Category Archives: Resources

Advisors Needed for Summer Interns and Fellows

Posted on by Faith Pincus
Advisors
20 Apr

Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) is actively seeking Advisors for their 2018 Advising Program, which matches current Law Student Interns and Graduate Fellows with members of PILI’s Alumni Network or Board of Directors.

PILI’s Advising Program is flexible, and allows Advisors to fit the program into their schedule. Advisors are required to communicate with their Advisee, and meet at least twice during the summer. Advisors often serve as an introduction to the Illinois legal community by providing career guidance, networking inroads and valuable insights.

PILI will provide additional support and tips to assist with making the relationship beneficial for both Advisor and Advisee. Those interested in serving as an Advisor should complete the registration form before Friday, April 27th, which allows PILI to make matches based on areas of practice and alma maters.

Access-to-Justice Donations You Should Be Making

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If you are making charitable donations this year, consider organizations that increase access to justice. Organizations that work to improve access to justice work with people to improve communication tools, transportation and more. From internet access, to transportation, to housing. There are many organizations out there doing great work and ensuring more people have access to the services they need.

This article from Lawyerist.com outlines many of the different options you have when making a charitable donation. You can read the full article here.

Their suggestions range from organizations helping with internet access such as Equitable Internet Initiative and Foundation for Rural Service, groups focusing on transportation like Neighbor Ride and Wheels of Success and groups who focus exclusively on keeping the doors of America’s Public Libraries open.

Even providing housing to individuals improves access to justice. If you don’t know where you are going to sleep, legal issues take a backseat. Government resources for housing are stretched thin and many private organizations have stepped in to fill the need for individuals with month-to-month or even day-to-day housing needs.

Virtual Copyrights – how will the government respond?

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Virtual copyrights. What will the law do with the virtual, augmented and mixed realities coming to your smartphone soon? Jack Russo and Mike Risch don’t answer that question but they do provide a roadmap on how the intellectual property laws (and particularly federal copyright law) will adapt and adjust to provide protection for these new innovations at a recent paper entitled “Virtual Copyright” (which is a chapter in a soon to be published VR/AR legal treatise) now available here.

Further commentary is also available at Professor Michael Risch’s blog and at Computerlaw Group LLP, Jack Russo’s law firm website.

Jack Russo is the managing partner at Computerlaw Group LLC and a repeat speaker.

Mr. Russo is a frequent speaker on computer law issues and has given presentations to the American Bar Association, the Practicing Law Institute, the Computer Law Association, and the San Francisco Bay Area Intellectual Property American Inn of Court.

Mr. Russo serves as an arbitrator, mediator, and early neutral evaluator for the U.S. District Court (N.D. California), the Santa Clara County Superior Court, and the American Arbitration Association, as well as a Judge Pro Tempore of the Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Mr. Russo specializes in Internet, computer law, and intellectual property litigation. In addition, Mr. Russo is in charge of the Firm’s entrepreneurship practice.

2017 Pro Bono Week Oct 23-27

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The Chicago Bar Association and Chicago Bar Foundation are holding their annual Pro Bono Week October 23rd – 27th.  Several complimentary events will be held. Law students and non-members are welcome to attend.

In 2005 the CBF, with the Chicago Bar Association, launched their annual Pro Bono Week to honor lawyers’ pro bono efforts and to educate the public and the legal community about how these lawyers are improving the lives of the less fortunate.   Pro Bono Week is just one part of the CBF’s year-round strategy to promote and support pro bono in our community.

You can find a full listing of the offerings and register here.

 

Cannabis Regulation in California

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January 1st will mark the first day of legal adult use of recreational cannabis in California.  With an Instagram account and new website the Bureau of Cannabis Control in California will re-focus its purpose from regulating the medical industry to regulating the legal market for adult use.  Read more from The Recorder here.

With changing laws and regulations in California, and across the nation, it is more important than ever to stay up to date on the expanding area of law.  Recently, we held a cannabis law program in California which focused on advising clients in the new legal marijuana industry.  This program is currently available as an audio program.  You can find more information or purchase that here.

The Best Techniques for Studying

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With the California Bar Specialization Exams coming up on October 24th many attorneys are in the final stretches of studying.  During our 2015 exam prep courses Faith came across this study from American Mind.

This article discusses study techniques that work (and don’t!). You can download that here.

If you are taking a specialization exam this year all of us at Pincus Pro Ed wish you the best luck!

Ten Commandments of Specialization Bar Exam Preparation

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With California certified legal specialist Exams coming this October 24th, test takers can use all the tips they can get!  This list was compiled by Certified Specialists Jack Russo of Computer Law and Athena Roussos, Attorney at Law.  Both were speakers at our recent exam prep seminar on appellate law.

If you are planning on taking one of the Legal Specialist exams, now or in the future, you can find our full offering of recorded exam prep programs here.  Also, be sure to visit that link and download our FREE copy of Exam Prep Study Tips.  This is a 2.5 hour long recording compiled from our 2015 exam prep courses.

To those taking the exam this year, best of luck from all of us at Pincus Pro Ed!

Ten Commandments of Specialization Bar Exam Preparation

1. Read and re-read the best treatises (with commitment and curiosity)

2. Use “gamification” approach to make review more fun (52 card analogy)

3. Take past exams (early and often; find a study partner to cross-critique)

4. Dialog with others about organizational approaches for different questions

5. Write and re-write essay exam answers with a view for improvement

6. Apply Occam’s Razor (as needed) to demonstrate efficiency/effectiveness

7. Add time constraints to your practice (with a view for improving further)

8. Watch as you become “well-versed” in outlining/organizing/outputting

9. Treat the 50 to 100 hours of pre-exam “work” as worth the investment

10. Reduce distraction; potentially reduce pre-exam “work” to 25 to 50 hours!

What I Wish I Knew When I Started My Practice

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Ever wish someone had told you this when you were starting out?  Speakers Lisa Clay and Patrick Walsh did a segment on this exact topic during our seminar last week in Chicago: Opening and Managing Your Practice: The Do’s, Don’ts and Everything In-Between.

As you know we occasionally post snippets from our seminar handout materials and wanted to share this today.

  • The importance of, and guidelines for, doing client intakes.
    • Just because a client wants me to represent them doesn’t mean I should.
    • What do I need to know in terms of their background?
    • Their history with other lawyers?
    • Are they frequent flyers/filers?
    • How are they going to pay me?
  • Conflicts Checks!
    • How do I do it?
    • What level of conflicts checks do I need conduct as a solo?
  • Overhead is EXPENSIVE!
    • Rent, insurance, lexis, phone Internet, etc.
    • It all adds up, and most of it can’t be passed on to a client
  • How important it would be to have other attorneys as back-up and resources for things like:
    • Covering me if I’m down and out
    • Subject matter consultations
    • Referrals on cases I don’t want
  • That I would have to be my own bill collector. I still suck at this.
  • About all the unpaid time I would lose being my own office, and dealing with computer issues, addressing phone problems, taking calls I don’t want, etc., etc., etc.
  • That I would have to fire clients (and they might have to fire me).
    • This requires that I have a good retainer, a standard disengagement letter and that I address liens.
  • How to keep track of expenses.
    • I use a credit card for everything I can, but I’m still terrible about making sure billable expenses get on bills, and that I don’t lose cabs, meals, etc.
  • I can’t take every case. Boundaries are so important for solos.
  • How much my opponents would try to use my status as a solo against me.
    • What it’s like to be threatened with “teams” of attorneys and be drowned in discovery by firms with 4 and 5 attorneys on a case
  • How important it is to cultivate relationships with other lawyers
  • That half of my job would be in the role of therapist/social worker… and that part of my job would be largely unpaid.

This seminar took place last Friday; however, you can still hear the full discussion on the audio version available here.

Thursday Insight Series by presenter Bruce Givner

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Speaking at Sacramento Estate Planning Council
04 Apr

Have you heard about the Thursday Insight Series presented by Bruce Givner of The Law Offices of Givner & Kaye, APC.?  Each week Bruce gives a free presentation on topics pertaining to asset protection, estate planning and tax planning.

Bruce is a frequenter presenter for us here at Pincus Professional Education so we know that he gives a great presentation.

You can attend these events live or access the recordings.  The next presentation is April 6th: Family Limited Partnerships: Capital Gain Tax and Creditor Planning.  You can register for the event and request recordings of past events at the Givner & Kaye website.