret Weapon in the War Against Paper: Adobe Acrobat and PDF. The second is titled Your Bottom Line: What You Need to Know about IOLTA and Firm Accounting, Time and Billing.

In addition we will also have the following presentations on the Tech Track:

  • Email Bankruptcy: How to Deal with Email Overload
  • Integrating Technology into the Modern Law Office to Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness Without Spending a Bundle
  • Practicing in the Cloud: Pros and Cons of Software as a Service (SaaS), Online Document Repository and Virtual Law Practice
  • Document Management for the Law Office: Buy It or Build It?
  • The Ethics and Security of Cloud Computing
  • Trial Tech: Taking the Mystery out of Litigation Support Software and Trial Technology Without Breaking the Bank
  • The Barbarians are at the Gate: Securing Your Technology and Your Network
  • Mac in the Law Office: Running a Mac in a Windows World
  • I Have the Power: Using Advanced Legal Features in MS Word

In addition to these programs, the Substantive and the Effective and Ethical Practices Tracks have a variety of excellent programming as well.

You can register for the program here.

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Maybe Blago’s Attorneys Should Have Attended an ISBA CLE

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At Law and Conversation, Helen Gunnarsson is reporting about the motion recently filed by attorneys for Rod Blagojevich. The motion, which seeks to subpoena the President, was supposed to contain redacted information. The information, of course, was not actually redacted, and, instead, was simply covered by black boxes. As Helen notes, both the Tribune and the Sun Times are reporting that this error was caused by a “computer glitch.”

This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard. A “computer glitch” does not cause this problem. The problem is caused because someone did not redact the document properly. There are ways in which a document can be properly redacted, and ways in which it is not properly redacted. Having a document that is improperly redacted is no more a computer glitch than having a document that is properly redacted.

As Helen mentioned in her post, Nerino Petro and I spoke on this issue at the ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference last fall. Additionally, Helen recently wrote about this topic in the ISBA Bar Journal. Further, both Nerino & I reprised our presentation just last week in Chicago. Further, one need not look far to notice the large number of news stories that talk about redaction done wrong.

This is not a complicated task. Further, it is not one that you can ignore. Before the Northern District of Illinois allows you to sign in to the CM/ECF system, it requires you to check a box stating “I understand that, if I file, I must comply with the redaction rules. I have read this notice.”

Clearly this check box does not prevent someone from filing an improperly redacted document. However, it should make attorneys question the fact of whether they have properly redacted the document they are about to upload to the ECF system.

Updated:

I am glad that someone in the mainstream media has finally pointed out that this was not caused by a computer glitch. As Eric Zorn states:

Not to get too fussy, but the computers used in this caper all seem to have performed perfectly. The “glitch,” discovered yesterday at almost the same time by competing reporters, was in the brain of the person on the Blagojevich defense team . . . .

Thanks Eric for pointing this out.

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Legal Technology for Non-Techies

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On April 16, 2010, from 1 to 5:15 pm I will be one of the speakers at a CLE on Legal Technology for Non-Techies. The CLE is through the Illinois State Bar Association and is sponsored by the Standing Committee on Legal Technology and the Senior Lawyers Section. The topics covered include using practice management software, Creating a paperless environment, managing metadata and redaction, and paperless communication with clients.

If you practice in federal court, the information relating to redaction should be especially relevant to you. In the Northern District of Illinois, when you log into the CM/ECF system, you are greeted with the following:

Redaction Notice Northern District Illinois

If you don’t understand how to properly redact your documents, you run the risk of running afoul of these rules. If you are not sure about your redaction knowledge, I urge you to attend our presentation.

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Upcoming Events

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Just a note to let people know where I will be speaking in the near future.

Tomorrow, October 8, 2009, I will be speaking on Setting up your Practice: Equipment and Systems for the ISBA at a CLE on the Business Side of the Criminal Law Practice. Tomorrow’s CLE is at the Chicago Regional Office of the ISBA. A week later, I am doing the same presentation in Bloomington.

Later in the month, the ISBA is presenting the 5th Annual Solo and Small Firm Conference. There I will be presenting on Technology and Services that Every Lawyer Needs to Run the Office and The Hidden Danger: How Failing to Understand Metadata and Redaction in Electronic Documents can Ruin your Day.

I encourage you to attend the Solo Small Firm. I have been there every and have enjoyed it every time. You still have time to register. Just click here.

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Thinking of Hanging Out Your Own Shingle? Please Join Us.

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I am honored to have been asked to present for the Illinois State Bar Association at a seminar called Hanging Out Your Shingle (Without Hanging Yourself). The program will be presented at the Northern Illinois Conference Center at 8500 East State St., Rockford, Illinois on Friday, March 27, 2009.

I will be speaking on setting up your operations, with a concentration on computers and other equipment. My program is described as:

Establishing a 21st century law practice raises a variety of technology issues that every private practitioner must consider in their efforts to provide efficient and competent legal services. In this segment, the speaker will provide tips on acquiring office equipment, purchasing a computer system, filing electronically, conducting a mobile practice, and handling phone calls 24/7.

I gave a similar presentation last June and enjoyed myself. I am looking forward to this one as well.

The program is geared for new solo or small firm lawyers and, in addition to my subject, will also cover topics such as Getting and keeping good clients; Treating your law firm like a business; Setting up your office space; and Billing, fees, and collections.

If you are a new solo or small firm attorney, I urge you to check out the program and join us on March 27 for a great program.

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A Great CLE Idea

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I love what the people at Mentor CLE are doing. They make their presentations available for free on the Internet. If you want credit for them you simply pay $19.95 per hour.

Recently they added their newest product, a daily three minute audio report on recent developments in the law. You can choose to receive the daily reports via email or cell phone. Alternatively, you can simply listen to them on your computer.

The email I received announcing this service stated:

A convenient new type of MCLE course is now available for Illinois lawyers.

The MentorCLE Daily Briefing is a three-minute audio report on recent developments in the law – delivered to your computer or cell phone each day.

By listening to the reports, you earn one hour of Illinois approved MCLE credit each month, which adds up to 24 hours each two-year reporting period. If you can’t listen some days, you can always go back and listen later. We even offer a weekend wrap-up of all of the week’s reports, for those attorneys who would prefer to listen once a week rather than daily.

I think the model that Mentor CLE has adopted is great. It allows you to listen to presentations for educational purposes and/or credit purposes. The new feature with the daily briefing is simply an additional benefit that will allow you to fulfill much of your CLE requirements both easily and inexpensively.
I would like to see the service offer the both the daily updates and the video presentations as downloads to be viewed or listened to on a portable device. Additionally, the daily updates would be perfect for delivery as a podcast via RSS.

Regardless, if you are an Illinois attorney, I urge you to check out the offerings from Mentor CLE.

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ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference Starts Today

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ISBA Solo Small Firm 2008I don’t know what your plans for today are, but I am headed to the ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference. I will be speaking at two sessions. Today I am speaking with Nerino Petro on online applications and Software as a Service (SaaS). On Saturday, I am again speaking with Nerino, Todd Flaming, and Adam Nelson and we are presenting 60 tips in 60 minutes.

If are you attending the conference stop by and say hi. if you are not planning on attending, you should. I have attended every year and learned something every year. It is a great opportunity to meet people and get some MCLE credits at the same time.

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Time to Register for 2008 ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference

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I just received the registration brochure for the 2008 ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference. This is shaping up to be another great conference and I am really looking forward to it. There are three programing tracks with lots of good programs and speakers scheduled. I urge you to attend if at all possible.

If you register before July 15, you can take advantage of the early bird discount.

You can find out more information about the conference here. You can download the registration brochure here.