Inside the Bar
August 2008
Register by Sept. 23 to receive early-bird
discount
Coming in October - Conference focuses on
real-life practice issues for smaller firms
The Third Annual Wisconsin Solo & Small Firm Conference, Oct. 23 -
25, at
the Kalahari Resort & Conference Center in Wisconsin Dells, offers
32 education
and training sessions on four different tracks, plus three plenary
sessions,
covering substantive law, practice management, technology, and
ethics/quality of
life topics. Regional and national speakers will offer useful tips about
the
latest technology and valuable ways to manage your practice, avoid
malpractice,
build client relationships, and more. The conference is presented by the
Milwaukee
Bar Association and the State Bar of Wisconsin.
"This year's conference will be bigger and better than
ever. We have moved
to a new family-friendly location and have developed sessions that will
directly affect your practice," says State Bar Practice Management
Advisor Nerino Petro.
"There's more to being a successful lawyer than being good
in the
courtroom or with clients; there is the business side of the practice as
well as having
a solid work-life balance," says Petro. "This year's planning
committee,
chaired by attorney Sarah Blackwell, has created a conference packed
with a wealth
of information on topics that Wisconsin solo and small-firm attorneys
requested."
Keynote speakers. Thursday afternoon speaker,
Kevin O'Keefe, is a successful entrepreneur and former Wisconsin
trial lawyer. He has built two
prosperous Internet companies. His presentation, "To Blog or Not to
Blog, That
is the Question," will give you the tools to establish an effective
Web
practice and compete with large, big-city firms - all at a budget you
can afford.
Friday morning speaker, Laurel
Bellows, current chair of the ABA House of Delegates, will lead a
discussion on involvement and leadership for the
solo practitioner or small-firm associate in her presentation, "A
Small Firm is Not
a Barrier to Leadership."
The Saturday morning speaker is Connie
Kilmark. Dubbed "the Dr. Ruth of money," Kilmark has
developed an original approach to personal money
management that balances emotional and psychological aspects with
financial facts.
She is a regular on Wisconsin Public Radio. Learn all about it at her
presentation, "Your Financial Personality at Home and at
Work."
Register by Sept. 23 and save $25. The discounted tuition is
$250 for
State Bar and Wisconsin Association of Legal Administrators members,
$350 for
nonmembers, and $125 for law students (discount does not apply to
students).
Nonlawyer staff registering with a lawyer from the same firm can receive
the member
rate. Tuition includes conference materials in an electronic format.
Print copies
of conference materials can be purchased for $50.
A limited number of rooms are available at the Kalahari at a
discounted
rate of $139 per room (a savings of up to $125). Each room receives up
to
four waterpark passes (a $160 value). Attendees are encouraged to bring
their
friends and families for a mini-vacation. Mention you are with the
conference to
receive the discount.
Program sponsors include Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance
Company,
Professional Insurance Programs Inc., Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance
Company, Bultman Financial, and the American Bar Association.
The program will be submitted for Wisconsin CLE and EPR credits.
Visit Wisconsin Solo & Small Firm
Conference to register, or call the State Bar at (800) 728-7788
or (608) 257-3838.
Inside the
Bar
