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Current Course Offerings

The Likeable Lawyer offers a fresh, provocative and entertaining perspective on increasing professional success and personal fulfillment. We have presented more than 500 highly regarded programs for lawyers, organizations and law firms, in over 30 states.

Approved Courses

Each of the following is eligible for CLE credit in most states, and qualifies for Ethics, Professionalism and other specialty types of CLE credit.

CLE credit varies by state. Click on "find course options" under each description to find the formats available for the course, and then use our CLE calculator to get specific credit information for your state.

Full-day and Half-day Courses

The Trusted Lawyer

This entertaining presentation is an eye-opener for most participants. With colorful examples and anecdotes, this program illuminates the dynamics of communication, perception, interpretation, and the consequences of unintentional communication. Learn how to interact in ways that increase trust and professional success. Program length: 3.5 hours

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The Persuasive Lawyer

Beyond logical argument, this insightful and entertaining program examines persuasion in a fresh light and gives lawyers important people skills to effectively persuade anyone, including clients, opposing counsel, and staff. Program length: 3.5 hours

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Lessons from Aristotle

Negotiate more effectively using Aristotle’s three elements of persuasion. Learn how interest-based planning can improve your success, and how to maintain clarity and effectiveness during times of stress in negotiation. Program length: 6.5 hours

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The Satisfied Client

The attorney-client relationship is fundamental to the success of your practice. Giving lawyers unique tools to deliver outstanding service and achieve exceptional results for your clients, this highly praised course is rich in content and entertaining in delivery. Examining the attorney-client relationship from retention to satisfactory conclusion, this program will give you new skills to meet both your clients substantive and relational needs and leave you with highly satisfied clients.

Program length: 6.5 hours

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Short Courses, Basis of Influence Series

Part 1: Leadership, Trust and the 9 Techniques of Automatic Influence

For millennium, scholars have looked to the causes of influence and persuasion. Most of these causes are outside of one’s conscious awareness; a person will either feel drawn to or repelled by a lawyer’s attempt to influence and persuade. This course explores the factors that affect an attorney’s effectiveness in leadership and persuasion, including the roles of “perceived” trust and relationship, and what scholars have identified as the 9 Techniques of Automatic Influence. Program length: 2.0 hours

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Part 2: Passion, Reciprocation and Getting What You Want

At the heart of a lawyer’s success is the attorney’s ability to elicit support from clients, lawyers, fact-finders, and co-workers. Aristotle discussed this 2,300 years ago as being dependent upon the ability to arouse in another the right emotion, consistent with the support sought. This program explores how to arouse the emotions which evoke the desire in others to support your objectives. Program length: 2.0 hours

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Part 3: Active Listening and the 4 Phases of Having a Learning Conversation

This program examines some common communication tendencies when under stress: withdrawal and aggression. In this course, lawyers develop tools to increase influence and success by incorporating the elements of active listening and having a learning conversation. Program length: 1.5 hours

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Part 4: Avoiding the Consequences of Unintentional Communication

This program looks at communications with clients, opposing counsel, staff and otherwise, and discusses the dynamics of why professional communication is sometimes negatively misinterpreted. Attorneys learn simple yet immediately effective methods for improving communication, building rapport, and increasing success when working with others. Program length: 2.5 hours

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Part 5: Reducing the Effects of Stress and Anxiety on Negotiation and Well-Being

In this program, lawyers look at how intense work demands and stress can cause breakdowns in communication, effectiveness, and health. Lawyers come to recognize that much of stress and anxiety is self-induced and based on an erroneous perception of danger. Through this understanding, attorneys learn to consciously intervene, and how to easily reactivate the parts of the brain necessary for clarity, health, and achieving our objectives. Program length: 2.0 hours

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Short Courses, Negotiation Success Series

Part 1:The Principles of Expansive Negotiation

Most lawyers devote the lion’s share of negotiation planning to marshalling facts and building arguments. Encouraged by a culture of oppositional negotiation, it is easy to become entrenched in our positions. This course introduces an expansive negotiation style which increases our aptitude for persuasion, while reducing defensiveness and aggressive behavior on both sides of the table. Program length: 2.0 hours

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Part 2: Negotiation Preparation: Developing a Needs Map

Preparation is one of the most important aspects of long-term negotiation success. This program examines two aspects of negotiation preparation and a highly effective model for creating a map of needs and interests in order to achieve more favorable resolutions, and increase influence and cooperation in negotiation. Program length: 2.0 hours

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Part 3: Generating Discourse Toward Expansive Solutions

Much of our society embraces a "win-lose" negotiation model that encourages lawyers to distance themselves from the other side of the table. This program examines the diminishing returns in the "win-lose" approach, and examines methods for expanding the pie, finding common ground, and uncovering creative solutions for getting more needs met. Program length: 2.0 hours

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Part 4: Developing Proposals and Negotiating to Resolution

In this section, lawyers learn to develop a range of proposals that address the majority of the needs of both sides, and then discuss various negotiation strategies to achieve more favorable resolutions. The goal of this program is to leave lawyers with strategies for structuring negotiation in a way which ensures that challenging conditions do not derail the process. Program length: 2.0 hours

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Part 5: Beyond Hardball

There are times when we are forced to engage with individuals who we perceive as difficult. Often they employ strategies, threatening behavior, and an uncooperative working style as a means to achieve their objectives. While these instances are challenging, if we are committed to our objectives, we can still be effective negotiators by winning their willingness to cooperate. Program length: 2.0 hours

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"The class content exceeded my expectations with an unusual and effective approach to increase success and satisfaction as a lawyer by identifying challenges and taking responsibility for resolving them."
Linda Jane Smith,
O'Melveny & Myers



"This class is so much more interesting than 99% of the CLE's I've ever taken. The tools I've learned apply to many areas of my life. Thank you so much!"
Nancy Martinez,
Law Offices of Nancy Martinez



"Insightful, engaging and provocative. Brian is very knowledgable and an excellent speaker."
Claire Miller,
Alcoa



"Excellent balance of applicable knowledge with real world examples. A fun way to satisfy CLE requirements from my desktop. The instructor was prepared and easy to follow."
James Hall,
Hall Johnson LLC



"In a very convenient succinct manner, The Likeable Lawyer conveys critical components of being effective at leadership and persuasion."
Jean Tuffet,
Attorney