Like a mini-MBA for lawyers, this four-part series offers lawyers a unique opportunity to develop essential business and leadership skills that law school never taught but that lawyers really need to know to effectively run a legal practice and deliver excellent legal service to clients.  This series will also equip lawyers with practical tools and strategies to break down the barriers that contribute to disconnection so they can build trust and communicate for influence and impact. 

Join us for Essential Business Skills for Busy Lawyers Part 2 – Build Your Legal Practice Like a Pro.

The ability to negotiate effectively is one of the most important skills that any lawyer can hone. In this CLE, we will explore different negotiation approaches. We will discuss tips and techniques to prepare yourself and your clients for mediation or direct negotiation to maximize the likelihood of an acceptable deal. We will discuss effective negotiation skills to use at the bargaining table, including preparation, active listening, and collaboration. We will also explore strategies for identifying issues and finding common ground to build momentum toward successful resolution.

The presenter is Colleen Byers, JD, MBA, RYT200 of Colleen Byers Mediation, LLC (https://www.byersmediation.com) a seasoned litigator, mediator, legal educator, certified yoga instructor, and 2020 North Carolina Lawyer of the Year.

60 Minutes | 1.0 Regular Credit

* CLE credit pending

Like a mini-MBA for lawyers, this four-part series offers lawyers a unique opportunity to develop essential business and leadership skills that law school never taught but that lawyers really need to know to effectively run a legal practice and deliver excellent legal service to clients.  This series will also equip lawyers with practical tools and strategies to break down the barriers that contribute to disconnection so they can build trust and communicate for influence and impact. 

Join us for Essential Business Skills for Busy Lawyers Part 2 – Build Your Legal Practice Like a Pro.

Lawyers work with people all the time, whether they are their clients, opposing counsel, colleagues, or staff. In order to be an effective legal practitioner as well as an effective manager of the practice of law, every lawyer needs to understand the pivotal importance of empathy in the practice of law. Empathy is the ability to sense other people’s emotions, and to imagine what they might be thinking or feeling. Empathy is a key component of emotional intelligence, which is a core competency of any highly effective lawyer, legal professional, or law firm leader. Research indicates a positive correlation between empathy and operational performance, team climate, and employee retention. Law firms that embrace a culture of empathy toward their clients as well as their internal teams will have a competitive advantage in the legal marketplace.

The presenter is Colleen Byers, JD, MBA, RYT200 of Colleen Byers Mediation, LLC (https://www.byersmediation.com) a seasoned litigator, mediator, legal educator, certified yoga instructor, and 2020 North Carolina Lawyer of the Year.

60 Minutes | 1.0 Regular Credit

* CLE credit pending

The laws, regulations and public attitudes on cannabis are changing so rapidly it’s hard to keep up.

Consider: in 2021, a sweeping draft bill titled the ‘‘Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act” was introduced in the US Senate. For the first time in history, leaders in the Senate have proposed legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and effectively end federal prohibition. The bill would, among other things, remove cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances, impact a range of federal agencies from the National Forest Service to the Federal Aviation Authority, and provide for expungement of certain marijuana offenses.

Although the ultimate fate of the bill is unclear, its mere existence marks a sea change in cannabis law.

For lawyers, this poses a number of challenges:

1. Understanding the laws of their state – which may differ significantly from those of neighboring states – in order to represent their clients competently.

2. Understanding the interplay between federal laws and those in their respective states.

3. Navigating the emerging ethical considerations of cannabis law.

4. Assessing the risks and opportunities for their own law practice.

5. Keeping up with changes in the law, which is evolving at light speed.

Cannabis issues touch on every area of legal practice, from criminal defense to zoning law. Having at least a basic grasp of the key issues is essential.

60 Minutes | 1.0 Regular Credit

* CLE credit pending

Like a mini-MBA for lawyers, this four-part series offers lawyers a unique opportunity to develop essential business and leadership skills that law school never taught but that lawyers really need to know to effectively run a legal practice and deliver excellent legal service to clients.  This series will also equip lawyers with practical tools and strategies to break down the barriers that contribute to disconnection so they can build trust and communicate for influence and impact. 

Join us for Essential Business Skills for Busy Lawyers Part 2 – Build Your Legal Practice Like a Pro.

Building a legal practice is really about building relationships. This CLE will highlight the keys to successfully build your legal practice, with an emphasis on compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct. We will solve for the dreaded cocktail party “what do you do” question. We will also discuss strategies for attorneys to market themselves both within their firms as well as to external clients.

The presenter is Colleen Byers, JD, MBA, RYT200 of Colleen Byers Mediation, LLC (https://www.byersmediation.com) a seasoned litigator, mediator, legal educator, certified yoga instructor, and 2020 North Carolina Lawyer of the Year.

60 Minutes | 1.0 Regular Credit

* CLE credit pending

The pandemic transformed the legal profession in ways that were unimaginable.  The 2021 ABA Legal Technology Report shows just how dramatic that change has been.

David Ries led our 2022 webinar on Cyber Security Ethics, and makes a return appearance to provide an updated assessment of the constantly evolving landscape of cyber threats.  He is a national thought leader in the burgeoning field of Cybersecurity Ethics. David is author of the Cybersecurity Chapter for the ABA TechReport 2021 and the book Locked Down: Practical Information Security for Lawyers (ABA 2016).

As an attendee, you will learn how technology and cybersecurity are affecting their ethical obligations, including compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct. You will discover best practices for safeguarding client data, maintaining technological competence, and running a virtual law practice. And will learn how to put Cybersecurity Ethics into practice to protect your firm, clients and data.

You DO NOT want to miss this CLE webinar.
* CLE credit pending

Like a mini-MBA for lawyers, this four-part series offers lawyers a unique opportunity to develop essential business and leadership skills that law school never taught but that lawyers really need to know to effectively run a legal practice and deliver excellent legal service to clients.  This series will also equip lawyers with practical tools and strategies to break down the barriers that contribute to disconnection so they can build trust and communicate for influence and impact. 

Join us for Essential Business Skills for Busy Lawyers Part 1 – Communicate Like a Pro.

When our interactions with other humans are meaningful and productive, we are not only more personally fulfilled, but we are also more professionally effective. In 2024, there is a heightened sense of feeling unheard, undervalued, and disconnected. Emotions are erupting. Clients and counsel seem to entrench in unreasonable and irrational positions. This presentation will offer specific tools and strategies to immediately implement in your legal practice to improve outcomes when navigating difficult conversations with clients, counsel, and colleagues alike.

The presenter is Colleen Byers, JD, MBA, RYT200 of Colleen Byers Mediation, LLC (https://www.byersmediation.com) a seasoned litigator, mediator, legal educator, certified yoga instructor, and 2020 North Carolina Lawyer of the Year.

60 Minutes | 1.0 Regular Credit

* CLE credit pending

“Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke.” Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.’s famous quip wasn’t about navigating a deluge of legal AI hype in 2024, but it could have been. The right type of generative AI offers attorneys immense benefits, but between “robot lawyers” and sanctions from judges for misuse of AI, it can be hard to navigate.

Attend our webinar to learn:

• A brief history of AI and the law

• How to distinguish between responsible and irresponsible uses of AI

• Real, trustworthy applications of generative AI, including legal research, document review, and contract analysis

• How to apply existing legal ethics requirements to generative AI

The presenter is Ryan Groff, Lecturer, Attorney, CIPP/US of Casetext the leaders of innovation in legal AI since 2013 and the developers of CoCounsel, the world’s first AI legal assistant.