The Solo & Small Firm Section.

• Author: Griffin, Jennifer Kuyrkendall
• Position: Of the Florida Bar - Keeping the Cogs Turning: Resources for Solo and Small-Firm Practitioners - Cover story

The Solo & Small Firm Section of The Florida Bar is constantly evolving to meet the needs of the more than 60 percent (1) of Bar members who identify themselves as solo or small-firm practitioners. Since the section is not tied to any substantive area of law, we are uniquely qualified to help the largest segment of The Florida Bar.

Over the years, the section absorbed committees and merged two sections into one--the Practice Management and Development Section merged into the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section. The section changed its name in 2016 to the Solo & Small Firm Section. As current chair, I am proud to offer these examples demonstrating how the section has adapted to the needs of its members and to review some of the resources available to solo and small-firm practitioners through the section.

CLE

Respondents who indicated that they prefer 24/7, on-demand CLE increased from 46 percent in the 2015 Florida Bar Membership Opinion Survey to 63 percent in the 2017 survey. (2) In response, the Solo & Small Firm Section increased its number of audio webcasts so participants can listen to the CLEs live or stream them on-demand.

The Solo & Small Firm Section started its new Wednesday Wisdom program during the 2018-19 Bar year. Each month, the section hosts a free Zoom webinar in which our members can network with other members throughout the state, ask questions, and get answers on various topics of interest. Webinars have included "How to Use a Virtual Assistant," "Apps to Boost Productivity," and "Perils of Judicial and Attorney Disqualifications: How to Spot Conflicts of Interest."

To accommodate schedules, the Wednesday Wisdom series is available live on the fourth Wednesday of the month or may be viewed on-demand in our members-only Facebook group. As another example of how the section evolves to meet membership needs, Wednesday Wisdom attendees asked if they could obtain CLE credit for the programs. While that was not the initial intent, our section heard the request and answered--we are now obtaining CLE credit for the Wednesday Wisdom series, and the series will remain free to section members.

While the method of delivery of CLE has changed over the years, one cannot overlook the need to still offer in-person CLE programming. That is something the Solo & Small Firm Section delivers to our membership. Every year, the section hosts a technology/practice management CLE during the winter meeting of The Florida Bar. The...