Hanging Your Shingle
August 2013
Hanging Your Shingle
From Getting Your Business off the Ground to Storing Your Data in the Cloud
Program Highlights:
- Starting Your Own Firm-Knowing Whether It's the Right Decision for You
- Writing Your Business Plan
- What Does a Bank Want to See Before It Loans Money or Extends a Line of Credit?
- What Type of Entity Should You Choose When Starting Your Law Firm?
- All Things Accounting and Finance: From Accounts Payable to Billable Hours to Accounts Receivable
- Trust Account Management and Fee Agreements
- Key Aspects of Law Practice Management
- Manage Your Malpractice Exposure
- Professionalism and the Importance of Finding a Mentor
- Marketing and Business Development
- Technology: Your First Partner
- The Importance of Social Media in Starting Your Own Firm
- Ethics of Social Media
Program Description:
Starting your own law firm means not only knowing how to practice law, but also knowing how to run a business. Whether you just graduated from law school or have been practicing for many years, you probably have not learned a lot about how to run a business.
That is where the CBA/CLE Hanging Your Shingle Program comes in.
Nowhere else in Colorado are you going to get this kind of expertise and these resources to get your law firm off the ground. This comprehensive seminar is your toolbox for building the career and the life you have envisioned.
From writing your business plan to getting a line of credit, from balancing your books to billing hours, from avoiding malpractice to being savvy in social media ---you will leave this program with the inspiration, confidence and resources you need to build and control your future.
Find out why past participants had this to say about the program:
“One of the most enjoyable and useful [seminars] I have ever attended in my 24 years in law.”
“The whole presentation was well done.”
“It speaks to all the issues.”
You can start your own practice … and you can be wildly successful ... beyond anything you have imagined.
Agenda:
Thursday, August 15th
THE LOGISTICS OF GETTING STARTED
8:15am
Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:55am
Welcome and Introduction
Extended by Gerald D. Pratt, Esq., Program Moderator, and David Little, Esq., Program Chair
9:00 - 9:20am
Starting Your Own Firm-Is It the Right Decision for You?
Presented by Marie Drake, Esq.
9:20 - 10:00am
Writing Your Business Plan
Presented by Qusair Mohamedbhai, Esq., and Siddhartha Rathod, Esq.
10:00 - 10:30am
What Does a Bank Want to See Before It Loans Money or Extends a Line of Credit?
Presented by Kelly Condon, Regional President
10:30 - 10:45am
Networking Break
10:45 - 11:45am
Choice of Entity When Forming a Business
Options; Tax Considerations; Partnership and Operating Agreements
Presented by Jacqueline Benson, Esq.
11:45- 1:00pm
Lunch Break (On Your Own)
1:00 - 2:00pm
Accounting and Financial Controls Part I
- Trust vs. Operating: Account Reconciliations
- Billing and Maintaining Your Accounts Receivable
- Optimizing the Billing and Collection Cycle
- Accounts Payable: Recording, Keeping, Maintaining and IRS Requirements
- Cash vs. Accrual Accounting Methods
- Monthly Reports: Billable Hours, Accounts Receivable and Projections
- Understanding How to Read a Financial Statement
- Year-End Tasks and Responsibilities
Presented by Linda Gross, Firm Administrator
2:00 - 3:00pm
Accounting and Financial Controls Part II
- Importance of Having a Plan
- Advantages of a Business Plan
- Advantages of Budgeting
- Financing the Start-Up Period
- Tax Considerations
- Evaluating Costs of Doing Business
- Death and Taxes
- Being an Employer and Employment Controls
- Setting Billing Rates and Billing
- Monitoring the Evolving Plan
Presented by Ron Seigneur, MBA CPA/ABV, ASA, CVA, CFF
3:00 - 3:15pm
Networking Break
3:15 - 4:15pm
Musings from the Other Side
Fee Agreements, Trust Accounts and Some Practical Advice
Presented by Nancy Cohen, Esq.
4:15pm
Adjourn to Networking Reception at the Warwick Hotel Sponsored by the Colorado Bar Association Solo/Small Firm Section
Friday, August 16th
YOUR LAW FIRM AS A BUSINESS
9:00 - 10:15am
Key Aspects of Law Practice Management - A Checklist for Opening a Law Office
- Form of Organization: Proprietor, LLC, LLP, PC, S Corporation
- Banking Arrangements
- Space Considerations
- Personnel: Attorneys, Paralegals, Support Staff
- Telecommunications
- Computer Technology
- Accounting System - Timekeeping and Billing
- Furniture and Equipment
- Library and File Room
- Insurance
- Governmental Reporting
- Transfer of Client Files
- Marketing - Announcements, Website
- Collateral Materials - Stationery, Business Cards, Supplies, etc.
Presented by John “Jack” Hanley, Executive Director
10:15 - 10:30am
Networking Break
10:30am - 11:30am - 1.2 Ethics Credits
Managing Your Malpractice Exposure
- Attorney/Client Relationship
- Identifying the Client
- Duties to Clients and Non-clients
- Avoiding or Limiting Liability
- Malpractice Exposures
- Risk Management
- Malpractice Insurance
Presented by John Palmeri, Esq.
11:30am - 1:00pm
Networking Lunch (Lunch for Purchase)
1:00 - 2:00pm - 1.2 Ethics Credits
Professionalism and the Importance of Finding a Mentor
Presented by John Baker, Esq.
2:00 - 3:00pm
Marketing and Business Development for Small and Solo Firms
- How Clients Buy Legal Services (and How It is Changing)
- Creating an Effective Marketing Strategy
- Crafting a Value Proposition and Unique Brand Messaging
- Cost Effective Websites, Blogs and e-Marketing
- Social Networking, Including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter
- Business Development Tactics That Increase Your Odds for Winning Work You Love to Do
Presented by Mark Beese, President
3:00 - 3:15pm
Networking Break
3:15 - 4:45pm
From the Trenches: A Panel Presentation of Practical Advice and Traps to Avoid
Presented by:
Barbara Cashman, Esq.
Marie Drake, Esq.
David Graf, Esq.
QusairMohamedbhai, Esq.
Siddhartha Rathod, Esq.
Moderator:
Gerald D. Pratt, Esq.
4:45pm
Adjourn
Saturday, August 17th
TECHNOLOGY
9:00am
Technology: Your First Partner - .4 Ethics Credit
- What Will You Need and What Does It Cost?
- Defining Your Needs in Relation to Your Skills, Budget, Practice and Firm Size
- Key Hardware and Software for Managing a Successful Practice
- Selecting Case Management and Analysis, Timekeeping and Billing Software
- CRPC 1.5: Ethical Issues When Billing
- E-Filing - Supreme Court Replaces Lexis Nexis
- CRPC 7.1 - 5: Establishing a Web Presence
- CRCP 7.1 - 7.5 - Practicing Ethically in a Digital World
- Do's and Don'ts of Dealing with Metadata - CBA Ethics Opinion 119
Presented by Phil Shuey, Esq.
10:00am
Networking Break
10:10am
The Importance of Social Media in Starting Your Own Firm
- How Blogs and Social Media Work for Attorneys
- How to Create a Successful Social Media Strategy for Your Practice
- Social Media Best Practices
- How to Use Social Media to Build Your Referral Networks
Presented by Dustin Ruge, Regional Manager
11:00am - 1.2 Ethics Credits
Ethics of Social Media
- Confidentiality
- Avoiding Unintended Client Relationships
- Marketing Through Social Media
- Mining Social Media for Evidence
- Really Dumb Things Lawyers (and Judges) Do on Social Media
Presented by Charles Luce, Esq.
12:00pm
Adjourn
Program Chair
David Little, Esq.
Montgomery Little &Soran, PC
Greenwood Village, CO
Program Moderator
Gerald D. Pratt, Esq.
Pratt & Landry, LLP
Lone Tree, CO
Faculty
John Baker, Esq., Director
Colorado Attorney
Mentoring Program
Colorado Supreme Court
Denver, CO
Mark Beese, President
Leadership for Lawyers, LLC
Evergreen, CO
Jacqueline Benson, Esq.
Moye White, LLP
Denver, CO
Barbara Cashman, Esq.
Barbara Cashman, LLC
Centennial, CO
Nancy Cohen, Esq.
MiletichCohen PC
Denver, CO
Kelly Condon, Regional President
Colorado Business Bank
Denver, CO
Marie Drake, Esq.
The Drake Law Firm, PC
Denver, CO
Moeller Graf PC
Englewood, CO
Linda Gross, Firm Administrator
Fleishman & Shapiro PC
Denver, CO
John "Jack" Hanley, Executive Director
Reilly Pozner LLP
Denver, CO
Charles Luce, Esq.
Moye White, LLP
Denver, CO
Qusair Mohamedbhai, Esq.
Rathod | Mohamedbhai, LLC
Denver, CO
John Palmeri, Esq.
Gordon & Rees, LLP
Denver, CO
Siddhartha Rathod, Esq.
Rathod | Mohamedbhai, LLC
Denver, CO
Dustin Ruge, Regional Manager
Thomson Reuters - FindLaw / Super Lawyers
Scottsdale, AZ
Ron Seigneur, MBA CPA/ABV, ASA, CVA, CFF
Seigneur Gustafson LLP
Lakewood, CO
Phil Shuey, Esq.
Phil J. Shuey PC
Greenwood Village, CO
Thank you to our 2013 Sponsors!
- Agren Blando Court Reporting & Video, Inc.
- LawBank
- Watson
Sponsorship opportunities are still available! Please contact Barbara Hollingsworth, [email protected]for more information.
Location Information
CLECI Large Classroom
1900 Grant Street, Suite 300
Denver, CO 80203
Get directions
1900 Grant Street, Suite 300
Denver, CO 80203
Registration Fees
| Non Member | $339.00 |
| CBA Member | $299.00 |
| CBA Solo Small Firm Section Member | $269.00 |
| New Lawyer Non Section Member | $249.00 |
| Paralegal/Legal Support Staff | $249.00 |
| New Lawyer CBA Solo Small Firm Section Member (in practice <3 yrs) | $149.00 |
| CLEACCESSPASS | $59.00 |
- General Credits: 15.00
- Ethics Credits: 4.00
- EDI Credits:
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