Mark Moreau, co-executive director of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, said that on the heels of previous funding cuts, legal assistance programs nationwide are being forced to lay off at least 10 percent of their attorneys on staff during this fiscal year alone. Moreau further suggested that the forecast for legal aid funding is going to get worse, adding, “Funding is always a problem in public service law.”

“We [legal aid providers] live year to year and that’s unfortunate because the strength of any public interest program is the stability of core staff, and when people have to worry about their jobs, it isn’t good for the system,” he continued.

In addition to warning of the realities in the field of public interest law, panelists shared tips to help prospective public interest attorneys find employment in the new practice environment.

Due to the increased competition for public interest jobs, Margaret Kuklewicz, an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps legal fellow, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, urged law students to get involved with legal aid organizations in their community early on in their education and to stay involved throughout law school.

“I knew from the beginning I needed to get into every public interest program my law school had to offer,” said Kuklewicz. “I knew that people needed to know me in order to get a job.”

Davida Finger, assistant clinical professor, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, echoed Kuklewicz’s call for volunteerism.

“Volunteering at clinics is a meaningful way for law students to connect with public service work,” said Finger, who joined Loyola to work with what was formerly the Hurricane Katrina legal clinic and has worked extensively on disaster-related litigation and policy matters focusing on government accountability in rebuilding matters.

Finger also pointed out that volunteering can help people determine if they’re a right fit for the work.

Among other advice, Moreau suggested that those interested in public interest law should have a strong tax law background. “At a time where over half of legal services clients are working poor, a strong understanding in tax or welfare law is important,” he explained, noting that inadequate understanding of welfare and tax law is a major deficiency among legal aid providers.

According to panelists, public interest law can be a welcome career change for some attorneys.

Jeff Yungman, director of Crisis Ministries’ Homeless Justice Project in South Carolina, decided to enroll in law school after being unsuccessful at recruiting lawyers to provide pro bono services for the residents of the Ministries. After more than 20 years in social work, he now provides civil legal services to homeless people in South Carolina—serving 483 people last year. “It’s a fun job, I love to do it, and I get satisfaction from helping people who are homeless,” he said.

When concerns were raised about starting salaries in public interest law, which re generally between $45,000 and $55,000, Finger said it is possible to live well and do public interest work. “You’re not going to get rich, but you can have everything you need to have a wonderful life and do what you want to do.”

The roundtable session was sponsored by the ABA Division for Public Services.

The Feb. 3 CLE program, sponsored by the Criminal Justice Section, the Commission on Homelessness and Poverty, and the Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity, brought together experts from around the country to discuss best practices for diversion programs.

Pretrial release of a non-violent defendant costs the public about $3 a day, while incarceration costs about $100 a day, according to panelist Robert Weisengoff, director of Maryland Pretrial Release Services.

But cost isn’t the only factor driving the increasing use of pretrial release programs for non-violent defendants.  “People are far more likely to be found guilty if they are incarcerated,” Weisengoff said.  They are also likely to be disqualified from jobs and schools with a felony conviction.

Panelist Graymond F. Martin, the first assistant district attorney for the Orleans Parish in New Orleans, added, “It’s really important that we break a cycle of behavior, and incarceration does not appear to be a meaningful way to do that.”

Panelist Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson of the Louisiana Supreme Court noted several statistics that demonstrate how frequently incarceration is chosen over diversion and other pretrial release programs.

“We have the highest incarceration rate in the country….and for minor, non-violent charges, we jail people at a rate roughly three times the national average,” Johnson said. “The truth is they are going to come back to your community, and we have to think in terms of housing and employment opportunities to assist folks who are returning to the community.”

The Orleans Workforce Development Training and Re-entry Program, a joint effort between Orleans Parish District Court, the Louisiana Deprtment of Public Safety and Corrections, the Louisiana State Penitentiary and the Louisiana Workforce Commission, is a new and innovative model.

Participants receive vocational training in trades including plumbing, carpentry and graphic arts.  They can also receive money management advice, substance abuse counseling and job placement before release.  About 65 people are enrolled in the pilot program, said panelist Judge Arthur L. Hunter Jr. of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

“The more we incarcerate…the higher the crime rate tends to go,” said Martin.  “People have to hope, they have to believe, that if they go through this program their life will be better.”

The panelists discussed several obstacles, including program costs and political will.

“We shouldn’t be bragging about being tough on crime…but how safe we are,” said Martin.

“We have to have the leaders who have the strength and gumption to do the right thing,” Weisengoff agreed.  “Then we will have more time on our dockets and more room in our jails to deal with violent criminals.”

Robinson continued, “The act has ensured that legal and social services are available to survivors, and that law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, attorneys and advocates are well-trained and equipped with cutting-edge resources to effectively address these crimes in their own communities.”  Robinson also noted that the programs and policies brought about by the act are “credited with providing lifesaving assistance to hundreds of thousands of victims.”

Since VAWA’s enactment, the number of women killed by intimate partners has decreased by 35 percent since 1993, and nonfatal violent acts against women and men by intimate partners decreased by more than 50 percent, according to a Department of Justice report.  Other studies indicate that incidents of domestic and sexual violence tend to decrease when victims have legal representation and when they obtain protection orders.

Robinson cautioned that we as a nation have a long way to go, however, as nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men have been raped at some time in their lives, according to a Centers for Disease Control study.

The ABA has long taken a leadership role in addressing domestic, sexual and stalking violence and recognizes the important role of the legal profession in addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking crimes.  Since 1994, the ABA’s Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence has worked to increase access to justice for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking by mobilizing the legal profession.

Enacted by Congress in 1994, VAWA was reauthorized in 2000 and again in 2005.  Robinson’s letter was sent prior to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s scheduled consideration of the bill.  The bill was reported out by the Judiciary Committee on Feb.2 by a vote of 10-8.

To read President Robinson’s letter click here.

In the AT&T case, AT&T sought to acquire T-Mobile, with the parties citing efficiencies in pursuing the merger.  The DOJ filed suit to block the merger; the companies also faced opposition from the FCC.  In United States v. H&R Block, the company looked to acquire 2SS Holdings, the maker of TaxAct software.  The DOJ tested its 2010 Merger Guidelines and challenged the merger.  Those two companies and Rival Intuit—producer of TurboTax—account for 90 percent of the market share.

The importance of market structure in merger challenges is critical, said panelist Chul Pak, of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati P.C., who previously served as assistant director of the Mergers IV Division at the FTC.  Pak outlined the courts reviewing the market numbers: “First the government must show that the merger would produce ‘a firm controlling an undue percentage share of the relevant market, and [would] result [] in a significant increase in the concentration of firms in that market,’” citing Philadelphia Nat’l Bank.

Recently, successful challenges have occurred in instances where, were the merger to occur, it would bring the players in the market from three down to two competitors, as in FTC v. CCC Holdings.  U.S. v. AT&T was more of a grey area in that regard, because it dealt with shifting the market from four players down to three.  By comparison, unsuccessful challenge examples are FTC v. Arch Coal—five firms to four; and U.S. v. Oracle, six to five players.

In reviewing whether mergers can go forward, market definition is pivotal, continued Pak.  Factors that the courts emphasize in analyzing market definition include business documents—both what is included in them and what is not; natural pricing experiments—for example, studying the possible differences between two firms and three players; expert economic analysis; as well as the judge’s personal experiences.  To the last point, Pak mentioned how a judge, when reviewing the Whole Foods merger case, went to the grocery store as part of the decision-making process and took a common-sense approach to the question at hand.

Panelist Matthew Hendrickson, of Skadden Arps and a partner in the firm’s antitrust practice, echoed the significance of company documents in these types of cases, as well as the scrutiny of economic experts.  Part of DOJ’s aggressiveness, he explained, can be seen through the department acting much faster than businesses are expecting.  Rather than trying to gather every piece of evidence having to do with everything, the department is more willing to rely on civil discovery.  In addition, the Department of Justice has been unmoved by lobbying efforts in support of the mergers, even though—as Hendrickson said—there was an extensive and vigorous campaign, for example, by members of Congress and state attorneys general in AT&T/T-Mobile.

Another facet of AT&T is the addition of private litigation in parallel to the action being taken by the DOJ.  The Sprint and Cellular South filing against AT&T/T-Mobile provided another layer to the process; AT&T soon filed a motion to dismiss.

Litigation is increasingly a tool being utilized by the government, continued Hendrickson.

Panelist Mark W. Nelson, of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP, represented Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile in AT&T/T-Mobile.  Offering tips for antitrust lawyers and litigators, he said that the horizontal merger guidelines of August 2010 are allowing for broad discretion by the government, noting that they were extremely important in the H&R Block case.  He also observed the limitations of the efficiencies defense, as well as the dual-track DOJ and FCC merger review.

Jeffrey S. Jacobovitz, with McCarthy, Sweeney & Harkaway, moderated the CLE, sponsored by the ABA Section of Antitrust Law Communications & Digital Technology Industries Committee, State Enforcement Committee, Civil Practice and Procedure Committee, and the Center for CLE.

“Law firms transferring in attorneys from an overseas office can take advantage of the L-1 intra-company transfer visa,” explains Siskind.  These types of visas can be secured for five years for employees with specialized knowledge, or seven years for executives or managers.

One requirement for such a visa is that the transferring attorney must have one year of work within the last three years with the transferring employer.  The U.S. and foreign offices must also be related, for example, either as a subsidiary or having common ownership.

To meet the executive, managerial or specialized knowledge requirement, Siskind points out that a firm will want to show that the lawyer for whom it is applying for the visa will be managing paralegals and, where applicable, other attorneys; or in charge of a function as opposed to personnel.  Firms showing that there is no one in the local market with the necessary skills can meet the specialized knowledge threshold.

Visiting attorneys—those in the United States to attend a conference or to assist a client with negotiating a contract, for example—can come to the United States with a B-1 business visitor visa, continues Siskind.  The B-1 applicant must show permanent employment, meaningful or financial connections or close family ties, which would indicate a strong reason to return to his or her original country.

There are also treaty visas allowable for attorneys from specific countries; and a limited number of H-1B visas for university-educated professionals.

“The Globalization of American Law Firms: A Quick Guide to Attorney Immigration” is found in the January 2012 issue of LawPracticeToday, a publication of the Law Practice Management Section.

Peter J. Neeson

The American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) will honor Peter J. Neeson of Philadelphia with its James K. Carroll Leadership Award, which honors members who have shown outstanding leadership qualities and service to the section.

The award will be presented to Neeson Feb. 4 during the TIPS Joint Reception with the International Law Section and Judicial Division of the 2012 ABA Midyear Meeting.

“TIPS is honored to present Peter Neeson with its James K. Carroll Leadership Award,” said section chair Randy Aliment of Seattle. “Peter has shown outstanding leadership of and service to the section over many years.  Peter served as chair of the section and developed several unique and top-notch programs for TIPS members including the National Trial Academy and Leadership Academy. These are just a few of the valuable contributions he’s made to TIPS.”

Neeson is a partner with Rawle & Henderson LLP in Philadelphia, where he serves as chair of its Environmental, Toxic and Mass Torts Department. As a practicing trial attorney for 33 years, Neeson has been involved in the defense of numerous toxic tort matters in multi-district and class action cases in both state and federal courts, including formaldehyde, multiple chemical sensitivity, sick building, latex glove, benzene, underground storage tank, orthopedic bone screw, pharmaceutical and asbestos litigation including the defense of over 3,000 such cases against a major manufacturer. He has also participated in the defense of several generators in CERCLA superfund cases.  Neeson has been the national coordinating counsel for a major insurance carrier in the FRT litigation and has had national coordinator responsibilities in the asbestos, latex glove and the PPA pharmaceutical drug litigations.

Neeson has shown longtime support of and leadership within TIPS, having served as chair in 2006, chair-elect in 2005 and vice-chair in 2004. He also served as chair of the section’s Products, General Liability and Consumer Law Committee, served on the section’s council and spearheaded the development of the National Trial Academy in conjunction with the National Judicial College in Reno, Nev., which is widely recognized as the premier forum of its kind in which to train young lawyers how to try jury trials.

Neeson also founded the TIPS Leadership Academy, a diversity program designed to develop and train future community and bar leaders.

In addition to his ABA involvement, Neeson is a member of the Defense Research Institute, the Pennsylvania Defense Institute and a past member of the executive committee of the Philadelphia Association of the Defense Counsel.

Neeson earned his B.S. in Aero Space Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1970 and his J.D. from the University of Miami (cum laude) in 1978.  He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New York.

Neeson has been rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell and was individually honored when he was selected by his peers in an extensive nomination and polling process conducted by Law & Politics as one of Pennsylvania’s Super Lawyers from 2004 through 2011.

He has also authored/edited various publications including his efforts as the editor and co-author of a 1995 ABA-TIPS book entitled the Reference Handbook on the Comprehensive General Liability Policy.

Neeson has served in other various leadership roles including vice chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee for Eastern Pennsylvania, current member of the board of directors of the Philadelphia Sports Congress, the city’s civic/business facilitator for the promotion and development of sporting events in the city, past president of the Philadelphia Amateur Sports Corporation, general counsel and a member of the Executive Committee for Philadelphia Women’s Basketball 2000, the local organizing committee for the NCAA Women’s Final Four basketball tournament and an Executive Committee Member for the 2003 U.S.G.A. Women’s Amateur Golf Championship held in Philadelphia.

More recently, he has been asked to serve as general counsel and chair of the board of the Biotech Foundation, an innovator of new vaccine and biofuels technology and as general counsel and a member of the board of trustees of Philadelphia 2016, Philadelphia’s effort to bid for the summer 2016 Olympics.

The ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section unites plaintiff, defense, insurance, and corporate counsel to advance the civil justice system.  TIPS is a national source of expertise in tort, trial and insurance practice and brings lawyers together to share information and speak out on issues of importance.  The section has about 25,000 members and 32 general committees that focus on substantive and procedural matters in areas across the broad spectrum of civil law and practice.  For more information about the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section visit the TIPS website, www.americanbar.org/tips.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the world’s largest voluntary professional membership organization. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

ABA President Wm. T (Bill) Robinson III speaks out for adequate funding of our courts in a new public awareness project produced by the Massachusetts Bar Association.  The two minute video (available to view here) is a compelling look at what is happening in state judiciaries around the country and what it means for access to justice for all Americans. In 2011, 42 states cut funding for their courts.

This video explains, in the voice of judges, lawyers, court officers and other legal professionals, how this funding crisis affects not only access, but also the essential function and security of the courts themselves.

As Robinson says,” We as lawyers have not only the privilege but the responsibility….to stand up for our courts, to speak out for our courts, and to help the public understand that it’s their freedom, their families, and their businesses that are in jeopardy as a result of this.”

(L - R) Maria Woltjen, director and founder, Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights at the University of Chicago; Lynne Johnson, policy and advocacy director, Chicago Alliance Agaisnt Sexual Exploitation; Rachel Durchslag, founder and executive director, CAASE; Tianne Bataille, chair, anti-trafficking initiative, Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services; Jennifer Greene, violence against women policy advisor, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (photo by Kristin Claes, CAASE)

Cook County, Ill., State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez has made human trafficking a priority. At a recent program in Chicago sponsored by the International Human Rights Committee of the American Bar Association Section of International Law, she told the audience made up of representatives from law enforcement, social service agencies and advocacy groups that Chicago has become a crossroads for commercial sexual exploitation.

“Sex Trafficking from the Boardroom to the Classroom:  Prevention, Intervention & Prosecution” was the third program in a series that highlights the growing international problem of human trafficking—an issue that is reverberating in local communities across the country.

Yet, as Alvarez noted, “Most average citizens do not realize that it is happening here.”

To help raise awareness as well as to address the problem, Alvarez created a special unit within the organized crime division that focuses on intervention and prevention—with special attention to help victims of the crime.

Among its work, the unit has been aggressive in enforcing the Illinois Safe Children’s Act, which Alvarez said is one of the most comprehensive and sweeping pieces of legislation in this country to deal with trafficking.

The law—which has brought charges for 48 people in Cook County in less than two years—is particularly noteworthy because it places emphasis on nabbing the pimps who put some 6,000 children to work as prostitutes on the streets each year.

“No one’s going to tell me that a 10-, 11-, 12-year old girl is out there prostituting herself,” said Alvarez, underscoring the importance of decriminalizing underage prostitution.  “We know that she’s put out on the street by someone who is making money of this and victimizing her.”

Jennifer Greene, policy advisor on violence against women issues for Alvarez’s office, said the human trafficking initiative’s emphasis on victims’ concerns has made it a national model.

Addressing demand in the main concern for representatives of the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, who also spoke at the program.  CAASE’s mission is unique in that it focuses on “individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation.”  The organization created the End Demand Illinois campaign to shift law enforcement’s attention to sex traffickers and people who buy sex, while creating a network of support for sex trade survivors.

To facilitate the efforts of CAASE and others, the Illinois Predator Accountability Act permits victims to sue their pimps or customers. But since no law suit has ever been brought under the law that was passed in 2006, the Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services is looking for volunteers.  Board member and international lawyer Tianne Bataille said, “We don’t know what the challenges are going to bring.  We fear organized crime could have huge budgets for defendants.”

Bataille estimates that traffickers earn between $250,000 and $500,000 per year, before taxes.  “That provides enormous incentive for behavior to continue,” she said.

Building awareness of the problem is key to finding solutions, and CAASE is going into schools to educate students on the ills that trafficking creates. CAASE recently launched “Empowering Young Men to End Sexual Exploitation,” a curriculum aimed at high school-aged boys. Rachel Durchslag, founder and executive director of CAASE, said the program is designed to teach them about the harms of prostitution and to enlist them as allies in the movement to end violence against women and girls.

Joining the program via videoconference was Gunilla Eckberg, a Swedish-Canadian lawyer and former advisor on trafficking to the Swedish government, where prostitution is officially recognized as a form of male sexual violence against women and children.  “We know from international experience that when you target the demand, you will have a very visible and immediate effect on the number of victims of trafficking,” she said.

Maria Woltjen, director and founder, Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights at the University of Chicago, served as moderator for the program.

The fourth program in the series, “Not for Sale: Global Responses to Sex and Labor Trafficking” will be held April 19, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. during the Section of International Law 2012 Spring Meeting in New York City.  For more information, click here.

Understanding how to apply the rules of professional conduct, which every law student learns in the classroom, to the actual practice of law can help avoid disciplinary action, said Dane Ciolino, a professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.

“Young lawyers who have gone into practice need to think about some of the basic ways to avoid ethics issues arising,” Ciolino said. He offered the following advice:

Be diligent when working on cases. Every lawyer faces a case or clients that are either complex or annoying, Ciolino said. These are the cases to which lawyers should pay the most attention, he cautioned.

“You’d be surprised how many lawyers just take a case and do not really move it along,” Ciolino said. “There have been disciplinary cases where lawyers have done nothing on the case.”

Control your workload. “You don’t want to say yes to every partner who asks you to do some work on his or her case,” Ciolino said. “Make sure you take only those cases that you can actually handle.”

Communicate often with everyone involved, including clients, the courts and opponents. Lawyers should scan and send clients copies of all relevant documents as they receive them, Ciolino said, adding that communicating and handling matters diligently will help avoid most problems with clients.

“Unhappy clients lead to bar complaints,” he said. “As long as you are talking to the clients and working on the cases, odds are you’re going to have a happy client.”

Avoid fee disputes. One way to do this, Ciolino said, is to produce a detailed retention letter or agreement that explains in detail what the client should pay, services that will be rendered and the scope of the representation. If you have hourly rates, give your client detailed bills. It helps to provide discounts, and only bill your client for reasonable time and expenses, he said.

Develop a good filing system and go as paperless as possible. Many lawyers lost their files during Hurricane Katrina, Ciolino noted.  “Every lawyer come 2012 should be transitioning to, if not entirely [in], a more paperless practice,” he advised.

Cooperate with your state disciplinary counsel if they send you a letter. “A remarkable number of lawyers get letters from our disciplinary counsel and ignore them and throw them away,” Ciolino said.  “When you get the letter from the office of disciplinary counsel, respond to it. Respond promptly, and respond accurately.”

Response letters can and will be used against you in future disciplinary proceedings, so make sure you are accurate, Ciolino said.

Be competent by getting a handle on cases and facts. Avoid cases that are unnecessarily complex, Ciolino said. “Assuming most of you are new lawyers, you are still learning the area that you have chosen or are still choosing the area that you ultimately want to practice in,” he noted. “Be very wary of taking cases in areas that are new to you.”

For example, he said, in the criminal justice area, avoid taking death penalty cases and post-conviction appeals, which can be complicated for a lawyer just starting out.

“There are plenty of traps, statutes of limitations and deadlines that you don’t know about,” Ciolino said. “Understand that you are going to have to think about either associating or consulting with knowledgeable lawyers in the area and will need time to get up to speed with the law.”

He added: “You have to comply with court orders or the judge is going to be unhappy and the judge is going to report you to the office of disciplinary counsel.”

Be civil. “I have represented three lawyers who have gotten themselves into fights with other lawyers,” Ciolino recalled. “By fights I don’t mean squabbles, I mean fisticuffs, where they have wrestled one another in the courtroom, and another case where they have fought outside in the hall. Obviously those lawyers found themselves in the disciplinary process.”

Avoid representing friends and family members. “I have had a disproportionate number of clients in the disciplinary system who were there because they were trying to do a favor for their neighbor, their aunt, cousin, employer,” Ciolino said. “Lawyers tend to backburner these cases and tend to think of them as less important than other case. That gets you into trouble.”

Know your audience

Whether in or out of the courtroom, understanding your audience is the first step toward developing a proper speech, said Rick Levin of Levin Riback Law Group in Chicago.  One of the biggest pitfalls when writing a speech, he said, is neglecting to take steps to find out what information the audience needs to learn.

In court, Levin said, understanding the audience of jurors means finding out their biases and removing those whose prejudices can affect the case.

When interviewing potential jurors, a lawyer should find out as much about potential jurors’ personalities and history as possible, Levin said.  Among good questions, ask what publications potential jurors read to get their news, he added.

When speaking outside of the courtroom, the issue of determining one’s audience can become more complicated. Consider getting bios of members of the audience or sending a few questions about the audience to the organizer.

Organize your message

The organization of an argument is key to making sure the audience understands it, said Faith Pincus, founder of Pincus Professional Education in Los Angeles.  A lawyer must first have a purpose and should write it down, she said. Then, she added, it’s helpful to develop three main points to the argument or speech.

“Stay focused,” Pincus advised. “If something doesn’t fit in three main points, cut it out.”

After developing the main points, Pincus said, gather all of the supporting materials. This can include interviews, quotes and anything else that needs to be mentioned in the speech. The next step is to create an outline.

Pincus recommends that lawyers not write their speeches or oral arguments verbatim. If you have this habit, she said, you may want to take your draft speech and, instead, develop an outline for it. Practice your speech using only this outline.

Whether in our out of court, it is imperative that a lawyer memorize his introduction and conclusion. Introductions are a large part of establishing your credibility as a speaker, Pincus said. To do this well, you must have adequate eye contact and sound confident.

Improve your presence

Addressing a speaker’s demeanor, Levin said that “people believe people who look them in the eye.” For this reason, written-out speeches and introductions shouldn’t be used, he said

Pincus suggested taking acting classes or joining Toastmasters to help improve your demeanor. Emanating confidence, along with a sound knowledge of the audience and organized message, will allow lawyers to succeed in any speech they give, she added.

There is no easy way to public speaking, Pincus cautioned: “You have to prepare and you have to practice. Like tennis, golf, dance—you can’t get better unless you do it.”

Pincus offered several vocal techniques that can be used to keep the audience’s attention: Make sure to pause for impact.  Varying speech patterns will hold the audience. This goes beyond just not being monotone.  Talk faster, slower, be louder and softer, and so on, she said.

Because a speaker’s diaphragm is suppressed when he or she sits, it is important to stand up and walk around with a purpose, Levin said. A supported diaphragm produces a louder, more confident voice, he added, while cautioning lawyers against putting hands in their pockets or crossing their arms.

“Wear a conservative-colored suit and keep jewelry at a minimum when in court,” Pincus said. The same rules apply outside of the court in most cases, she added, because you do not want your audience to focus more on what you are wearing than what you’re saying.

Above all else, the speakers said, practice and run through your speech three, four, five or more times to become comfortable with the content. Sometimes words on paper don’t sound like you want them to when spoken. Practicing in front of other people who “don’t depend on you for food,” advised Levin, is the best way to get an unbiased opinion of how the speech is going to turn out.

The CLE Premier Speaker Series is a monthly program where ABA members can earn free continuing legal education credits. The inaugural program in the series, “Trying High-Profile Cases in Today’s Media Environment,” was presented Nov. 21. CART services are available for the deaf and hard of hearing for the series.