From the Executive Director, 0220 WYBJ, Vol. 43 No. 1. 10

• Author: Sharon Wilkinson, Wyoming State Bar Cheyenne, Wyoming.
• Position: Vol. 43 1 Pg. 10

From the Executive Director

Vol. 43 No. 1 Pg. 10

Wyoming Bar Journal

February, 2020

Are You a Small or Solo Practitioner? What the Bar Can Do to Help

Sharon Wilkinson, Wyoming State Bar Cheyenne, Wyoming.

In recent years, Bar leadership has made increasing the number of resources available to help our members succeed in the practice of law a top priority. In furtherance of this broad goal, the first plank of the two-year Strategic Plan adopted by the Board of Officers & Commissioners in 2019 is: "Strengthen the Wyoming State Bar's commitment to solo practitioners and small firms to aid them in the professional practice of law through programs, educational aids and resources."

Even before this broad strategic goal was adopted, significant ground had been gained in establishing a variety of practice-focused resources that are available to Bar members at no cost or at a member discount. A mainstay of these offerings is Casemaker, through which members of the Wyoming State Bar have free, unlimited access to online legal research covering all federal and state courts.

Three leading law practice management systems, Clio, CosmoLex and MyCase, are available to members at a 10% discount. Lawyers who subscribe to CosmoLex also receive LawPay, whose online credit card payment technology was developed specifically for the legal profession and correctly separates earned and unearned fees in accordance with the Wyoming Rules of Professional Conduct, including Rule 1.15, the trust account rule. Members who choose to subscribe to LawPay separately get a 10% discount. Together, these sophisticated practice- and case-management systems make it possible for lawyers to spend more time practicing law and less time dealing with the headaches (and hazards) of running an office.

All of the above are easily found on the Bar's website, www.wyomingbar.org. On the home page, point on "Practice in Wyoming" and pull down to "Member Benefits" to access these and more than a dozen other benefit programs that are available to all Bar members.

In addition, a variety of practice resources are available under the "Practice in Wyoming"/"Lawyer Resources" tab on the Bar's website. These include the Law Office Self-Audit Checklist, a straightforward self-assessment questionnaire that focuses upon various components of a well-functioning law office, including client relations, confidentiality, conflicts of...