2022-23 Program
Meet Our 2022-23 Participants
The 2022-23 SSPI participants started in March 2022. Four participants were selected through an application process that required detailed business plans.
| Saundra Gavazzi | Jennifer Nact |
| Peter Manikowski | |
| Ion Moraru |
Effective Negotiations Workshop with Professor Jamie Franklin
May 25, 2022
Despite the fact that negotiation is by far the most common resolution of disputes, most lawyers spend many more hours on other lawyering skills (such as advocacy and trial skills) than they do refining crucial negotiation skills. In an attempt to bridge that gap, SSPI program directors organized a workshop focused on techniques and principles to equip participants to be better negotiators. The featured speaker was Chicago-Kent Clinical Assistant Professor Jamie Franklin. Professor Franklin taught participants strategies for successful negotiations, working with opposing counsel, and keeping client's best interests at the forefront. Professor Franklin is the Director of the C-K Law Group Employment and Civil Litigation Clinic. Her practice areas include employment discrimination and retaliation, wage and hour law, qui tam (False Claims Act) litigation, class actions, and other complex litigation. Prior to joining Chicago-Kent Professor Franklin owned her own employment law practice for over 10 years.
How to Attract and Keep Clients: Marketing and Business Development Strategies for Solo and Small Firms
April 28, 2022
Among the most essential skills for solo and small firm practitioners is the ability to attract and keep clients. On Thursday, April 28, the 2022-2023 SSPI participants gained valuable tips on how to build this important skill from SSPI alum Arlo Walsman ('15). Arlo provided innovative and practical tips on how to ask for business, network effectively, and use technology to build client development. Arlo is the principal and founder of the Arlo Law Office, a personal injury law firm in Chicago dedicated to representing injured individuals and their families. His practice areas include wrongful death, nursing home abuse and neglect, and medical malpractice.
Full Day Training Boot Camp
March 4, 2022
On March 4, 2022, SSPI participants attended an all-day boot camp that provided essential information on getting a successful law practice up and running. Dean Anita K. Krug welcomed the new lawyers to the program and co-directors Dawn Young and Jackie Russell moderated the training, which included presentations from seasoned IIT Chicago-Kent alumni and business professionals in the community.
- Billing, Retainers, Engagement Letters, and Pricing – Presenter: Kathleen M. Robson, Founding Partner, Robson & Lopez, LLC
- Law Firm Finance – Presenter: Andrew B. Gordon ('12), President, Gordon Law Group, Ltd.
- Ethical Considerations in Starting a Law Practice – Presenter: Melissa Smart, Director of Education, Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois
- Law Firm Technology – Presenter: Debbie Ginsberg, Faculty Services Librarian, Harvard Law School
- Four Critical Moments in Attracting and Retaining Happy Clients – Presenter: Randy Micheletti, President and Founder, Incubate IP
- Business Development/Marketing Best Practices for Solo and Small Firms – Presenter: Nancy Roberts Linder, Chief Marketing Officer, Chapman and Cutler, LLP
- Starting Your Firm – Individual Lawyer and Law Firm Requirements – Presenter: Mellisa Grisel ('16), Founder Atlas Legal Services
- How a Malpractice Policy Protects Your Practice – Presenter: Andrew Murray, Vice President of Sales; Janet Rapp, Vice President of Underwriting, ISBA Mutual Insurance
- Welcome and Introduction to Amata Law Office Suites – Presenters: Grant Drager, Vice President of Business Development, Amata Law Office Suites
Lawyer to Lawyer Mentoring
March 3, 2022
SSPI participants and their mentors attended a mentoring orientation presented by Dawn Young. The orientation provided an overview of the mentoring component of the program, including its purpose and goals. IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is a sponsoring organization of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism’s Lawyer to Lawyer Mentoring Program. The mentoring program creates an opportunity for experienced lawyers to provide professional guidance and share their judgment and skills with lawyers in their early years of practice.
SSPI Participants and Mentors:
- Peter Manikowski (mentee) and Henderson Banks (mentor)
- Ion Moraru (mentee) and Randy Micheletti (mentor)
- Jennifer Nacht (mentee) and Michele Katz (mentor)
- McKenna Prohov (mentee) and Michelle Green (mentor)