Solo Day @ MSBA
~A look at the 7th annual Solo Day at MSBA's Annual Meeting~
By Pat Yevics
(Details can be found at the Solo
Website)
The MSBA Solo & Small Firm Practice Section will sponsor the 7th Annual Solo
Day at the Annual Meeting, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Friday, June 16, 2006,
at the Sheraton in Ocean City, Maryland. (The Annual Meeting will be held from
June 14-17). Co-sponsors for this year's Solo Day are the Section of Negligence,
Insurance & Worker's Compensation and the Section of Alternative Dispute Resolution.
As always, there is a one-day registration fee of $50.
This year's Solo Day continues the tradition of quality programming for solo
and small practitioners. For starters, at 8:30 a.m., the first plenary session
will be one of our popular tech sessions. The topic is "Relax: It's Time to
Outsmart Your Peers with RSS". This session will discuss how to use Really
Simple Syndication (RSS), with which your regular websites, authors and research
can be organized into one place for you to access at your leisure, whether
or not you're online. Our speaker is Jared Goralnick of SET Counseling, one
of our most highly-rated tech speakers from the Solo Conference.
Our second plenary session, "Is What You Said What They Heard? Using Psychology
to Improve Your Practice", will feature speaker Ann Greeley, Ph.D., Director,
Decision Quest. This will be a lively interactive program that uses examples
from movies and mock jury deliberations to demonstrate how basic jury psychology
can help your practice. We will discuss "putting your best case forward," which
includes message-matching and finding the right jury.
The session will also touch on technology and graphics, which are essential
for the solo practitioner. Greeley is a dynamic speaker who has 15 years of
jury consulting experience. She will talk about lessons learned through hundreds
of mock trials and focus groups. Even if you do not try cases in front of a
jury, you can use this understanding of psychology to win over clients and
to evaluate the cases that have become part of our cultural experience.
This year we will have four breakout sessions instead of our usual three.
They will be from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and topics and titles include:
- Workers' Comp Appeals - "Presumption? What Presumption?" A Winning Playbook
in the Circuit Court (Co-sponsored by the Section of Negligence, Insurance
and Workers' Compensation). Panel: Hon. Joseph P. Manck, Circuit
Court Anne Arundel County; Hon. Maureen E. Quinn, WCC Commissioner; Benjamin
T. Boscolo, Esq., Law Offices Chasen & Boscolo, Chartered; Theodore B. Cornblatt,
Esq., Cornblatt, Bennett, Penhallegon & Roberson, P.A.; Wendy Karpel, Esq.,
Montgomery County Attorney's Office, Workers' Compensation Unit; Frank L.
Lipshultz, Esq., Lipshultz & Miller P.A.; Moderator: Raymond M. Hertz,
Esq., Hertz & McElwaine.
- Collaborative Law: How It Can Improve Your Practice (Co-sponsored by
the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section). Panel: Maryland
Collaborative Law attorneys Suzy L. Eckstein, Esq., and Mary S. Pence,
Esq.; Moderators: Marc H. Baer, Esq., and Susan J. Land, Esq.
- Oops: Top Mistakes That Can Trip Up the Most-Experienced Litigators and
Transactional Attorneys! Panel: Hon. Louis A. Becker III; Alvin I.
Frederick, Esq., Eccleston & Wolf; Glenn M. Grossman, Esq., Deputy Bar Counsel; Moderator: Hon.
Lenore R. Gelfman.
- How Solos Can Use Mediation for Negotiating Cases and Satisfying Clients (Co-sponsored
by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section). Panel: Joyce
A.J. Mitchell, Esq., Joyce Ann Mitchell & Associates, P.C.; Venetia D.
Bell, Esq., Federal Maritime Commission; Claudia Remington Conroy, Esq.;
Thomas J. Dolina, Esq., Bodie, Nagle, Dolina, Smith & Hobbs; Jonathan S.
Rosenthal, Esq., Court ADR Resources Director, Maryland, Mediation and
Conflict Resolution Office.
You can purchase a box lunch and join us from 12:15 - 1:00 as we see a short
preview of a very special video, Branded DUI (see article, Page 1),
a film exploring the consequences of underage drinking and driving,
featuring the experiences of 11 young Maryland drivers that has been created
by the Administrative Law Section.
Keeping with our tradition of dynamic afternoon keynote speakers, we are
thrilled to have Ronald M. Shapiro present "The Power of Nice: How to Negotiate
so Everyone Wins –
Especially You!" Shapiro – negotiations expert, attorney, sports agent,
educator, author and civic leader – shares the key principles of effective
negotiation with a style of delivery that is personal, engaging and dynamic.
Drawing on his unparalleled experiences from the worlds of sports, business
and politics, as well as in dealing with issues common to us all, he will introduce
his systematic approach. Learn how to get what you want while building stronger
relationships for the future. Learn to focus on client needs and issues through
listening and the three Ps – Prepare-Probe-Propose – of Shapiro's
award-winning book, The Power of Nice: How To Negotiate So Everyone Wins – Especially
You! His new book, Bullies, Tyrants & Impossible People: How to Beat
Them Without Becoming One, made The Wall Street Journal's Best-Seller
list in its first week of publication.
Immediately following Shapiro's presentation, the Entertainment & Sports
Law Committee will have a reception and book-signing.
Again, you will not want to miss any of the programs this year. Join us for
Solo Day @ MSBA at the Annual Meeting, because "solo" does not mean alone.
