Gerry Oginski is a New York medical malpractice and personal injury lawyer. He will teach “Creating Online Videos for Attorneys” at Solo Practice University™ – .

Gerry has been in practice since 1988. He is a graduate of Touro College, Jacob Fuchsberg College of Law in Huntington, NY and he is admitted to practice law in New York and Connecticut. He started his legal career working for a defense firm on Wall Street representing doctors, hospitals and businesses who were sued. Four years later he felt the gravitational pull to represent injured victims of medical negligence and accidents. After doing defense work, he joined a personal injury law firm in Brooklyn, NY representing injured victims, and then four years later, joined forces with a large law firm in Queens, NY. While there, he was in charge of the medical malpractice department. Six years later, Gerry decided he could best serve his clients by opening his own office for the practice of law in cases dealing with injured victims of medical negligence, medical malpractice, wrongful death, personal injury and accident cases. As of September 1, 2002, Gerry has been a solo practitioner, and the name of his firm is The Law Office of Gerald M. Oginski, LLC. His main office is located in Great Neck, Long Island, and he has affiliate offices in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Gerry has become a prolific writer and publishes a monthly newsletter full of legal news, fun trivia games, and a never-ending fictional story that has won him accolades with all who read his newsletter. In addition to his newsletter, he has produced and created an entire video library of instructional videos that help consumers learn about medical malpractice and accident law in New York.

To learn more, please visit his New York Medical Malpractice and Accident Law Blog and, when you’ve finished reading his blog, jump over to his video blog where he has most of his videos posted.

Finis Price has charted a unique path by combining his two professional passions – law and computer technology – into the development of his personal injury and trial practice. He will teach a course about trial technology at Solo Practice University™.

Working as a System Administrator in college at the University of Southern Mississippi, Finis gained extensive experience and a varied background in programming, both in applications as well as most web languages, e.g. ASP, Perl, PHP, etc. He was a Computer Science major for three years before switching back to his first major, Pre-Law, and going on to Law School.

Finis received his J.D. from the University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law in 2003. Upon passing the Kentucky Bar Examination, he assumed that all of the technical knowledge he had acquired was for naught unless he wanted to sacrifice his desire to be a trial lawyer.

All this changed in 2005 when the Kentucky Justice Association asked him to chair their Technology Section and develop CLE’s for Kentucky attorneys which would focus on technology in the courtroom. The goal was to help and encourage trial lawyers to embrace the use of technology in the courtroom and in their practices. While teaching others, Finis realized that he could now expand on his own legal background in the development of his own litigation and trial practice while at the same time explore new and better ways to practice law.

Finis has given numerous presentations concerning the use of technology in a legal practice for groups including: Kentucky Justice Association, Northern Kentucky Bar Association, Louisville Bar Association and the Greater Lexington Paralegal Association. Finis is also a co-host of Macs in Law Offices (MILO) Chat Weekly, a podcast dedicated to Mac hardware and software in a legal environment. He has also written numerous articles for The Advocate, the Kentucky Justice Association’s bi-monthly publication.

In 2007, Finis decided to incorporate the technical aspect of his practice into TechnoEsq. TechnoEsq is a multi-faceted organization providing litigation presentations, virtual paralegal solutions and computer forensic services to the legal community.

Recently, TechnoEsq has begun offering free trial videos online in an effort to assist young and old attorneys alike to learn from their colleagues. Learning and mentoring do not occur in a vacuum, and Finis anticipates learning as much from the students as he teaches them as they bring their background and experiences with new technologies to the virtual class room.

Brian Herrington is an experienced litigator. He will teach a course about class action lawsuits at Solo Practice University™.

Brian is the founding partner of Herrington Law, PA. He primarily litigates class actions involving consumer protection, unfair and deceptive practices, and antitrust. Brian is also an experienced litigator in the areas of insurance, pharmaceuticals, and medical device litigation.

Brian has also taken the time to pursue what he calls “crusader” cases; cases that are of little economic value, but important in personal terms such as aiding elderly persons who have fallen victim to mortgage scams and are in danger of losing their homes. He has yet to lose a predatory lending case, and he has saved numerous clients’ homes in the process. Two of Brian’s “crusader” cases were the subject of favorable articles in The Clarion-Ledger, which is Mississippi’s statewide newspaper.

Brian literally has litigated in courts across the country from New York to Illinois to Washington and many points in between including his states of admission — Mississippi and Tennessee. Comfortable trying a multi-million dollar pharmaceutical case or obtaining a permanent restraining order against a predatory lender to stop a foreclosure on an elderly person’s home, he has proven himself to be an effective litigator.

Brian is a member of the Mississippi Association of Justice, the Tennessee Association of Justice, the American Association of Justice, and the National Association of Consumer Advocates. He is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in Mississippi and Tennessee as well as the Fifth and Ninth Federal Circuit Courts.

Brian received his undergraduate degree from Mississippi College. While there, Brian won a scholarship to study at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Upon his return to the United States, he completed his undergraduate degree and enrolled in law school at the University of Mississippi, graduating in 1995.

To learn more about Brian, visit his firm website or read his blog.

Nicole Black is a practicing lawyer, published author, newspaper columnist and avid blogger. She will teach a course about web productivity and organization for lawyers at Solo Practice University™.

Currently, Nicole is Of Counsel to Fiandach & Fiandach, a Rochester, New York law firm that that is one of the largest and most experienced DWI defense firms in the state.

Previously she was an Assistant Public Defender for Monroe County and a litigation associate at Trevett, Cristo, Salzer, & Andolina P.C.

She co-authers Criminal Law in New York, 4th edition (West-Thomson) and writes a weekly column for The Daily Record (Dolan Media).

She is an avid blogger. She began blogging in November of 2005 and currently publishes 4 legal blogs: Practicing Law in the 21st Century , Legal Tweets, Sui Generis, A New York Law Blog and Legal Antics.

She finds the intersection of law and technology to be particularly fascinating and is doing all that she can to facilitate the fusion of these two seemingly reluctant soul mates. She regularly blogs and writes about issues related to legal technology.

R. David Donoghue is a litigator focusing on intellectual property disputes. He will teach a course entitled “Federal District Court Practice” at Solo Practice University™.

R. David Donoghue is a partner in Holland + Knight’s Intellectual Property Group and the founder of the Chicago IP Litigation Blog which tracks intellectual property cases in the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Donoghue is a litigator focusing on intellectual property disputes, in particular patent litigation. His practice focuses largely on federal district court patent litigation. He has litigated patent and technology-based disputes in district courts across the country including, among others, California, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. Mr. Donoghue also learned a great deal about the interworkings of district courts as a law clerk to the Honorable Gordon J. Quist, Federal District Judge for the Western District of Michigan.

In addition to his district court litigation practice, Mr. Donoghue was previously with Delphi, the world’s largest automotive supplier, where he was a founding member of Delphi’s Technology Licensing and Litigation group and handled substantial international intellectual property litigation and licensing matters. Mr. Donoghue also serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, teaching legal research and writing and intellectual property courses.

To learn more about Mr. Donoghue, read his extended biography at Holland + Knight or visit the Chicago IP Litigation Blog.

Jay Foonberg has successfully practiced business law, business litigation, estate and probate litigation, legal ethics and aviation law. He will teach two courses at Solo Practice University™.

One course is entitled, “Client Relations 101: Teaching lawyers how to change their ways of doing things to improve client relations.” By doing so it will result in the elimination of avoidable ethics and malpractice complaints while simultaneously improving the success of the practice. This course is based upon his famous “Nine Steps To A Successful Practice”.

The second course is entitled, “Ethics and Professionalism 101: Covering both the basics and the new developments in the traditional ethics areas including Conflicts, Trust Accounts, Client Confidences, Internet and Media Advertising, Multi Client Representation, Fee Agreements, Permissible Fee Arrangements”. This course will serve as an excellent review of law school ethics updated to be current. The course will also cover professionalism, the differences between a profession and an occupation, and the differences between a profession and a business as well as lawyer to lawyer conduct, and how these differences affect Americas’ trust in lawyers and the legal system as evidenced by the increasing number of complaints against lawyers.

Jay has served in the ABA House of Delegates; he is on the Advisory Council for the ABA Commission on Evaluation of the Rules of Professional Conduct and he was a founder of the ABA Law Practice Management Section. His book, How To Start and Build a Law Practice (5th edition), is the book that is most frequently stolen from law libraries in the United States and it has earned more than $1 million for the ABA, and has been their best seller every year since 1977. Mr. Foonberg is the author of three other important books, all available from the ABA: How to Get and Keep Good Clients (3rd edition); Finding the Right Lawyer; and The ABA Guide to Lawyer Trust Accounts. A much sought after speaker, Jay has led seminars and taught client relations, malpractice prevention, ethics and client development in every one of the 50 states and as far afield as Europe, South America and Asia in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Jay earned his JD from UCLA Law School and has received the prestigious Harrison Tweed Award, CLE’s highest honor. He lives and practices in Beverly Hills, California.

Recognition of his skills has resulted in his being perhaps the only person ever honored for lifetime achievements with awards from four American Bar Association entities including the following:

• Harrison Tweed award from the ABA-PLI Consortium on Continuing Legal Education for being the Most Outstanding CLE Educator in the United States.
• Sam’s Smith Medal for a Lifetime Achievements by the Law Practice Managment Section of the ABA.
• Don Riklis award for Lifetime Achievements by the General Practice Solo and Small Firm Division of the ABA.
• Law Student Division of The ABA for Life Time Achievements.,
• Lou Goldberg Award as the Most Outstanding Attorney-CPA in the United States by the American Association of Attorney-CPA’s.

Jay has also been decorated by the nations of Argentina and Brazil for his work in International Trade as well as having been accepted by The Knights of Malta for his work with hospitals throughout the world.

For more information about Jay, visit his website.   (He will have a blog very soon!)

Mr. Foonberg has expressed optimism and enthusiasm in Solo Practice University™ as a platform, available anywhere in the world via the internet, to provide both basic and current information and ideas to help solos and small firm lawyers provide high quality legal services to their clients and to the community. He will also provide information on the resources available to solos and small firms through National and local bar organizations.

Carolyn Elefant is a lawyer, author and blogger. She will teach a course entitled “Collaboration and Starting Your Own Associations” at Solo Practice University™.

Carolyn is founder and principal attorney in the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant (LOCE). Prior to founding LOCE, Carolyn worked as an associate attorney for the law firm of Duncan and Allen, a national energy boutique located in Washington D.C. from 1990-1993 and served as an attorney advisor with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 1988 to 1990. In addition, from 1994 through 1997, Carolyn held an adjunct faculty position with the University of Maryland University College Paralegal Studies Program where she taught contract law.

Carolyn’s law practice is focused on energy work, including emerging renewable energy development and compliance/enforcement issues, appeals, and civil rights litigation. To learn more about her law practice, visit her website, Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant, the trade association that she co-founded and for which she serves as regulatory counsel Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition and her law firm blog, LOCE Offshore Wind and Wave Energy Blog. In addition, she also blogs at American Law Media’s Legal Blogwatch.

Carolyn is the creator of MyShingle.com, a popular weblog for and about solo lawyers and small law firms. MyShingle was the first of the now dozen or so blogs by other solo and small firm lawyers who generously offer their wisdom on a range of issues like starting a firm, working from home, maximizing use of technology and share their own personal experience of the process of going solo.

MyShingle lead to a book deal and in January 2008, her publisher, Decision Books released her book, Solo by Choice: How to Be the Lawyer You Always Wanted to Be. The first major book on solo practice in five years, Solo by Choice is a why to book that explores the benefits of starting a law practice, as well as a how to book on leveraging 21st century trends like outsourcing, social networking, alternative billing and the Internet to start and create a successful practice.

Joe Dane is a criminal defense attorney and he will teach a course entitled “Criminal Law From an (Ex-)Prosecutor’s Perspective” at Solo Practice University™.

Joe is a criminal defense attorney and solo practitioner in Southern California. He was a prosecutor for twelve years, handling all types of criminal cases ranging from misdemeanor driving under the influence, theft and assault cases to felony sex offenses, major drug trafficking organizations, three strikes and homicide cases. Joe focused on sex crimes, including rape, child molestation and child pornography cases for six years.

Before attending law school, Joe was a Reserve Deputy Sheriff, working uniformed patrol for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. With his law enforcement background and having been named Prosecutor of the Year twice, Joe has taught extensively. He currently teaches all aspects of criminal law, including laws of arrest, search and seizure (Fourth Amendment) law and the law of Miranda at a California state-approved police academy. He has also has instructed for the California District Attorney’s Association on the topics of jury selection, trial tactics and crimes against children. He has written training manuals and conducted in-house training for two DA’s offices.

To learn more, visit Joe’s website or read his blog.

Craig is an attorney focusing on complex litigation, products liability and pharmaceutical litigation. He will teach a course about e-discovery and products liability at Solo Practice University™.

Craig received both his bachelor’s degree and his law degree from Tulane University. He was accepted into an honor’s combined BA-JD program at Tulane which allowed him to complete both his undergraduate degree and his law degree in a total of 6 years. He graduated from undergraduate and law school at Tulane with honors.

For the initial 18 years of his legal career, Craig worked as a lawyer representing automotive manufacturers such as Nissan, Honda and General Motors throughout the country in products liability litigation. Upon realizing his true calling was in helping those who had been injured and wronged, Craig began handling products liability cases and other complex litigation on behalf of plaintiffs. This has included cases against automotive manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies. The ability to fight for someone who has had significant tragedy in their life and be able to provide them some hope for the future has been an incredible gift of this journey. Craig has had the privilege of representing parents who lost their child due to suicide caused by an anti-depressants, husbands and children who lost their mother due to the taking of a “bad drug”, and in one case, an entire family who lost 3 family members and were left with 2 family members severely brain damaged all in one car crash due to the complete lack of care shown by a corporation in accepting responsibility for dangerous conditions it was causing to the roadway.

Craig brings a different perspective to cases because he has handled cases from “the other side”. He knows how they view cases, what strategies they may try, and how they evaluate cases. It permits him to anticipate how they will react to certain claims and know the potential moves before they even happen. This experience on both sides also provides Craig with different thoughts on issues than other attorneys representing the injured and wronged because for the first 18 years of his practice, he handled complex litigation on behalf of corporate America.

Craig is licensed to practice in both Alabama and Florida. He has given seminars and presentations throughout the country on issues ranging from how to pursue a products claim against a pharmaceutical company to how to address issues of production of electronic discovery in complex litigation.

To learn more, visit the Niedenthal Law Firm website or read the Alabama Product Injury Lawyer Blog.

D. Todd Smith is a certified specialist in civil appellate law. He will teach a course about appellate practice and procedure at Solo Practice University™.

Todd opened his solo practice in 2006 after spending nearly a decade with the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., where he was a member of the appellate and litigation practice groups. Before joining Fulbright, Todd served a two-year clerkship with Texas Supreme Court Justice Raul A. Gonzalez (ret.).

Todd represents plaintiffs and defendants in all phases of civil appeals and original proceedings, including preparation of written briefs and presentation of oral argument. He has handled matters before many of the Texas appellate courts, the Texas Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

A significant part of Todd’s practice takes place at the trial-court level, where he serves as counsel of record in a variety of commercial and tort cases and as a consultant to other lawyers and their clients. When engaged in a litigation support role, he assists trial counsel with strategic analysis and briefing, jury charges, and potentially dispositive motions, all with a focus on preserving error and positioning cases for appellate review.

Todd is the creator and publisher of the Texas Appellate Law Blog, an online resource for trial lawyers, in-house counsel, solo and small firm practitioners, and others who may have matters pending before Texas appellate courts. He is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and currently serves as editor of the State Bar Appellate Section publication, The Appellate Advocate.

Victor Medina is the managing partner of a small law firm run entirely on Mac computers and Apple products. He will teach a course entitled “Macs In the Law Office” at Solo Practice University™.

Victor focuses his practice on representing public school districts and families in crisis. He serves as general counsel for many families, handling the gamut of special education, estate planning and closely-held company matters. He is also assists many young families with protecting their kids and their family’s wealth.

Victor has professional training in psychology and law. He served as a full law clerk with The Hon. Alvin W. Thompson of the United States District Court in Hartford, CT. Prior to starting his own firm, he worked with two multi-national law firms in Boston and Princeton, handling business transactions.

A self-described technophile, Victor serves as the host and moderator of MILO Chat Weekly, a semi-regular podcast for Mac-using lawyers and other folks interested in the business application of Macs and Apple products.

Victor also maintains several blogs, substantive and not. His personal blog is Another Thing To Do. He maintains legal-related blogs at New Jersey Estate Planning, New Jersey Divorce & Family Law and New Jersey Education Law.

Patti is a trusts and estates attorney. Nationally recognized as an author and educator, she will teach a course on trust and estate planning, administration, and settlement, and how to leverage technology to build this practice area.

Ms. Spencer assists clients with federal estate, gift and generation-skipping tax planning; estate and trust administration; business succession planning; tax planning for qualified plan distributions; fiduciary income tax; and corporate tax planning. She serves as a Private Trustee and/or Executor, as well as an expert witness in estate tax, estate planning, and fiduciary matters. Her clients include consumers, accountants and other attorneys.

As a peer-nominated fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel  Ms. Spencer has been recognized by the legal profession for her educational commitment and her work with families, individuals, businesses, attorneys and accountants she serves.

Before founding Spencer Law Firm , Ms. Spencer managed a regional bank’s Personal Trust Department made up of 1,500 accounts and $400 million in assets. In this capacity, she supervised a department of nine Trust Officers and six Assistant Administrators in three line functions: Trust Administration, Trust Tax and Estate Settlement. She was accountable for trust department budgets, profitability, regulatory compliance, trust real estate, personnel issues, and estate-related legal matters.

Books and Publications by Patti S. Spencer, Esq.

Ms. Spencer is a prolific writer on trust and estate matters. Her major publications are listed below.

“Pennsylvania Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts Library: Forms and Practice Manual,” 2-volume set published by Data Trace, 2007. Topics covered include estate planning, simple wills, generation-skipping transfer tax, revocable living trusts, credit shelter/bypass trusts, irrevocable trusts, and charitable gift planning. 

“Your Estate Matters,” AuthorHouse, 2005, 476 pages. This book serves as an authoritative guide to estate planning, tax matters and financial strategies for long-term management of personal, family and closely-held business assets.

Ms. Spencer also writes “Taxing Matters,” a weekly column on tax and estate planning issues published in the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, from October 1999 to the present.

She maintains two active blogs on trust and estate topics: Pennsylvania Fiduciary Litigation and Pennsylvania Estate Planning and Administration. Additionally, she has published a number of journal and magazine articles on trust and estate topics.

Education and Accreditations

Ms. Spencer holds a J.D. and an LL.M in Taxation from Boston University School of Law, and a B.A. from Dickinson College. She is licensed to practice law in the states of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

Jim has practiced personal injury and malpractice law in the state and federal courts of both New York and Pennsylvania for more than twenty years. He will teach a course entitled “Personal Injury 101: The Nuts and Bolts of Handling Accident Cases” at Solo Practice University™.

Jim is a member of the prestigious Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Forum membership is limited to trial lawyers who have demonstrated exceptional skill, experience and excellence in advocacy by achieving a trial verdict, award or settlement of Two Million Dollars or more. Jim has also been honored as a New York “Super Lawyer”.  Lawyers are selected after a rigorous research process based on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Jim is admitted to practice in both New York and Pennsylvania where he regularly handles all types of injury cases,  car & truck crash cases, construction cases, and medical negligence cases. Jim limits his practice to the representation of injured persons only and does not do any insurance defense work.

Jim is the Managing Partner of the Ziff Law Firm, Elmira, NY located in the scenic Finger Lakes area of Upstate NY. Jim publishes the New York Injury Law Blog

Jim is a member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the New York Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American Association for Justice. Jim has lectured frequently on law-related topics and has been published in the New York State Bar Journal, which is the largest and most prestigious legal publication in New York State. In 2008, Jim was selected to author a chapter in the New York State Bar Association treatise: Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Actions in New York.

Jim is a lifelong resident of Elmira where he lives with his wife and three children. When he’s not working, Jim can often be found on his bicycle as he is an avid bicycle racer having competed in races all over the country including a 508 mile team race through Death Valley (The Furnace Creek 508) and a 540 mile race through the Cascade Mountains of Oregon (The Race Across Oregon).

Theresa M. Erickson is one of the few attorneys in the United States with a boutique practice exclusively in the area of Family Formation Law and will teach a course entitled “Creating a Niche Practice in Reproductive Law” at Solo Practice University™.

During law school, Theresa gained a passion for Family Formation Law. She initially discovered this area of family planning by choosing to become an egg donor for several couples who desperately wanted a child. In doing so, Theresa M. Erickson helped create numerous children for these families. In addition to her own personal experiences with egg donation, she witnessed a more personal fertility situation – her sister was unable to maintain a successful pregnancy to term. It is through both of these very personal experiences that Theresa M. Erickson’s passion developed to become a Reproductive Lawyer. Theresa M. Erickson’s legal practice is dedicated to exclusively provide legal services in the area of creating families. Theresa M. Erickson’s passion has not gone unnoticed; she is a nationally recognized expert in this specialized and unique area of law.

Known for her expertise she has discussed issues surrounding Reproductive Law on The Today Show, Nightline with Ted Koppel, CNN, The O-Reilly Factor and The Record with Greta Van Sustern

Ms. Erickson is an Executive Member of the ABA Family Committee, as well as an Executive Member of the ABA Reproductive Law and Technologies Committee. In addition, Ms. Erickson is an advisory board member of the Parents Via Egg Donation and INCIID and maintains membership with ASRM, AFA, and the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society. She has also written the book on the subject, Assisted Reproduction, the Complete Guide to Having a Baby with the Help of a Third Party.

Visit her firm website and read the Surrogancy and Egg Donation Blog.

Anne Reed is a trial lawyer and jury consultant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She will teach a course about jury selection at Solo Practice University™.

Anne has practiced for 27 years at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, SC, where she is a shareholder co-chairing the financial litigation group. Anne has consulted with lawyers from many different firms to assist in trial preparation both in Wisconsin (using Reinhart’s specialized courtroom, the Trial Science Institute) and elsewhere. Working closely with these lawyers, Anne designs and conducts mock trials to help lawyers and clients see their disputes through jurors’ eyes.

Anne writes about juries and jury trials at her blog, Deliberations — “a smart, captivating blog,” in the words of the ABA Journal.

Anne’s work has been published in TRIAL Magazine and the Wisconsin Law Journal, and she has been quoted on jury issues in, among others, the ABA Journal and the Los Angeles Times. She speaks to legal groups in Wisconsin and nationally about various aspects of jury trials.

In her trial practice, Anne is regularly lead trial counsel in disputes over business fraud and malpractice, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, corporate and shareholder disputes, ERISA rights and responsibilities, and other business and financial issues. Anne received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and her law degree, cum laude, from Cornell University Law School in 1981. She serves on the Communication Committee of the American Society of Trial Consultants and as a neutral on the commercial arbitration panel of the American Arbitration Association.

Want to join the Faculty? Contact us.

Mark Merenda is one of the nation’s leading experts on marketing for attorneys. He will teach a course on marketing strategies for lawyers at Solo Practice University™.

Merenda founded Smart Marketing in 1994. Smart Marketing’s services include strategic planning, coaching, and practice development — as well as the design and implementation of websites, blogs, search engine optimization programs, seminars, brochures, newsletters and e-newsletters, advertising campaigns, corporate identity and image materials, direct mail, referral networks, and more. Merenda’s SmartBlog founded in 2004, is a popular resource for attorneys and financial professionals with nearly 7,000 current subscribers.

Education And Professional Accreditation

A graduate of Bennington College, Merenda is a teaching Fellow at the Southern California Institute.

Presentations And Publications

Merenda gives lectures and presentations across the country, to groups including WealthCounsel, The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, The Ohio Forum of Estate Planning Attorneys, The Michigan Forum of Estate Planning Attorneys, The California Forum, The Society of Financial Service Professionals, and others. His list of publications is extensive, and includes Advisor Today, Bloomberg Wealth Manager, Marketing The Law Firm, National Underwriter, The National Law Journal, Elder Law Answers Monthly, CAPA2biz.com, and the Journal of the Institute for Dynamic Wealth Innovation. His articles may be downloaded or read online at the Smart Marketing website.

Want to join the Faculty? Contact us.

Edward Poll is a nationally recognized strategic planner for lawyers and law firms and will teach a course about business strategies for lawyers at Solo Practice University™.

Ed Poll is the principal of LawBiz Management. He is a nationally recognized coach, law firm management consultant and author. He practiced law on all sides of the table for 25 years – as a corporate general counsel, government prosecutor, sole practitioner, partner and law firm chief operating officer .. and as a client. He also owned and operated several manufacturing businesses.

For the last 14 years, Ed Poll has been coaching and consulting lawyers and law firms in the areas of strategic planning, profitability analysis and practice development. He has been called as an expert law firm management witness by the State Bar of California Trial Court, appointed as a Trustee of law firms convicted of disciplinary violations. He currently facilitates Managing Partners Roundtable consisting of some of the largest law firms in the country, Executive Directors Roundtable, as well as Diversity Directors Roundtable.

He’s a nationally-renowned instructor for law firms, bar associations and universities. He has taught:

• “Creating New Business Enterprises,” in the Department of Entrepreneurship, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
• “Business of Law Practice” for the USC Law Center for Advanced Professional Education
• Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) formerly at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Ed has authored several books and audiotapes on running a profitable law practice:

• Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law: Planning and Operating for Survival and Growth, Second Edition
• The Profitable Law Office Handbook: Attorney’s Guide to Successful Business Planning
• Secrets of the Business of Law: Successful Practices for Increasing Your Profits!
• Law Practice Management Review: The Audio Magazine for Busy Attorneys.
• The Tool Kit for Buying or Selling a Law Practice.

Ed is a frequent contributor to legal and business publications including: The Complete Lawyer, Lawyers’ Weekly USA, California Lawyer, The Practical Lawyer, Law Office Economics & Management and California Law Business (supplement to the Los Angeles Daily Journal).

Ed’s activities and leadership positions include:

• Member, Council, Law Practice Management Section, American Bar Association
• Member, Advisory Board, Law Firm Accounting (Leader Publications, Inc)
• Member, Editorial Board, Los Angeles Lawyer, Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Co-recipient of the “Leader of the Year” award (1991) of the General Practice Section of the American Bar Association
• Chairperson (1991-1997), Law Practice Management Section, Beverly Hills Bar Association
• Member, Executive Committee (since 1992) and Vice Chair (1997), Law Office Management Section, Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Chairperson (1989-1990) and adviser (1990-1997) to the Solo & Small Firm Section, State Bar of California (formerly General Practice Section)

Ed maintains the LawBiz® Management website and the LawBiz Blog.

Want to join the Faculty? Contact us.

Gordon is an attorney whose practice is devoted to the representation of artists, writers, producers and directors in the fields of theater, film, television,and music. He will teach a course on how to create and build an entertainment law practice at Solo Practice University™.

Gordon is also the publisher of Entertainment Law Update, a newsletter for artists and professionals in the entertainment industries. His practice, Law Offices of Gordon P. Firemark, covers intellectual property, cyberspace, new media and business/corporate matters for clients in the entertainment industry.

Mr. Firemark serves on the Boards of Governors of The Los Angeles Stage Alliance , (the organization responsible for the annual Ovation Awards for excellence in Theater) and The Academy for New Musical Theatre. He has also served as Chairman of the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Entertainment Law Section, and on that Bar Association’s Board of Governors.

Mr. Firemark holds a B.A. in Radio, Television and Film from the University of Oregon, and earned his law degree at Southwestern University School of Law. After working in the legal and business affairs departments at Hanna Barbera Productions and the MGM/UA Worldwide Television Group , Mr. Firemark worked at a prominent Los Angeles based entertainment litigation firm, and then hung his solo shingle in 1993. In 1997 Mr. Firemark joined with two other lawyers to form The Business Affairs Group, a transactional entertainment law boutique. In 2002, the partners went their separate ways, with Mr. Firemark returning to the flexibility of solo practice.

Gordon is also an accomplished producer of stage plays and musicals and serves as CEO of Fierce Theatricals, Inc., which is currently producing several touring productions. He has been involved with the entertainment industry in one way or another since his youth as a sound, lighting, and special effects technician in the theatre. Prior to becoming an attorney, he worked in the television industry, producing and directing live sports telecasts, public affairs programming commercial announcements, documentaries, and industrial videos.

Mr. Firemark teaches Business Law at Loyola Marymount University, and has offered courses in Theater Law at Cypress College, and Entrepreneurial Studies at California Institute of the Arts. Mr. Firemark has served as a moderator and featured panelist at seminars sponsored by the Beverly Hills Bar Association, California Lawyers for the Arts, Theatre LA, and the Oregon Artist’s Rights Coalition. He has also been a guest lecturer at Southwestern University School of Law, Loyola Law School, California Western School of law, UC Irvine, and California State University, Northridge.

Want to join the Faculty? Contact us.

Victoria is an attorney-mediator with experience in complex commercial litigation and trial advocacy. She will teach a course called ‘The Art of the Deposition’ at Solo Practice University™.

After a 25-year career in complex commercial litigation and trial work, Victoria Pynchon, author of the Settle It Now Negotiation Blog, and IP ADR blog became a full-time attorney-mediator. Ms. Pynchon received her LL.M. in Conflict Resolution from the prestigious Straus Institute in Malibu, California and her law degree, Order of the Coif, from University of California at Davis King Hall School of Law.

Ms. Pynchon mediates the same type of complex commercial cases she litigated for more than a quarter century with such firms as the Philadelphia-based Pepper Hamilton; the Los Angeles-based Buchalter Nemer and the San Francisco-based Hancock, Rothert & Bunshoft (recently merged with Duane Morris). She is a neutral for the Southern California ADR firm, Judicate West and serves as a mediator on her own specialty ADR panel, Settle It Now Dispute Resolution Services.

Ms. Pynchon’s broad business background gives her commercial mediation practice unusual depth in industry practices, management and finance. She spent her commercial litigation career litigating “bet the company” antitrust, unfair competition, intellectual property and insurance coverage actions. She has also prosecuted and defended nationwide consumer class actions and litigated securities fraud and professional liability actions.

Want to join the Faculty? Contact us.

Toby will teach about social media and networking for businesses at Solo Practice University™.

Combining over 15-years of traditional strategic marketing and with the lessons learned from her adventures in over 4 years with social media, Toby’s company, Bloomberg Marketing/Diva Marketing, helps (the people in) organizations join the new conversation, from blogs, to social networking to widgets to blogger relations and beyond … without getting blown-up.

One of her passions is helping marketers “get” the benefits of social media so it’s not a surprise that you can find Toby speaking and consulting on the topic at conferences and for organizations such as 3M, M/A/R/C, GourmetStation, American Marketing Association, PRSA, New Communications Forum, Blog World, Theraplex, BlogWorld, Cox Communications, Purina and BlogHer.

Toby’s blog, Diva Marketing, is one of the highest ranked marketing blogs in the world according to the Ad Age Power 150. Launched in 2004, Diva Marketing was one of the first “blog brands” and Toby is frequently referred to as the “social media marketing diva.”

Toby is also an adjunct professor at Goizueta School of Business at Emory University where she teaches an innovative course on management consulting.

Her media credits include articles about marketing and social media published in Marketing News, Portland Business Journal, Impact (India publication), L’actualite Alimentaire (Canada publication)

WEMagazine, RevenueToday and Atlanta Business-to-Business. She has been quoted about blogs in various publications including INC magazine, BusinessWeek, Wall Street Journal and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Entrepneur.com, MSNBC and the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

She is profiled in the best selling book about how blogs are changing business communications, Naked Conversations, and in the book Now Is Gone; her Blogger Stories blog is included in the book Clear Blogging.

Toby serves on the boards of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association, International Blogger and New Media Association, as well as, the social media communities Savvy Auntie and Divine Caroline. She holds a degree from Emerson College and has performed post-baccalaureate studies in marketing and management at Emory University.

She is a Yankee from Boston living in the South with her YouTube “rock star” Westie pup Max, who occasionally finds his way into Diva Marketing.

Want to join the Faculty? Contact us.

Brett is a patent attorney and frequent national speaker on internet and intellectual property law. He will teach a course about intellectual property law and cyberlaw at Solo Practice University™.

Brett is the former President of the Iowa Intellectual Property Association and former Chair of the Iowa State Bar Association Technology Committee. He is author of the world’s first patent law blog, as well of the first online continuing legal education approved in the state of Iowa. He was also a featured speaker at the 2007 BlogWorld Expo. In 2006, Weblog Awards voted his blog, BlawgIT, the sixth best law blog in the world. Brett is author of several books on Internet Law including his most recent, Cyberlaw: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business.

Brett began practicing Intellectual Property Law in 1992, becoming a registered patent attorney in 1993. Since that time, he has drafted over one hundred patent applications. After working for the state’s largest law firms, Brett started his own practice in 2001. Brett J. Trout, P.C. focuses on complex Intellectual Property and Information Technology protection, licensing and litigation. He and his firm are both AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Brett is one of the founding members of the Iowa Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts project. He is a strong advocate of lawyer transparency, and is active in several online social networks. For more information, simply google “Brett Trout“.

Want to join the Faculty? Contact us.

Stephanie operates a web-based Virtual Law Office (VLO)  in North Carolina and will teach about all aspects of running a Virtual Law practice in the 21st century at Solo Practice University™.

Stephanie Kimbro, Esq., MA, JD, has operated a Web-based virtual law office in North Carolina since 2006 and delivers estate planning and small-business law to clients online. She is the recipient of the 2009 ABA Keane Award for Excellence in eLawyering and the author of Virtual Law Practice: How to Deliver Legal Services Online (ABA/LPM Publishing 2010). She is also the co-founder of Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC (VLOTech), which was acquired by Total Attorneys in the fall of 2009.

In addition to operating her own solo virtual law practice, Kimbro writes about the ethics and technology issues of delivering legal services online and is interested in the use of technology by legal professionals to increase access to justice in our country.  She has presented educational sessions on virtual law practice for the ABA, the North Carolina and South Carolina Bar Associations, Campbell Law School and other organizations.  Kimbro also teaches a course on virtual law practice as a faculty member of Solo Practice University, a Web-based legal education community.

Kimbro serves on the board of the Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project (LSNTAP) and is a member of the ABA eLawyering Task Force, the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA) Law Practice Management (LPM) Council, the NCBA Tech Advisory Committee and the NCBA YLD Internet Committee. She lives in Wimington, NC, near the coast, with her husband and two children.

On October 28th we will start to announce our Solo Practice University™ faculty. Yeah!  So, in honor of the big roll out we have redesigned our Faculty page, too.

As every distinguished faculty member is announced their name and picture will be posted here.  All you  have to do is click on their photograph to be brought to their Solo Practice University™ faculty profile page.

And, in very short time every profile page will feature the faculty member’s course syllabus so you can get just as excited as we are about what they will be teaching.

So, visit often, sign up for the RSS or drop your e-mail. We will be announcing two or three new faculty per week for the next several weeks.

Beginning the week of October 27th we will start introducing you to the outstanding faculty at Solo Practice University™.

We promised you SPU would have the teachers you wished you had in law school, those  profitable in the trenches actually practicing what they preach and sharing their experience and wisdom. Some may actually teach on more than one topic.

And unlike any other site that we know of,  Solo Practice University’s faculty will really teach you the ropes of what needs to be done.   Each faculty has committed to a full curriculum of teaching in their area of expertise just like law school (no thirty minute hit and run ‘teases’)……and all from the comfort of your computer.  Each faculty member is committed to answering your questions, encouraged to be totally creative with full authority to add or vary classes based upon the students’ requests.

Imagine, you are following one of our premiere criminal defense attorneys’ teachings and an important case makes the news.  You want to understand the ramifications of that case.  That faculty member, because he or she is well entrenched in their practice area, gathers together several attorneys to have an impromptu debate on the subject, then takes a break from the syllabus and discusses this important case in a spirited and thought-provoking round table.  This is absolutely encouraged at Solo Practice University™.

Or you are learning from our personal injury lawyers.  You want to know what goes through the mind of an insurance adjuster when presented with a claim.  To make the anatomy of a personal injury suit come to life our personal injury lawyer arranges a panel discussion with an insurance defense lawyer and an insurance adjuster to get all the perspectives.

This is the type of education you will find at Solo Practice University™; – practical, timely, fluid, creative, interactive and fun.

If you can’t participate on the day the class or seminar is being offered, no worries.  Once a class has been taught you will find the class recording in our library to reference at your leisure.  You can always catch up.

As all faculty have the flexibility to teach in whatever format they choose, lessons will be video, audio, a combination of the two, workbooks, PDFs and more.

One of the best parts, faculty will also have office hours (to be determined by them). Whether through forums or recorded Q & A, you will always be able to follow up with the faculty on what you’ve learned, either asking questions live or reviewing after the fact when it’s convenient for you.

So, starting the week of October 27th we will introduce you to the current faculty, two or three per week.  Since all our faculty are experts and incredibly talented at what they will be teaching, we decided to introduce them by lottery.  That’s right, names in a hat and pulled out at random.  (We didn’t like alphabetical either).

Please encourage our faculty with comments to show your enthusiasm. Visit their sites, get to know them.  Let them know you can’t wait to learn.  They are bringing a lot to the party because they’ve decided you’re worth it and Solo Practice University™ was just the right educational environment.