May 2, 2011
Recent Classes, News and What’s New at SPU!
by Susan Cartier Liebel
It has been a long cold winter, but we are now beginning the May month of flowers – one of my favorite times of year because it’s all about new growth.
We decided to combine out last three months of new growth at SPU in one blog post highlighting February, March, and April classes as well as new programs. If you missed anything, here’s the recap! (And at the end of this post, find out what’s coming up!)
Recent Classes
The last classes of I’ve Been Grieved. Now What? by Elizabeth Granoff were Professionalism in the Legal Community and Character and Fitness
Ed Poll in LawBiz Management gave us Lawyer Advertising, Write Downs and Write Offs, Governance of the Bar and Ethical Considerations in Collecting Your Fee, No, It’s Not the Same: Pricing vs. Billing, Part 1, No, It’s Not the Same: Pricing vs. Billing, Part 2. He also discussed The Best Laid Plans: Why Every Law Firm Needs Them.
Lessons 2 and 3 and 4 of Introduction to Billing and Accounting from Caren Schwartz were posted: Billing Basics, Parts 1 and 2 and Choosing and Using Software.
Another Lesson 2, this time Special Topics in Witness Preparation from Understanding and Working with Juries in the 21st Century by Doug Keene, Ph.D.
Greg Yaghmai shared Lesson 12 – Evidence in his Trial Techniques Class. (Greg is from Alabama so we share our thoughts with him and his family in the aftermath of the tornados)
Stephanie Kimbro posted great information about Using a Virtual Law Office to Unbundle Legal Services , including a Video Intro to Unbundling Legal Services in Virtual Law Practice. Stephanie also shared Networking Exercises #1 and #2. Stephanie’s April topic was The Many Structures of Online Delivery.
If you want to stay up to date on Business Law then don’t miss the Update to Lesson 1 – Entity Formation courtesy of Trippe Fried
Katherine Frye discusses Getting To Settlement in Lesson 6 of Child Custody: Start to finish…is there an end??
Class 17 of Construction Practice 101 details More on Mediation from Chris Hill, and Class 18 covers Three Pronged Marketing.
Richard Maseles provided Real World Legal Research, v. 2.0, the extended cut and Canned research- finding what someone’s already done (2.0) in Real World Legal Research. Richard also provided two great sets of resources: Free Resources (Parts 1 and 2) – Case Law, Statutes, Regs. Court Rules and Free-ish resources– Casemaker, Fastcite, Versuslaw. April gave us Richard’s class Comparative Law- Ever Use It, For Real? (With Interior Easter Egg) (2.0).
In Class Action Law Brian Herrington shares A Sample Brief In Support Of Class Certification along with a class on Putting The Class Action Fairness Act To Work For You.
Diane F. Wyzga started her class on Storytelling Skills to Bring Out the Truth, Not Just the Facts with Lesson 1 – Introduction to Storytelling. Diane also shared lesson 2 this spring, Story Structure.
Session 17 of Creating A Social Security Disability Practice focuses on Winning Strategy #1 – Bathroom Breaks, courtesy of Jonathan Ginsberg. Jonathan discussed Arguing for a Closed Period of Disability in his April lecture.
Something Minor: Kids in Showbiz was Gordon Firemark’s latest topic in Entertainment Law. He also shared an Entertainment Law Update Boop Boop Be Doo!
Kira Fonteneau gives us Lesson 7 of Landlord Tenant Law, Getting Ready for Court. (Another Alabaman who is in our thoughts after the tornados.)
New blood reinvigorates the Trusts and Estates classroom as Victor Medina provides a new guest lecture – What’s New in Trusts and Estates.
Gerry Oginski provided Using Video to Build a Relationship Online in his Creating Online Video for Attorneys classroom.
In the new Employee Rights Classroom, Michael Brown gave an Overview of Employee Rights Law Practice.
Faculty Accomplishments
SPU Faculty member Carolyn Elefant deserves a round of applause this month! Carolyn will have a bar journal piece law review article published this spring discussing electric utilities & social media.
Jay Shepherd is now a columnist for Above The Law
Guest Lectures
Our “What’s New” series of free audio guest lectures continued in February, March and April with lectures from Gerry Oginski discussing Video for Attorneys, James Reed on the topic of What’s New in Personal Injury, Trippe Fried discussing Business Law, Steph Kimbro on Virtual Law Practice, Gordon Firemark on Entertainment Law, Victor Medina with Macs in the Law Office.
Jordan Furlong provided an intriguing two part teleseminar update on the Future of the Legal Profession (part 1, part 2). He is also providing five scholarships to SPU. You definitely want to check it out!
Amanda Ellis provided a wonderful guest lecture on the topic of Getting Hired Using Social Networking. This is a must listen for law students and new grads because there is more than you know to using social media effectively.
Another great guest lecture came from Toby Bloomberg, Social Media and Networking for Businesses.
April also showcased a guest lecture on Using the D.A.F.T. System to Organize Work Flow from Andrea Cannavina.
New Faculty Announcements
We are announcing new faculty on an ongoing basis and are currently working with many potential new faculty. Here is a list of new faculty announced these past few months:
In early March Diane Wyzga was announced as a new faculty member who will teach Storytelling Skills to Bring Out the Truth, Not Just the Facts and in late March it was announced that Michael Brown will be joining the faculty to teach a class on Employee Rights Law. April brought with it the announcement that I, Susan Cartier Liebel will also be teaching a class at SPU, How to Hang a Shingle Right Out of Law School..or Shortly Thereafter.
Best of the Season Blog Posts
Our roster of Columnists is awesome and we will be adding more soon. Check out the posts which created the biggest buzz:
Should a Solo Buy Law Practice Management Software
What Role Does Your Spouse or Partner Play in the Success of Your Solo Practice?
10 Things I Hate About Being a Solo Practitioner
How I am Looking for a Professional Service Provider in 2011
The Future of (Legal) Education
Choosing Law Practice Management Software
What They Don’t (and Can’t) Teach You in Law School
Budgeting as a Solo: What You REALLY Need
Should I Go To Law School and What Do Solos Earn?
Student highlights:
Graduating this month, Jack Whittington discusses How to Make Your Law Clerkships Work for Your Job Search
Lurie Daniel Favors – taking her message to the air waves
Rachel Rodgers and her husband are featured on Entrepeneur.com
Also, Rachel is is now a contributing author to YES
Scott Vaughn Walsh – Wrapping Up Law School
Michael West – Last Class Until Graduation
What’s Happening at Solo Practice University®
Solo Practice University® introduced the new and exciting Bridges program. Our inaugural partner is New York Law School. We will also be announcing several other law schools within the coming months who recognize the tremendous value Solo Practice University® brings to its students and alumni. If you’d like your law school to participate,(whether you are a current student or an alumni) please provide your deans, career counselors, and alumni directors the link to the Bridges program and ask them to get in contact with us!
In February, we not only enhanced our website look and functionally, we added unlimited online CLE to our quarterly enrollment option. What a great way to get the most bang for your educational/CLE dollars – Solo Practice University® and free online CLE through our strategic partner, Lawline.com
This Friday we are announcing a new monthly columnist.
D. Todd Smith shares a free guest lecture on May 3rd – ’What’s New’ in Appellate Practice
May 10th hear from author Hollee Temple on her new book ‘Good Enough is the New Perfect’. This is a book for all professional women who are mothers (and the partners who love them!) discussing why good enough is not about settling but about…well, you’ll just have to find out by listening 
Jay Foonberg is back at SPU with a new lecture on Trust Accounting and Avoiding Grievances. He’s joining us May 20th and you won’t want to miss it! (SPU Students only.)
Ron Baker weighs in on ‘What’s New’ in Value Pricing and the Firm of the Future with a special free guest lecture.
New Solo Practice University® Sponsors
Along with our stalwarts we now have brought in Total Attorneys. Check them out because our students get a sweetheart of a deal.
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If you’re not subscribed to the Solo Practice University® newsletter, now is the time to jump on board. You can do so here. Also, make sure to ‘like’ our SPU Facebook page where you’ll find great discussions, news and more…all about going solo.
And, of course, we’d love to have you join us on the inside where students are learning and networking, building and growing their solo practices.
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Carolyn Elefant said on May 2, 2011
Susan,
Thanks for the push for my article. It is indeed, a real law review article with 150+ footnotes and it should be available online (and in hard-copy reprints) literally any day. I will send you the link or post it at SPU because even though the focus is on electric utilities and social media, it covers many issues relevant to general business, such as social media legal issues relevant to employment, copyright/defamation, public entities (since some utilities are owned by public power) and more. The article has already snagged me a paid training opportunity in July and a partnership with a government relations firm that I’ve teamed up with on and off in the past.
I know that writing a law review article or book seems like a waste of time in this age of 15 minute blog posts, but I do think that these other types of publications afford a different level of credibility. Also, it is shockingly easy to get published in a law review (you’d think it would be hard given how competitive it is to get on law review but the reality is that journals are pretty desperate for content) – and if there are any SPU members who would like guidance on getting published in a law review (this is my 4th published article), I am happy to assist.
Susan Cartier Liebel said on May 3, 2011
Looking forward to reading it! Congratulations, again.