Becker & Poliakoff

Professional Development

At Becker, we make education a priority and encourage a learning culture. We are proud to support our attorneys and staff in their professional development objectives.  

Becker & Poliakoff University (BPU) offers both classroom and virtual training for our practice groups which includes a myriad of topics, both substantive and procedural.

Courses that have been offered include legal and business skills, technical and marketing skills, and leadership and client-service skills. Our programming helps elevate not only our attorneys and staff, but also our clients as well, as the ultimate benefit inures to them.

The leaders of our firm believe that we are never too old to learn something new, and even if we learn one new thing every day, then we are meeting our goals of being the best professionals we can be for our clients.

Our Litigation BPU is a highly immersive track which allows our attorneys to learn by doing. Our Community Association BPU is likewise interactive with the best brains in the business discussing and analyzing the most up to date laws affecting their field.

Training is of high importance to this Firm as we strive to truly support our team and our clients.

The Professional Development Department is responsible for devising and implementing various training programs and initiatives.

Becker supports a Practice Group concept whereby each Group acts as a Team and is supervised by a Practice Group Leader.

We offer Practice Group specific meetings and substantive training, such as the above-mentioned Becker & Poliakoff University (BPU), which is our 3-day immersion course. Each year, we select different skill sets to focus on and design an agenda accordingly. External faculty is invited to lead discussions and critique, and our internal faculty (shareholders) participate by giving lectures in between the various workshops. Approximately 20 CLE credits are approved for this course annually. This is great for associates because the concept is that the attorneys will learn more by actually doing, and it is also good for shareholders too because they can hone their skills.

At Becker, we help the attorneys in obtaining their required CLE credits by offering a convenient (on the premises) in-house CLE program, called the 2nd Tues CLE, once a month that covers a wide range of topics. Regional offices may partake in the CLE lunch by logging onto an online collaboration and meeting tool. Becker also provides various training initiatives in areas such as leadership, self-improvement, team building, mental health, and time management.

Becker truly supports the Professional Development of its attorneys, whether that is accomplished via speaking engagements, publishing articles, and/or becoming active in a trade organization or bar association. Each attorney can focus on their career by devising a personalized business plan with input from successful, experienced practitioners in their area of law. Annual Evaluations are completed via a computerized program and then followed-up with personal face-to-face interviews.

As we grow and evolve, Becker strives to keep a connection in and among all its offices so that everyone knows who their colleagues are around the state. We achieve this objective by creating an up-to-date intranet, which employees can access daily in order to keep apprised of the goings-on of all Practice Groups, attorneys, staff, and administrative departments.

Becker also hosts various events and programs, such as annual attorney retreats, regular practice group dinners, shareholder meetings, diversity scholarships, charity fundraisers, and other fun social events. ​​​​​​​