I was at the Missouri Bar's Solo and Small Firm Conference last week. They had an incredible turnout with around 1050 registered attendees. I believe it has more attendees than their annual meeting. It is clearly the largest of all of the state bar solo and small firm conferences.
I spoke for seven presentations or panels. They kept me busy. Based on the MoBar's request, I did a new program on client selection and whether one should represent relatives that i will be probably doing again in the future. I also did programs on Billing Strategies in a Changing Economy, Best Laid Marketing Plan: How to Use Technology to Deliver Blue Ribbon Personal Service to Your Clients and Avoiding Technology Disasters.
I joined with the American Bar Association's Catherine Sanders Reach for a program titled "Practicing in the Cloud: Pros and Cons of SaaS, Online Document Repository and Virtual Law Practice." These related topics really focus on some cutting-edge issues impacting the legal profession. I think we are going to see many law firms hosting separate online document repositories for each of their clients. That will mean no more sending documents by e-mail. The lawyer will send an e-mail saying "New Document X is available in your individual client document repository." This is generally much more secure than an e-mail attachment and, when the client misplaces a document, they don't have to contact the lawyer and get billed, they just log in and print another copy.
Catherine and I also did a Tips program during the last set of sessions before the closing luncheon Saturday. Everyone loves a tips program and we smiled as the bar staff had to bring in extra chairs when we were getting ready to start. Thanks to the MoBar SSF planning committee for inviting me to speak again and to Linda Oligschlaeger and the rest of the bar staff for being such wonderful hosts.
Oklahoma lawyers should remember that Catherine Sanders Reach will be joining us at the Oklahoma Bar Association Solo and Small Firm Conference next week with her great tips, PDF training and other great educational programs. Check out the OBA SSF website for more info.