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 lived 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 to registrants 24-48 hours before the program.
Home studies will be available approximately 2-3 weeks following the live program.
If disability accommodations or special assistance are needed, please contact us at [email protected]. Requests must be made at least two weeks prior to the scheduled program.
The program will be submitted for CLE accreditation in Colorado. If you need to seek accreditation in another state, please review the process and requirements for that individual state. CBA-CLE staff can provide a Uniform Certificate of Attendance, and it is the attendee’s responsibility to complete the accreditation outside of Colorado.
Cancellations: If you are unable to attend, please notify CBA-CLE by August 7, 2023, and we will gladly refund your tuition in full or apply your tuition to the webinar or home study. Cancellations after August 7, 2023, will be refunded less a $150 cancellation fee.
Thank you to our Sponsors
IT1 Services, LLC
JAMS
LawPay & MyCase
Wednesday, August 16
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 Things: Mindset
Success or failure in business can come down to one thing: mindset. Are you ready for the struggles that come with running a business, and can you use them to become a better attorney and business owner?
Presented by Martha Knudson, Esq., Executive Director, Utah State Bar’s Well-Being Committee for the Legal Profession
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 AM – 11:10 AM
Accounting & Bookkeeping
How to bill clients and ensure that your bills get paid.
Presented by Steve Libhart, Numbers Matter LLC
11:10 – 12:00 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 Margaret Funk, Esq., Chief Deputy Regulation Counsel, Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, Denver, CO
Submitted for 1 Professional Responsibility Credit
12:00 – 1:00 PM
Lunch on your own
1:00 – 1:50 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 Meranda Vieyra, Denver Legal Marketing
(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
Stretch Break
3:25 – 4:15 PM
Networking
Your network is the lifeblood of your small firm. Our panel of natural introverts and extroverts will help you develop strategies to meet potential clients and referral sources. (Not offered for CLE Credit)
Presented by Rachel Bernstein Sheikh, Esq., RBS Law LLC; additional speakers to be named.
4:15 PM
Adjourn
Thursday, August 17
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 – 10:00 AM
Stretch Break
10:00 – 10:50 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
10:50 – 11:00 AM
Stretch Break
11:00 – 11:50 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
11:50 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 – 2:00 PM
Stretch Break
2:00 – 2:50 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 Justin “J.P.” Moore, Esq. Assistant Regulation Counsel, Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel
Submitted for 0.5 Professional Responsibility Credits
2:50 – 3:00 PM
Stretch Break
3:00 – 3:50 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
3:50 – 4:00 PM
Stretch Break
4:00 – 4:50 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
4:50 – 7:00 PM
Networking Happy Hour sponsored by the Colorado Bar Association Solo / Small Firm Section.
Friday, August 18
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 – 10:00 AM
Stretch Break
10:00 – 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.
PresPresented by Michelle Adams, Esq., Law Office of Michelle Adams, LLC; Chuong Le, Esq., 3i Law; and Jay Tiftickjian, Esq., Tiftickjian Law Firm, P.C. Moderated by Danae D. Woody, Esq., Woody, LLC
10:50 – 11:00 AM
Stretch Break
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Professionalism
A cherished tradition, Judge John Leopold will close the week out with an inspiring discussion of professionalism, rooted in the Colorado Attorney Oath of Admission.
Presented by Honorable Adam Espinosa, Denver District Court, and Honorable John Leopold (ret.), JAMS
Submitted for 1.2 Professional Responsibility Credit
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
Sponsor Information
- All the Tools You Need to Open the Doors to Your New Firm
- An Emphasis on Cybersecurity, Electronic “Traps,” Ransomware and Social Media
- Hear from Attorneys Who Have Succeeded and are Thriving in Their Own Firms!