Coming today to TechnoFeature: If networking didn't produce results, it wouldn't exist. But the same goes for any popular endeavor. The secret lies in developing expertise. Otherwise, you're just wasting your time, which is fine for a hobby but not for attracting new clients to your law firm. In this TechnoFeature, legal public relations and networking expert Paramjit Mahli explains how to network effectively and efficiently. So before you head off to your next networking function, read Paramjit's words of wisdom in this TechnoFeature article.
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Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 98 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:
This issue also contains links to every article in the September 2010 issue of Law Practice Today. Don't miss this issue or future issues.
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Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.
Today's issue of Fat Friday contains these articles:
William Burns, Review: HoudiniEsq: Online Practice Management
Steve Loewy, Review: Verizon's Droid Incredible
Douglas Herdman, Review: X1 Desktop Search Versus Copernic Desktop Search
Don't miss this issue — or any future issues.
How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers virtualization software (see article below), the king of modern-day PDAs, a trademark service geared at social networks, an online faxing service, and an online service and smartphone app that converts written content into audio. Don't miss the next issue.
I'm a Mac … and I'm a PC Too
As Apple's share of the PC market continues to creep up, more law firms have switched from Windows to Mac. If you've considered the big switch, you've probably debated the cost of leaving behind your preferred Windows applications. How significantly will switching interrupt your workflow? Do you need an IT professional to ensure a seamless transition? Or maybe you're already a diehard Mac user, but you'd love to run some legal-specific Windows applications on your Mac. If you listen to Apple or Microsoft, you might think you must pledge your allegiance to one operating system and forgo the benefits of the other. Not so.
Parallels Desktop 6 … in One Sentence
Released yesterday, Parallels Desktop 6 is a program that enables you to run Windows on your Mac.
The Killer Feature
Version 6 boasts enhanced speed and power over its predecessor, thanks to 64-bit virtual machine performance that takes full advantage of your Mac's hardware capabilities — especially Macs with more than 1 GB of memory.
You can create 32- and 64-bit virtual machines with up to 8 CPUs and 2 TB virtual RAM. The upgrade affords the software up to 80 percent faster 3D performance, twice as fast performance for Shared Folders, and faster Windows startup and shutdown — running Windows applications an overall 41 percent faster than Parallels Desktop 5. You'll also find related geeky enhancements such as PXE boot, and Command Line and scripting support.
Other Notable Features
Parallels Desktop 6 enables you to further customize your preferred blend of Windows and Mac interface. For example, it supports Mac trackpad gestures and OS X keyboard shortcuts in Windows programs.
Version 6 also offers enhanced support for Expose, Boot Camp partitions, and Active Corners. Windows 7 icons show up in your dock with support for Jump Lists and progress indicators. You can also use Spotlight to search for Windows programs.
What Else Should You Know?
An accompanying iOS app enables you to control your virtual Windows machine from your iPhone or iPad even if you're not on the same network as your Mac. Parallels Desktop 6 retails for $79.99 (upgrades cost $49.99 — free if you purchased Parallels Desktop 5 on or after August 15, 2010). Learn more about Parallels Desktop 6.
How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 96 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:
This issue also contains links to every article in the September/October 2010 issue of Law Practice. Don't miss this issue or future issues.
How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.
Bryan Sims, How to Shop for a Dell Laptop (Tips to Prevent Buyer's Remorse)
Burton Bruggeman, Review: Toodledo To-Do List Software
Leslie Shear, Review: eFax Internet Fax to Email Service
William Shilling, Two Case Management Options for a Small Firm
James Atkins, Review: The Pros and Cons of Fastcase
Don't miss this issue — or any future issues.
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Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to TechnoFeature: You've got paper to scan, but which scanner should you choose? If you need to scan in various locations, you need a portable scanner. In this TechnoFeature article, lawyer and paperless office veteran Jeffrey Allen reviews Fujitsu's newest portable scanner, the ScanSnap S1300. To evaluate the ScanSnap S1300, Jeffrey used the scanner in his office and on the road. What's his verdict? Read his exhaustive review to find out if the ScanSnap S1300 can play a helpful role in your law practice.
How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Last week, the legal tabloid site Above the Law reprinted a column that originated on Sweet Hot Justice entitled Does This Law Degree Make My Ass Look Fat? The column made the rounds in various online coffee klatches populated by female lawyers, prefaced by explanatory notes such as, "This author vocalizes something that I and many of my female contemporaries have experienced," and "OMG, this is SO true," and "Duh."
A Romantic Hobson's Choice?
The premise of the Sweet Hot Justice column is as follows (and here I paraphrase):
You're a single guy in your late twenties or early thirties, and you can choose to date one of two female candidates:
The first is Woman A, an attractive 28-year-old with a modest employment history (translation: series of lackluster receptionist jobs), little (or no) career ambition, and an, um, "understated" intellect.
The second, Woman B, is an attractive, financially secure biglaw associate who is also smart, funny, and runs a successful cupcake cartel in her free time.
Faced with these options, posits the column's author, Legal Tease, the average guy will go with Choice A. "Why?" "Because, if the status quo in my firm … and in my life … and in my friends' lives … and in any bar from New York to L.A. is any indication, a law degree confers about as much romantic value to a single woman as a meth habit and a hidden penis."
Has Sweet Hot Justice Laid Down the Law on This Issue?
Have years — even generations — of struggling for gender equality in the workplace led us here — to a romantically barren wasteland? Is it possible that Woman B's cupcake-making is indicative not of her entrepreneurial spirit, but of the free time she has because she can't get a date? If the anecdotal evidence is to be believed, the answer is a simple "Yes."
Sadly, report a number of female associates, the trailblazers to whom we owe our professional opportunities may have set the bar too high — at least for most men to sidle up to and buy us a drink. "Let's face it," says Dawn, a senior associate at a New York law firm, "everyone knows that you can't survive in the law firm world without being fairly aggressive, or at least tough enough to handle the brutal hours, the unpredictable schedule, and the daily battles with adversaries. I think men assume that women who are comfortable in that world are not dating material."
But why? Why aren't fortitude, ambition, and guile more appealing traits than, say, a penchant for shopping, scrapbooking, Farmville, or spending a precious (and potentially billable) hour blow-drying your hair to get prettied up for a suitor? Because, explains Suzanne (also a biglaw associate), men seem to equate these qualities with a tendency to be combative. "Strike that," she adds (with admirable attention to protecting the record). "They hear "litigator" and think "bitch." That's why, when I meet men, I initially tell them that I "work at a law firm." Sooner or later, the truth must prevail, but I don't want to scare them off right away."
Some women noted that (what one litigator referred to as) the "Dating Kryptonite" issue has caused a schism to develop within the ranks of female lawyers within the firm. "Women in law firms have been fighting to balance work and family life, and many firms — including my own — are finally starting to take the needs of working mothers seriously," reports one associate.
"But cast aside in the whole debate are the needs of single women — without the perceived legitimacy of a husband or children, our non-work needs, and lives, are viewed as non-existent, or inconsequential. Everyone assumes that I am available any time, be it a weekend, late night, or holiday, because I'm not married and I don't have kids. Sometimes that's true, and given how many hours I bill, it will probably continue to be true. I don't know whether to be happy for the women who are sitting at home with their kids, or resentful that they leave early while I eat wilted salad at my desk at 9 PM."
The Rise of the Litigatrix
A number of the women I heard from were saddened by the dichotomy between increasing parity in the workplace, on one hand, and a simultaneous plunge in their dating stock. "I place a lot of blame on the way female lawyers are depicted in pop culture," says Kim, a smart, attractive, and inexplicably single associate. "Ally McBeal was an appealing character, but things have gone downhill from there," she wrote in an email. "She was non-threatening — she wore inappropriately short skirts and was totally insecure. I'm sure a lot of guys would have loved to review her briefs."
In recent years, however, the female lawyers portrayed in movies and on TV have grown increasingly bitchy, morphing into what Above the Law's Managing Editor David Lat has described as, "the Litigatrix."
"On the plus side," writes Lat, the Litigatrix is supremely confident and competent. The Litigatrix is very good at her job, and she knows it. Above all, she's strong-willed and tough — a woman making her way in a man's world." But, he warns, "[l]et's not mince words: the Litigatrix is a bitch. She didn't excel in litigation's testosterone-soaked precincts by playing nice."
But wait: there's more. In addition to the pervasive image problem, says associate Dawn, the average female lawyer "lives like a nun, with one critical difference." That difference? "You know how nuns are the brides of Christ?" she explains. "Well, I am the bride of the billable hour. I've been on the verge of going to trial for five months now," she continues. "It keeps getting adjourned, but I have no free time. I meet men, we hit it off, and things are great until they get wind of the fact that I have a very, very heavy workload. The limitations on my time are one issue, but the other issue is control: they have to defer to my schedule, and I think that's a problem in terms of gender dynamics."
Just Desserts?
So, what might help ease the dating drought of the biglaw female lawyer? Where are the men who will welcome a woman who brings home the bacon, but eats it at 11:00 at night with a side of ice cream? Comedian Tiny Fey has one great idea — the Brownie Husband. I'll have time to think of a few more later, when I get home. Not surprisingly, I don't have a date tonight.
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Do you work in a small law firm? Do often you feel like you don't have enough time for all your tasks or to attract new clients and increase your income? I feel your pain. For a long time, I wished for a 25th hour in the day. Then I discovered something that made me more productive, creative, and efficient, which is just as good as finding extra time. In this special Labor Day SmallLaw column, I'm going to share my secret with you.
Eleven years ago I discovered yoga and have added minutes to my daily clock ever since. My yoga practice has also helped me manage all of the turmoil these last few years stemming from the economy and the erratic job market. In truth, I'm not sure how I would have coped without yoga as a constant source of reassurance and resilience. Sometimes I would show up on my mat with a heavy heart, but with every session I left a bit lighter. Ironically, I didn't just survive the past few years, but absolutely thrived in unprecedented ways — and I have yoga to thank for that. In fact, I became such a believer that I now teach yoga to busy professionals.
Why You Don't Currently Practice Yoga
Working in a small firm gives you a million reasons to put off adding yoga to your life:
You need to drum up new business and manage a lean operation — opportunity is everywhere and you need to seize the opportunity before someone else does.
You need to make the most of every waking moment because you have finite resources, and a lot to accomplish in a short period of time.
The last thing you want to do after a long day at the off is something that feels like work.
You have to spend time with your family, friends, dog, etc.
You need some time to just unwind and do nothing so you can gear for another busy day tomorrow.
Your body's just not flexible.
The list goes on and on. I know these excuses well because I lived them for a long time. When I first started to practice yoga 11 years ago, a co-worker of mine, an ashtanga yoga instructor, told me I could really benefit from yoga. The stress of working in a small organization where I had a lot of responsibilty weighed heavily on me. It was making me old beyond my years. I told him I had no time, and then he said he'd fit the classes into my hectic schedule. Then I told him I had no money to pay him, and he said he'd give me the classes for free. In short, he countered every excuse I could think of until I ran out of excuses and gave yoga a whirl just to get him to stop nagging me. I was such a brat — I wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth. I was kicking a gift horse right in the teeth.
Yoga Is Not a Miracle Drug, But a Rejuvenating Tool
Finally I stepped onto that mat and something in my body opened up. I thought I actually heard an audible "click." The more I practiced, that same click happened in my mind and my heart. Before I knew it, life started falling into place in a much better way than it had before yoga. It helped me cross the chasm from the life I had to the life I really wanted. I had to put in the work, and if I could commit to that, yoga assured me of gifts beyond anything I could imagine. I stand taller and breath easier now, literally and figuratively, because of it. Yoga takes time, but it also gives us time back by helping us be more productive, creative, and efficient.
Yoga is not magical or miraculous. It takes work and dedication. You have to want to change. There are always setbacks and disappointments in yoga practice as in life. That's part of the journey. Yoga doesn't prevent these challenges from arising, but it helps make them easier to learn from and manage.
A consistent yoga practice helps change your perspective, offering a new path forward through your current professional roadblocks. While yoga often helps improve your body, its real benefit lies in the calming and focusing of your mind. It also boosts your creativity and curiosity. Once you change your mind, you can change anything.
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Small firm, big dreams. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, SmallLaw provides you with a mix of practical advice that you can use today, and insight about what it will take for small law firms like yours to thrive in the future. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Today's issue of Fat Friday contains these articles:
Bob Leonard, Three Tell-Tale Signs of a Bad Client
Jim Calloway, Some Clarifications on Fastcase Legal Research Service
Stephen Seldin, Review: Fujitsu ScanSnap and TWAIN Compliance
Don't miss this issue — or any future issues.
How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
