This month, KingSpry is celebrating the ten year anniversary of Greyfriars Institute, a subsidiary focused on offering workshops designed to promote learning and professional development among KingSpry clients and associates.
Greyfriars was founded in June of 2008 by two of KingSpry’s founding partners, Donald F. Spry, II and John E. Freund, III.
Many of the firm’s attorneys were already offering their knowledge, lecturing for other companies. Attorneys Spry and Freund decided to utilize KingSpry attorneys’ knowledge and thought leadership to create their own foundation with their own brand of programming to help educate others. As Attorney Freund has often been heard to say about Greyfriars’s mission, “Education avoids litigation.”
The name Greyfriars Institute was inspired by the Scottish tale of Greyfriars Bobby, the terrier who reportedly spent 14 years protecting the gravesite of his owner. The devotion and companionship of Greyfriars Bobby appealed to attorneys Spry and Freund, who hoped to offer clients a watchful companion to the law.
Over the past ten years, Greyfriars has hosted an assortment of presentations and workshops in several areas of law, including education law, employment law, estate planning, family law, and other areas.
One of these offerings, the popular “Lunch and Learn” series, presents up-to-date information on trending and evergreen subjects for school entities and their employees. Attorney Spry believes these workshops display the importance of their work. “We are proud KingSpry education clients look to Greyfriars to be an authority on the law.”
Greyfriars also offers internal sessions to keep KingSpry employees updated on current events, technology, and firm policies. Recently, KingSpry hosted its first internal CLE (continuing legal education) on the ethics of technology use in the practice of law. These sessions, which are open to the public, offer professional education credits to attorney and paralegal participants. Based on the success of the first program, additional titles are being developed.
In its next decade, Greyfriars plans to expand its footprint and begin offering webinars of popular subjects.
Coming this September, clients will be able to get up to the minute legal updates without having to travel.
Attorney Freund says, “Greyfriars participants love coming to the Bethlehem conference center and interacting with their peers. We will still be offering those live events, but time is always tight for busy people.”
In order to better serve those who find it difficult to get away from their building or office, Greyfriars will offer webinar courses on a wide range of legal subjects. A schedule and registration details will be announced soon.
Greyfriars looks forward to the next ten years of providing continuing education to the professions it serves.