Remote Law Practice: Essentials and Emerging Opportunities

The Center for Continuing Education, (CCE), is a State Bar of California MCLE Approved Provider. Since 1992, CCE has presented high quality MCLE programs with the nation's leading attorneys and a wide array of topics. After years of in-person traditional seminars, CCE now focuses on production with Zoom or similar technologies so as to attract highly renowned speakers from any location, always true to our motto: "The Best in Topics and Talent."

Lawrence M. Kohn is president of Kohn Communications. The firm specializes in assisting lawyers and other professionals in acquiring new clients. The firm has assisted professionals in over 1,000 firms—ranging from multinationals to solos. He began his consulting practice in 1983. He was a pioneer in the training technique now known as Executive Coaching. The technique has proven to be remarkably effective in helping his clients integrate new skills into their daily routines. He has personally conducted over 33,000 individual coaching sessions. Mr. Kohn is the developer of the unique web app, BizDevCoach.com—using a combination of tutorial and technology to help professionals plan and implement an effective biz dev strategy. He is the co-author of Selling in Your Comfort Zone (Safe and Effective Strategies for Developing New Clients), published in 2009 by the American Bar Association, and Selling with Honor (Strategies for Selling Without Selling Your Soul), originally published in 1997 by Berkley Press, a division of Penguin Putnam. He has authored and co-authored over 60 articles about marketing and management. Dozens of the articles and free podcasts are available at www.kohncommunications.com. As an educator, he earned the title of Master Instructor at UCLA Extension, at that time, a title given to only 10 out of over 2,500 instructors. In addition to teaching classes in marketing and public speaking, Mr. Kohn taught the course, “Making the Classroom Come Alive” – a required course for UCLA Extension instructors. Mr. Kohn’s business experience covers a broad range of industries. He began his business career in asset-based lending with Mercantile Financial Corp. In 1972, he founded the small business loan department for Foothill Capital. He then formed his own company, Business Loans, Inc. He created and hosted the radio program, “It’s Your Business.” He was the chairman of the board of 3-Day Blinds, the largest independently owned manufacturer and retailer of window blinds in the country at that time. He has had a broad range of clients including JPL, NASA, United Way, Walt Disney Imagineering, Farmer’s Insurance, Lowe Enterprises, UCLA Extension, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Baker & McKenzie, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright, and DLA Piper. Mr. Kohn is active in the community. He is the past chairman of the Board of Governors of Century City Hospital. As a member of the Board of Governors of the City of Hope, he co-founded their Planned Giving Speakers Bureau. He is the founder and current chairman of Team Beverly Hills, the city’s leadership program. He has been appointed to the Order of the City of Beverly Hills, the highest honor given by the city council. He received the Apple Award from Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley for educating parents about private funding methods for public schools. He is a past board member of the Maple Counseling Center of Beverly Hills, past president of the Westwood Elementary Charter School PTA, and co-founder of the Westwood Elementary Charter School Booster Club. Currently, his charitable activity focuses on providing free coaching for nonprofit board members to help them develop their recruiting and fundraising skills.

Michael Bono serves as Of Counsel to Aliant, a law firm that has a global reach with offices in 21+ countries and 30 practice areas. He is a member of the firm’s Corporate Practice Group and specializes in cross-border business transactions, import-export, and a wide array of matters in support of maritime-related businesses. Michael’s legal career began almost 30 years ago when he joined the maritime and aviation department of a large U.S. law firm where he handled matters ranging from insurance coverage disputes for London-based insurers to oil spill litigation on behalf of major multinational oil companies. In the course of his career, Michael has handled matters involving vessel finance, charter parties, ship collisions, cargo damage, vessel registration and documentation, salvage, maritime lien rights, wreck removal, towage, marine insurance, and shipping regulations. Additionally, Michael has substantial experience in international civil asset recoveries, including all aspects of ship mortgage foreclosures, for some of the world’s leading maritime lenders. He’s handled complex ship repossessions across the globe and has experience with challenging jurisdictions such as Somalia, Haiti, and Venezuela. Both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times have quoted Michael about the nuances of maritime law. Although the focus of his career has been to support those in the global maritime industry (including importers and exporters), Michael has also counseled early-stage maritime and technology-related companies on a wide range of business matters, including corporate organization, financing for operations, development of business plans, and risk management. Regarding his legal education, Michael received his law degree from Loyola University and was then one of twenty attorneys from around the world who were selected each year to study at the Maritime Law Center of Tulane University, widely recognized as the world’s leading maritime/shipping law program. While at Tulane, Michael was selected as a member of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal, in which two of his articles were published. Michael’s article entitled “Protective Stipulations and the Single Claimant Exception in Limitation of Shipowner’s Liability Proceedings” has been cited as authority in the seminal treatise, Admiralty and Maritime Law, by Professor Thomas J. Schoenbaum. Upon completion of his specialized study at Tulane, Michael received the degree of Master of Laws in Admiralty.

Diane has spent more than 30 years as a legal manager in firms of various sizes. She started DLCCS in 2013 and has consulted with small firms around the country on a multitude of management and operational issues, including law firm startups. She speaks in the legal community on issues such as operations, IOLTA accounting, legal software, and starting new firms. In addition, she teaches law office management at San Francisco State University. Diane is a Certified Legal Manager and holds a degree in Organizational Behavior and Leadership from the University of San Francisco. She has a passion for helping attorneys and their staff become more efficient. She believes attorneys should practice law, not spend their time in the weeds of running their businesses. Her experience ranges from office build-outs and moves to new technology implementations and law firm start-ups.

Jacob Stein, Esq. is the managing partner of Aliant, LLP. He specializes in asset protection planning, complex U.S. and international tax planning, and structuring international business transactions. Mr. Stein received his law degree from the University of Southern California and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University. He is ranked by Chambers and Partners in the High Net Worth Category, has been AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, named a 'Super Lawyer' by Los Angeles Magazine for over ten years, and listed in the top 1% of ‘America’s Most Honored Professionals’ by the American Registry. Over the course of his career, Mr. Stein has represented officers and directors of Fortune 500 companies, Forbes 400 families around the world, high-profile entrepreneurs, celebrities, high-net-worth individuals, private equity funds, and many more. He is the author of books, dozens of scholarly articles, and technical manuals, including his most recent article, “Creative Planning Strategies Using Irrevocable Trusts,” published in January 2020 in Thomson Reuters Estate Planning Journal. Other recent works include: “Tax Tips for Americans Doing Business in South America,” published in 2019 in the Journal of Taxation; A Lawyer’s Guide to Asset Protection Planning in California, Second Edition; International Joint Ventures – A Concise Guide for Attorneys & Business Owners; and Asset Protection for California Residents, Second Edition, the first and only book in print on asset protection planning specific to California residents that provides a sophisticated and in-depth look at the law in an accessible manner. Mr. Stein was an adjunct professor of taxation at the CSU, Northridge Graduate Tax Program, for ten years. He lectures frequently to attorneys, CPAs, and other professional groups, teaching over 50 seminars per year for state and local bar associations, estate planning councils, and international networking organizations. Mr. Stein is an instructor with the California CPA Education Foundation, National Business Institute, Thomson Reuters, the Rossdale Group, Lorman Education Services, Spidell Publishing, and many more. Mr. Stein is a member of several international legal networks, including Union Internationale des Avocats, IR Global, and the International Bar Association.