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One in Three Lawyers Is a Crybaby Plus 96 More Must-Reads

By Kathryn Hughes | Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 97 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

The Great Tech War Of 2012

Forget Siri: New iPhone 4S Dictation Software (Video)

Law Firm Chemistry: Why Positive Culture Is Critical

A Unique Law Firm Loyalty Program

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.

Topics: BlawgWorld Newsletter | Coming Attractions | Laptops/Smartphones/Tablets | Law Firm Marketing/Publications/Web Sites | Law Office Management | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

The Best iPhone 4S Reviews Plus 110 More Must-Reads

By Kathryn Hughes | Monday, October 17, 2011

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 101 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

Peer to Peer, September 2011 Issue

Why You Need a Backup Strategy for Your Smartphone

Going In-House at Apple with Steve Jobs' Former GC

A Look at Google Plus 101 for Lawyers

This issue also contains links to every article in the October 2011 issue of Law Practice Today. 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.

Topics: BlawgWorld Newsletter | Coming Attractions | Laptops/Smartphones/Tablets | Law Firm Marketing/Publications/Web Sites | Law Office Management | Online/Cloud | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

Fat Friday: Legal Job Market; Small Law Firms in Trouble; Staples Shredder Review; Windows Search and WordPerfect Files; iPhone 4S

By Kathryn Hughes | Friday, October 14, 2011

Ay Uaxe, Why the Legal Job Market Stinks

Richard Granat, Why the Jury Is Still Out on the Survival of Small Law Firms

Norina Dove, Review: Staples SPL-TXC22A Shredder

Aaron Croft, Tip: How to Search WordPerfect Files With Windows Search

Question of the Week: Do You Like Your New iPhone 4S?

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.

Topics: Automation/Document Assembly/Macros | Business Productivity/Word Processing | Coming Attractions | Fat Friday | Gadgets/Shredders/Office Gear | Laptops/Smartphones/Tablets | Law Office Management | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

Thank You Steve

By Neil J. Squillante | Wednesday, October 5, 2011

TechnoLawyer would not exist without your inspiration.

Topics: TechnoLawyer | Technology Industry/Legal Profession | TL Editorial

WiFi Hotspot Security Tips Plus 123 More Must-Reads

By Kathryn Hughes | Monday, October 3, 2011

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 99 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

The Challenges Faced by Legal Technology Part 1

iPad 2 v. Kindle Fire (Infographic)

The Nine Most Common Types of Alternative Fees

Seven Reasons Not to Use Video to Market Your Law Firm

This issue also contains links to every article in the September/October 2011 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.

Topics: Accounting/Billing/Time Capture | BlawgWorld Newsletter | Coming Attractions | Laptops/Smartphones/Tablets | Law Firm Marketing/Publications/Web Sites | Law Office Management | Technology Industry/Legal Profession | Videos

Law School Debate; Reviews of PDF-XChange PRO, Ruby Receptionists; Acrobat Tip; Law Firms in Danger

By Kathryn Hughes | Friday, September 30, 2011

Today's issue of Fat Friday contains these articles:

Thomas Sennett, Sound Advice for Law Students (The Debate Continues)

Robert Kaplan, Review: PDF-XChange PRO

Rick Borstein, Upgrading the Version of Acrobat Standard You Got With Your Scanner

Andrew Weltchek, Review: Ruby Receptionists

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.

Topics: Business Productivity/Word Processing | Coming Attractions | Copiers/Scanners/Printers | Email/Messaging/Telephony | Fat Friday | Law Office Management | Online/Cloud | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

BigLaw: Living the Good Life: Why Large Firm Associates Should Stop Complaining

By BL1Y | Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Originally published on August 30, 2011 in our free BigLaw newsletter. Instead of reading BigLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.

Have you ever noticed how much large firm junior associates complain? Well, if you're smart, the answer is "no" because you've already learned to tune that noise out. If you stop and listen though, you might realize that the low rumbling you hear all day isn't actually your HVAC, but an ungrateful recent law grad whining about his terrible life.

Sure, some legitimate complaints exist like in any job. You have to spend your life in a temperature controlled Class A high-rise, and suffer daily under the crippling moral obligations that come with earning multiples of the average household income.

These problems aside, your young lawyers don't know how good they've got it. Below you'll find just a few of the many reasons they should express more gratitude. I encourage you to circulate this issue of BigLaw throughout your firm — especially to said junior associates.

Dude, You Have a Secretary!

The President of the United States has a total of fourteen secretaries, from Hillary Clinton in the State Department to Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security. If you're at a typical large firm, you're probably sharing your secretary with two or three other associates, and one partner. By secretary ratio, the President, the most powerful man in the world, is only 56 times greater than you. By the same metric, you are infinitely greater than anyone without a secretary who has to lick their own envelopes.

That is a lot of greatness to have bestowed on you at the start of your career, so learn to appreciate it. And, unlike the President who has to cover for his secretaries when re-election time rolls around, with just a little bit of greenback grease, your secretary will cover for you. Think Timothy Geithner will spin a yarn for the press corps when Obama takes the morning off to play golf? Not a chance.

Freebies > Cost of Living

Sure, if you're in large firm that means you're also in a big city with some big city rent to pay. You'll also probably have to spend a few of your first paychecks expanding your professional attire.

But you can easily offset these expenses with the lower cost of living that accompanies your lifestyle. No need to shell out $3 or more every morning for coffee or $10 on lunch when you can get free or highly subsidized coffee and food from your cafeteria. Dinner is of course free and delivered as long as you work late. And don't forget about all those free office supplies. You need never step foot in Staples again. Binders, pens, stickies, you name it!

With your late nights and uncertain weekend hours, you're not going to spend a whole lot of money on entertainment and leisure. Those $12 movie tickets can really add up, and a single cancelled vacation can net you four-digit savings (assuming you make refundable plans).

Finally, you can kiss goodbye that money drain called dating. Guys, no more accidentally buying dinner, dessert, and a bottle of wine for someone who has no intention of ever seeing you again. Gals, no need to waste money getting your hair and nails done more than twice a year.

Court Appearances Are Overrated

Here's what great about court appearances as a junior associate — you don't have any. You're not even saddled with the awkwardness of turning them down. Partners will demonstrate their good manners by not even asking you to go.

Your friends may think it's strange that you're a litigator who last saw the inside of a court room during your swearing in ceremony. Don't bother trying to explain why you have it so good. Just smile. After all, did you spend three years and a hundred thousand dollars of tuition on trial advocacy classes? Of course not! You studied case law, the intellectual heavy lifting of legal thought, the meat and potatoes of practice.

Court is a hassle. It's nerve-wracking. You have to leave the office to get there, and you have to wear a suit. A whole entire suit — tie, jacket, everything. You also have to deal with cranky judges and meet opposing counsel face to face. And that's just motion practice. Don't even get me started on the horrors of trials and voir dire.

Staying at the office from 10 am to 10 pm every day is paradise by comparison. Besides, no one ever got held in contempt while in the office library (though shoddy document review can get your firm sanctioned and you fired so take note).

Hanging With Buffet

Above prestige, engaging work, and the daily satisfaction of working elbow-to-elbow with the brightest minds in one of the brightest industries, a large firm job first and foremost means big money.

Some detractors will point to how much of your salary goes to service your student loan debt, but you'll pay it off after 15 or so years — sooner if you live at home or with a roommate in a neighborhood just starting the process of gentrification (look for a neighborhood suffering more from burglary than from violent crime).

Others will note that your salary isn't really that large thanks to federal, state, and in some cases local progressive income taxes. Pay them no mind. They're just jealous. After all, you're on equal footing with Warren Buffet (according to Warren Buffet), and would feel privileged to pay even higher taxes.

Still others will point out that on an hourly basis you earn less than your secretary. However, what they fail to consider is that your secretary doesn't get to keep working past 6 pm or bill hours on the weekend. You see, it isn't just about great pay, but about opportunities to contribute to the firm's profits per partner. Chances are that you'll never partake in any of those profits as a partner yourself, but keep your head high and the dream alive. Shine on you crazy diamond.

Written by BL1Y of Constitutional Daily.

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.

Topics: BiglawWorld | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

Microsoft Office 365 Dealbreakers Plus 146 More Must-Reads

By Kathryn Hughes | Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 117 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

10 Reasons ILTA May Well Be the Best Legal Tech Event

Is a Tablet Right for Your Practice?

Steve Jobs Was a Lawyer's Dream CEO

Top 10 Strategies for Profits and Legal Marketing

This issue also contains links to every article in the September/October 2011 issue of Law Practice and the September 2011 issue of GPSolo eReport. 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.

Topics: BlawgWorld Newsletter | Coming Attractions | Laptops/Smartphones/Tablets | Law Firm Marketing/Publications/Web Sites | Law Office Management | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

The NeXT Steve Jobs Exists and He's Already Working at Apple

By Neil J. Squillante | Monday, September 5, 2011

On August 25, 2011, I wrote a special edition of TL NewsWire entitled TechnoLawyer Exists Because of Steve Jobs. Several people have asked me to publish it on the Web, but it's a personal essay about my childhood and entrepreneurial idol that I wanted to share only with TechnoLawyer subscribers (I'd be happy to send Steve Jobs a copy).

In this more public article, I'd like to comment on Apple's succession plan even though it's not a typical TechnoLawyer topic because to my knowledge no one has yet discussed it beyond the immediate future. It's an important topic because Apple has become an important company not just to me, but to the entire legal profession.

As any Apple watcher knows, the company thinks about 5-10 years out when planning its product roadmap (for example, it recently pivoted from the digital hub to iCloud after a 10 or so year run by the former). I suspect the same is true of its succession plan.

In January 2011, Robert X. Cringely published No White Smoke Yet in Cupertino in which he wrote: "It is my guess the next Apple CEO won't be Tim Cook, not because Tim isn't a good executive but because he isn't Steve's creation."

Oops. Cringely erred because he failed to think 5-10 years out like Apple. However, he's correct about Tim Cook not being Steve Jobs' creation.

With Apple's roadmap set for at least five years, the company doesn't need another Steve Jobs at the helm for a while. Instead, Apple needs a Steve Jobs waiting in the wings for its next pivot when it redefines computing … again.

Apple's recent award to new CEO Tim Cook of one million shares of restricted stock, half of which vests in five years and the other half in 10 years, has set the stage for a new Apple CEO in 5-10 years.

Talk about burying the lede. Okay, so who will take over from Tim Cook? Obviously, it's impossible to predict the future, but if I had to make a wager I'd bet on Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall.

Forstall is a Steve Jobs creation — perhaps more so than anyone else at Apple (whom we know about). He's also young. Shortly after graduating from Stanford in the early 1990s, he worked at NeXT, one of the two companies Jobs ran while exiled from Apple. When Apple acquired NeXT, Forstall followed Jobs to Apple.

Simply put, Forstall hit the jackpot, having had Jobs as his mentor for virtually his entire career. Not only has he reported directly to Jobs for several years, but Jobs bestowed upon him the stewardship of Apple's crown jewel — iOS.

Watch Forstall introduce iOS 5's Newsstand app (which I'm excited about) in the short video clip above (click here if you don't see it above). Does he have Steve Jobs' charisma and leadership skills? Perhaps not yet, but give him 10 years.

In 2021 when Tim Cook becomes Chairman and Scott Forstall becomes CEO, remember you heard it here first.

How to Receive TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to lawyers, law office administrators, and others in the legal profession. We link to each new TechnoEditorial and dozens of other articles on the legal Web each week in our BlawgWorld newsletter, which is free. Please subscribe now.

Topics: Technology Industry/Legal Profession | TL Editorial

Lawyer Replaces Laptop With iPad; Windows 7 Rant; Annual Maintenance Plans; Law School

By Kathryn Hughes | Friday, September 2, 2011

Today's issue of Fat Friday contains these articles:

Andrew Weltchek, Why I Bought An IPad 2 Instead Of A Laptop Plus My Favorite Apps

Steven Schwaber, Windows 7 Rebuttal: The Redmond Emperor Has No Clothes

Joseph Marquette, Why Annual Maintenance Plans Are No Longer Optional

Leslie Shear, The Benefits Of Reading Literature In Law School

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.

Topics: Business Productivity/Word Processing | CLE/News/References | Coming Attractions | Consultants/Services/Training | Email/Messaging/Telephony | Entertainment/Hobbies/Recreation | Fat Friday | Gadgets/Shredders/Office Gear | Laptops/Smartphones/Tablets | Legal Research | Networking/Operating Systems | Technology Industry/Legal Profession
 
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