July 2000

WSBA 3rd Annual LAP/LaSD Statewide Conference Is a Smash Hit!

by J. Richard Manning
WSBA Governor, King County

The LAP/LaSD 3rd Annual Statewide Conference was held this year from April 7-9 at the Inn at Semi-Ah-Moo. In the jewel-like setting of Boundary Bay, conference attendees learned things about lawyering that you don’t learn in law school. In fact, lawyers with many years of experience loaded up on new ideas from A to Z.

One of the highlights of the conference was a Saturday afternoon with Larry Rice, a nationally known small-firm lawyer from Memphis, Tennessee, who entertained his audience for over four hours with practical tips on law office management. Rice, who concentrates on family law and personal injury litigation, lectures throughout the country. He handed out usable forms (including letters and pleadings) on hiring, firing, employment agreements, staff checklists of daily and weekly duties, deposition checklists, marketing letters (to past and present clients), and offered a potpourri of other valuable suggestions. Rice’s publications may be obtained by e-mail request at lrice@ricelaw.com.

Valuable information was offered for those who may be concerned about potential suicidal tendencies in a client or colleague. Heather Fiske, a clinical psychologist from Toronto, presented practical advice on how to spot at-risk people, and offered suggestions on how to help them.

Barbara Harper, Lawyer Services Department director, brought out her staff en masse as presenters and organizers of the weekend conference. Included were Zella Ozretich (LaSD coordinator), Rebecca Nerison (LAP psychologist), Jean Johnson (LAP psychotherapist), Marty Potter (LOMAP advisor), Chris Sutton (professional responsibility counsel), Kaitlin Mee (LOMAP coordinator) and Veronica Nations (ADR coordinator). They provided a menu of something of interest for just about every lawyer.

City of Seattle attorney Dan Grant and Stokes Lawrence employment law attorney Lisa Herb presented an employment law program.

Ethical tips in client fee and billing arrangements, and issues related to the unauthorized practice of law were anecdotally discussed by Chris Sutton and Bob Welden, WSBA general counsel.

Adrian Hill, a founder of the Canadian Bar Association’s Legal Profession Assistant’s Conference (similar to the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance) presented Laughter in Living. Hill delighted his dinner audience by talking about sleep, furry friends, exercise, sex, food, health, and managing stress to lead a balanced life in the legal profession.

LAP psychologists Barbara Harper and Rebecca Nerison wrapped up the weekend conference by suggesting that the best way to enhance professional and personal life is by changing attitudes. As one speaker said, "We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way…we cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude."

Adrian Hill brought the presentation to a conclusion with a stirring, soul-searching account of a past crisis in his life. He told how he dealt with opposing counsel who daily accused him of dishonesty during the course of a several-month trial in a high-profile case. Consistently and persistently, through his own attitude, Hill refused to permit opposing counsel to draw him into a gutter fight. In the end, his professionalism and civility prevailed while his opponent brought on himself the loss of peer respect and his client’s case.

One participant was heard to say as he was leaving the conference, "This is probably the most inspiring, practical and entertaining weekend conference I’ve ever attended." And it was.

The Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) component of the WSBA Lawyer Services Department (LaSD) is once again going on the road this summer, taking CLEs to small communities around the state. The focus of this year’s CLE is Law Office Technology. We are seeking attorneys proficient in Internet legal research to help us present some of the material in exchange for CLE credit. The training session will include one hour of instruction (we provide the materials, handouts and equipment), and an additional 30-minute period for questions. Attorneys will use the provided materials in conjunction with an Internet connection to teach CLE participants how to do legal research using Genie Tyburski’s teaching website at http://www.virtualchase.com. If you are interested in participating, please contact Joyce Raby at 206-733-5930 or e-mail joycer@wsba.org.

• The Lawyers’ Assistance Program (LAP): 206-727-8268

• The Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP): 206-727-8237

• The Professional Responsibility/Ethics Program: 206-727-8284

• The Alternative Dispute Resolution Program (ADR): 206-733-5923

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