TechnoLawyer: Law Office Management

Coming October 25, 2005 to TechnoFeature: There are triathletes and there are yoga enthusiasts.  Advanced training for these pursuits may vary greatly — but basic health, dietary, and lifestyle issues are the same for everyone. Technology works like this too. In this article, legal technology trainer and therapist Adriana Linares describes some commonsense basics — Do's and Don'ts to get your practice into tip-top technology shape.

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Published on Tuesdays, TechnoFeature is a weekly newsletter that contains in-depth articles written by leading legal technology and practice management experts. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming October 18, 2005 to TechnoFeature: You have the comfy chair with lumbar support, the state-of-the-art coffee machine, and the fancy full spectrum lamp for natural lighting. You're ready to work. Or are you? In this article, attorney, legal technology expert, and former journalist Jeffrey Lisson discusses ten tech-related must-haves for solos and small firms based on his experiences at his current small firm and previously as a solo practitioner. Jeffrey explores virus protection, case management, digital dictation, and much more. How does your firm measure up? Read the article to find out.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Tuesdays, TechnoFeature is a weekly newsletter that contains in-depth articles written by leading legal technology and practice management experts. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming October 14, 2005 to Fat Friday: Timothy Cleary reviews Trend Micro's PC-cillin, Brad Jensen sets forth his plan for a spam-free world, Bruce Avery defends the use of $500 PCs in law firms (plus our publisher weighs in with a related controversy), Mark Bassett explains why courts might want to ban all cell phones even if they don't have cameras, and David Ach reviews a new online travel service. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Longtime TechnoLawyer member Ellen Freedman presides over Freedman Consulting, a legal technology consulting firm that primarily serves the Delaware and Lehigh Valley. On her site you'll find dozens of practice management articles she has penned for the Pennsylvania Bar Association where she serves as Law Practice Management Coordinator.

As if that weren't enough to keep her busy, Ellen recently launched Law Practice Management, a blog designed to "assist your firm in managing the business side of your practice." What makes Ellen's blog noteworthy is that she draws her material not from fellow bloggers, but from the lawyers she helps both at her consultancy and at the Pennsylvania Bar Association. You won't find much navel-gazing here, but rather genuinely helpful information.

Recent posts have discussed rainmaking, VoIP, cell phone viruses, and law firm Web sites.

Welcome to the blawgosphere, Ellen!

About Member News
TechnoLawyer members are among the most gifted and prominent in the legal profession. In the Member News section of TechnoLawyer Blog, we report on their latest accomplishments and success stories — everything from court victories to articles and books to new partner announcements — and much more. If you're a newsmaker, but not yet a member, join TechnoLawyer now, and then contact our newsdesk.

In a recent issue of Fat Friday, David Umbaugh discussed how legal technology has maximized his law firm's efficiency. TechnoLawyer member John Gordon responds: "I agree wholeheartedly with David. I am dumfounded, however, that David and I use all of the same programs save one. I assume David selected his programs in much the same way that I have, i.e. trial and error and price tag. We are a 3 lawyer litigation firm with 6 paralegals. The power and flexibility that technology provides us enables us to compete with much larger firms both in quality of service, pricing and efficiency. Something unheard of when I started 38 years ago. (I have never spoken to David.)"

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Coming September 13, 2005 to TechnoFeature: Hurricane Katrina serves as a sobering reminder that one catastrophe — earthquake, fire, flood, hurricane, terrorism, etc. — can destroy an entire law practice. In this article, Wells Anderson and Joe Hartley explain how all law firms can supplement their in-house backup procedures with off-site safe, secure, and affordable Internet backups. In doing so, they review the leading online backup services. In the wake of Katrina, Wells pulled his originally-scheduled article to pen this one with Joe Hartley in the hope that it will help law firms stay in business when disaster strikes next. We will publish the article originally scheduled for today on January 17, 2006.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Tuesdays, TechnoFeature is a weekly newsletter that contains in-depth articles written by leading legal technology and practice management experts. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming September 23, 2005 to Fat Friday: Barron Henley explains why he believes the metadata security issue is over-hyped (and that's just for starters), Martin Dean explains why technology does not necessarily guarantee success, Gerard Stubbert shares his European perspective on confidential client data, Yvonne Renfrew reviews a little-known software utility for QuickBooks trust accounting, and John Ahern reviews cross-cut paper shredders. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming September 28, 2005 to Answers to Questions: William Brown discusses Palm synchronization in great depth (including multi-computer and cross-platform), Sam Brenner explains how to customize Adobe Acrobat using JavaScript, Kevin Bross reviews Adobe LiveCycle Designer for creating electronic forms, Erick Regalado offers advice for those experiencing problems with Windows XP Service Pack 2, and Gaynell Lerille points out some helpful Web sites that provide salary information for the legal field. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a thrice weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming September 26, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Douglas Simpson explains how to reduce the size of your bloated .PST file to prevent Outlook from crashing, Thomas Stirewalt reviews Time & Chaos for sharing contacts and calendar, Craig Bishop digs up a great deal on the Treo 650, J. Franklin reviews the redlining ability of Microsoft Word 2003, and Scott Smith suggests an interesting source for researching the compensation of legal professionals. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a thrice weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming September 22, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Paul Tredoux ponders the world of digital dictation and reviews the Olympus DS-330 and related software, Robert Fleming reviews alarm clock utilities for PDAs (including Treos), Frank St. Claire reviews the Panasonic KXTG4000B phone system, Stephen Nipper explains how he uses FileCenter for scanning, and Karen Dinius offers up a Web site for research on salaries in the legal profession. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a thrice weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.