Joint Session with CLEReg Law Practice Management

Transcription

1 Joint Session with CLEReg Law Practice Management By: Alan Treleaven Law Society of British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Shelly Sutton Kansas CLE Commission Topeka, Kansas Peter Vogel Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP Dallas, Texas Donette Welch South Carolina CLE Commission Columbia, South Carolina Presented at: ACLEA 49 th Annual Meeting August 3-6, 2013 Baltimore, Maryland

2 Alan Treleaven Law Society of British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia Canada Alan Treleaven is Director of Education and Practice for the Law Society of British Columbia, the self regulating body governing lawyers and the practice of law in the province of B.C. Alan's Law Society responsibilities include oversight of MCLE regulation, educational programs, Bar Admission Training Course, bar examinations and skills assessments, articling, character assessment, Practice and Ethical Advice service, Practice Standards inspection and remediation program, and sole and small firm programs and resources. Alan is the Federation of Law Societies of Canada staff representative, including on the National Mobility Committee, Foreign law Degree Assessment Committee, National Admission Standards Project, and Law Degree Approval Committee. In past professional lives Alan was ACLEA President, Director of Education for the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario), Faculty at Osgoode Hall Law School (York University, Toronto), and a civil litigator. Alan is a member of the BC and Ontario bars, and a graduate of the University of Toronto (J.D.) and McGill University (LL.M.). Alan is a member of the CBA International Development Committee, and has designed and taught in legal education programs in Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Kenya. Shelley Sutton Kansas CLE Commission Topeka, KS Shelley Sutton has served as Executive Director of the Kansas CLE Commission since She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Fort Hays State University and a Masters of Science degree from Kansas State University. Both degrees have an emphasis in Communication. She is Past President of CLEreg, the national organization of mandatory continuing legal education regulators. In addition, she is an adjunct professor at Washburn University where she teaches Computers in the Law Office for paralegals.

3 Peter S. Vogel Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP Dallas, TX Peter S. Vogel is a trial partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP where he is Chair of the ediscovery Group and the Internet, ecommerce, & Technology Team. Each year Peter gives more than 30 speeches about Law and Technology. Peter currently serves as Vice Chair of the State Bar of Texas MCLE Committee, and in the past served as Chair of that Committee. At the State Bar of Texas Peter served on the Board of Directors, was the Founding Chair of the Computer & Technology Section, and chaired a number of committees. Before practicing law he worked as a systems programmer, received a Masters in Computer Science, and taught graduate courses in information systems. Peter has had trials around the US on software implementations, misappropriation of trade secrets, copyright infringement, software patent infringement, and Internet disputes. For 12 years he has served as the Founding Chair of the Texas Supreme Court Judicial Committee on Information Technology which is responsible for helping automate the Texas court system and putting Internet on the desktops of all 3,200 judges. Peter has taught courses the SMU Dedman School of Law for more than 25 years including courses on ediscovery and the Law of ecommerce. Many of Peter's topics are discussed on his blog and in his monthly legal column on Donette Welch South Carolina CLE Commission Columbia, SC Ms. L. Donette Welch is the Assistant Director for the South Carolina Supreme Court Commission on CLE & Specialization. She began working at the Commission in 1993 and recently celebrated her 20th anniversary with the Commission. Prior to joining the Commission, she worked for 10 years at the law firm of Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard, where she served as the Recruiting Coordinator. Ms. Welch is the past president of CLEReg and has served as a member and Chair of various committees. Donette is a graduate of Francis Marion College, where she earned her BS in She's a native of Florence, SC and has lived in Columbia, SC for over 30 years.

4 ACLEA WORKING GROUP Proposed CLE Credit Criteria for Law Practice Management (LPM) Programming Acceptable Topics ACLEA Working Group Recommendations CLE content as it applies to efficient LPM including the following topics: (a) (b) (c) (d) (i) (ii) (iii) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) Managing relations with clients, particularly difficult clients Trust accounts (i) Trust management (ii) Financial reporting Federal and State taxes, including employment taxes Technology in the law office Law office systems E-Filing systems Legal document preparation and management Client retainers Setting and managing fees to avoid disputes Filing systems, including record retention and destruction Law firm management of attorneys, staff, and succession planning Planning for emergency events and legal services during absences Conflict checks and client screening Accurate time recording and management for reporting to clients and courts Lawyering skills include (a) client interviewing and advising; (b) advocacy; (c) arbitration; (d) mediation; (e) negotiation; (f) drafting legal documents; (g) legal writing, including related plain writing; (h) legal research; (i) legal project management; (j) how to work with law practice technology, including: (i) e-discovery; (ii) in the courtroom; (iii) client record management; (iv) converting electronically CLEreg/ACLEA Joint Session, August 5, 2013 page 1

5 ACLEA Working Group Recommendations (v) stored information into evidence; social networking technology to facilitate client communication (but excluding marketing and client development); Unacceptable Topics ACLEA Working Group Recommendations The following topics do not satisfy the LPM accreditation: (a) law firm marketing; (b) maximizing profit; (c) commoditization of legal services; (d) surviving a recession; (e) basic technology and office systems (unless in the specific context of practising law, as listed above); (f) attracting and retaining law firm talent; (g) alternate work arrangements in a law firm; Lawyering skills do not include (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) general business leadership; chairing / conducting meetings; serving on a Board of Directors; general project management; skills and knowledge primarily within the practice scope of other professions and disciplines. CLEreg/ACLEA Joint Session, August 5, 2013 page 2