ABA Publishing PresentsBringing in new business is always difficult, even in the best of times. But what can lawyers do during the Great Recession to develop new business? How can lawyers get comfortable with the idea of "selling"?
What are the steps to developing relationships with prospective clients, and transforming these relationships into billables?
Learn the answers to these questions and much more in this session with the authors of Selling in Your Comfort Zone: Safe and Effective Strategies for Developing New Business (ABA 2009).
Featured speakers:
Larry M. Kohn is the founder and president of Kohn Communications, the oldest and largest firm specializing in coaching lawyers. Larry was an early pioneer in legal marketing. He started his firm in 1983 helping lawyers by conducting internal marketing meetings, publishing newsletters and implementing public relations. At that time, few, if any law firms had any marketing support staff. He began providing individual, in-person coaching in 1988. In 1991 he began coaching via telephone. He has conducted individual coaching sessions with thousands of lawyers across the country. He has published dozens of articles on legal marketing and management. He has spoken at dozens of Bar Associations including 19 years as a speaker at the Annual Convention of the State Bar of California.
Robert N. Kohn is senior vice president of Kohn Communications. Over the past 20 years he has conducted thousands of coaching sessions with thousands of lawyers across the country. He is a past chair of the State Bar of California’s Law Practice Management Section and chaired the speaker committee on the Los Angeles Bar’s Law Practice management committee. He has spoken at many bar associations and law firms across the country on the topic of marketing. And, he has published dozens of articles for numerous publications.
Download audio/mpegIn this challenging job search climate, candidates who follow the rules of good etiquette can give themselves an advantage. Learn about the rules of etiquette as they apply to layoffs, networking, job searching, and interviewing:
- What are the main points of etiquette to observe during the job interview?
- Are there aspects of good etiquette to observe when networking?
- What is good "layoff etiquette"--for those laid off and for those left behind?
- What is the etiquette of continuing to work at one place while seeking work somewhere else?
Learn about these topics and more from leading business etiquette expert Donna Gerson.
Donna Gerson is a contributing editor for Student Lawyer magazine. She is the co-author of the recent ABA book, The Modern Rules of Business Etiquette, as well as several books on legal career issues including Choosing Small, Choosing Smart, Building Career Connections and the Asked & Answered series from Thomson Reuters.
Gerson graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and earned her law degree from Temple University Beasley School of Law. She lectures at law schools across the U.S. about small firm hiring strategies, networking skills, and business etiquette, and is licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She offers career, etiquette, and law school-related advice at her web site, www.donnagerson.com.
Download audio/mpegSkillful argument is one of the fundamental tools of the lawyer’s craft, whether you are before a judge or jury, in mediation or arbitration, or even in contract negotiations. Listen to noted authors and lawyers Ronald J. Waicukauski, Paul Mark Sandler, and JoAnne A. Epps discuss building and delivering persuasive arguments, touching on such topics as:
- How can you effectively focus your argument on your goal?
- What are the most valuable things to know about the decision-makers before you get into the courtroom?
- How can you arrange your argument for maximum effectiveness?
- What are the best ways to use visual aids to enhance your argument?
The authors’ most recent book, where you’ll find full explorations of these topics and more, is The 12 Secrets of Persuasive Argument which can be ordered online through the ABA Web store.
Ronald J. Waicukauski is a trial lawyer with the Indianapolis law firm of Price, Waicukauski & Riley. He formerly served as a JAG in the U.S. Marine Corps and as the elected prosecuting attorney in Monroe County, Indiana. He has taught trial and appellate advocacy at the Indiana University Schools of Law in Bloomington and Indianapolis, and as a faculty member of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and the Defense Counsel Trial Academy. Mr. Waicukauski has also served as President, Indianapo¬lis American Inn of Court, and as co-chair, Training the Advocate Committee, Litigation Section, American Bar Association.
Paul Mark Sandler is a trial lawyer representing many clients throughout the United States in trial and appellate courts. He is a partner in the Baltimore law firm of Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler. Mr. Sandler is the author of Anatomy of a Trial: A Primer For Young Lawyers, Raising the Bar: Practice Tips for Young Maryland Lawyers, coauthor of Model Witness Examinations and Discovery Problems & Solutions, and author of numerous other books. He is a frequent columnist and maintains a blog at attorneyadvocacy.com. He is the founder and former chair of the Litigation Section of the Maryland State Bar Association, immediate past secretary of the Litigation Section of the ABA, and founder of the Section’s Institute for Trial Training, known at LITT.
JoAnne A. Epps is the Dean and Professor of Law at Temple Univer¬sity’s Beasley School of Law. She has been a member of the Temple Law faculty since 1985 and served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1989–2008. Her primary teaching areas include crim¬inal procedure, evidence and trial advocacy. Dean Epps is a frequent lecturer and speaker on evidence and advocacy, both domestically and internationally, as well as a long-time faculty member of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. Prior to joining the Temple Law faculty she was a deputy city attorney for the City of Los Angeles and an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Download audio/mpegIn one the most difficult periods in the history of the legal profession, successful use of technology can make a tremendous difference in the bottom line. Hear a panel of technology and law practice management experts discuss issues including:
- Choosing good clients, successful business development, and using your existing technology to its fullest
- Social networking: Twitter, Facebook, and beyond
- How technology can help you survive as a sole practitioner or small firm lawyer
- The panel of lawyer-experts includes:
Sharon Nelson is the president of Sensei Enterprises, a computer forensics and legal technology firm located in Fairfax, VA. Sharon is the author of the noted e-evidence blog, Ride the Lightning, is a co-host of the ABA podcast series “The Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology,” and is a frequent author and speaker on legal technology and electronic evidence in the United States and Canada.
Jim Calloway currently serves as the director of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Management Assistance Program, and also manages OBA-NET, the official online service of the Oklahoma Bar. He frequently speaks on issues of law firm management, legal technology, ethics, and legal business operations.
Ross Kodner is founder and principal of MicroLaw, a legal technology and law practice management consultancy renowned for its work with small law firms and sole practitioners. Ross developed the trademarked Paper LESS Office process for managing paper, buying back wasted time, and being greener in practice. He is a frequent writer and speaker, including his blog Ross Ipsa Loquitur and regular contributions to Technolawyer and Law Technology News magazines.
The new ABA book, How Good Lawyers Survive Bad Times, can be ordered via the ABA Web store
Download audio/mpegFinding the right job, and tending to your career path, is important yet difficult even in the best of economic times. Doing so in a recession can seem nearly impossible. Listen to noted author and lawyer Ursula Furi-Perry as she shares guidance on such issues as:
- what factors should you consider before changing jobs?
- what are the main factors you should consider, in order to make sure your prospective employer is actually a good fit?
- how do you create a career plan?
- what interesting or unique legal jobs are out there today?
- what should recent grads do to find a job?
- what should the recently laid-off do to find a job?
- and what should those worried about future layoffs be doing?
Ursula Furi-Perry is an attorney, nationally published legal writer and adjunct professor. She is the author of seven books: 50 Legal Careers for Non-Lawyers (ABA Publishing, 2008); 50 Unique Legal Paths: Finding the Right Job (ABA Publishing, 2008); Law School Revealed: Secrets, Opportunities, and Success! (Jist Publishing, 2009); Trial Prep for Paralegals (National Institute for Trial Advocacy, co-authored by Michael L. Coyne, 2009); Your First Year as a Lawyer Revealed (Jist Publishing, forthcoming in 2010); The Legal Assistant's Complete Desk Reference (ABA Publishing, forthcoming in 2010); and Trial Prep for the New Advocate (National Institute for Trial Advocacy, co-authored by Michael L.Coyne, forthcoming in 2010.)
Ursula writes the Career Hotline and Advice and Commentary columns for The National Jurist and PreLaw Magazine, the "Legally Mom" column for Parents & Kids Magazine, and the "Legal & Regulatory" column for Credit Union Business Magazine. She is the author of more than 300 published articles and has been published by Law.com, American Lawyer/Incisive Media, and LawCrossing.com, among many others
She is a co-creator of the Bar Exam BootCamp and 1L BootCamp books and review materials. Ursula is the Director of Academic Support and an Adjunct Professor at the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover.
She teaches Legal Writing and Reasoning and Massachusetts Law Writing and Analysis at MSL, where she has developed a new course focused on preparing students for the essay portion of the bar exam and also co-founded the Center for Law Student Ethics and Professionalism. She received her BA from Brandeis University and her JD magna cum laude from the Massachusetts School of Law, where she graduated at the top of her class. Ursula can be reached at http://www.furiperry.com/
50 Unique Legal Paths and 50 Legal Careers for Nonlawyers are available for sale in the ABA Web store.
Download audio/mpegMore than ten thousand lawyers and legal professionals were laid off in the past year; thousands of small firms and sole practitioners have seen a dramatic slowing of business; thousands of new law school graduates are still looking for work. What can lawyers who are in between jobs do to increase their chances of finding work? What can lawyers who are out of work do to stay in touch with colleagues and stay on top of developments in the law? How can lawyers who still have a job, but who fear an impending layoff or who are seeking a new situation, best put themselves into the marketplace?
Best-selling ABA author Julie Tower-Pierce moderates a panel of lawyers and experts on networking, job seeking, and self-marketing for lawyers in this free webcast from ABA Publishing.
Tower-Pierce is a lawyer, the mother of three young children, and the author of the best-selling ABA book, Staying at Home, Staying in the Law: A Guide to Remaining Active in the Legal Profession While Pursuing Your Dreams. She works to inspire and help lawyers discover ways to remain marketable while on the legal off-ramp. She can be found online writing the flexible lawyering blog, DarlingHill, and at her website http://www.StayingInTheLaw.com.
Joining Tower-Pierce on the panel are:
- Carolyn Elefant, creator of MyShingle.com, the first blog and online resource devoted to solo and small firm practice, and is the author of Solo by Choice: How to Be the Lawyer You Always Wanted to Be. Carolyn is also a proud solo; she founded the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant in Washington D.C. in 1993, and specializes in energy law, emerging renewables, appeals and select Section 1983 litigation.
- Denise Howell, an appellate, intellectual property, and technology lawyer, a writer, a podcast host, a mother, and the host of the popular blog, bagandbaggage.com.
- Ari Kaplan, a lawyer and the author of The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development (published in 2008 by Thomson-West). New York Law Journal called his book “a must-have treasure box of marketing ideas.” Ari teaches lawyers, law students and legal professionals how to stand out in today's stagnant economy using proven techniques for getting published and organic networking. (You can receive his special report called “Five Ways to Find Opportunity in a Faltering Economy” by visiting http://www.AriKaplanAdvisors.com).
Staying At Home, Staying in the Law is available from the ABA Web Store.
Download audio/mpegMichael Melcher, author of the best-selling ABA book The Creative Lawyer: A Practical Guide to Authentic Professional Satisfaction, and nationally-known career counselor provides practical advice on how to proactively turn job insecurity into a time of planning and rejuvenation for your career.
In this ABA podcast, you'll find:
- perspectives on what the recession means for you and the legal profession
- tactical tips to achieve job security
- directions for developing new business when clients are cutting back
- approaches to avoid common mistakes when you’re out of work
- strategies to help you stand out to potential employers in a competitive job market
About our Speakers
Michael Melcher is a nationally known career coach. Educated at Harvard and Stanford, and a former associate at one of the country’s leading law firms, Melcher has worked in law, business, and government, and has spoken before thousands of people on career-related issues. He has a fulltime coaching business in New York, has coached hundreds of individuals across the country.
Barbara D’Amico is a lawyer and executive coach. She is the founder of President of Esquire Crossroads, a firm dedicated to achieving excellence in leadership, management, and personal and professional development for lawyers, law firms, and law departments. Barbara is the former General Counsel of Chase Financial Services at J.P Morgan Chase & Co. and also served as chief counsel to a wide range of businesses including Corporate Finance, Investment Banking, Private Equity, and Private Banking. Her coaching certification is from the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara.
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