Program
New Professionalism Opportunities in a Time of Crisis
Background
The last eighteen months have seen a number of changes in the legal profession caused by the economic crisis including:
- reduced employment opportunities for new law school graduates, particularly with large firms;
- increased pro bono work, especially by law firm associates who are “loaned” to legal service and public interest organizations or encouraged to do pro bono during a period of deferred or suspended employment; and
- increased interest in solo and small firm practice both among those entering the profession and those displaced from large firm practice by layoffs and downsizing.
Topics
The Spring 2010 workshop will focus on how both the profession and law schools can respond to such developments. Workshop presentations will focus on, among other topics:
- training of pro bono lawyers on “loan” from private practice;
- support of practitioners providing “low bono” legal services to those ineligible for legal aid but unable to afford conventionally priced legal services; and
- guidance to lawyers who wish to begin solo or small firm practices, including professionalism challenges and ethical pitfalls likely to arise in such settings.
| Friday | |||||||
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| 4:00 p.m. | Opening reception in Lakeside Room | ||||||
| 4:15 p.m. | Introduction to Workshop | ||||||
| 4:45 p.m. | Report of the ABA Commission on the Impact of the Profession on the Profession and Legal Needs (Clark Cunningham) | ||||||
| 5:45 p.m. | Keynote Speaker, Bill Henderson: New Models of Practice: Past, Present and Future Henderson PowerPoint presentation |
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| 7:00 p.m. | Clark Cunningham: Teaching Demonstration: Identifying Knowledge, Skills and Professional Qualities Needed to Start a Solo Practice |
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| 7:30 p.m. | Dinner | ||||||
| Saturday | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 7:30 a.m. | Breakfast | |||||||||||||||||
| 9:15 a.m. | Participant self-introductions | |||||||||||||||||
| 9:30 a.m. | Barbara Glesner Fines University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law: Entrepreneurial Lawyering – Solo & Small Firm Practice |
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| 10:20 a.m. | Charlotte Alexander, Robert Bexley, and Jonathan Call Georgia State College of Law: Fundamentals of Law Practice |
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| 11:00 a.m. | Coffee Break | |||||||||||||||||
| 11:20 a.m. | Katherine Brokaw Teaching Demonstration: The Creative Lawyer-- Part 1 |
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| 11:30 a.m. | Clark Cunningham Pierce Law Center: The “Two Year Bar Exam” |
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| 12:15 p.m. | Lunch | |||||||||||||||||
| 1:00 p.m. | Free time | |||||||||||||||||
| 4:00 p.m. | Afternoon reception: Nacho Station in Lakeside Room | |||||||||||||||||
| 4:30 p.m. | Katherine Brokaw Teaching Demonstration: The Creative Lawyer-- Part 2 |
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| 5:00 p.m. | Billy King, Barbara Glesner Fines State Bar Conferences for Solo and Small Firm Practitioners |
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| 5:20 p.m. | Leslie Levin Pro Bono in Solo and Small Firms |
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| 5:30 p.m. | Sylvia Stevens Oregon’s Modest Means Program (information on Oregon's Program for Persons of Modest Means) |
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| 5:45 p.m. | Small group meetings | |||||||||||||||||
| 6:30 p.m. | Fred Rooney CUNY’s Community Legal Resource Network: How Did It Start, What Are Its Essential Elements, What Does It Cost, Can It Be Replicated? | |||||||||||||||||
| 7:30 p.m. | Dinner | |||||||||||||||||
| Sunday | |
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| 7:30 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 9:00 a.m. | Rodney Hastings CLE Demonstration: “Hanging Out Your Shingle” |
| 9:45 a.m. | Maureen Howard, Maureen McDonagh, Chuck Olson, Toby Rothschild Panel Discussion: Volunteer Lawyers in Public Service Settings --Information from Maureen McDonagh on Boston's Housing Court Attorney-for-the-Day Program --Issues to be Considered When Using Volunteer Lawyers in Public Service (Prosecution) Settings prepared by Chuck Olson -- Projects of the Los Angeles County Bar Access to Justice Committee chaired by Toby Rothschild |
| 10:15 a.m. | Coffee break |
| 10:30 a.m. | Small group meetings |
| 11:15 a.m | Clark Cunningham Workshop review, evaluation, and plans for the future |
| 12:00 p.m | Brunch |
A set of readings was sent in advance to all confirmed workshop participants. Click here to see the Table of Contents for the advance readings.
Participants
Fellows
Katherine Brokaw
Barbara Glesner Fines
Rodney B. Hastings
Maureen Howard
William N. King
Leslie Levin
Maureen E. McDonagh
Toby J. Rothschild
Jill C. Rothstein
Sylvia E. Stevens
Christopher Woodyard
Speakers and Discussants
Charlotte Alexander
Doug Ashworth
Clark D. Cunningham
Dick Donovan
A. James Elliott
Avarita L. Hanson
Sheryl Harrison
William D. Henderson
Charles C. (“Chuck”) Olson
Jerry Organ
Fred Rooney
Participant Biographical Information: 
NIFTEP Spring 2010 Bios