Susan Leach DeBlasio, Nicole Benjamin, Victoria Almeida and Kelly Kincaid will all be presenting at this year’s Annual Meeting for the Rhode Island Bar Association on June 15th and 16th at the Rhode Island Convention Center.
Thursday, June 15, 2017
A Practitioner’s Guide to Best Practices: Practice Management, Client Communications, and Professionalism
1:30pm – 2:45pm
Presenter: Susan Leach DeBlasio, Esq., Adler Pollock & Sheehan
This seminar provides a primer for new practitioners and a reminder for experienced practitioners of some of the best practices an attorney can adopt to manage his or her practice, communicate with his or her clients, and maintain a professional posture in today’s fast-paced, stress-inducing legal environment. Topics for discussion include: communicating with clients and other parties; drafting documents; efficiency, productivity, and time management tools and strategies; effective use of assistants; handling paper overload; use of forms; office policies; confidentiality; and stress and work-life balance.
Friday, June 16, 2017
ESI For Plaintiffs, Solo Practitioners, & Small Firms: How to Catch Up Electronically with the Big Guys
10:45am – 12:00pm
Moderator: Hon. Patricia A. Sullivan, U.S. District Court
Speakers:
George E. Lieberman, Esq., Gianfrancesco & Friedemann, LLP
Nicole J. Benjamin, Esq., Adler Pollock & Sheehan
Andrew S. Tugan, Esq., Hinckley Allen
Dana Conneally, JD, Evidox Corporation
This session is specifically focused on electronic discovery in small cases to assist lawyers in small firms, and who are solo, in representing individuals and small entities. Tweets, Facebook posts, message board posting, texts….it is all discoverable and lawyers need to know how to preserve it, produce it and ask for it from the other side. The goal of this panel is to remove the mystery and educate practitioners on how to use the rules to your client’s advantage. The focus of the discussion will be on a realistic, efficient and affordable approach to litigation in a world where there is a new reality – everything is electronic.
The Problem with Communication Is the Illusion It Has Been Accomplished: Effective Use of Civil Jury Instructions
10:45am – 12:00pm
Moderator: Kelly A. Kincaid, Esq., Adler Pollock & Sheehan
Speakers:
Mark B. Morse, Esq., Law Office of Mark B. Morse
Kara G. Thorvaldsen, Esq., Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
Hon. Daniel A. Procaccini, RI Superior Court
The workshop introduces attendees to the process of instructing jurors in civil jury cases. Attendees will hear perspectives of lawyers for plaintiffs and defendants, and from an experienced jurist, as to strategies for drafting meaningful jury instructions, proper procedures for submitting jury instructions and conferencing with the court, the mechanics of instructing the jury and sending them out to deliberate, and preserving the record.
The Value of Incorporating Pro Bono Representation into your Law Practice
10:45am – 12:00pm
Moderator: Barbara L. Margolis, Esq., Office of Disciplinary Counsel
Speakers:
Victoria M. Almeida, Esq., Adler Pollock & Sheehan
David N. Bazar, Esq., Bazar & Associates, P.C.
David F. Reilly, Esq., Law Office of David Reilly
This program features a presentation by attorneys in solo practice, a small firm and a large firm about the value and challenges of pro bono representation, including limited scope representation and managing your caseload.
