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Practice Management Assistance Pipe

The Practice Management Assistance Pipe is an aggregate of content from around the Web. Materials and links included in the Pipe are submitted by individuals not necessarily located in the District of Columbia. All postings are informational only and not intended as legal authority. Content does not necessarily reflect the policies of the D.C. Bar.

  • Friday PMA Blog Roundup - 03/12/10
    ABA TECHSHOW is just a couple weeks away and many of the PMAs are gearing up to attend or speak, but they still found time to blog: Beverly Michaelis wrote about some of the most useful features of Adobe Acrobat, and also pointed to some tips regarding secure mobile computing. Jared Correia discussed LOMAP's "start-up kit" for lawyers starting or refreshing a law practice, and also hosted a guest post from Kate O'Toole on Google Wave. David Bilinsky wrote about recognizing achievements by lawyer
  • New articles from the LTRC: Smartphone Buying Guide, Virtual PBX Phone Systems, Technology Trends for 2010, and More
    Here's a sampling of the most recent technology articles published by the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center:   Smart Phone buying guide The popularity of smart phones has skyrocketed in the last few years, and lawyers have rapidly incorporated them into their law practices. With smart phone models and features evolving at a quick pace, it can be hard to determine what distinguishes one from another. Here are some differentiating factors to consider when shopping for a smart phone. [Read mor
  • Do You Know What Free Legal Research Your State Bar Offers?
    March 10, 2010
    The folks over at 3 Geeks and a Law Blog (Toby Brown, Lisa Salazar & Greg Lambert) have a post putting up an interactive map of the US that shows which legal research product the bar associations of each state provides to its members. The map is from the Many Eyes site which I hadn't encountered before but is pretty interesting.
  • Detailed Guide to Data Wiping - Hard Drives, SSDs, and Thumb Drives
    Data security has become a constant concern for attorneys as client files and daily work product has moved almost entirely to digital format. Ensuring confidentiality and safeguarding client files now often means securing a hard drive rather than a physical file drawer. But while attorneys dedicate much of their data security energy and dollars towards protecting current data -- that is, the data they use and access for ongoing or recent cases -- attention must also be given to the data that is
  • Recognition for Achievements by Lawyers and Law Firms
    March 9, 2010
    ♫ We are the champions No time for losers Cause we are the champions of the world… ♫ Music and lyrics by Freddie Mercury, recorded and performed by Queen. When thinking of the Olympics, an image of a breathless young person comes to mind who is standing on a podium, smiling the smile of a lifetime as someone places a [...]
  • LOMAP’s "Start-Up Kit" Proffers Main Considerations for the Establishment of a Law Practice
    Whether you’re starting a law practice or running a marathon, it is essential to prepare (train; or, “run a train on”, as it were) and to get off the blocks quickly. (How should I know whether there are blocks at marathon starts . . . I’ve never actually run a marathon. That’s insane.)Here at the LOMAP home office, and about this great commonwealth, in the making of our appointed rounds, we see two sorts of attorney-clients: (1) those who have already established their practices, and who are see
  • AirCards, Encryption, and Software! Oh My!
    March 8, 2010
    If you aren’t a dedicated reader of Sharon Nelson and John Simek’s Oregon State Bar Bulletin columns, you should be. This month, Sharon and John discuss secure mobile computing. Among their recommendations: Don’t make a move without anti-virus, anti-spam, and anti-phishing software. Keep all three up-to-date and perform weekly scans. Use encryption to protect your valuable personal data. (John [...]
  • Guest Post: Cowabunga, Dude! Catch the Google Wave
    We are pleased to have received an excellent post from Kate O’Toole, a former colleague of mine at the Massachusetts Bar Association. Kate has written on Google Wave, and her take on the system appears below. Kate has also been kind enough to agree (and cannot back out now) to provide us with another post, that one covering Google Buzz, which post, to be the second in this short series, should release sometime in April, as the weather, hopefully, continues to warm. Kate works as a law clerk for
  • Is Acrobat Really Necessary?
    March 8, 2010
    Twenty years ago, creating a PDF required Adobe Acrobat. Today free or low-cost third party PDF writers are abundant and PDF generation is built into traditional and online office suites. With a price tag starting at $299 for Standard and $449 for Pro, is Acrobat really necessary? The answer is yes! Here are just a few [...]
  • Friday PMA Blog Roundup - 03/05/10
    Another great week of blogging from the law practice management advisors. Here are some of the highlights: Jim Calloway blogged about the importance of returning client phone calls. Nerino Petro shared a marketing tip regarding business cards. Jared Correia wrote about the new Outlook-based "Law Practice Management System" Credenza, and added additional thoughts on legal research. Dan Pinnington pointed to a Site-tation post about the dangers of Twitter phishing and highlighted some good advice
  • Freesearch Trails: Breadcrumbs for Recovering (the) Most of Your Research Buck
    Remember law school. Oh, man, was law school great. The keg parties, sleeping until 2 pm, free food and lodging (as far as you knew then), girls who stayed the same age while you kept getting older, your pirate radio station, Scorpion Bowls . . . Oh, sorry. That was college. Law school actually sucked.Well, now, on second thought, I guess there was one thing about law school that didn’t suck, and that was that, if you had to be there anyway, they at least gave you free Lexis and Westlaw access.
  • Work-Life Balance
    March 2, 2010
    If you’ve taken time away from your career to raise a family, you know how hard it can be to re-enter the workforce. Imagine if 30 years had gone by…. Couldn’t resist the mid-week humor (for those of us old enough to relate). Enjoy! My thanks to Kim Kasch for sharing this. [...]
  • Some Thoughts on Lawyers Returning Phone Calls
    March 2, 2010
    A recent blog post about why lawyers don't return client calls sort of rubbed me the wrong way. That was the intention of the poster to a certain extent as he indicated many prior treatments of the topic were sugar...
  • Maybe Your Lawyer is Drunk?
    March 2, 2010
    A recent blog post from The Stubborn Writer entitled Why Your Lawyer Won’t Take or Return Your Phone Calls – The Top 10 Reasons caused a lot of heated discussion yesterday among some of my counterparts at other bar associations. While I will freely concede that the post is snarky to the max and doesn’t [...]
  • Great advice on how to pick and register a law firm domain name
    March 1, 2010
    My friend Steve Matthews over at Stem Legal has written one of the best articles I have ever read on picking and registering a law firm domain name: Domain Name Issues For Law Firms is The Column on SLAW.CA this week. Steves knows more than most on these issues and there is tons of [...]
  • Lawyers beware: Don’t get phished on Twitter
    March 1, 2010
    The ABA Legal Technology Resource Center blog posted a warning this morning that all of us should pay heed to: Be Careful! Twitter Phishing Catches Lawyers, Too What is “phishing”? Email messages (or even tweets) that trick innocent users into entering their account information (for any account: a Twitter account, an email account, a bank account [...]
  • Three Steps to Building Your Network
    March 1, 2010
    We’ve all heard the phrase, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” In fact, this cliché is so familiar it generates 444,000,000 responses in a Google search. But how do you get to know the “who?” This can be a perplexing problem for both experienced and inexperienced lawyers entering solo practice. If you just [...]
  • Dan and Reid promise our readers there will be a second edition of our book
    February 28, 2010
    Despite all the public and private ribbing, and strong patriotism on both sides of the border, Dan and Reid promise our readers there will be a second edition of our book full of even more great tips - regardless of who wins. UPDATE: Yeah, but now that Canada has the gold medal Dan gets to be [...]
  • The Scams Continue..
    February 26, 2010
    ♫ The time is right to do it now The greatest rock’n'roll swindle The time is right to do it now…♫ Music and Lyrics by Steve Jones, paul Cook, Julien Temple, recorded by the Sex Pistols. The ABA Journal reported on Feb. 22, 2010 that an email scam was targeted at 6 law firms in Honolulu and two of [...]
  • A Credenza Sampler: New Practice Management System Functions as Outlook Add-On
    Think of it. Where do you spend most of your time during the workday? In your email, right? Yet, all of these practice management systems exist separately, outside of Outlook--although most do provide sync and integration. But, wouldn’t it be great if someone could develop a practice management system that exists within, that operates within, Outlook itself? Well, someone has . . . and you won’t be getting rich off your idea.Hey, don’t blame me, you’re the one who sat on it.Credenza is a recent
  • Digital Edge Podcast: What's Hot in Technology for 2010
    February 25, 2010
    Our February Digital Edge Podcast covers What's Hot in Technology for 2010. Sharon Nelson and I had a great time trading predictions for the future of technology as it applies to the legal profession. It was fun to try to...
  • This Way to the MBA: Annual Conference to Feature Data Privacy Component; “MBA On Demand” Online CLE Releases
    The Massachusetts Bar Association is recently active on a couple fronts, with new offerings of interest to Massachusetts attorneys.. . .The revived and revitalized Massachusetts Bar Association Annual Conference (this year’s version being also known as “AC10”, for you hipsters out there) will take place over the course of Thursday and Friday, March 11 and 12, 2010 at the Westin Copley Place on Huntington Avenue in Boston. This year’s Annual Conference will feature the tried and true “Recent Deve
  • Facebook tip: List multiple websites on your Facebook profile page
    February 24, 2010
    Facebook appears to let you list only a single website or blog on your profile page. Of course, many people have a website and a blog, and loads of us have connections with multiple websites and/or blogs. With this simple trick you can list multiple sites on your Facebook profile page: Simply list the URLs [...]
  • New from LTRC: Litigation Support Software Comparison Chart
    According to the 2009 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report: Litigation and Courtroom Technology volume, 43% of the respondents who reported that they practice in a courtroom reported that they personally use litigation support software. Litigation support software is designed to aid lawyers in the process of litigation, and generally includes databases for organizing, searching, and reviewing discovery material including deposition transcripts, produced documents, and correspondence. The LTRC ha
  • Bad Check Scams Expanding and "Improving"
    February 24, 2010
    Let me start by saying that whatever you think you know about cashier’s checks and certified checks being secure simply doesn’t apply any more. Some forged bank checks are so good that you cannot distinguish them from the real thing...
  • Upcoming CLE program: Tips for Managing Your Practice through Technology
    February 24, 2010
    The OBA Law Practice Management Section is presenting a lunchtime CLE/webinar program on legal technology on Monday March 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm. Come to this session to find out how you can imbed technology into every aspect of practicing law and how to use it to increase productivity, efficiency, and flexibility while reducing costs, [...]
  • Help A New Lawyer – Be a Mentor
    February 23, 2010
    Where did you learn all that you know about the law? Did someone take you under their wing? Give you advice? Share a form with you? If you are established in your legal career, consider serving as a mentor to a new lawyer. You are an invaluable resource for someone just starting out in the profession. The [...]
  • Plain English vs. Legalese - 02/23/10
    February 23, 2010
    Plain English vs. Legalese I recently saw the following quote by Mark Cooney, Associate Professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School discussing the use of plain English in the legal environment. When you start using big words and long sentences in your writing, remember Professor Cooney’s advice. “The utilization of inflated language characterized by exceptional verbosity is [...]
  • Ironing the wrinkles out of the Limitations Act, 2002
    February 22, 2010
    The latest issue of LAWPRO Webzine has a great article on how to avoid limitations claims by LAWPRO’s director of research, Debra Rolph. The Limitations Act, 2002 was proclaimed in force just over six years ago. We had hoped the simplified limitations period regime the new Act created would result in fewer limitation-related claims. While [...]
  • Save up to $350! ABA TECHSHOW Early Bird Deadlines Extended
    February 22, 2010
    If you have been thinking about attending ABA TECHSHOW 2010 (March 25th -27th) but haven’t yet registered, you are in luck. You still have time to climb down off that fence and make plans to attend one of the most amazing CLE conferences you’ll ever attend. The ABA Law Practice Management Section announced this morning [...]
  • Site of the Week: AvoidAClaim.com
    February 19, 2010
    With the world's attention focused on Canada for the Olympics, now is a great time to highlight a relatively new Canadian blog. The Canadian professional liability insurer LAWPRO®'s practice assistance unit, practicePRO, launched the AvoidAClaim blog several months ago. The...
  • Don't Miss ABA TECHSHOW 2010
    February 19, 2010
    I love ABA TECHSHOW. I learn more at ABA TECHSHOW than any other conference. Early Bird Registration deadline for ABA TECHSHOW is today- February April 19, 2010. Go here to register. The lineup of scheduled presentations is online here. Not...
  • Get your FREE PDF of the Federal Rules of Evidence 2010
    February 18, 2010
    Hat tip to fellow PMA and Blogger Jim Calloway who let me know that you can download a free pdf version of the Federal Rules of Evidence 2010 from the Federal Evidence Review website. This download provides you with a fully searchable pdf of the latest FRE.
  • What Firm Leaders Should Focus on NOW…
    February 17, 2010
    ♫ What are you doing the rest of your life? North and south and east and west of your life? ♫ Lyrics and music by: Alan Bergman, Michel Legrand, Marilyn Bergman, recorded by Barbara Streisand. Robert (Bob) Denney of Robert Denney Associates, Inc. has just released the February 2010 Communique on What Firm Leaders Should Focus on Now. With Bob’s [...]
  • Top Ten iPhone Apps for Busy Lawyers
    In case you missed it last week, I posted my current top ten iPhone apps for lawyers on my other blog, Lawyer Success Tips, which is the companion blog to my book, The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Success: Essential Tips To Power Your Practice.The ten (actually eleven because I just couldn't cut it down even one more) are part of my presentation with Jeff Richardson at ABA TECHSHOW next month entitled 60 iPhone Apps in 60 Minutes. Join us at ABA TECHSHOW for even more productive technology ideas for b
  • OMG–The Price of Our Book Reaches $122.00 on eBay!
    February 12, 2010
    We’re all in favor of healthy profits, but even we think $122.oo is too much for our book–used at that! And yes that’s in US dollars–it would be about $3,000 in Canadian dollars! Well, that’s what it’s selling for on eBay this week! So while we think our book has great value to readers far [...]
  • Guess it was Just a Matter of Time…
    February 11, 2010
    ♫ Well, who are you? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? I really wanna know…♫ Music and Lyrics by Pete Townshend, recorded by The Who. A new service has sprung up. It is entitled “Career Excuse.com” Its purpose is to allow you to create false career references for your resume. They state: Lets say you [...]
  • Follow the 2010 Winter Olympic Games with New iPhone App from NBC
    The 2010 Winter Olympics begin tomorrow in Vancouver, British Columbia with the Opening Ceremonies including the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at 9pm EST. NBC and AT&T have launched a helpful iPhone app to help keep track of all the events, results, information about teams and individual Olympians, and viewing location (TV broadcast, cable, Internet) of the events. There is even a social networking feed for athletes to share their thoughts during the 2-week Olympiad.Available for free fro
  • Tech Picks: Hot Off the Press!
    February 11, 2010
    If you’ve been thinking about updating your law firm’s technology, but haven’t been sure about what to get rid of and what to replace it with, you haven’t waited in vain. The 2010 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide: Critical Decisions Made Simple just hit my desk, and it has all the [...]
  • Top Ten iPhone Apps for Busy Lawyers
    February 11, 2010
    In a few weeks, I’ll be presenting the seminar 60 iPhone Apps in 60 Minutes at ABA TECHSHOW, but I thought I’d share a sneak peek at ten of the best apps for busy lawyers. Thanks to my co-presenter, Jeff Richardson, of iPhoneJD fame for his contributions to this post. These are among the top [...]
  • TECHSHOW 2010
    February 10, 2010
    I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for ABA TECHSHOW. Years ago, when I was an associate in a law firm, getting more interested in law office technology and less interested in practicing law, I attended TECHSHOW in Chicago. It was the early 1990’s and so much was happening in the [...]
  • How to Catch an iPhone Thief
    Thanks to Jeff Richardson of the iPhoneJD blog for pointing me to this blog written by an iPhone owner who had his iPhone stolen on a plane, and then pieced together information using a variety of Internet tools and some chutspah to get it back. With the recent debate over the real security of the iPhone, it is nice to know there are tools to get it back, even if it does take some effort.
  • Outlook 2010: It's the Economy!
    Well, I almost forgot I was interviewed for a story published in Lawyers USA in early January about the outlook for lawyers this year, but the story popped up on one of my Google Alerts. Senior editor Nora Tooher spoke with several lawyers across the US to get a feel for what to expect in 2010. The forecast? Cloudy with a chance of gain. Love that headline, Nora!
  • “Holy Credenza, Batman!” - 02/09/10
    February 9, 2010
    If you are a solo or small firm and you haven’t found a practice management software application to meet your needs and your budget, check out Credenza at http://www.credenzasoft.com .
  • Feeling a Bit Paranoid???
    February 5, 2010
    ♫ Everytime I turn around Something don’t feel right Just might be paranoid..♫ Lyrics and music by: Nicholas Jerry Jonas, Joseph Adam Jonas, Paul Kevin Jonas II, Cathy Dennis, John Fields, recorded by The Jonas Brothers. I guess it was just a matter of time. IT World posted an article today by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (sjvn@vna1.com) entitled: [...]
  • Revamp Your LinkedIn Profile
    February 3, 2010
    LinkedIn, the social networking site aimed at professionals and business use (i.e., no Farmville, mercifully) has just added a handy new feature: the ability to reorder the appearance of your profile. (Hat tip: Web Worker Daily). Until now, all profiles have been locked into the same framework and therefore looked more or less indistinguishable from one another. Here is a short video showing how it works: I've half-joked in the past that LinkedIn is a gateway drug to actual social networking.
  • Checklists in Law Practice
    February 1, 2010
      I just finished reading a really interesting book about... checklists. Yeah, I know that reading a book about checklists sounds about scintillating as watching paint dry. I was skeptical, too, at first. The book is The Checklist Manifesto by Dr. Atul Gawande, a writer and surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. I was able to purchase and read it on my Kindle, but it appears that you can't do that any more, presumably because of the insane death match between Amazon and Macmill
  • Week in Review: January 31, 2010
    January 31, 2010
    Here's a few interesting things that happened in the world of technology and law practice management that I didn't get around to writing about this week: iPad Unless you recently emerged from a coma, you know that Apple released its new tablet computer (the iPad) this week. The web resounded with a veritable Hatfield vs McCoy feud of Apple fanboys breathlessly contending that the iPad just changed everything and PC geeks breathlessly arguing that it is giant flop. Here is a balanced, short intro
  • Now for Something Completely Different
    January 30, 2010
    It's a beautiful, snowy Saturday morning here in Chapel Hill and my mind is on just about anything but work. I thought I would take this opportunity (and the succeeding Saturdays as well, if I can maintain my renewed commitment to blogging regularly) to post something that has absolutely nothing to do with law practice management or technology. With the sound of freezing rain coming down outside and everything covered in a blanket of white I have got two things on my mind: warmer weather and piz
  • In Defense of CLE Credit for Marketing
    January 29, 2010
    I've got a burr in my saddle. A hitch in my giddy-up. And some other cowboy metaphors that a native New Yorker like myself has no business ever saying out loud. As I was paging through Google Reader, I came across this post from the Wall Street Journal Law Blog: Struggling Lawyers Turning to . . . Lives of Crime. The article picks up on an item from the Fresno Bee about the economic pressures of the recession driving lawyers to cheat and steal. It's a phenomenon new to the legal profession, acco
  • Is the Apple iPad the Tipping Point? Practicing Law in the Cloud Goes Mainstream in 2010
    Right before our eyes a major transformation is occurring within the legal profession. I believe 2010 will emerge as a year that we will look back upon as a tipping point. A year where lawyers left behind the traditional confines of their office walls—no longer tethered by phone cords, computer cords, or real estate leases--to practice where and when it suits their needs and the needs of their clients.  2010 will be the year that being small, mobile, and almost expense-free went mainstream
  • Cybersleuths
    January 25, 2010
    The South Carolina Bar Convention was held January 21 – 24, at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. My favorite part, as always, was the Technology seminar on Thursday afternoon. The Tech seminar has become something of a tradition at the Convention. Over the years, we’ve been honored to have some top-notch national speakers from the world [...]
  • Windows 7
    January 17, 2010
    I continue to read good things about Windows 7 in the various sources I trust.
  • Can we collaborate?
    January 12, 2010
    I am down at University of Oregon School of Law teaching an intensive one-week Law Practice Management course on how to launch your law practice. This is the first time in its history that U of O Law has offered intensive one-week classes. The students are enjoying it because they can focus their attention on [...]
  • New Year’s Resolution: Move to Online Backup
    January 12, 2010
    Stress. It comes with being a lawyer. You have enough to worry about without the added concern that your electronically stored documents, case materials and firm financial information might be lost as the result of a computer crash, natural disaster or vandalism by a disgruntled former employee, client or opposing party. Secure, fully automated online [...]
  • Happy Blue Moon New Year
    December 31, 2009
    Happy New Year. It’s a Blue Moon today. This is the second full moon December 2nd. The last Blue Moon was May 2007; the last Blue Moon on New Year’s was 19 years ago. The next will be New Year’s 2029. So consider this an auspicious start to a new year and a new [...]
  • eCycle
    December 30, 2009
    Did Santa Claus bring you a new electronic item? Or did you purchase new hardware as a year-end capital expense? Whatever the reason, if you find yourself with old computers or electronics that are too old to benefit anyone (even the National Cristina Foundation won’t take Pentium II computers anymore), you need to responsibly dispose [...]
  • ABA Resources for a Prosperous New Year
    December 28, 2009
    I am a big fan of the resources that the ABA provides. I joined while in law school and am pleased to see that law students can still join for $25 and enjoy additional section membership free for 21 different sections, including the Law Practice Management Section which certainly helps me to help Oregon [...]
  • FMLA Subject to Major Changes
    December 23, 2009
    There are five new employment law bills expected in 2010 that could significantly expand FMLA and change how you manage your paid and unpaid leave procedures. All of these bills have a good chance of becoming law under comprehensive family and medical leave legislation known as The Balancing Act of 2009.
  • Don’t Let Your Referral Sources Dry Up
    December 18, 2009
    It is very important not to let your referral sources dry up. Referrals dry up when you lose contact, so you should stay in consistent contact. Put together a list of your referral sources and adopt of regular program of contact. Do you have a written list of your referral sources? Do you categorize your [...]
  • Tips to Make the Most of Your Bar Dues
    December 17, 2009
    The December issue of Law Practice Today is out, and it’s focus is very timely for the holiday season. It’s on making personal connections which, after all, are the basis on which practicing lawyers get most of their good business. I highly recommend Erik Mazzone’s article Ten Tips for Making Your Bar Association Dues Work [...]
  • Happy Holidays for More of Us
    December 14, 2009
    Sometimes it is easy to get so caught up with work and all that is on our plate that we can lose perspective, forgetting for a moment that many Oregonians do not have anything on their plate. The Oregon Food Bank can and does make a difference. Though we may see collection barrels for the [...]
  • Metadata
    December 9, 2009
    The most important thing to know about metadata is that it exists
  • Free conference calls
    November 30, 2009
    What if you need to arrange a conference call among a group of lawyers – but don’t have a fancy phone system or service? One solution is to use one of a number of services on the Internet that offer “free” conference calls. These services either provide free conference calling by using a toll number [...]
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