Syllabus (as of April 17, 2013 )

Please bring your Course Binder and laptop to every class.

"Starting Your Georgia Law Practice," Law Practice Management (State Bar of Georgia 2013) = LPM
Binder = Course Binder handed out at first class

Key Dates:
Assignment 1: January 30, 2013 (Evaluation of Marsh interview)
Fieldwork Period Begins: January 31, 2013
Assignment 2: February 6, 2013 (Draft retainer for clinic clients)
Assignment 3: February 13, 2013 (Draft Marsh TPO documents, task and calendar entries on case management system)
Fieldwork Period Ends: March 13, 2013
Draft Fieldwork Report to Fieldwork Attorney for review: Friday, March 15, 2013
Revised Fieldwork Report to Fieldwork Attorney for final approval: Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Final Fieldwork Report due to Professors Cunningham and Roberts: Friday, March 29, 2013

Protective Order Hearings & Intake Dates:
All Teams: 2/5 Courtwatching & Swearing-In, Cobb County Superior Court
Team 1- Crader/Flugum: 2/12 Intake; 2/19 Hearing
Team 2 - Thomas/Mulcahy: 2/19 Intake; 2/26 Hearing
Team 3 - Jarvis/Margulis: 2/26 Intake; 3/5 Hearing
Team 4 - Bassett/Perry: 2/26 Intake; 3/5 Hearing

Week 1 - Class on January 16

Course Objectives

1. Review course home page
2. Charlotte Alexander, "Learning to Be Lawyers: Professional Identity and the Law School Curriculum," 70 Maryland L. Rev. 465 (2011) (excerpts that describe this course as first taught in Spring 2010) (pdf) (10 pages)
   
   The Fieldwork Component
   
3. Instructions for fieldwork and fieldwork plan.
4. Read the following two field reports written by prior students (the reports will be emailed separately)
   a) Reasonable Measures: Finding Solo Success with Sensible Decisions
   b) A Civil Firm Specializing in Environmental Law
5. G.M. Filisko, "Turn-Around: Solos Seek Advice to Survive a Struggling Economy," ABA Journal 51-55 (March 2010)(note especially profile of Marietta solo practitioner at 54-55).
6. Prepare to interview Professor Tiffany Williams about her solo practice by reviewing her website: www.tiffanywroberts.com
   
   Fundamental Skill: Interviewing
   
7. "Taking Notes," from Foonberg, How to Start & Build a Law Practice (pdf) (1 page)
8. "Asking Questions," from Conference Skills (Inns of Court School of Law)
   
   
   Week 2 - Class on January 23
   Interviewing (continued); Establishing the Lawyer-Client Relationship; Representing a Petitioner for an Order of Protection
   
   Binder: Tab 2 (yellow)
9. Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct (GRPC) 1.1 (competence)
10. GRPC 1.2 and Comments 4-5 (scope of representation)
11. GRPC 1.6 (confidentiality)
12. GRPC 1.7 (conflict of interest - general rule)
13. GRPC 1.8(f) (conflict of interest - when not paid directly by client)
14. GRPC 1.16 (terminating representation)
15. GRPC 3.3 (duties of candor to the court -- note exceptions to duty of confidentiality)
16. Sample client engagement letter (Intellectual Property firm)
17. Mary C. Ashcroft, "Unbundling Legal Services: Delivering What Your Client Wants at a Price She Can Afford," Vermont Bar Journal 1-3 (Winter 2010) (pdf)
18. John T. Phipps, New “limited scope legal representation” rule gives solo and small firm practitioners special opportunity to expand practice with “unbundled legal services", 38 General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section Newsletter No. 5 (Illinois State Bar Association March 2010)
19. Retainer agreement used by Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation for domestic violence cases (pdf)
20. Smith, Patient-Centered Interviewing: Foreword, Chapter 1 (all), Chapter 2 (all), and Chapter 3: pp 35-65 (2d edition)/ pp 29-55 (3rd edition)
21. Slain woman predicted her own death
22. Stacey Dougan, Waiting for the bad guys to do more; Stephen D. Kelley & Peggy H. Walker Orders can protect, but help is needed (Atlanta Journal Constitution January 11, 2013 Page A14)
23. 2010 Georgia Domestic Violence Fatality Review: Annual Report (excerpts)
    
24. Read 2 page police report (handed out in Class 1) to prepare for simulated interview of domestic violence victim (based on actual case from prior semester). Police report can also be downloaded from Clio: All Class/Documents.
25. Binder: American Bar Association Standards of Practice for Lawyers Representing Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking in Civil Protection Order Cases (Tab 1 "Blue")
    I. Purpose & Scope, 1
    II. Definitions, 1-3
    III. Ethical Duties, 3-18, 23-38 (skip "Military Concerns," "Minor Victims," and "Native American Victims")
    IV. Procedures, 40-51, 53-59 (skip "Issues in Indian Country")
26. Binder: Tab 3 "Purple":
    Representing Domestic Violence Victims in Temporary Protective Order Hearings, Cobb Justice Foundation (PowerPoint Presentation)
    Process to Obtain a Temporary Protective Order – Cobb County
    Information for Victims of Domestic Violence – Cobb County Police Department
    YWCA NW Georgia: Anti-Violence Programs
27. Binder: Tab 4 "Turquoise"
    John Mayoue, “Family Violence,” Georgia Jurisprudence
    Case Law
    Title 19: Chapter 13: Family Violence Act
    Georgia Criminal Statutes relevant to family violence and stalking petitions
    
28. Binder: Forms - Petition for Temporary Protective Order (Family Violence), Family Violence Ex Parte Protective Order, Family Violence Twelve Month Protective Order (Tab 5 "Red")
29. Re-read the police report to plan interview in terms of necessary elements required by statute and by court-required forms.
    
    Week Three (Class on January 30)
    Assignments
    
30. By noon on Monday, January 28, upload Writing Assignment 1 to Clio: All-Class/Documents
31. By noon on Monday, January 28: upload Writing Assignment 2 to Clio: All-Class/Documents
32. By noon on Wednesday, January 30: upload Writing Assignment 3 to Clio: All-Class/Documents
33. Review Course Time Keeping Requirements (1 page)
34. By noon on Wednesday, January 30: complete your Clio calendar entries as instructed in the Clio Manual.
35. By noon on Wednesday, January 30: record under your personal Clio matter(Name-Class) all time expended on this course starting with the commencement of class on Wednesday, January 23, as instructed in the Course Time Keeping Requirements and the Clio Manual. You are expected to record your time on the same day as the time is expended; by far the best practice is to record time immediately after concluding the activity.
    
    Readings assigned for class on January 30
    Case Management Software
    
36. History of the Clio web-based practice management tool
37. Watch Clio webcast: Calendars 101 (12 minutes): https://support.goclio.com/entries/21374408-calendar-101
38. Watch Clio webcast: Matters 101 (24 minutes): https://support.goclio.com/entries/21374026-matters-101-video
    Fundamental Skill: Timekeeping
39. Bilinsky & Best, Drafting Bills Clients Love to Pay, Law Practice Today: The Monthly Webzine of the ABA Law Practice Management Section (Nov. 2008) (6 pages)
40. Georgia Formal Advisory Opinion 01-1: Is it ethically permissible to charge for a standard unit of time without regard to actual time expended? (2 pages)
41. Galvez v Cuevas (S.D. Fla. 2009) (lawyer failed to keep meticulous, contemporaneous time records that revealed how hours were allotted to specific tasks; attorney fee award reduced by $11,250) (5 pages)
    
42. Read Clio help page on Create a Time Entry: https://support.goclio.com/entries/21408857-how-do-i-create-a-time-entry
43. Read Clio help page on Text Snippets: https://support.goclio.com/entries/21854577-introduction-to-text-snippets
44. Read Clio help page: Clio Express [how to log time when off-line] : https://support.goclio.com/entries/21334717-using-clio-express
45. Watch Clio webcast: Mobile 101 (7 minutes): https://support.goclio.com/entries/21374428-clio-mobile-101-video
46. Mac, iPhone and iPad Users: review https://support.goclio.com/forums/324115-apple-users
47. Fundamentals of Law Practice Clio Manual (MS Word) (PDF)
    Ethical Issues in Using Cloud-Based Case Management Systems
    
48. 2011 Formal Ethics Opinion 6: Subscribing to Software as a Service While Fulfilling the Duties of Confidentiality and Preservation of Client Property (North Carolina State Bar 2012) (3 page pdf)
49. Clio Privacy Policy [excerpts] Complete privacy policy available at: http://www.goclio.com/legal/privacy/
50. Clio Terms of Service [excerpts]: Complete terms of service available at: http://www.goclio.com/legal/tos/
    
    Georgia's New Rules of Evidence
    
51. Binder: Tab 4 "Turquoise": Read Milich, Georgia Evidence Essentials (4 pages)
    
    WEEK FOUR (Class on February 6)
    Tuesday, Feb 5 at 8:30 am Cobb County Court Observation (bring completed observation forms to class)
    Readings for Class on Feb 6
52. Clio: All-Class/Documents -- Whipple, Issues Involving Children (ppt)
53. Clio: All-Class/Documents -- Family Law Resources (Read pp 1-5, pp 6-18 are the same as the next three Binder readings, skim rest)
    
54. Binder: Tab 3 (Purple) -- Discovery of Law Enforcement Records
    
55. Binder: Tab 4 (Turquoise): OCG 19-9-1 Parenting plans
56. Binder: Tab 4 (Turquoise): OCG 19-9-3 Custody disputes (read (a)(4), skim the rest)
57. Binder: Tab 4 (Turqoise): OCG 19-9-7 Visitation by parent who has committed acts of family violence
58. Clio: All-Class/Documents: Rainwater-Consent TPO.pdf
59. Clio: All-Class/Documents:Thompson-ConsentOrder.pdf
    
    WEEK FIVE (Class on February 13)
    By noon, Wednesday, February 13 complete Writing Assignment 4 (preparing to introduce exhibit at Marsh TPO hearing)
    By noon, Wednesday, February 13 make sure your Field-Name matter is up to date include all upcoming dates on your calendar and all tasks needed to complete your fieldwork. Bring your signed Fieldwork Agreement to class on February 13. (If you have not been able to meet with your field attorney by February 13, please email Professor Cunningham with an explanation and the date you plan to meet with the attorney.)
    
60. -- Discovery of Law Enforcement Records
61. Clio: All-DV -- Obtaining Medical Records
    
62. Read Clio help page on How do I send an email to Clio?: https://support.goclio.com/entries/20102222-how-do-i-send-an-email-to-clio. Create an email link for your Field-Name matter and starting copying all field-related email to your Field matter. The instructors will set up a similar link for your DV matter.
63. Clio: All-DV -- SafetyPlanning-ABA
64. Clio: All-DV -- DV-Safety and Planning-Final
65. Clio All-DV -- Read Fa__-Petition (Tom and Galen's case set for hearing on Feb 19)
    
    WEEK SIX (Class on February 20)
    
66. Clio: All-DV -- Hearing Transcript in Marsland v. Marsland (37 double-spaced pp)
    Review from Week Two Readings:
67. GRPC 1.2 and Comments 4-5 (scope of representation)
68. GRPC 1.6 (confidentiality)
69. GRPC 1.7 (conflict of interest - general rule)
70. GRPC 1.8(f) (conflict of interest - when not paid directly by client)
71. GRPC 1.16 (terminating representation)
72. GRPC 3.3 (duties of candor to the court -- note exceptions to duty of confidentiality)
73. Retainer agreement used by Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation for domestic violence cases (pdf)
74. Sample client engagement letter (Intellectual Property firm)
75. Clio: All-DV -- Fa__ Retainer Agreement
76. By 6:00 pm on Wednesday, February 20 post on Clio: All-DV and bring a hard copy to class a proposed Track Changes revision of Fa__-Retainer Agreement with at least (1) a proposed explanation of the exceptions to confidentiality and (2) one other addition or modification. Post your revision as RepAgreementDraft(yourintials).doc
77. Read Clio help page on How do I do a Conflict Search: https://support.goclio.com/entries/20117382-How-do-I-do-a-Conflict-Search-
78. Watch Clio webcast on Client Connect function: https://support.goclio.com/entries/21368237-Clio-Connect-101-Video (14 minutes)
79. Clio All-Class: Read the following two field reports written by prior students
    a) A Hometown Attorney in Metro Atlanta
    b) A Small Personal Injury Firm
    
    WEEK SEVEN (Class on February 27)
    Review the text and comments for the following Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, which are also available at Tab 2 (Yellow) in your Domestic Violence Manual
    
80. GRPC 2.1
81. GRPC 3.1
82. GRPC 3.7
83. GRPC 4.1
84. GRPC 4.2
85. GRPC 4.3
86. GRPC 4.4
87. GRPC 5.1
88. GRPC 5.2
89. GRPC 5.3
    
    WEEK EIGHT (Class on March 6)
    
90. View on Clio Help page "Reports 101": https://support.goclio.com/entries/21346051-Reports-101-Video (8 minutes)
91. Read on Clio Help page "How Do I Print a Report?": https://support.goclio.com/entries/20165771-How-do-I-print-a-report-
92. Read on Clio Help page "New Printing Abilities": https://support.goclio.com/entries/20163468-New-Printing-Abilities
93. Read on Clio Help page "How do I Filter Time Entries?": https://support.goclio.com/entries/20034986-How-do-I-sort-filter-Time-Entries-
94. Read on Clio Help page "Exporting Task and Time Entries": https://support.goclio.com/entries/21090736-Exporting-Tasks-and-Time-Entries-to-PDF-or-CSV
95. Writing Assignment 5: Using Clio to Generate Reports. Bring your printed reports to class.
    
    WEEK NINE (NO Class on March 13)
    Fieldwork Period Ends: March 13, 2013
    Draft Fieldwork Report to Fieldwork Attorney for review no later than Friday, March 15, 2013
    
    WEEK TEN (NO Class on March 27)
    Revised Fieldwork Report to Fieldwork Attorney for final approval no later than Tuesday, March 26, 2013
    Final Fieldwork Report along with Fieldwork Attorney Approval due to Professors Cunningham and Roberts no later than Friday, March 29, 2013 (upload to your Field-[YourName] matter -- Fieldwork Attorney Approval can be submitted as an email reply from the attorney copied to Professor Cunningham)
    
    WEEK ELEVEN (Class on April 3)
96. Read GRPC 1.5 (Fees) including comments
97. Re-read Bilinsky & Best, Drafting Bills Clients Love to Pay, Law Practice Today: The Monthly Webzine of the ABA Law Practice Management Section (Nov. 2008) (6 pages)
98. Re-read Georgia Formal Advisory Opinion 01-1: Is it ethically permissible to charge for a standard unit of time without regard to actual time expended? (2 pages)
99. Re-read Galvez v Cuevas (S.D. Fla. 2009) (lawyer failed to keep meticulous, contemporaneous time records that revealed how hours were allotted to specific tasks; attorney fee award reduced by $11,250) (5 pages)
100. Communicating with Clients through Invoices
101. Bringing billing into the digital age
102. Hourly rates in a time of moderation
103. Fee Agreements Guide (State Bar of Missouri) [read pp 1-5, skim sample agreements]
104. Formal Advisory Opinion 03-1: May an attorney charge a non-refundable special retainer?
105. Suit Offers a Peek at the Practice of Inflating a Legal Bill
106. DLA Piper v. Adam Victor, Suppporting Affidavit (pp 1-4)
107. DLA Piper denies overbilling
108. The Tyranny of the Billable Hour
109. Lawyers find new way around billable hour
110. Alternative Fee Arrangements and Litigation Finance
111. The New Normal: Alternative Fee Arrangements and Project Management
112. Formal Advisory Opinion 07-1: May a lawyer disclose client information to a third party in order to collect fee from the client? GLE 149-51
113. Formal Advisory Opionion 87-5: An attorney may not to the prejudice of a client withhold the client's papers or properties upon withdrawal as security for unpaid fees.
     
     
     WEEK TWELVE (Class on April 10)
     
114. Thomas v Holt, 206 Ga. 133, 70 S.E.2d 595 (1952) (refusing to enforce contract to pay contingent fee from future child support payments)
115. Advisory Opinion 36 (Contingent Fees Prohibited in Divorce Cases)
116. Advisory Opinion 47 (Contingency Fees Permitted to Collect Past Due Alimony and/or Child Support)
117. Writing Assignment Six (Fieldwork Portfolio Assessment ) due at 6pm on April 10
118. David Lucas Co. v. Lewis, 293 Ga.App. 288, 666 S.Ed. 576, 581-82 (denying attorney fees due to insufficiency of time records)
119. Writing Assignment Seven (Motion for Attorney Fees) due at 6pm on April 10
120. "Trust Accounting for Attorneys in Georgia," LPM Read pp. 90-99 Skim pp. 116-137 (State Bar Law Practice Management publication handed out in class on April 3)
121. GRPC 1.15(I): SAFEKEEPING PROPERTY - GENERAL, also in LPM 98-99
122. GRPC 1.15(II): SAFEKEEPING PROPERTY- TRUST ACCOUNT AND IOLTA, also in LPM 100-102
123. GRPC1.15(III): RECORD KEEPING; TRUST ACCOUNT OVERDRAFT NOTIFICATION; EXAMINATION OF RECORDS, also in LPM 103-106
124. View on Clio Help page "Learning to Manage Trust and Operating Accounts": https://support.goclio.com/entries/21373956-Accounts-101-Video (10 minutes)
     
     
     WEEK THIRTEEN (Class on April 17)
     
125. Writing Assignment Eight (Memo to Judge re Motion for Attorney Fees) due at 6pm on April 10
126. Review firm bio of our guest speaker, Kim Jackson: http://www.hptylaw.com/attorneys-kim-jackson.html
127. "Selecting Legal Malpractice Insurance," ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability, reprinted in LPM 47-56.
128. Skim Malpractice Policy - GSU DV Project, Clio: All-Class/Documents (copy also handed out in class on April 10)
129. Selected Program Materials from "Houston ... We Have a Problem," copied with permission of the authors, Clio: All-Class/Documents (copy also handed out in class on April 10)
     1. Scott Bertschi & John Tanner, "Negotiating Your Law Firm's Malpractice Insurance"
     2. H. Lane Young, "What to do When a Claim Arises"
     3. Kim M. Jackson, "Defending Yourself and Your Firm"
130. Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct; Enforcement (copy also handed out in class on April 10)
     Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct; Enforcement-Expanded (copy handed out in class April 17)
     
131. In the Matter of Henry Lamar Willis, Report of the Special Master (January 7, 2012) (recommending disbarment)
     
     WEEK FOURTEEN (Class on April 24 -- Last Class -- course evaluation during class)
     
132. Class Presentation Assignment
133. Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977) (established 1st Amendment right for attorneys to advertise)
134. Ohralik v Ohio State Bar Ass'n, 436 U.S. 477 (1978) (solicitation prohibition upheld)
135. In re Primus, 436 U.S. 412 (1978) (application of anti-solicitation rules violated 1st Amendment)
136. Florida Bar v, Went For It, Inc, 513 U.S. 618 (1995) (Florida Bar Rules prohibiting personal injury lawyers from sending targeted direct-mail solicitations to victims and their relatives for 30 days following an accident or disaster did not violate 1st Amendment)
137. Falanga v State Bar of Georgia, 150 F.3d 1333 (11th 1998) (Georgia's rules prohibiting lawyers and their agents from soliciting professional employment from potential clients face-to-face and without invitation survives First Amendment commercial speech scrutiny)
138. In the Matter of Anonymous, 775 N.E. 2d 1094 (Ind. 2002) (example of deceptive lawyer advertisement)
139. Read GRPC 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 (also in Domestic Violence Manual)
140. Formal Advisory Opinion 05-6: Ethical propriety of lawyer advertising where the intent is to refer out to other lawyers. (also in Domestic Violence Manual)
141. Formal Advisory Opinion 03-3: Is it ethically permissible for an attorney to enter into a “solicitation agreement” with a financial investment adviser? (also in Domestic Violence Manual)
142. Sample website that violates GRPC (created by Robert Bexley, COL '10):ppt pdf
143. Evaluate the following two law firm websites in terms of the requirements of GRPC 7.1 - 7.3:
     -- www.forthepeople.com
     -- www.bmelaw.com
144. "Marketing Your Practice," LPM pp. 156-67