Recently in Training and CLE Category

Summer draws to a close, calling students from their interim routines back to the lecture halls of law school.  And for the associates on the block, the end of summer signals, well...no wearing white to work after Labor Day?  Anyway, September may sound the gong on carefree days of summer, but it also holds the promise of stimulating law events across the country.  Symposia to conferences, legal employment to nutritional law--there is no shortage of subject topics or types of gatherings spanning coast to coast

Here are 4 events to check out in the first part of the month, all offering the incentive of CLE credit:

400,000 volunteer members make the American Bar Association the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world, according to the ABA's website.  So, it's no small matter when the ABA announces the captains that will stand at its helm in the coming years.

D.C.-based attorney, Carolyn Lamm is up first. She began her one-year tenure as ABA President yesterday and will remain in the position until August 2010.  Not her first time in the leadership ring, Lamm served as President of the District of Columbia Bar in 2007 and is a partner with White and Case.  As ABA President Lamm is looking to steer the organization to become better equipped to address big-picture trends for attorneys such as the impact of globalization and technology on attorney regulation and ethics.  

Just in time for the release of the latest Harry Potter celluloid phenomenon set to open tonight, Azkatraz 2009--A Harry Potter Symposium--starts tomorrow in San Francisco.  It fittingly kicks off with the midnight showing of Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince and continues with quirky, curious, and fan-atic events throughout the weekend.

And now muggle-lawyers can get in on the action too...

Previously, we pointed you toward the wealth of typography advice available at Typography for Lawyers. If you share our enthusiasm for the subject, and want to know more, today we follow up with a few more typography resources. Delve in and learn, or just marvel at how much complexity there is in this seemingly simple subject:

TypoWiki. From the people at Typophile. TypoWiki is a wiki containing all manner of typography-related information -- history, terminology, and more. If you want to read about the Roman contribution to engraving, or about Gutenberg's invention of letterpress printing, this is a good place to start.

i love typography. A typography blog, and another good resource for definitions, pointers to good and useful font families, and more. There's also a lot here about developing new fonts, in case you're thinking of a career change, or at least acquiring a new hobby.

set in style. A blog aimed at the attorney audience, with tips on writing, publishing, and typography. The emphasis is on writing technique and common errors, and there's even help for those trying to create firm-marketing materials.

Microsoft ClearType. This one relates not to the printed page, but rather to Microsoft's technology for improving the display of onscreen type on LCD monitors. Those running Windows Vista should have the feature enabled by default, and XP users can see this FAQ for instructions to turning ClearType on. Most people will find that they much prefer the clearer, smoother type produced by ClearType.

We all know that this is an unprecedented time for law firm layoffs.  The legal job market is tough these days, to say the least.  Many attorneys are finding themselves without a job and wondering what course to follow for their future, and what first steps to take along that path.

In order to help answer these questions, West has created Between Cases, a site with free resources for those looking for new jobs, trying to brush up on their skills in between jobs, thinking about starting their own firm, or even attorneys who just want to learn how to increase their business.

Considering that many of them are essentially professional writers, lawyers are often surprisingly unconcerned with how their words look on the page. So today we're calling your attention to our new favorite website. The engrossing, appealingly geeky, and really useful Typography for Lawyers is doing all it can to obliterate the legal profession's most pressing problem: an unending parade of hideously ugly documents.

Typographer-turned-lawyer Matthew Butterick (yes, such people exist, and Butterick even insists he's not the only one) has built Typography for Lawyers into an impressive first course in font selection, page layout, and firm-yet-helpful rules for properly formatting a document. And it's all aimed at attorneys, who will benefit from its simple but clear rules, without getting too bogged down in details.

Typography for Lawyers is laid out primarily as a series of short lessons on an array of typographical subjects, and covers topics both basic -- replacing straight quotes with curly quotes, for instance -- and advanced -- such as creating non-breaking spaces to keep related words together on one line.

You'll want to explore the site for yourself to get acquainted with all that it has to offer (and we guarantee that you'll learn something useful), but we will highlight a few favorites. Our top 5:

There are a lot of large firms these days casting about for some kind of long-term fix for their crumbling business models. We wrote in May about Drinker Biddle hitting upon a model which, in the weird world of law firms, actually sounded novel: train your new attorneys to be attorneys! That light-bulb moment was bound to be noticed by other firms, and this week it was. Howrey, the D.C.-based, litigation-centric firm previously known for bringing you litigation bootcamp in place of summer-associate slackitude, has initiated a new training program that amounts to a two-year apprenticeship for its new associates.

The National Law Journal and Above the Law both reported on the "Tier 1 Associate Program," which will start this fall. With bonuses considered, Howrey associates will be paid $125,000 the first year, which will focus on structured training and pro bono work. The second year will see a slight pay bump to $150,000, and an opportunity for associates to work with clients at reduced billing rates. After that, the training wheels come off, and Howrey has (it hopes) a whole new group of litigators who are truly ready to work with clients.

Well, we just can't pass this one up. California attorneys, how about a free hour of ethics MCLE credit, earned from the comfort of your office chair? All you have to do this Thursday, June 25, is make your way to the Avalon Town Courts in Second Life.

Umm, yes, Second Life. That virtual world thing, the one that claims it's "the Internet's larget user-created, 3D virtual world community," in which you can apparently wander forever seeing the sights, buy virtual land and set up a business, or think up some crazy new use for a virtual world and make it happen. It's whatever you make it, say its creators, and for some legal-minded users, that means it's a golden opportunity to . . . form a bar association and talk shop. Yes, there is a Second Life Bar Association, in case you find that your real-world lawyer activities aren't interesting or time-consuming enough and you'd like to take them online. Perhaps you don't envision spending your nights and weekends this way, but let's not judge. After all, you're getting real MCLE credit here, for free.

At Greedy Associates we are not content with merely referring you to an evening of American drama, or a week of Alaskan fly-fishing for your CLE needs. We want to continue to ensure that you can find unusual and enjoyable ways to fulfill your requirements. Today, we bring you this: a cruise through the Greek Isles, with instruction on tort litigation.

The American Association for Justice is currently promoting a seven-day cruise aboard the Seven Seas Navigator, with stops in Greece and Turkey, this October. You get all the expected comfort and conveniences of a modern cruise vessel -- spa, golf, endless food and drink, casino, yada yada --  and the chance to visit wonders of the ancient world in places like Athens and Istanbul.  

And if that isn't enough, cruisers will have a chance to knock out "up to 7.5 continuing legal education credits, including ethics," at the same time, according to the AAJ website. Your 7.5 hours will run you about $600 (less if you're an AAJ member), on top of the $4000-and-up per-person price of the cruise. (And the cost of getting yourself to Athens, of course.)

As for content, the AAJ says only that "the seminar will feature some of AAJ's best national speakers," and we have no doubt that among the members of the plaintiffs' bar there are some pretty compelling speakers, but really, do the details matter? You'll be on a cruise ship in Greece.  Let's just get through the seminar and back to the cocktails and the fine dining, please.

See also:

• Greek Isles & Ancient Wonders Cruise Brochure (PDF) (from AAJ)
• Seven Seas Navigator Ship Information (from Regent Cruises)

Now here's a way to knock out some CLE credits, for those inclined toward a little outdoor adventure.  Alaska West, one of a group of remote fishing lodges, is opening its tent doors for a weeklong fly-fishing/CLE blowout.  Pack your bags and plan to head (way) north from August 28 through September 4.

You'll have to get yourself to Quinhagak, on the edge of the Bering Sea.  Alaska West will kindly help you with the last leg of that journey, including a jet-boat ride up the Kuskokwim River to the lodge.  Then it's a week of piling up the credits (21 hours' worth, including 6 hours of ethics) and reeling in fish.  Alaska West suggests that that week will be prime time for silver salmon and rainbow trout, and of course you don't have to be an experienced angler to partake.  (Presumably you will want to be an actual attorney, though, to really enhance your enjoyment of those class hours.)

No mention is made of the cost of the program, but we can ascertain from the Alaska West website that a standard, non-CLE week (as if anyone would be interested in the fishing without the continuing legal education) costs $4800, plus guide tip, plus airfare from Anchorage.  So if you're the type who's always looking for the $10-an-hour, ultra-cheap CLE option, perhaps you should be looking elsewhere.  But if remote Alaskan rivers, casting for silver salmon, and a week without a BlackBerry sound appealing, well, you can tell 'em that Greedy Associates sent you.