Are You Practicing #NewLaw? Register for Our FREE Webinar on Starting a Trade Association

If you’ve visited MyShingle before, you’re most likely familiar with our wildly popular profiles of lawyers focused on the 40 Practice Areas That Didn’t Exist 15 Years Ago. Several of these new areas took off in 2018, in particular cannabis which spawned all sorts of new regulatory and legal issues as described here and here.  Fortunately, a group of California attorneys had the prescience to form the National Cannabis Bar Association, for the purpose of providing excellent, ethical, and advanced legal assistance to the growing industry. In addition, the NCBA also helps to advance the industry by filing amicus briefs in various cases and taking positions on policies. And there’s no reason that the NCBA trade group model couldn’t work equally well in other fast-changing fields.

And that’s why MyShingle.com is hosting a FREE webinar on how to start a trade association on Wednesday January 16, 2019. It happens to be a subject that I know a little bit about since back in 2005, I co-founded the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition, the national trade association for marine renewables in the United States which eventually grew to 55 members. OREC helped to lobby for more than $50 million in federal appropriations for the industry, played a key role in developing a framework for siting marine projects both in state territorial waters and on the Outer Continental Shelf, and held annual conferences attended by marine renewables companies from all over the world. Unfortunately, changes in marine renewables policy and regulatory turmoil stymied the industry and after nine years of operation, OREC merged with another trade association.

But back to the webinar. We’ll cover the following issues:

• The benefits of trade associations for #newlaw practitioners;
• Defining the scope of the trade association;
• Legal issues like formation, bylaws, anti-trust and avoiding conflicts;
• Pros and cons of Section 501(c)(6) v. 501(c)(3) status;
• How to choose a board and why it’s important
• Creating and promoting a trade association on a limited budget – from DIY to association management.

No one has ever offered a webinar like this one so don’t miss out!