I welcome you to attend this year’s MBA Annual Conference, scheduled for March 11^th and 12^th at the Copley Westin inBoston.  Having spoken at several of these events and attended many more, I don’t kid when I tell you that this year’s conference will be the best one put on by the MBA.

The Conference will kick off Thursday at 9:00 with a three-hour plenary session on the Data Privacy Act, including discussions on “What is the Data Privacy Act,” “It’s Lost, Now What,” as well as “Key Tools to Prevent a Breach.”  This same session was attended by approximately 600 participants last month in Springfield.

There will be a lunchtime session on “Social Media For Lawyers: How to Boost Your Practice and Avoid Pitfalls,” chaired by my good friend Bob Ambrogi.

In the afternoon, Dustin Cole, President of Attorneys Master Class based out of Florida, as well as my mentor, will provide a three hour session on “Building Your Business in the Post-Crash Economy.”  If you have never heard Dustin speak, now is the time, as his advice has been the cornerstone of both my private practice as well as Law Practice Strategies since 2000.

Thursday will also feature one-hour sessions on Recent Developments in Bankruptcy Law, Real Estate Law, and Employment Law.

Friday promises to be equally exciting with two tracks, one a “Recent Developments” track featuring some of the finest attorneys in Massachusetts, as well as a full-day Law Practice Management Track. 

Allison Shields of Legal Ease Consulting, based out of New York, will be speaking on “Avoiding Lawyer Meltdown,” along with Lisa Terrizzi and Gina Walcott, Executive Director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.

Ross Kodner, President of MicroLaw, and based out of Milwaukee, will be giving a tremendously-received discussion titled “From Paper to Pixels: The Paper LESS Office Works, Paperless Doesn’t.”  Local ABA Blog Top 100 attorneys Gabriel Cheong, Leanna Hamill and Andrea Goldman will be discussing how to get the best bang for your buck with technology.

The Law Practice Management track will conclude with the ever-popular and always enjoyable “60 Sites in Sixty Minutes,” presented by Rodney Dowell, Bob Ambrogi, Ross Kodner and myself.  Having seen the sites, I promise you that you will not want to leave the conference early.

The entire lineup of the conference can be found here.  You may register online here.

The MBA has turned up the heat on bringing Massachusetts Attorneys the best national speakers, speaking on their specific area of expertise.  At some point in my legal career, I have been influenced by each of these individuals.  The price of admission will pale in comparison to the amount of information you will receive and bring back to your practice.  I promise you that you will be changed person after this conference.

I hope to see you there.

If you are traveling with a laptop over the holiday period then you should do your “Laptop Contingency Planning” before you head out the door.  For an excellent planning guide look at Mark Shead’s blog post at www.Productivity 501.com.  Laptops are lost, dropped, stolen, and simply fail at a very high rate.  If you need to get work done then you must be prepared for one of these events by ensuring data security, preventing damage, and having accessible data backups. 

Thanks to Rodney Dowell of LOMAP for the tip.

The ABA has recently published its 2008 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide.  Think of it as the “Consumer Reports” for legal technology products.  The book provides recommendations on computers, servers, other hardware, software, security systems, and anything else a firm might need.  Sharon Nelson and John Simek, the authors of the book, provide clear explanations of difficult technologal ideas over the book’s 145 pages.  Certainly, the technological neophyte may feel overwhelmed by the depth of material, but I don’t know of a more practical publication.  Regardless, the book is certainly worthwhile for those of you seraching for assistance and advice regarding your technological needs.

Click here for ordering information.