Successfully Launching and Running Your Own Practice: The Essential Guide Out of Stock
Sponsored by the CBA Lawyer's Professional Liability Subcommittee & the CBA Solo/Small Firm Section
Quantity
Formerly Hanging Your Shingle
Freshly updated for 2022, this program is where Colorado’s small and solo firms get their start. Discover what it takes to open and run your own practice successfully. Taught by attorneys who have started their own firms and lived to tell the tale. We’ll discuss the basics of entity selection, business planning, and malpractice coverage. 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
- 6 Ethics Credits, including trust funds, intake procedures, and more
Home studies will be available approximately 2-3 weeks following the live program.
For your own safety, the safety of others, and in an effort to provide everyone with the most rewarding in-person meeting and event experiences possible, we request that you attend this event only if you have been fully vaccinated. Mask wearing is up to personal preference and comfort level. Masks may be required in some clinic settings. Please be cognizant and understanding of others’ preferences and courteous to all attendees.
Depending on CDC and/or state or local health guidelines, a rise in COVID-19 cases, or other circumstances that may threaten the well-being of our attendees, CBA-CLE reserves the right to convert to a fully virtual event.
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.
Special Thanks to Our Sponsors!
Connect for Health Colorado
JAMS
LawPay
Wednesday, August 10
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, Christopher B. Little, Esq., Montgomery Little & Soran, PC, and Gerald Pratt, Esq., Law Office of Gerald D. Pratt, P.C. Program Co-Chairs
8:40 – 9:20 AM
Getting Started
First things first. What is your business going to look like? What corporate structure are you going to use? And how are you going to get malpractice coverage? These quick hit sessions will get you through these essential questions
1) Business plan
Presented by Arnulfo Hernandez, Esq. and Christine Hernandez, Esq., Hernandez and Associates, P.C.
2) Business entity
Presented by Teresa Casillas, Esq., Law Office of Teresa M. Casillas LLC, Denver, CO
3) Malpractice
Presented by John Palmeri, Esq., Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP, Denver, CO
9:20 – 10:10 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 Ethics Credits
10:10 – 10:20 AM
Stretch Break
10:20 AM – 11:10 AM
Accounting & Bookkeeping
How to bill clients, and ensure that your bills get paid.
Presented by Jill Cruickshank, MBA, J.S. Cruickshank Business Services, 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 Gregory Sapakoff, Esq., Deputy Regulation Counsel, Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, Denver, CO
Submitted for 1 Ethics 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 Ethics Credit
2:00 – 2:50 PM
Marketing
- Marketing Plan
- Branding
- 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, ELHolmes Legal Solutions, LLC
Submitted for 0.5 Ethics 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.
Presented by Joshua Fitch, Esq., Troxel Fitch, LLC; and Karen Masciulli, Esq., Director of Legal Talent, Office of the Colorado Attorney General
Moderated by Laurie Gilbertson, Esq., Tribeca Blue Consulting
Not offered for CLE Credit
4:15 – 5:30 PM
Networking event with CBA Solo / Small Firm Section
Thursday, August 11
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., Associate Director of Innovation and the Justice Entrepreneurs Project, Chicago Bar Foundation
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 Ethics 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., Associate Director of Innovation and the Justice Entrepreneurs Project, Chicago Bar Foundation; and Lauren Lester, Esq., Lester Law, LLC
11:50 AM – 1:00 PM
Lunch on your own
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., Associate Director of Innovation and the Justice Entrepreneurs Project, Chicago Bar Foundation, and Lauren Lester, Esq., Lester Law, LLC
Submitted for 0.5 Ethics 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 April McMurrey, Esq., Deputy Regulation Counsel, Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel
Submitted for 0.5 Ethics 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 Phil Shuey, Esq., Phil J. Shuey, PC
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, Phil Shuey, Esq., Phil J. Shuey, PC and Robert W. Steinmetz, Esq., McConnell Van Pelt, LLC
Submitted for 0.5 Ethics Credits
Friday, August 12
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), Carrie Bowers, CAS,Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program (COLAP), and Catherine Chan, Esq., The Chan Law Firm
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.
Presented by: Michelle Adams, Esq., The Law Office of Michelle Adams, LLC; Jeremy Baker, Esq., Baker Law Group, Kevin Cheney, Esq., Cheney Galluizzi & Howard, LLC, and Dave Ratner, Esq., Creative Law Network
Moderated by Danaé Woody, Esq., Woody Law 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 John Leopold (ret.), JAMS
Submitted for 1 Ethics Credit
- CLE Pass Price *FREE! - exclusions may apply
- Standard Price $779.00 USD
- Member Price $584.00 USD
- General Credits 16.00
- Ethics Credits 6.00
- EDI Credits