The attorney's search for more efficient and accurate methods of self-education and legal research is the pursuit of perfection – perpetually in progress. Are you using all the tools at your disposal to save time and get the information you're looking for? This legal course offers a practical guide through the latest challenges and opportunities evolving technology presents in legal research and law practice management. Stay on the cutting edge of your practice with tips from experienced attorney faculty. Order today!

1. Staying Current on Upcoming Laws and Practice-Specific News
2. Organizing Legal Research and Delegating Tasks
3. Case-Specific Research
4. Advanced Online Legal Research Skills
5. Authenticating and Organizing the Search Results for Court Use
6. Managing the Information Flow

Continuing Education Credits:   

* denotes specialty credits

1. STAYING CURRENT ON UPCOMING LAWS AND PRACTICE-SPECIFIC NEWS
   9:00 - 10:00, Lisa Smith-Butler
   1. Keeping Track of the Latest Legal Technology
   2. Monitoring Client Market Trends
   3. Peer Attorney Practice Tips
      1. Listservs
      2. Blawgs
      3. Local and Online Networking
   4. Following Recent and Pending Legislation
   5. Practice-Specific and Issue-Specific Content News
   6. Tracking Significant Court Cases and Rulings and Their Potential Effect on Your Practice
   7. Scanning Legislation and Case Law in Other States to Uncover Potential Trends
2. LOCATING COMPANIES FOR DUE DILIGENCE AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION
   10:15 - 11:15, Brock Collins
   1. Company Web Sites
   2. Directories for Private, Public and Foreign Companies
   3. Stock Quotes - Current and Historical
   4. SEC Filings
   5. State Corporate Records/Registered Agents and Fictitious Business Names
   6. News and Information About Companies, Products and Executives
   7. Information From Government Agencies Regulating Companies
3. CASE-SPECIFIC RESEARCH
   11:15 - 12:15, Deborah McGovern
   1. Primary Law (Court Decisions, Statutes, Regulations, Rules) Online
   2. Sample Forms - Free or Low-Cost Online Briefs, Motions, Easements, Agreements, Divorce Petitions, etc.
   3. Finding Non-Legal Information for Your Legal Case
      1. Property Searches
      2. People Searches
   4. Other Paid and Free Online Litigation Resources
   5. Using Investigators
   6. Utilizing Local College Campuses and Libraries as a Resource
4. ADVANCED ONLINE LEGAL RESEARCH SKILLS
   1:15 - 2:15, Deborah McGovern
   1. Practical Tips for Searching Within a Site (Common Site Architecture Formulas)
   2. Understanding and Mitigating the Shortfalls of Search Engines
   3. Useful Shortcuts
   4. 7 Simple Mistakes That can Kill Your Online Search
   5. Top Time Wasters in Online Searches
   6. Choosing and Utilizing Paid and Free Online Legal Research Engines (WestlawNext, LexisNexis, BNA, Google Scholar, Fastcase, etc.)
      1. Recent and Upcoming Trends in Legal Research Provider Market
      2. Choosing the Provider to Fit Your Research Style
5. AUTHENTICATING AND ORGANIZING THE SEARCH RESULTS FOR COURT USE
   2:30 - 3:30, Lisa Smith-Butler
   1. Tips for More Efficient Case Review
   2. Determining Relevance and Verifying Primacy
   3. Citing
   4. Organizing the Information for Use in the Case
   5. How to Not Reinvent the Wheel - Saving Your Search Results for Future Use
   6. Ensuring Admissibility
6. LOCATING PERSONS AND FINDING BACKGROUND INFORMATION
   3:30 - 4:30, Brock Collins
   1. Phone Numbers and Addresses of Missing People
   2. Social Security Numbers
   3. Bankruptcies
   4. Neighbors, Relatives and Associates
   5. Mailing List Postings, Blogs, Etc.
   6. Attorneys, Judges and Experts

BROCK COLLINS is a legal writing professor and director of academic success at the Charleston School of Law. Before joining the faculty in 2006, he served as law clerk to several judges at the state and federal level. Professor Collins is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association and the South Carolina Bar, and he also is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court, Western District of Kentucky, and the U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina. Professor Collins earned his B.A. degree from Indiana University and his J.D. degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he served as notes editor for the Kentucky Law Journal.

DEBORAH MCGOVERN is an emerging technologies reference librarian and adjunct faculty at the Charleston School of Law. She earned her J.D. degree from the University of Florida and her M.L.I.S. degree from Florida State University. Prior to joining the Charleston School of Law in 2009, Ms. McGovern was the emerging technologies librarian at Nova Southeastern University's Shepard Broad School of Law, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Before that, she completed an internship at the University of Florida Levin College of Law Library. Ms. McGovern serves on the Student Services Sub-Committee of the AALL Academic Law Libraries Committee. She is licensed to practice by The Florida Bar.

LISA SMITH-BUTLER is a noted legal librarian with national experience in legal research training and the practice of law. Ms. Smith-Butler is a nationally recognized leader in the dialogue on the subject of establishing the law library of the 21st Century as a true learning center. She served as the assistant dean and director of the law library and technology center at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At Nova Southwestern, Ms. Smith-Butler has served as an associate professor of law, teaching advanced legal research and juvenile law in the law program and workplace privacy and technology in the master's degree employment law program. She also has served as the public services librarian at Georgia State University and as a librarian at a major Atlanta law firm. Ms. Smith-Butler, also has been in private law practice, and is licensed in Nebraska and Georgia. She is the co-author and editor of Law Librarianship in the 21st Century. Ms. Smith-Butler is active in several local, regional and national law library associations. She taught advanced legal research, and children and the law. Ms. Smith-Butler earned her B.A. degree from Hasting College, her M.L.S. degree from Clark Atlanta University and her J.D. degree from Creighton University School of Law.

Please refer to Continuing Education Credit FAQ for general information about seeking credit for your participation in one of our continuing education programs.

Additionally, our team of credit specialists are here to answer your specific credit-related questions weekdays 7am - 5pm Central:

Phone: 866-240-1890

Email: credit@nbi-sems.com