Course Director: Heather Long, The Aldous Law Firm, Dallas, TX

MATERIALS

Correspondence

• Drafting Instructions Letter
• Notice Letter to Hospital (after Sept. 1, 2003)
• Notice Letter to MD (after Sept. 1, 2003)
• Rejection Letter to Potential Client with Legislator Info and New SOL
• Rejection Letter to Potential Client with Legislator Info

General Forms

• Authorization Release of Tax Information
• Authorization Release of Medical Records

Internal Forms

• Calculating Deadlines
• Calculating Medical Pro Rata
• Case Task Checklist
• Chart: SOL by State
• Deposition Flow Chart

Petitions, Motions, Discovery

• Discovery Car Wrecks Request for Admissions to Defendant
• Discovery Objections Template - Request for Production
• Motion - Docket Control Order (Part 1 of 2)
• Motion - Docket Control Order TEMPLATE (Part 2 of 2)
• Pain and Suffering and Mental Anguish Submission (Blommer)
• Petition -  Car Wrecks

Tips

• Tipipedia

2:00 pm

Registration Opens

Moderator: Larry Taylor, Jr., The Cochran-Dallas, PLLC, Dallas

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm

.50 hr

Setting Up Your Practice

Josh Davis, Josh Davis Law Firm, Houston
Shannon Loyd, The Loyd Law Firm, P.L.L.C., San Antonio

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm

.50 hr

Case Intake and Evaluation
How to decide whether to take a case; practical considerations; components in claim; what is my cause of action; how to please non-subscriber case; anti-SLAPP; case checklist
Andrew Dunlap, Fibich Leebron Copeland Briggs & Josephson LLP, Houston

3:30 pm – 4:00 pm

.50 hr

Practical Research and Investigation Tips
Legal research on the cheap; overview of options and tips to use sites/ find the research you need; list server and other great resources; eFiling on the cheap
Cullen McMahon, W. Cullen McMahon, P.L.L.C., Dallas

4:00 pm – 4:10 pm

Break

4:10 pm – 4:40 pm

.50 hr ethics

Top 5 Common Ethical Issues in New Firms and that Lawyers Face
IOLTA in your practice; mixing funds; using clients’ funds; how to identify conflicts between lawyers; avoiding common ethical pitfalls
Lance A. Pool, Steckler Law Group, Dallas

4:40 pm – 5:10 pm

.50 hr

Fixing and Avoiding Common Litigation Missteps
Avoiding and repairing mistakes in discovery and litigation; checklist of deadlines for both state and federal court; how local rules in various courts affect deadlines.
Luke Metzler, Miller Weisbrod, LLP, Dallas
Paper

5:10 pm – 5:40 pm

.50 hr

Reflections on What I Learned From Hanging a Shingle
What I learned when I started out: from scratch as a new lawyer out of law school; partnered to form a firm
Kyle Herbert, Simon, Herbert & McClelland LLP, Houston

5:40 pm

Law Practice Fundamentals Adjourn