Bar Association CLE

Productive Time presents a variety of CLE programs on time management and lawyer productivity at bar associations in the US and Canada.  Irwin Karp has been a regular speaker in the Lawyering Skills Program at the State Bar of California’s Annual Meeting for the past five years where his programs always receive the highest evaluations from the participants.

Productive Time’s signature program “Get Organized and Get Things Done – Practical Time Management for Lawyers” is available for bar association CLE programs in a full-day or a half-day version.

• Get Organized and Get Things Done - Practical Time Management for Lawyers

The following are programs of one to two-hours in length appropriate to association annual meetings or events with a series of breakout sessions.

• Make Technology Work for You - How to Balance Tech Tools in Your Practice and Your Life
• Overcoming Procrastination - How to Kick the Habit
• The Art of Effective Delegation
• Effective Communications with Associates & Staff
• Project Management and Teamwork for Lawyers
• How to Conquer Paper Clutter and E-Mail Overload

Get Organized and Get Things Done - Practical Time Management for Lawyers

Are you carrying a heavy case load, completing work at the last minute, plagued by constant interruptions, inundated with information, drowning in paper, overloaded by e-mail, handling too much of the work load by yourself, or spending too much time at the office?  In short, do you seem to have too much to do and not enough time?

This fast-paced and entertaining seminar provides practical and effective skills and techniques for managing your time, projects, paper, e-mail, information, staff and yourself. Enhance your organizational and time management skills to become more productive, achieve your priorities and make more time for yourself.

Program highlights include practical techniques to:

• Take control of your day by effective planning & scheduling.
• Focus on your priorities and work more productively.
• Manage competing demands with a minimum of stress.
• Handle interruptions and timewasters that drain productivity.
• Overcome procrastination and minimize management by crisis.
• Delegate, communicate and use support staff more effectively.
• Manage information overload (including the deluge of e-mail).
• Process paper efficiently and eliminate clutter in your office.
• Set up action files to find things when you need them.
• Develop a personal action plan to enhance organizing & time management skills.

View a detailed outline of this program

Make Technology Work for You -
How to Balance Tech Tools in Your Practice and Your Life

Many available technology tools can increase productivity in your practice and make you a more effective lawyer.  With these tools comes a burden.  The availability of e-mail, voice mail and information anywhere, anytime can be a liberating force or a high tech tether. This program will:

• Analyze the personal benefits and burdens of different communications and law practice management technologies
• Help you decide what technology you really need for the way you work
• Help you to determine the balance point when it is ok to disconnect.

Overcoming Procrastination – How to Kick the Habit

Procrastination creates undue stress as lawyers rush to finish documents at the last minute.  Delaying work can be a form of self-sabotage, affect productivity and cause errors.  Learn to complete your work with more control and less management by crisis.  Attendees will learn:

• How to recognize their individual style of procrastination and what to do about it
• Self-management techniques to get started on projects sooner rather than later
• How to break down a project so it doesn’t appear so overwhelming
• How to focus on what you really need to accomplish.

The Art of Effective Delegation

Effective delegation lies somewhere between the extremes of micro-management and laissez-faire.  The art of delegation requires, among other things clear communications, understanding of the assignment and time frame, a climate for questioning & mentoring, periodic follow-up, feedback and evaluation.  This workshop reviews practical programs and techniques for leveraging your time by effective delegation. Agenda topics include:

• Review of delegation phobias & benefits of delegation
• Steps for effective delegation
• roles and responsibilities of the players
• resources available for solo practitioners or small firms when the question is “delegate to whom?”

Effective Communications with Associates & Staff

In a profession that requires effective communication in litigation, deal-making and advice to clients, lawyers often don’t communicate very well with each other or with staff.  Cryptic notes, assignments without context, unclear instructions, failure to plan time to complete tasks, and hoarding tasks until the last minute cause wasted time, rush jobs, stress and frustration. Items on the agenda include:

• Familiar examples of poor communications
• The effect on poor communications on work flow & quality
• The essentials of communications – clarity, listening skills and feedback
• How to assure effective & clear assignment of tasks.

Project Management and Teamwork for Lawyers

Attorneys are notorious for completing work at the last minute.  A crisis management mode can be the result of busy schedules, heavy workload, competing priorities or poor planning. Learn to apply project management techniques to legal work, juggle multiple priorities and use all of your available staff resources effectively.  The agenda covers the following topics:

• How to avoid management by crisis
• The stages of the project management process and how to apply them to legal work
• Teamwork: factoring in the workload of others, effective communications, delegation of work, how to provide feedback and hold productive meetings
• How to balance multiple projects through planning, weekly review & scheduling.

How to Conquer Paper Clutter and E-Mail Overload

The constant flow of incoming information threatens to overcome our ability to cope and to effectively manage our practices.  Paper piles up and the e-mail inbox remains full.  This class will focus on ways to get control over your paper flow and your e-mail.  You will learn how to manage paper, make decisions, coordinate paper with calendar to schedule time for taking action, and establish effective paper retrieval systems.  We will also investigate some digital tools for reducing the volume of paper in your office.  The deluge of e-mail can affect productivity if not effectively managed.  You will learn how to process your inbox, set up folders, use filters, highlight action items, and coordinate e-mail tasks with your calendar.