Pre-COVID-19, many lawyers believed that an elegant office downtown near the courthouse and populated by all lawyers and staff was a critical business need. Post-COVID, law firm leaders are questioning whether more flexible work locations, work schedules and staffing models can be just as effective. They’re asking: What would it take to operate differently? In this session, you’ll discuss the long-term impact of COVID-19 on law firm operations, with an emphasis on the changes that are likely to endure long past the end of the pandemic—and possibly permanently. You’ll review how these changes could improve law firm financials, operations, productivity, morale and competitive positioning of law firms. We’ll also discuss how law firm leaders are weighing the relative benefits of these new ways of doing business.

Objectives:

• Assess the most impactful lessons learned by law firm leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Evaluate which operational changes are likely to endure and why.
• Examine the decision frameworks that law firm leaders are using to weigh alternative approaches.
• Evaluate how to apply these learnings to the benefit of your own organization.

Timothy B. Corcoran
Principal
Corcoran Consulting Group, LLC

Discover how emotional marketing, empathy, well-being and corporate values have become our most important branding, business development and recruiting assets. The technology revolution and the COVID-19 pandemic moved us from slogans and selling to storytelling, self-expression and virtual connections and to empathizing with our audiences and humanizing our marketing. Join in a discussion of how 2020 not only changed the branding and marketing game but improved it by fostering an emotional connection with audiences and communities and creating caring cultures.

Objectives:

• Assess and reimagine the use of email, blogs, your website and social media with a human-first, always, approach.
• Assess whether empathy now has a seat at the boardroom table, and if it does, figure out what to do now.
• Discuss if culture is our compass and how we can reset it.
• Analyze how human nature and an emotional connection are driving the way we market and recruit.
• Evaluate how emotional connection is where brand loyalty begins, both internally and externally.

Terry M. Isner
Owner and Chief Executive Officer
Jaffe

Bill and Phil look at the state of technology heading into the decade of the ’20s and coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. So much has been promised with the booming technological revolution. Many promises have been kept, but others have proven to be elusive. This session showcases the latest technology trends for law firms that have proven to be revolutionary and practical. You’ll examine the role of the cloud and mobility in the ongoing transformation of the legal tech space and how the utility of the cloud has evolved over the past decade. You’ll discover how the cloud played a huge role in law firm survival during the pandemic. In addition, this session will unveil some of the latest gadgets and innovations that every legal professional will want.

Objectives:

• Examine the technology S-curve that is driving rapid adoption of new tech changing the way we work and live.
• Identify new tech products that enhance workforce mobility and are key to maintaining a competitive edge.
• Illustrate how law firms have been slow to adapt to a cloud-centric ecosystem, but now see the cloud as essential.
• Illustrate how security and privacy in a mobile workforce are more important than ever.
• Demonstrate how new technology makes work-life balance a reality.

Phillip Hampton
Founder and Chairman
LOGICFORCE

William T. Ramsey, JD
Partner
Neal & Harwell, PLC

Have you been thinking about a different kind of career, or a different position within your current firm? Would you like to explore the connection between the kind of work you want to do, with the skills you bring to that potential role? This is an involved session combining small segments of information followed by exercises to help you understand what you want to do and how to make it happen.  

Objectives:

• Explain what an encore career is and how it might apply to you personally.
• Identify your personal work view and life view and where they complement one another and where they might clash.
• Discover how to track energy and engagement of activities to identify your “sweet spots.”
• Identify how to use design thinking to map options: ideate, name, frame, prototype.

Denise Gaskin, PhD, MS
President
RavenWork Consulting & Executive Coaching

We’ve all said it: “I would write a book, but who would believe these stories are true?” And in this post-2020 environment, many of the tales are unfortunately far too real. Given the effects of all things 2020 — including massive social unrest, the COVID-19 pandemic and the new realities of our law firm “workplaces” — the legal workspace has become far more complicated to manage. Designed for administrators and those with human resources responsibilities, this fast-paced session will focus on workplace issues and examine practical, business-focused solutions you can use immediately

Michael S. Cohen, JD
Partner
Duane Morris LLP

This session is intended to show how people involuntarily make decisions and guide you to recognize and prevent bias, and to know how to effectively communicate with persons whose bias affects others.

Objectives:

• Explain the biology of human decision-making, including emotion, mood, complex cognition, and reasoning.
• Interpret the psychology of decision-making, heuristics, issue-framing.
• Define the seven steps to effective decision-making.
• Use strategies to prevent bias in your own decision-making and strategies in communicating to third parties.
• Examine reframing issues and overcoming misunderstandings.

Claude E. Ducloux, J.D.
Director of Ethics, Education and State Compliance
LawPay

Regardless of size, every lawyer and every firm asks the question: what does my firm really need to do in terms of a communications, marketing, and business development strategy? Applying decades of experience in legal marketing, this presentation will show that successful communications strategies have key components: starting with a financial analysis and marketplace research to uncover and confirm potential opportunities, combined with your passion, interest and creativity for wise, informed and focused choices about where to invest your resources.

This program will provide a deep dive into winning case studies of innovative yet targeted communications campaigns defined by specific goals and measurable results.

Objectives:

• Discover how to conduct a simple financial analysis.
• Discover how to research and uncover market opportunities.
• Identify and align your passion and interests with your goals.
• Combine all these elements together into viable, focused campaigns that you can easily implement and follow up with a measurement of our success as the go-to resource in niche practice areas and locations.
• Use a list of more than 20 checklists, templates and samples that help move your campaign(s) from ideas to execution.

Shannon Lanier
Account and Marketing Director
Poston Communications

As we emerge from COVID-19, employers will continue to face new challenges in the workplace. Get updated in this session on the latest employment laws and human resources best practices as companies look to reopen and employees return to the workplace. You’ll explore the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, applicable federal government regulations, what to know about vaccines for employees and recent employment law court decisions.

Objectives:

• Identify ongoing employer requirements under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
• Explain how to navigate continuing employer obligations under federal regulations regarding COVID-19.
• Identify best practices for handling vaccines for employees.
• Review recent employment laws and court decisions.

Ted Smith, JD
Partner
Cornell Smith Mierl Brutocao Burton, LLP

Law firms face increasing pressure from both clients and regulators to demonstrate compliance with cybersecurity and data privacy best practices. This can be a difficult and painful task without proper preparation and planning. Responding to cybersecurity audits and managing the firm’s risk and compliance efforts is not simply a function of IT, but an important executive management responsibility. In this session, you’ll see how administrators play a vital role in management oversight of the firm’s information security plan, including demonstration of compliance with federal, state and industry data security and privacy standards. You’ll leave knowing how to simplify and effectively manage your firm’s cybersecurity compliance and audit response.

Objectives:

• Examine the common cybersecurity regulations and industry standards (HIPAA, NIST, ISO27001, GDPR, etc.) that serve as the framework for client IT surveys and audits.
• Arrange your firm’s compliance into 10 key areas of cybersecurity compliance and best practices.
• Identify strategies and tips for the easiest and best response to client cybersecurity assessments.
• Assess how legal management professionals can confidently and effectively manage the firm’s compliance efforts without a technical background.

James Harrison
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
INVISUS

In today’s world of extraordinary challenges, staying positive and productive is essential. Misunderstandings can be exacerbated by stress. You will learn how to amplify your self actualization, which is more than reaching your full potential. It’s being free of the fears that haunt you, causing you to doubt yourself, your value and your ability to achieve and succeed. It’s being able to accomplish more because you are resilient, effective and proactive—you are the island of calm during the tsunami of uncertainty. This deep dive into motive drivers and corresponding “shadow” side affords the insight necessary to maintain a healthy outlook.

Objectives:

• Discover your own resilience when you need it the most.
• Recognize the effect of stress by understanding shadows — the distorted ways of thinking, feeling and behaving when under stress — and reframe the catastrophized and shadowed story objectively.
• Illustrate your ability (and the ability of those around you) to operate in the face of difficult circumstances.
• Develop an optimistic outlook, thereby preventing burnout.
• Develop a personal leadership development plan based on each person’s scores on the Nine Attributes of Actualized Leaders.

Anne E. Collier, MPP, JD, PCC
Chief Executive Officer
Arudia

Are your lawyers profitable? How do you know? And what if they aren’t? Whether you manage a large firm or are a sole practitioner, profitability is the most important measure of success. With clients making a wide array of demands on their lawyers, law firms have had to adapt and evolve their skillset and strategies with pricing. Learn from two seasoned pricing professionals, the current state of legal pricing and its ever-present focus on driving both revenue and profits for law firms. You’ll walk away with practical knowledge on how you can help your firm improve profitability and increase your personal ROI for your firm.

Objectives:

• Understand how legal pricing started and where it is today.
• Learn how to “speak” and then prove profitability with your attorneys.
• Demonstrate how to collaborate directly with clients to drive win-win outcomes.

Kristina Lambright, JD
Senior Director of Strategic Growth
Perkins Coie LLP