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Join RPPT in Washington, D.C.

Join the ABA RPPT Section for our 18th Annual Spring Symposia. The 2007 symposia will be held April 26–27 in our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Noted speakers and experts in the fields of real estate and estate planning will be leading courses on some of the current issues and hot topics in these areas of law; all sessions will be held at the Park Hyatt and Fairmont Hotels in the heart of the city.

Take this opportunity to earn CLE credit while networking with colleagues and learn about the Section’s activities and news. Come explore the great city of Washington, D.C.!

For more information and to register on line, visit www.abanet.org/rppt/2007.

Luncheon Speaker

Come hear Friday afternoon luncheon speaker, novelist James B. Stewart, examine the major events in business, law, and politics that shape American society. The San Francisco Examiner called him “the journalist every journalist would like to be.”

Young Lawyers Institute

The Section will introduce its inaugural Young Lawyers Institute in Washington, D.C., on Friday, April 27, 2007, at the Fairmont Hotel. The Young Lawyers Institute will feature a full day of continuing legal education programs expressly designed for attorneys who are new to the fields of real estate or trusts and estates law.

The real estate program will feature prominent real estate practitioners discussing purchase agreements, due diligence, choice of entity for purchaser, finance, leasing, and insurance, including title insurance.

The estate planning program will focus on planning considerations before a client’s death, and the program will consider both tax and nontax issues. It will include an overview of the estate and gift tax, a discussion of some of the most popular planning techniques, and a review of planning for specialized assets. In addition, there will be a component that will qualify for ethics credit for CLE purposes.

The programs will conclude with a joint cocktail reception for attendees, panelists, and Section leadership. The registration fee for this one-day event, including lunch and reception, is $150 for practicing young lawyers and complimentary for law students.

 

 

 Neufeld to Chair Synergy Summit

David S. Neufeld, the Section’s delegate to the Synergy Summit, was named chair for the Summit’s 2006–07 year. Neufeld currently is a partner in the Princeton, New Jersey, law firm of Markuson & Neufeld and is a principal in Integrity Financial Partners of Woodbridge, New Jersey.

The Synergy Summit is a unique organization whose delegates come from the leadership of the major legal, accounting, and financial service organizations in the country, including two sections within the ABA, two sections within the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils, and the Society of Financial Service Professionals. The Synergy Summit, as its name implies, is a unified think tank allowing the leaders of its constituent organizations to coordinate programs, compare notes, and offer more value to their respective members. These organizations together represent more than 200,000 lawyers, accountants, financial planners, and insurance and other professionals.

Information about the Synergy Summit and its constituent organizations is available on its web site at www.SynergyPro.org.

 

PROFILES IN MEMBERSHIP

 

Neal J. Kling

Neal Kling is a member of the Sher Garner law firm in New Orleans, where his practice includes real property finance, development, and leasing. He is the chair of the Real Property Division’s Uniform Laws Committee and also a member of several Section standing committees, including the Continuing Legal Education Committee and the Committee on Groups and Substantive Committees. He has also served the Section as a member of the Section’s Standing Committees on Membership and Technology.

Neal had the privilege of becoming active in the Section as a very young lawyer. Based on his personal experience, the Section presents a “great opportunity for both the young lawyer and the firm.” Because of his Section activities, Neal is able to quickly provide clients with resources for “expert” advice in virtually all parts of the country. In addition, he often assists his Section colleagues when they have a matter involving his jurisdiction. Neal has established friendships with many of his Section colleagues. He says that these friendships are one of the things that “keep me coming back to the Section’s meetings.”

Neal believes that CLE is one of the most important
services that the Section provides its members. As such, Neal is proudest of his contributions to the Section’s CLE activities. During his time as chair of the Mortgage Lending Committee, he organized and led many CLE programs, including an annual financing program that continued well after his tenure with the committee. He continues this service as an active member of the Section’s Standing Committee on CLE. His efforts on the CLE Committee led to his appointment to lead the Real Property Division’s e-CLE initiative. During his tenure, e-CLE programming significantly expanded. His membership on the CLE Committee permits him to remain involved in the Section’s e-CLE programming.

Neal and his wife, Suzanne, are both active in their neighborhood civic association, which is one of the leading local associations in the rebuilding of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Through these efforts, Neal hopes that he can provide a meaningful contribution to the rebuilding of this great city.

Neal is the proud father of two children, John and Madeline. He hopes that his involvement in the legal profession and in the community will instill a sense of service and involvement in his children.

 

Marc S. Bekerman

Marc S. Bekerman is a partner in the law firm of Fleischman & Bekerman, LLP, with offices in New York and Long Island, where his practice consists of estate planning, estate administration, and Surrogate’s Court practice. Marc is an adjunct professor at New York Law School, where he teaches a variety of courses related to trusts and estates in both the J.D. and LL.M. programs and is involved in the STEP program co-sponsored by the Section.

Marc currently serves as a vice-chair of the Section’s Standing Committee on CLE and is a member of the Section’s Standing Committees for Planning and for Community Outreach. Marc is also a liaison from the Section to the SOC Task Force on CLE. Marc has previously held numerous positions within the Section at both the committee and group levels, including group vice-chair of the Probate & Trust Special Division Activities Group, chair of the Probate & Trust Division CLE Committee, and chair of the Non-Tax Issues in the Planning and Administration of Trusts and Estates Committee.

Marc is a second-generation trusts and estates attorney who initially became involved with the ABA at his father’s suggestion. Marc became active with the Section by working on various committee activities, especially the preparation and presentation of many CLE programs.

Marc enjoys teaching and mentoring, and his involvement in the Section has afforded him many opportunities to do both. Marc’s participation in CLE includes formulating Section policy and working on the Section’s CLE offerings, which include the Spring Symposium, the Fall Joint CLE Meeting, and the e-CLE programs offered throughout the year. In addition, Marc is coordinating the inaugural Young Lawyer’s Institute to be held at the 2007 Spring Symposium in Washington, D.C. Marc is especially proud of his work with the Community Outreach Committee, which has enabled him to travel around the country seeking to increase the diversity of the trusts and estates bar. Marc was also fortunate to serve as Hugh Drake’s mentor when Hugh was a Section fellow.

Marc lives on Long Island with his wife Lynn, who is a clinical neuropsychologist, and their twin six year olds, William and Elizabeth, who have already attended numerous Section meetings. In his spare time, Marc enjoys studying the martial arts (which is an adventure for the entire family).

 

Young Lawyers Network

 

Who Has the Time?

Time Entries in Practice

The demand for billable hours can be overwhelming, particularly for a new lawyer. And, as the report from the ABA’s Commission on Billable Hours acknowledges, the importance of the billable hour in the legal profession is not likely to change anytime in the near future. The question becomes then: how to cope? One of the most fundamental ways to deal with the weight of billable hours is to have a habitual methodology in keeping your time entries. Time entries provide an opportunity to educate your clients on the value you bring to their legal needs; a diligent approach will allow you to capitalize on that opportunity.

For all of your legal ability, you can’t overlook the administrative details if you want to get paid for your efforts. The more mundane among your skills still serve as a linchpin for the ultimate success of your practice. You should keep in mind that the descriptions you create for the work provided to your client could very well be scrutinized by a court and/or opposing counsel in a fee award case or, worse yet, in a malpractice case.

Poor time entries may result in your time being written off by supervising attorneys. Even if your time isn’t written off before it goes out to the client, it is possible that the client will refuse to pay your bill because the descriptions don’t allow her to appreciate the ser-
vice provided. Or a court may refuse to award the fees at the conclusion of a suit because of the manner in which the time is entered. At the very least, you want to avoid causing your supervisor to spend substantial time reviewing and rewriting time entries that should have been done correctly in the first place.

What are some of the fundamental characteristics of effective timekeeping?

 

• Enter your time now. Don’t wait until the next day to enter your time or you will shortchange yourself. Invariably, by waiting to enter your time, you will enter less time than was actually spent on a given project. Having to reconstruct what you have done for a client can cause you to lose as much as 15–25%. In addition, you will likely have a difficult time accurately describing all of the details of the services provided. You are likely to remember the larger portions, but you miss the opportunity to educate your clients on the attention you give to the details of the case.

• Provide sufficient detail. Accurately drafting your time entries is walking the line between providing too much and too little detail. A well-drafted time entry will not only present to the reviewer what work was performed, but it will also justify why the work was necessary in light of the circumstances.
    It helps to view your engagement with a client in a chronological format, and the time entries act as a diary of the process. Highlight the milestones throughout an engagement, so that the accomplishments brought by the legal fees are clear to the client. Also take the opportunity to reiterate your professionalism to the client (or to whomever is reviewing your time). Document when you have received necessary approval for actions taken or when you have advised against particular actions. If your client acts against your advice, your time entries could be very valuable.

• Be careful about the information you include. You must also be careful to avoid disclosing any privileged information. Always draft your time entries as though they will be reviewed by third parties.

• Don’t determine what is billable and nonbillable now—write it all down! It is inevitable that some nonbillable time will be associated with a project. It always takes time to get your bearings in a matter. But the time taken to get your bearings is often what creates fertile ground for later brilliance. Write it all down now and sort out whether it is billable at a later time.

Remember, your time entries are an opportunity to educate your client on the value of your product. Don’t waste that opportunity. Always approach your time entries from the viewpoint of your client. Ask yourself: Does this accurately describe what was performed? Does this entry give some insight into why the work was necessary? Would I want to pay for the work described if this bill were presented to me? A thoughtful and diligent approach to your time entries will contribute greatly to the success of your practice.