Wisconsin Lawyer
Vol. 84, No. 4, April 2011
These days, we all try to do more with less. Now the State Bar provides you an opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge about major legal-practice areas at a price below last year’s annual convention. There’s even a free lunch!
Last month I gave a brief overview of the new State Bar PINNACLETM institutes. The institutes are designed to provide attendees with more in-depth CLE programming than traditionally has been provided at State Bar conventions. You have let us know that the old format of a smorgasbord of topics no longer fits the way lawyers practice and that more intensive educational programming would better fit your needs. The State Bar PINNACLE institutes are our response. They are more than just two days of CLE programming. They also include opportunities for socializing, networking, and business meetings, much like you would expect at convention.
The first institute, “Litigation, Dispute Resolution & Appellate Practice: From Claims Through Appeals,” will provide the opportunity to intensely explore these three major areas of dispute resolution and learn from some of the best Wisconsin lawyers and judges about the latest techniques and most recent changes in the law. The institute, to be held at the Frontier Airlines Center in Milwaukee on May 5 and 6, also includes four plenary sessions on the science and art of influencing decisionmakers, the making of integrity-based decisions, adapting trials to changing times, and how the recent legislation changing civil litigation will affect your practice.
Litigation and dispute resolution topics include hot topics in business and employment litigation, personal injury litigation, and dispute resolution; communication techniques in the courtroom; motion and briefing tips; and appropriate procedures for independent medical examinations. A panel discussion on methods for killing a good petition for review, led by Justice Patricia Roggensack, Judge Joan Kessler, Supreme Court Commissioner Nancy Kopp, and Court of Appeals Chief Staff Attorney Peg Carlson, highlights the appellate topics, which also include insights on impressing and annoying judges and preservation of error claims and defending victory.
Using technology at trial, new e-discovery rules, preservation of evidence for e-discovery from a judge’s perspective, social media issues, and new case-management technologies are among the technology-related issues to be covered, and ethics programs will cover limited-scope representations in litigation, preparing a witness for testimony, and conflicts of interest and representing joint parties.
Attending the institute will allow you an in-depth look at current issues facing lawyers in litigation, dispute resolution, and appellate practices and also let you catch up with old friends during breaks and the complimentary lunch. Because we know you cannot attend all the programs, attendees will have the opportunity to view all programs via webcast for free before they are released to the general membership.
The May institute will cost you $50 less than last year’s convention. Admission with your Ultimate Pass will cost you $145 less than last year’s convention, because this institute is included in the price of the Ultimate Pass. (If you do not already have an Ultimate Pass, you can purchase one and register for the May institute for $41 less than last year’s cost of an Ultimate Pass and convention registration.) The Ultimate Pass also includes admission without additional charge to the Real Estate and Business Law Institute, held in conjunction with the State Bar’s annual meeting, in June and to the Wisconsin Solo and Small Firm Conference in October. The Ultimate Pass savings over the regular member price for just these latter two events is $644.
More for less. Just as you have requested.
Wisconsin Lawyer
