TechnoLawyer: Law Office Management

Coming April 19, 2005 to TechnoFeature: Phil Rhodes and his colleague, who practice law in Northern California, recently moved their four-lawyer, three-staff office to new quarters in the same city. In this article, Phil chronicles some of the larger issues they faced. In doing so, he provides some invaluable suggestions for planning a smooth office move that interrupts revenue generation as little as possible.

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 April 15, 2005 to Fat Friday: Quite possibly the best Fat Friday newsletter ever, Kevin Grierson explores whether legal blogs are worth the effort, Yvonne Renfrew discusses Acrobat's 7's little-known killer feature for lawyers, and David Swanner sets forth 12 technology tips for trial lawyers (most of the tips apply to all lawyers not to mention law firm administrators). 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.

Looking for a new job? TechnoLawyer member Paul Frank writes: "A leading global law firm, based in New York City, is recruiting a Knowledge Coordinator/Legal Taxonomy Analyst to work with librarians, attorneys, legal assistants and professional support lawyers. Position would be involved in maintaining the quality of search results and content and establishing workflow procedures for vetting documents. Position would oversee workflow, reinforce and monitor data inclusion and indexing and would establish and maintain effective working relationships with all legal and support departments firmwide. Position will develop a thorough understanding of the end user operation of the software and systems which support Knowledge Management in the firm and become the chief troubleshooter and go to person for expertise in the Enterprise Search end user experience. Position will work with attorneys to analyze and propose changes to the metadata in Document Management System and incorporate into workflow, and would be involved in any initiatives relating to software changes to the DMS. Person will be involved with the development and maintenance of our legal taxonomy, particular U.S. English, and to develop, monitor, and help maintain taxonomic consistency across all their data sets in all languages supported by the firm." If this job interests you or someone you know, .

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.

Via DennisKennedy.blog comes news of a Law.com article about how some law firms have removed associate bios from their Web sites to prevent poaching by headhunters. This development reminds me of an incident during my first year of practice at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Although we had just started our jobs, we first years started receiving calls from a legal recruiter.

Rumor had it that the recruiter had somehow procured a copy of the firm's phone book. This being 1993, the recruiter certainly didn't get our contact information from the firm's then non-existent Web site.

Just as you cannot stop the onward march of technology, you cannot stop a determined recruiter by stripping your site of associate bios (Wayback Machine, anyone?). However, as the Law.com article suggests, you can thwart a recruiter by creating a work environment that associates wouldn't want to give up. Easier said than done, but not impossible.

Update: Monica Bay, Larry Bodine and Bruce MacEwen have also weighed in this topic..

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Regarding some recent advice about capturing lost billable time, TechnoLawyer member Michael Gallagher writes: "Please continue to disseminate this message widely. A day hardly goes by when we do not take away a client, generally a very good client, from firms that are obsessed over capturing time. The more firms that follow your advice, the more we will prosper!"

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.

Our thanks to TechnoLawyer member Brad Jensen for notifying us of the following: "The InnovAction Award is a worldwide search for lawyers and/or law firms, of all sizes, currently engaged in extraordinarily innovative effort. The goal is to demonstrate to the legal community what can be created when passionate professionals, with big ideas and strong convictions, are determined to make a difference. Each year, we will present what will soon be known as the coveted NOVA to those unsung heroes and rising stars from within the legal profession who dare to think differently and succeed by doing so." The deadline for entries is July 16, 2004. Learn more.

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.