Lawyers and legal professionals who enjoy listening to the podcasts from the Legal Talk Network can now earn continuing legal education (CLE) credit for their time spent with many of the network’s programs.

West LegalEdcenter is collaborating with the Legal Talk Network to offer some of its podcasts for CLE credit, for purchase as on-demand programs on westlegaledcenter.com.

Legal Talk Network’s fifteen legal programs – including its flagship podcast Lawyer2Lawyer with Robert J. Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams – focus on hot topics in the legal industry. Hosts and expert guests discuss issues ranging from U.S. Supreme Court rulings to legal ethics, intellectual property law, entertainment law, labor law and consumer protection law. The programs are produced and published regularly on the network, in iTunes and via RSS for legal professionals globally.

On the new episode of Lawyer2Lawyer, Ambrogi and Williams talked with West LegalEdCenter’s Lee Ann Enquist about the changing landscape of legal education.

“I think many lawyers think of continuing legal education as something they have to do, not something that they always want to do,” Enquist said. “But over the course of the last couple of years what we’ve tried to do – and I think the industry is moving toward this – is to recognize that being educated in your topic is critical to not only gaining clients but keeping clients and providing the best service possible…. So where our content has evolved, we really see ourselves now as a hot topic content provider, where we’re providing cutting-edge programming.”

Listen to the interview with Enquist here, while the full podcast episode is available here.

In an article in The National Law Journal, West author Ari Kaplan (The Opportunity Maker) offers some helpful advice for networking. In “Law Students Can Benefit From Networking Follow-Up,” Kaplan writes that it begins with finding the right mentor in the right way:

The key is to avoid setting the foundation of the relationship on the need for employment or business. It is better to seek guidance and insight instead rather than naked business assistance. Individuals who find meaningful opportunities to interact with a mentor are more likely to create a sincere relationship.

Kaplan says law schools and law firms that create better opportunities for mentoring relationships will produce graduates and legal professionals who are more able to answer the challenges of a modern career in the law.

It starts with knowing how to follow-up:

The best results will come only if individuals stay connected and follow up, both with mentors and with others in their broader network. That said, 43 percent of the students polled did absolutely no follow-up whatsoever with people they have met. Law schools easily could provide better guidance in this regard.

Read the entire article in The National Law Journal, and the Lawjobs.com Career Center, for more of Kaplan’s advice.

Editor’s note: Ari Kaplan, of Ari Kaplan Advisors, currently hosts the 30-Minute Thursdays webinar series. the next program is  Thursday, March 4, 2010, at 1 p.m. Eastern called “Writing an Article and Expanding Your Network in One Hour.”

Designed in large part to address regulatory issues exposed during the Bernard Madoff scandal, the new custody requirements will significantly impact many registered advisers.

Chief compliance officers will be challenged to assess how their firms’ activities and arrangements will be governed by the new requirements or, alternatively, whether to change the way the adviser does business.

Join the National Society of Compliance Professionals (NSCP) this Thursday, Feb. 25, for ”Challenges for Chief Compliance Officers Under Amended Advisers Act Custody Rule” – its first live programming on the Web as part of a new arrangement with West LegalEdcenter.

The program will be offered live, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.  

Legal professionals in banking, finance, corporate and securities law also will benefit from the program which will cover the following topics, and more:

-The new concept of “custody”

-The policies and procedures a CCO should consider to assure compliance with the new requirements

-How advisers who are part of a large financial complex inadvertently can be deemed to have custody

The program provides 1.5 continuing legal education credits. It is free for NSCP members and $165 for non-members.

For more information, and to register, visit WestLegalEdcenter.

Here’s a note that West just sent out to academic law librarians:

This month marks the official launch of WestlawNext. This new version of Westlaw has been in the making for several years, and was developed in large part through research and collaboration with our customers. Many academic law librarians provided feedback as part of the development process, and their input was instrumental in shaping our product and launch strategies.

Our plan is to offer law schools a phased rollout of trial passwords, beginning with librarians and faculty this spring. In addition to preview events in a variety of cities throughout the United States, we also will offer customized in-school or online presentations for librarians and faculty. In the coming weeks and months, your Academic Account Manager will schedule these events and distribute trial passwords. We’re now finalizing plans for launching WestlawNext to law students, with possible introduction as early as the Fall 2010 semester.

WestlawNext for law school subscribers will be included as part of your current Westlaw subscription agreement. There will not be an incremental charge to access WestlawNext.

We are pleased to work with law school librarians and faculty to evaluate WestlawNext, and we look forward to your feedback. We’ll be in touch soon; until then, please contact your Westlaw representative with any questions you may have.

For more information about WestlawNext, including webinars and live preview events, visit www.westlawnext.com.

West LegalEdcenter is unveiling the latest app from Thomson Reuters, Legal for the iPhone and iPod touch. It is CLE Mobile, a free download from the App Store for attorneys seeking a more mobile-friendly way to get their continuing legal education (CLE) credits.

CLE Mobile allows users to listen to more than 2,000 CLE courses. Audio programs available for download to the CLE Mobile app are identified as “Mobile Compatible” on westlegaledcenter.com. After purchasing available content online through a free West LegalEdcenter account, courses become available for download to an iPhone or iPod touch through the CLE Mobile app.

Users also have access to one free ethics CLE program when they download the app.

Lee Ann Enquist, vice president, West Professional Development and head of West LegalEdcenter, wrote about the app on the CLE Mobile blog and says it was developed remarkably quickly:

“…we were able to build a superior user experience – with all of the regulatory safeguards necessary – in just six months. This effort signifies our strategic commitment to shortening the development time for technology-driven tools that our customers demand. As we actively seek customer feedback, we will continue to compress our response and development time.”

More information is on the CLE Mobile Web page. And there’s a video on our YouTube channel that highlights the features as well:

CLE Mobile also allows users to submit completed courses for online state mandatory CLE credit. West LegalEdcenter has recreated its online experience. All of the regulatory safeguards that states require have been incorporated into the mobile environment. This allows users to earn credits as they would with an on-demand program at West LegalEdcenter, not just with a downloaded podcast for self-study credit. The app allows users to manage their westlegaledcenter.com profile, including licensing states and registration numbers.

In addition, CLE Mobile gives law firms the ability to make their own CLE and training content mobile with West LegalEdcenter’s in-house training.

CLE Mobile joins several other mobile applications launched this year by Thomson Reuters, including BARBRI Mobile and Black’s Law Dictionary. For more information on those applications, click here.

One trait thought to be essential for successful leaders - in law firms and elsewhere – today and in the future is “resilience,” defined as tough-mindedness and the ability to accept criticism.

A study (released in mid-2006) of more than 2,000 employees at the managerial and professional levels by PsMax Solutions, a human capital assessment firm, provides some intriguing findings. Ranked highest of all groups was the middle-managers’ resilience score. CEOs and company presidents ranked lowest in resiliency, followed by executives and professional employees.

Whether the cause or the effect of resilience, in middle management roles people are subject to feedback from all directions. Middle managers may be responsible for planning, directing and coordinating day-to-day activities and leading the people on the front lines. In a professional firm, middle managers include the directors of marketing, professional development, recruiting, information technology and finance and office administrators.

Law firm senior associates and managers in accounting firms are in this category.

Clearly CEOs and professionals need to increase their resilience given the challenges they face with the accelerating pace of work demands and change. Without developing the resilience trait, such problems as allowing stress and frustration to show, becoming defensive in response to criticism and difficulty in bouncing back can greatly impact individual performance and team results.

Another group sorely in need of developing resilience as defined above is Generation Y/Millennials, new to the dynamics of organizational politics and economic realities. This is especially true for those who have been hovered over by helicopter parents, teachers and mentors through school years.

Coaching can be very helpful in developing resilience. People can learn with a coach’s support to accept constructive criticism, learn from it, and temper reactions to non-constructive feedback. They can learn to be more open with their thoughts and reactions rather than holding them in and building high stress. Listening, showing that you are listening, speaking and not shutting down communications all are behaviors that can be learned and practiced. Coaching can also help managers, chiefs and directors navigate the dynamics of an organization’s internal politics.

We all can have some control over what we let get to us and cause high stress and what we overcome to be more effective managers and leaders for our own benefit as well as those around us.

Resilience is a personal gift as well as a key leadership trait.

Please share your thoughts and experiences

Phyllis Weiss Haserot

Editor’s note: Phyllis Weiss Haserot will appear on a panel for Cornell Law School alumni on November 18 in New York on alternative career options. More in-person talks and webcasts on inter-generational challenges, professional development and social networking topics are planned with her for December and 2010.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot is the president of Practice Development Counsel, consulting and coaching, an inter-generational relations expert and West Key Author of The Rainmaking Machine and The Marketer’s Handbook of Tips and Checklists. For more information, visit her website, pdcounsel.com, or her blog, Next Generation, Next Destination.

WIPO and Queensland are partnering to offer a first of its kind program in the Asia-Pacific – a Master of Intellectual Property Law program in Australia.

You can read the full post here.

Launched in 2006, the Maverick Program was a collaboration between Thomson Reuters, Maverick Software Consulting, and Minnesota State University–Mankato. Talented computer science students were put to work on software engineering projects for Thomson Reuters – on campus.

Facilitated by Maverick Software Consulting, students work testing features, writing code and developing Web enhancements.

“The students win because they’re getting real-world experience,” said Anna Grecco, senior director, Technology, at West, and the executive sponsor of the Maverick Program. “The schools win because their programs are able to be differentiated and their students can practically apply their academic learnings. Thomson Reuters wins because we have access to some of the brightest students. We are establishing a pipeline of experienced candidates to fill new graduate positions.”

Since 2007, three more universities have joined the Maverick Program. The University of Wisconsin–Madison, Iowa State University–Ames and the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities all have students participating in the program.

Martin Hebig, president of Maverick Software Consulting, has dedicated the firm to working with Thomson Reuters. He established offices at the specific universities and hired staff to supervise the students at each of the offices. Without Hebig’s dedication, Grecco is certain the program wouldn’t have been successful.

One hundred percent of the students that have graduated from the program are employed in industry positions. Twenty are employed at Thomson Reuters.

The partnership was recently highlighted in an article in the Mankato Free Press, Project Maverick benefitting students.

As many of you know, law librarianship is at the heart of Berring’s impressive career. He’s a teacher, author and tremendous resource and leader in his profession.

Before I flew out to San Francisco to meet Berring, I went on Twitter to see if anyone who follows the @westlaw account that I manage had any burning questions for him. This post features Berring’s answer, on video, to a question from @montserratlj who asked about the skills a legal reference librarian needs to have:

Berring’s response includes this quote, that “great reference librarians are born, not made”:

@montserratlj also asked us to find out if Berring has any plans to retire anytime soon, and what other careers he could have pursued:

On the retirement talk, Berring said that it’s not going to happen anytime soon. He’s a full-time professor and says “there’s no better gig than that. I will teach until they drag me out with a cane,” Berring joked. “The great thing about tenure is you can get old and stupid and obnoxious and all that happens is fewer people take your classes!” Though, he added, “there’s no better high” than getting a class engaged in learning about the law.

As for alternate careers Berring said, growing up in Ohio, his aspirations were to be a high school teacher in Cleveland. But “one little corner of me wanted to be President of the United States.”

We’ll share more from our interview with Bob Berring in some upcoming posts here on Legal Current.

The one-day program is being offered live in San Francisco on Oct. 6 (Get full conference details here). The China Deal 2010 will feature panels and discussions on the major changes in China’s economic and regulatory landscape. Topics include:

*The role of foreign direct investment in China’s future

*Inbound and outbound China M&A

*Venture capital and private equity investment in China

*Protecting intellectual property in China

Former United States Senator and U.S. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen will be the keynote speaker. Again, the full conference information and registration information for The China Deal 2010 is here.