June 23-25 • Tanglewood Resort at Lake Texoma

Online Registration
Registration Form – to fax or mail
Program Details – CLE grid
Estate Planning, Probate & Trust Section
Hotel Registration & Activities Form
Tanglewood Resort Facilities

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

Our theme this year is “Back to the The Future - Back to Tanglewood.” We are going to have a lot of fun with this idea. We have entertaining “Back to the Future” events planned, including a costume party, yes, you read that right, a costume party – Marty McFly’s Masquerade Ball, where you can come dressed as any character from the “Back to the Future” series of movies. That gives attendees a pretty wide range, from ‘50s to old West to futuristic attire. We will also be going “back to” the Bad Monkeys for our musical entertainment. This Jimmy Buffett tribute band received raves when they last entertained at a previous Solo and Small Firm Conference.

We also will have a visiting mad scientist to entertain the kids on Thursday night at our Doc Brown’s Disco Dance event.

PRESENTATIONS

But there’s also a serious side to our theme. We are going to take a serious look at the future of your law practice, particularly where it concerns the idea of the paperless office. We may never have a totally paperless office. But technology has now reached the point where one can operate with much less paper. To help you assess your path to the paperless office, we’ll have two experts in the field.

Ross Kodner is the president and founder of MicroLaw Inc. He has spent more than 20 years in legal technology consulting and office automation business. Some of you have heard his previous presentations. Ross was honored as the “Legal Technology Consultant of the Year 1999,” a lifetime achievement award by The Technolawyer Inc. Ross presents his cutting edge information in a fun way that he sometimes refers to an edutainment. Ross will be teaching us about “The PaperLESS™ Office 2005,” as well as “How Not to Commit Malpractice with your PC” and doing a program with me on “Our Favorite Gadgets and Utilities.” Most of you know that I believe good practice management software is the key to reducing paper. Ross will also give a presentation titled, “Turning Chaos into Cases with Case Management Software.”

David Masters is the principal attorney of The Masters Law Firm L.L.C. of Montrose, Colo. He is the author of the recently published book, “The Lawyer’s Guide to Adobe Acrobat.” He will be presenting his popular programs from ABA TECHSHOW™ 2005, “Acrobatics with Adobe” and “The Trial Lawyer’s Laptop.” He will also be doing a program he calls “The Country Lawyer’s Paperless Office.” David has simple explanations about how he has made his office almost totally paperless, including the fact that he now receives letter or pleadings in the mail from opposing counsel, scans them and then mails the original to the client for the “client copy.” Come learn how David has sufficient confidence in his system to allow him to adopt that routine.

David and Ross will also join me for our ever-popular opening session, “50 Tips in 50 Minutes.”

But we have lots of great programs from our home state experts as well. You can examine the entire slate of programs by clicking here.

We’ll learn about time management from Tahlequah attorney Tery Deshong. Tery has given presentations to many groups on this topic and always receives great reviews. What lawyer hasn’t wished for better ways to manage time?

Drug testing issues can impact criminal law, family law, employment law or other areas of law. How much do you really know about how drug testing laboratories work? What steps should you take if a client swears to you that a drug lab report is wrong? Learn about “Insider Information on Drug Testing Labs” with a presentation by Chuck Robinson of St. Anthony Substance Abuse Testing Services.

For the young lawyers, as well as the experienced lawyer just opening a practice, there will be a program titled, “Advice for a New Solo Lawyer.” This will feature OBA President Michael Evans and J. William Conger of the Oklahoma City University School of Law. Come and receive the benefit of the many combined years of experience that these two possess.

We are happy to be joined by the OBA Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section for their Midyear Meeting. They invite us to join them for their programs, “Recent Developments in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law” and “Advanced Strategies in Estate Planning and Trust Law.”

The jurisdictional dollar limit for small claims cases has been increased once again. Does this mean that small claims cases may become an important part of a small firm lawyer’s practice? Does small claims represent a good alternative for some cases that used to go through regular litigation processes? Should you reconsider paying for mediation or arbitration when there’s a small claims docket regularly held at your courthouse? Tulsa County Special District Judge Charles Hogshead will give us a primer and also propose some new and innovative ideas in his program, “Small Claims: Not So Small Any More.”

OBA Family Law Section Chair Keith Jones will teach us about “The Uncommon Law of Common Law Marriages.”

Oklahoma City attorney Jim Priest will give us an employment law update, “The Lawyer as Employer — Why do They Keep Changing the Rules?” He will also do a program on improving the lawyer’s quality of life. Jim is not the only one with information about our role as employers. I’ll be doing a program on “Care and Feeding of the Law Office Staff.”

Bartlesville attorney Linda Thomas will enlighten us on juvenile law, and we will get our ethics presentation from OBA Ethics Counsel Gina Hendryx.

We will conclude with “What’s Hot and What’s Not in Running Your Law Practice,” where great information mixes with many free prizes to be given out. You must be present to win!

This event would not take place without our sponsors. Be sure and thank them and patronize them. This is a unique opportunity to meet lawyers from across the state and learn from them and those doing the presentations.

REGISTER NOW!

Make your reservations early, as we do expect to sell out the hotel totally. You can register online by clicking here. You can also download the registration forms in PDF format and then mail of fax them to the OBA.

Early bird registration ends June 1, so sign up now to ensure your discount. The hotel registration deadline is also June 1. Mark your calendars – we’ll see you there!

2005 SPONSORS

CO-PRODUCER
Oklahoma Attorneys Mutual Insurance Company

GOLD
Legal Directories Publishing Company Inc.

SILVER
Beale Professional Services
Thomson West
OBA Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section
OBA Family Law Section

BRONZE
ABA Members Retirement Program 
DNA Solutions, Inc.
Exclusivity Law Inc.
LexisNexis 
Progressive Consulting Companies
Software@Law Inc.