Hanging Your Shingle: Successfully Launching and Running Your Own Practice - In-Person
This program is where Colorado’s small and solo firms get their start. Discover what it takes to open and run your own practice—where to work, how to market, how to price your services, and how to choose technology to keep it all running. Taught by attorneys who have started their own firms and live to tell the tale. Don’t put it off another year —the time is now to start the practice you’ve always wanted.
- Marketing strategies and ethics
- Dig deep into how pricing can create a practice that meets your needs
- Network with other aspiring solo attorneys
- 7 Ethics Credits, including trust funds, intake procedures, and more
CBA-CLE will email webinar access information 24-48 hours before the program.
Home studies will be available 2-3 weeks following the live program.
CBA-CLE is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, and employment. To request an accommodation please contact [email protected] at least 14 business days in advance.
The program is accredited in Colorado. CBA-CLE staff can provide a Uniform Certificate of Attendance, and it is the attendee's responsibility to complete the accreditation outside of Colorado.
Thank you to our valued Sponsor!
LawPay & MyCase
Wednesday, August 14
8:00 – 8:30 AM
Registration and Coffee
8:30 – 8:40 AM
Introduction: You Have Options - Traditional or Modern
Welcome and congratulations! You’re doing something brave today. This is the first step towards opening your law firm. And you get to decide what that firm looks like.
Extended by Erika Holmes, Esq., ELHolmes Legal Solutions, LLC, and Gerald Pratt, Esq., Law Office of Gerald D. Pratt, P.C., Program Co-Chairs
8:40 – 9:30 AM
First Steps in Starting a Business and a Firm
A small or solo practice isn’t just a law firm, it’s also a small business. Learn how two business attorneys (and Hanging Your Shingle alums!) formed their own firms, and how their understanding of business law concepts such as business entity selection informed them in the early days of their practices.
Presented by Trevor Crow, Esq., and Stan Doida, Esq., Doida Crow Legal, LLC
9:30 – 10:20 AM
Where to Work
Office share? Office? Work from home? The options are limitless these days. Learn the critical systems that you need to run a firm and discover the ethics of working from anywhere.
Presented by Erika Holmes, Esq., ELHolmes Legal Solutions, LLC, and Jay Kamlet, Esq., Kamlett, LLP
Submitted for 0.5 Professional Responsibility Credits
10:20 – 10:30 AM
Morning Break
10:30 – 11:20 AM
Accounting & Bookkeeping
How to bill clients and ensure that your bills get paid.
Presented by Steven Libhart, Numbers Matter LLC
11:20 – 12:10 PM
Bank Accounts (1.0)
Learn the basics of ethical money management, including rules for operating and trust accounts, and how to define or determine when a fee is earned.
Presented by Michele Melnick, Esq., Assistant Regulation Counsel, Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, Denver, CO
Submitted for 1 Professional Responsibility Credit
12:10 – 1:10 PM
Lunch on your own
1:10 – 2:00 PM
Ethics Basics for Solo and Small Firm Life
Learn common ethical issues faced by solo and small firm lawyers and discover how to create office policies that will help you exercise your duties as an attorney. Includes discussions of confidentiality, informed consent, and file retention.
Presented by Nicole M. Black, Esq., Cohen|Black Law
Submitted for 1 Professional Responsibility Credit
2:00 – 2:50 PM
Marketing
a) Marketing Plan
b) Branding
c) Website
Presented by Dustin Ruge, Law Leaders
(Not offered for CLE Credit)
2:50 – 3:15 PM
Ethical Considerations of Marketing
Presented by Erika Holmes, Esq., ELHolmes Legal Solutions, LLC
Submitted for 0.5 Professional Responsibility Credits
3:15 – 3:25 PM
Afternoon Break
3:25 – 4:15 PM
Networking
Your network is the lifeblood of your practice. Learn tips and tricks for networking, whether you consider yourself to be an introvert, extrovert, or somewhere in the middle.
Presented by Josh Fitch, Esq., Toxel Fitch Law, and Laurie Gilbertson, Esq., Tribeca Blue Consulting
(Not offered for CLE Credit)
4:15 PM
Adjourn
Thursday, August 15
9:00 – 9:50 AM
Client Intake
How to develop a system for checking for potential conflicts, and how to screen potential clients to ensure that you can provide what they need, and to ensure that they will not become problem clients.
Presented by Jessica Bednarz, Esq., Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System
9:50 – 10:40 AM
Limited Scope
Limited scope representation is a great tool for solo attorneys to provide customized service packages to clients. Learn the benefits of offering limited scope representation, and the ethics behind limiting the scope of your representation.
Presented by Erika Holmes, Esq., ELHolmes Legal Solutions, LLC
Submitted for 0.5 Professional Responsibility Credits
10:40 – 10:50 AM
Morning Break
10:50 – 11:40 AM
Pricing, Part 1
Billable hours aren’t the only way. Learn the basics of value based pricing, where you sell value rather than time to your clients.
Presented by Jessica Bednarz, Esq., Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, and Lauren Lester, Esq., Lester Law, LLC
11:40 AM – 1:00 PM
Networking Lunch
Grab a box lunch and sit down for a chat with your new network of solo practitioners.
1:00 – 1:50 PM
Pricing, Part 2
Imagine a law firm that offers up-front pricing, based on the value provided to the client, rather than the to-be-determined amount of time the attorney is going to spend on a matter. Discover how to offer this pricing model to perspective clients, and the ethics of flat fee representation.
Presented by Jessica Bednarz, Esq., Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, and Lauren Lester, Esq., Lester Law, LLC
Submitted for 0.5 Professional Responsibility Credits
1:50 – 2:40 PM
Fee Agreements: Scoping and Setting Expectations
A good fee agreement is the best thing you can have in your client file. Learn how to draft a fee agreement that sets client expectations, and accurately describes the scope of your representation.
Presented by Alan Obye, Esq., Senior Assistant Regulation Counsel, Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel
Submitted for 0.5 Professional Responsibility Credits
2:40 – 2:50 PM
Afternoon Break
2:50 – 3:40 PM
Law Firm Tech, Part 1
Discover your options for case management, task management, calendar management, and document management solutions.
Presented by Lauren Lester, Esq., Lester Law, LLC, and Christina Gilbertson, Esq., Gilbertson Law Office
3:40 – 4:30 PM
Law Firm Tech, Part 2
Tech solutions that allow you to automate tasks, accept e-signatures, track your time, create a website that allows clients to upload documents and information, and protect yourself from cyber attacks.
Presented by Lauren Lester, Esq., Lester Law, LLC, Christina Gilbertson, Esq., Gilbertson Law Office
Submitted for 0.5 Professional Responsibility Credits
4:30 – 6:00 PM
Networking Happy Hour sponsored by the Colorado Bar Association Solo/Small Firm Section.
Friday, August 16
9:00 – 9:50 AM
Wellness
Discover resources available to Colorado attorneys who need mental health assistance, want to find a mentor, or otherwise need to find balance and support in the inevitable stressful times.
Presented by J. Ryann Peyton, Esq., Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program (CAMP), and Carrie Bowers, CAS, Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program (COLAP)
Submitted for 1 Professional Responsibility Credit
9:50 – 10:50 AM
Panel: Practical Advice and Traps to Avoid
Hear from the folks who have done it and lived to tell the tale. A panel of solo and small firm founders will discuss the joys and challenges of running your own firm.
Speakers to be Named
10:50 – 11:00 AM
Morning Break
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Professionalism
Judge Adam Espinosa will close the week out with an inspiring discussion of professionalism, rooted in the Colorado Attorney Oath of Admission.
Presented by The Honorable Adam Espinosa, Denver District Court
Submitted for 1.2 Professional Responsibility Credit
12:00 PM
Adjourn
Registration Fees
| Non Member | $779.00 |
| CBA Member | $584.00 |
| CBA Solo Small Firm Section Member | $479.00 |
| Paralegal/Legal Support Staff | $292.00 |
| Active Military | $292.00 |
| Public Service/Government | $292.00 |
| Student Currently Enrolled in Law School | $20.00 |
| ELITE Pass Holder | $20.00 |
| New Lawyer Edge Partner | $20.00 |
- General Credits: 16.00
- Ethics Credits: 7.20
- EDI Credits:
To join the CBA or add a Section to your membership click