Programs

Our Speakers

Looking for speakers who can deliver real-life examples and practical, use-it-now information? The following programs are available free from Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company to local bar associations and legal groups.

Contact Thomas Watson to arrange for a speaker.

Our Speakers

Topics for the 2010 program year
The following presentations are available for local and specialty bar associations and law-related organizations. Each presentation is 50 minutes long. Continuing legal education and ethics and
professional responsibility credits are subject to the approval of the Board of Bar Examiners.

Personal Injury Practice: Handle with Care
Learn how missed deadlines, changes in the delivery of health care, tenuous attorney-client relationships, and other factors combine to make PI practice a high risk area of practice.

Real Estate Practice Pitfalls
Look below the surface and you will see that real estate practice is rife with potential for errors and omissions. Find out how to avoid making a fatal mistake by implementing office procedures and risk management.

Common Pitfalls In Law Practice
Learn about the common pitfalls in law practice and how professional liability insurance underwriters evaluate law firms' exposure to risk.

Finding the Balance: Life and Lawyering
How do you keep all the plates spinning at once? Finding - and maintaining - a balance among the competing demands of professional and personal life is the key to long-term success in a legal career.

Protecting your Practice: Preparing a Disaster Recovery Plan
Are you prepared for an interruption in your practice? Unexpected events can shut down your office - a computer crash, a fire, a tornado or a partner suddenly gone for an extended period. How would these events impact your business and how do you prepare for them? From business continuation plans to disaster planning, there are ways to be ready.

Finding a Safety Net: Keeping Your Balance in the High Wire Practice of Family Law
Family law attorneys juggle many issues: custody, support, marital assets, tax implications and more. Are you selecting the right clients? Are your engagement letters effective? Are you having trouble communicating with some of your clients? Learn some techniques that may help you.

Help Yourself: What Malpractice Claims Teach Us
What you don't know can hurt you! A look at where claims come from and why, concentrating on areas of practice reporting the most frequent claims and what activities are responsible for claims in each area.

Legal Malpractice - A Primer
This program focuses on the elements of a legal malpractice claim and current Wisconsin common law in lawyers professional liability. It also addresses what areas of law see the most claims, why the claims arise, types of attorney errors, and how practicing attorneys can avoid the mistakes that often lead to malpractice claims.

Starting a Law Practice
This program was designed specifically for law school presentations and is used at both law schools in Wisconsin. It focuses on helping lawyers develop a business plan, an operating budget, managing cash flow, identifying office technology needs, managing trust accounts, staff and determining insurance needs. This program also identifies marketing strategies for law firms and deals with issues related to client communication and client selection.

Malpractice Considerations With Unbundled Legal Services
Unbundled legal services, or limited scope representation, is a growing trend in the legal profession. This program covers issues that lawyers must consider when taking on this kind of representation. These issues include failing to identify related matters to the representation, failing to explain the risks of limited scope representation to clients, failing to identify the scope of representation in writing, terminating the representation improperly, failing to communicate the representation to the court, and improperly engaging in ghostwriting documents for clients.

Avoiding the "M" Word: Managing Malpractice Risks
Topics covered in this program include missed deadlines, difficult attorney-client relationships, flawed office procedures, suing for fees and other potentially risky practice situations. Legal scenarios illustrating potential problems and ways to avoid them are included.

What Keeps You Up At Night? Getting Peace of Mind In Your Law Practice
This program identifies the elements of legal malpractice, the riskiest areas of practice, and common mistakes that lead to malpractice claims and ways to avoid them.

Dealing With Pro Se Litigants: More Art Than Science?
As lawyers increasingly encounter unrepresented opposing parties, they must learn to effectively and appropriately deal with them. This program considers how lawyers can handle cases involving opposing pro se parties in ways that do not compromise the representation of their own clients and are consistent with the Supreme Court Rules governing lawyer conduct.

Using Office Staff Effectively
This program highlights office procedures and attorney oversight of staff that can lead to better practice methods and ultimately better service to clients. It focuses on good staff management, staff training, staff hiring and effective attorney oversight of staff.