Cocounsel arrangements offer multiple benefits: mentoring, combining complementary skill sets, and the opportunity to bounce ideas off another legal brain. But they also come with pitfalls.

“If you have two very headstrong trial lawyers who are going to cocounsel a case, both of them thinking they will be doing the opening and the closing and the voir dire, that’s going to be a problem,” said Robert Kasieta, owner of Kasieta Law Group.

Kasieta is one of two panelists scheduled to present on “The Ups and Downs of Cocounsel” during a session held at the State Bar of Wisconsin’s annual Wisconsin Solo and Small Firm Conference, Oct. 1921, 2023, in Wisconsin Dells.

Kasieta said the presentation will be practical.

“Certainly, we’ll touch upon the rules of ethics when it comes to feesplitting and our professional obligations, but we’re also going to talk about very practical things that you can use starting from Day One,” Kasieta said.

WSSFC includes breakout sessions in four different tracks: 1) practice management; 2) substantive law; 3) technology; and 4) quality of life and ethics.

WSSFC is designed specifically to address the challenges that solo and small firms face, and gives you the space to learn, network, and troubleshoot among peers.

Registration is open – visit wssfc.org for more information, or head to Wisbar’s Marketplace to register.

Ever feel like you’ve spent the whole day doing lots of things without getting anything done? WSSFC is a great opportunity for solo and small firm lawyers to offer and hear tips on a major sticking point of law practice: time management.

For lawyers living in sixminute increments, mindful and effective time management is crucial to preventing over or underbilling – and that time management includes factoring in time with family and friends.

“Crossing off time for important, nonnegotiable, family events – like Mom’s birthday – is just as important as keeping track of important office deadlines,” says Gretchen Viney, who recently retired as a clinical professor at U.W. Law School.

She also ran a law practice based in Baraboo her entire career. “Any time management system must have a place for ‘time that is not available to schedule,’” said Viney, one of four presenters at the session “Efficient, Effective, Economic Use of Your Time.”

Another tip? Choose when to be a perfectionist: “Don’t spend inappropriate amounts of time on tasks that do not require a large degree of accuracy or completeness,” Viney said.

WSSFC: Earn Up to 15.5 CLE Credits

Get up to 15.5 overall credit hours from five plenaries and your choice of 32 breakout sessions. Depending on the sessions you attend, you can build a schedule from the credit options available, including CLE, EPR (Ethics and Professional Responsibility), LPM (Law Practice Management) and LAU (Lawyer Awareness and Understanding).

Here’s a sample of more sessions at WSSFC:

10 Things to Include in your Client Intake Process
Advising Licensed Medical Professionals in a postDobbs World
Know Your Niche
Technology Considerations When Setting Up a Law Practice
The Alternate Universe of Administrative Law Practice
Business Analytics for Your Law Firm
A Tenant Filed Bankruptcy: Now What?
50 Practice Management Tips
Imposter Syndrome
And more

Reserve Your Spot www.wssfc.org
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Disclaimer:
This video is for general informational purposes only. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the law, information presented here may be outdated. The State Bar of Wisconsin is not liable for any damages resulting from the use of this material. Statements or expressions of opinion here are not necessarily those of the State Bar of Wisconsin, its members, sponsors, or staff.
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