As I mentioned yesterday, I'd intended to write this post earlier in the week. The Solo Summit ended this past Saturday and I wouldn't want the information to become stale; but this isn't that kind of post. Yes, I'll tell you all about the Summit, but your takeaway should be that, if you're a solo or true small firm in California, you really should consider attending next year's Summit. Since it began in 2009, its been growing every year – and for good reason.
Here's a sample of the education you had to choose from: Marketing your practice, balancing your personal/professional life, avoiding discipline, mediation, setting up a litigation war room, health care, the iPad in law practice, human resources and risk management, fee arbitration, free legal resources for lawyers, emerging practice areas, client trust accounts, employment, privacy, confidentiality & security (my presentation), elimination of bias, estate planning, bankruptcy, avoiding malpractice, eDiscovery, tax, appellate practice, family law, expedited jury trials, time management and IP.
There was CLE credit available in all specialty areas. That's a lot of bang for the buck! Naturally, as the incoming Chair of LPMT, I was curious what attendees thought of the programs. I have to say that virtually all of the feedback was positive.
And my program? The room was completely full (I estimated about 75 people) and again, feedback was extremely positive (as usual, I didn't finish). In fact, I can't recall a presentation I've done that resulted in as much follow-up by attendees as this one. I'm not sure if it was due to the material or the type of conference. But, I did receive many questions about cloud security and was pleased to inform those people that I – along with my LPMT colleague, Donna Seyle – will be presenting on that very subject at the State Bar's Annual Meeting in October; and it'll be 90 minutes. Maybe we'll actually get through our entire program!
So, why do I highly recommend the Solo Summit? We estimated attendance at about 285, and a prime benefit was the relative intimacy of the conference that allowed people to mingle and meet at breakfast & lunch (which were provided), during breaks and of course, in the evenings. As much as I enjoy the annual meeting, it's much larger and those types of impromptu conversations are much more difficult to achieve because you're always on your way…somewhere.
What would I do differently? Move the coffee bar next to the stage. That way, people would never leave…