TechnoLawyer: Law Office Management

Coming today to Fat Friday: Edward Zohn offers some tips on using RAID for data storage, Tom Trottier provides five tips to prevent your laptop from overheating, Peter Conway reviews PCLaw's Outlook and smartphone synchronization, Stephen Cohen reviews the Acer Aspire One and shares an upgrade tip, and Philip Franckel offers his thoughts on the public option for health care. Don't miss this issue.

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Coming today to Answers to Questions: Michael Bauchan explains why and how his firm accepts credit cards, Victoria Pitt reviews Time Matters, Fredric Gruder reviews Acrobat and QuickFile4Outlook for archiving email, Stephen Hayes reviews Dragon NaturallySpeaking on Windows 64 and Nuance technical support, and Simon Laurent discusses his firm's fax-to-email solution. Don't miss this issue.

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Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 63 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

Moving to the Latest Windows OS Can Be a Major Step

The Intersection of Confidentiality and iPhone Security

Lawyers and Legal Professionals Look Ahead to 2010

Marketing a Law Firm on Facebook

This issue also contains links to every article in the December 2009 issue of GP|Solo. Don't miss this issue or future issues.

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Originally published on November 23, 2009 in our free SmallLaw newsletter.

I recently caught a rerun of Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys, a brilliant film that asks whether people would heed a warning from the future about the future. Apparently the answer is no. In the film, psychiatrists diagnose a messenger from the future as a sociopath and lock him away. There's a message in this movie for small law firms.

If someone told you that everything you took for granted would soon change or be swept away altogether, would you believe them? I didn't think so. Besides, we small firm lawyers are too busy running our offices, connecting with clients, staying current, doing research, keeping pace with technology, and trying in vain to have a personal life to look ahead more than a few years.

When your day revolves around deadlines, to-do items, calendar events, and meetings, you have no choice but to focus on the present at the expense of the future. And if it ain't broke, why fix it anyway? Whether it's a dated piece of hardware, a 10 year-old chair, Windows 95, or a Compaq gathering dust in the corner, the devil we know is better than the devil we don't.

2001: A Web Odyssey

Even those of us wedded to our traditions would probably jump at the chance to make our professional life easier, right? At least that's what I thought when I created a Web site to gather the body of legal information and programs slowly building on the Internet in the late 90's.

In 2001 I introduced eLawCentral at the ABA Tech Show as the first interactive Web portal for lawyers. Back then most people used Yahoo if they were online at all. eLawCentral was built on the theory that as knowledge-workers, lawyers would want to save time and money by using and sharing resources online. Despite some initial curiosity however, interest dropped off fast.

It seemed as if the vast majority of lawyers simply could not figure out how the Web could help them, much less why they should spend time on the site. We limped along for another year but after the dot-com bust in 2001 I closed shop, returned to lawyering full-time, and channeled my enthusiasm back into law practice … for a while.

2004: Kicking It Old School

Despite my efforts to remain focused, by 2004 I was on the lookout for Web innovations again. This time I found blogging. The first blogs I developed were for the bar association committees that I chaired. That year I also began giving seminars about the future of law practice, contributing to discussion groups, and doing whatever I could to share my vision.

What was that vision? Home pages for every lawyer and judge, downloadable decisions with embedded hyperlinks, oral arguments as podcasts, RSS feeds for every courtroom, etc. I saw it all as if those innovations already existed — because most of them did. It's just that nobody wanted to use the tools.

Local attorneys who read my blogs were tepid about the suggestions at first, and then declared angrily that they had gotten by fine without the Internet, and eventually stopped reading my posts altogether. But the more they ignored my warnings the more emphatic and provocative my writing became. Ultimately, it was no use. Lawyers circa 2004 had not acclimated to the Internet and nothing could change that but time.

As for the judges, they were not as polite. The bench was openly hostile to the Internet and considered it a source of misinformation, depravity, or worse. Maybe they resented having to learn how to use a computer, preferring to thumb through books in a library, or did not care whether they had all pertinent information before reaching a decision. Maybe they were simply creatures of habit.

Whatever the reason, I got the message loud and clear at the annual bench-bar conference in 2004. As I stood before the gathered judges and bar leaders I reeled off the reasons why they should incorporate the Web into their research, embed hyperlinks in their opinions, create homepages with RSS feeds, publish their decisions online, and all the rest of it. I was shouted down before I got to the end of my speech, but it was probably for the best. The court was no more prepared to accept the future than my peers.

2005: Pinging Me Softly

By 2005 the legal Web was showing signs of developing real traction. For several years, lawyer-bloggers like Dennis Kennedy and Bob Ambrogi, as well as lawyer-entrepreneurs like Tim Stanley and Richard Granat, had demonstrated that technology could liberate consumers of legal services (including lawyers and judges).

By then the Web had become integral to my practice. In the decade since law school it had enabled me to leverage information, compete with better-funded rivals, establish a virtual office, secure bigger clients, and work with people from around the country. The forces in motion by then would inevitably change the profession whether that change was welcomed or not.

Most of the innovations brought about by the Web involved sharing information. Large firms eclipsed small firms in the adoption of these technologies, perhaps at the behest of their clients. Only now, five years later, have small firms begun to catch up.

Back to the (Future) Drawing Board

So what about the future? Frankly I'm not sure. I don't live there anymore. I decided that being timely was better than being ahead of my time — or at least less bruising to my ego. But I'm hopeful.

Although the profession took its sweet time incorporating the Internet, it seems to be making up for lost time. Scarcely a day goes by that I don't find another innovation designed for lawyers: Basecamp, Bill4Time, Clio, DocStoc, JDSupra, LegalMatch, etc. The Web has become a commodity like electricity and running water.

The biggest surge of creativity in this space may lie ahead of us. Maybe the End of Lawyers isn't around the corner after all. But given my experiences, I refuse to make any predictions. Instead, I'll get back to you in a few years.

Written by Mazyar M. Hedayat of M. Hedayat & Associates, P.C.

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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.

Originally published on December 14, 2009 in our free BigLaw newsletter.

With all the advice out there about online social media — Refine Your Use of LinkedIn, Have LinkedIn Groups Lost Their Appeal?, The Value of Twitter, What About the Twitter Naysayers? — to name just a few recent articles, it's hard to know which to follow. To complicate matters, most large law firms have not yet adopted social media policies. That leaves proper use of social networking within the discretion of associates.

Having work-inappropriate content in your profiles — or in the Google search results for your name — can cause embarrassment or worse at work. And for unemployed law school graduates and former associates, an unsavory online footprint can inhibit job prospects. You may not think so, but BigLaw is watching. The tips below can help associates and would-be associates draw the online shades.

1. Monitor All Your Social Media Accounts

In your zest to put up a new profile, don't forget to make it private. Keep whatever profile information visible to others in Google searches conservative. Avoid featuring alcohol, suggestive clothing, or guns in your primary picture and review your "fan of" settings with a critical eye.

Also, remember to link all your profiles to email addresses that you check regularly so you can monitor information posted by others to your account (such as tagged photos, @username replies or comments).

If you use Facebook, take note. Two weeks ago, the world's largest social network made it easy to publicly disclose formerly private information. Carefully review the new privacy settings in your account.

2. Keep Your Friends Close and Your Co-Workers Further

Don't add partners or counsel as friends on Facebook or Twitter unless you intend to keep your profiles G-rated and business only. You should also think twice before adding co-workers who may not have your best interests at heart as friends or giving them full access to your profiles.

If you've already added colleagues that you wish you hadn't, put them on limited profile view settings retrospectively or even block or de-friend them. Most people have so many friends that when the "lose" a friend online, they can't easily determine the offender's identity.

3. If Your Firm Has a Group on Facebook, Don't Join It

Both officially sanctioned and rogue law firm Facebook groups are monitored by human resources and media relations. Your mere presence in the group alerts co-workers and the powers that be to your Facebook profile and reminds them of your greater online activity.

4. Think Twice Before Posting Under Your Real Name

Many associates have interests outside of law that they hope to keep invisible to partners and clients. Unfortunately, Google can't create multiple search results for your name. Once you publish an article on bird-watching, your colleagues may soon know about your avian hobby. So before you publish anything, decide whether you care if firm colleagues discover it. If yes, consider using a unifying pseudonym for your outside interests. That way you can build a separate trail (and a resume) for your "alter ego" without tampering with your name's Google search results.

5. Manage Negative Search Results

Unfortunately, you can't delete negative Google results for your name query (short of asking the webmasters of the offending sites to remove your personal information). However, profiles registered under your name on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other high ranking Google sites can help bury negative results that originate from lower ranked sites.

Creating a Google Profile can further help you combat negative information with positive information that you add, but it won't drive down negative results because it appears on the bottom of search pages.

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Coming today to Fat Friday: David Estes shares his thoughts on why his law firm doesn't use document assembly software, Jack Newton discusses SaaS and the fading importance of offline access, Douglas Shachtman provides some tips for switching billing systems, Kenneth DiMuzio shares his thoughts on the health care debate, and Megan Harrison writes in with another holiday gift idea for lawyers. Don't miss this issue.

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Coming today to Answers to Questions: Eric Fagan shares six tips for new lawyers, Steven Schwaber discusses an alternative to postage meters, Tom Trottier provides a few tips for permanently destroying a hard drive, Brad Jensen shares his thoughts on the future of digital media, and Kerry Hubick reviews Gadwin's PrintScreen utility. Don't miss this issue.

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Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 59 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

A Second Look at the Cost of a Document Management System

Review: Dragon Dictation

Law Firms on Demand

Making Copy: 5 Simple Rules for Becoming a Better Copywriter

Don't miss this issue or future issues.

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Coming today to Fat Friday: David Hudgens compares the Jawbone II and BlueAnt Z9i bluetooth headsets, Andrea Cannavina discusses the limitations of speech recognition software, Paul Tredoux describes his preferred method for creating cross references in Word 2007, Jerry Nicholson explains how his digital forensics company has survived the recession, and Paul Purdue provides a quick anecdote about DIY technology. Don't miss this issue.

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.

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 66 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

Paste Unformatted Text (Slightly) More Easily in Word (Mac)

Optimize Your Website for Mobile Users

The Importance of Project Management to Job Satisfaction

Why Big Firms Don't Blog Well

This issue also contains links to every article in the December 2009 issue of Law Technology News. 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.