The Southern District of Florida Bench and Bar Conference will return in less than 10 days to the Miami Beach Convention Center, a forum for over 1,000 attorneys to earn Continuing Legal Education or CLE credits while mingling with federal district court and bankruptcy judges.

And U.S. Chief District Judge Cecilia Altonaga said the conference is more important than ever as the South Florida legal landscape has changed dramatically, most notably with an expanding legal market in which attorneys who moved from cities like New York and San Francisco, for instance, might be unfamiliar with this jurisdiction's judiciary.

Miami Beach Convention Center. (Credit: Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau) Miami Beach Convention Center. (Credit: Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau)