MOSOLO provides community, new insights for first-time, long-time attendees

This was about Ken Graves’ 28th year attending The Missouri Bar’s MOSOLO Small Firm Conference.

Graves, a solo lawyer at Graves Law Office in Springfield, Illinois, said the convenience of completing all his continuing legal education credits for Illinois and Missouri at one conference keeps him coming back.

While Graves’ practice is focused on nursing home abuse and neglect, he said he enjoys learning about other areas of law at MOSOLO.

Graves, along with more than 410 virtual attendees and 300 onsite attendees, learned about a variety of topics at the annual conference, which is tailored to solo and small firm lawyers. Sessions covered small injury cases, motor vehicle insurance, developing your personal brand as an attorney, strategies for jury communication, and more.

“I like the diversity in what’s offered, especially that they are specifically looking at things that might be more difficult to find information on, like (Qualified Domestic Relations Orders). That’ll be worth the drive,” said first-time attendee Sarah Schiffer, with Warren Law in St. Peters.

MOSOLO Speaker Cassie Bugalksi is the managing member of Gump, Faiella & Bugalski, LLC, in Moberly. She first started coming to MOSOLO about 12 years ago when her firm wanted to diversify its practice.

“That was when I was actually still an associate, and through coming here, I really got a lot of opportunities for leadership,” Bugalski said. “(I) learned how to move up into those leadership roles and how to recruit new attorneys and how to diversify, so that’s what we did.”

Bugalski said she’s always interested to see what the hot topic is at MOSOLO. This year, there were several sessions about artificial intelligence, which she was interested in. She also enjoys networking and catching up with other lawyers she has met over the years.

MOSOLO is unique, she said. A lot of the same people attend each year, but there are also quite a few law students and young lawyers attending, creating opportunities for mentorship, she added.

“I think it’s a really good way to transition young and new attorneys into practice,” Bugalski said.

One of these law students was Bernt Walker, a rising third-year student at Saint Louis University School of Law. One requirement for his summer law practice management class was to attend MOSOLO.

“I really like how everybody comes from different practice areas, and everybody is really knowledgeable on their particular practice area that they’re specializing in,” Walker said.

As a law student, hearing about lawyers’ experiences and practical advice has been helpful, he said, instead of reading from textbooks.

Walker said he only knew a few people at the conference, but still found the experience beneficial.

“If you put yourself out there, you just never really know what opportunities are going to be given to you, because it’s right there,” Walker said. “Just put yourself out there the best way you can, and you never know who you’re going to meet.”

Vivek Puri, with Puri Law LLC in Columbia, compared MOSOLO to the watercoolers big firms have.

“It gives you an opportunity to decompress, because ... as a solo person, you don’t have anybody to say, ‘What do you think about this? Do you think I did the right thing? Do you think I should do this?’” Puri said. “You don’t get that opportunity to have that discussion, but you do here.”

Puri joined the bar’s Solo and Small Firm Committee in 2002 and has been attending the conference since.

The CLE aspect of the conference is excellent, and he enjoys the great speakers, Puri said. The conference provides the opportunity to network, connect, and grow.

“(There are) great friendships that last a long time, a lot of people here to support you, and once you develop those relationships, they never end,” Puri said.

View photos from this year’s MOSOLO on The Missouri Bar’s Facebook page.