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Archive for the ‘Law Office Management’ Category

Rule 1.15(h) of the S.C. Rules of Professional Conduct mandates that all lawyers with a trust account must file a written directive with their bank requiring the bank to report any non-sufficient funds (NSF) transactions. If you have an IOLTA account, please confirm with your bank that you have a directive filed. It is the duty of the lawyer to make sure this has been done. Do not assume that all banks do it automatically. If the Commission on Lawyer Conduct discovers an overdraft that was not reported by the bank, the lawyer may be disciplined for both the Rule violation that caused the overdraft and the failure to file a directive with the bank. If you need a form directive, you can find two online at PMAP forms.

Did you know…?
• Employers in the United States are not obligated to offer any paid vacation
• Vacation is mandated by law in many other parts of the world
• Poll: Only 57% of U.S. workers use up all of the vacation days they’re entitled to
Credit: CNN Online.

Study after study shows the mental and physical health benefits of taking time off. It seems like common sense to me: if you’re tired and stressed, you’re more likely to make mistakes. On the one hand, a vacation is a chance to recharge your batteries and come back relaxed and with a fresh perspective on your job. On the other hand, you could come back to chaos: piles of unanswered emails and phone messages; crises un-handled, and even clients lost.

If you’re a sole practitioner, the idea of taking any time off probably frightens you. Here’s the perspective of one solo who learned that you can take vacation time, including tips on what you should do before you go. However, the author writes about the help his staff provides. What if you’re it – the only person in the office? Can you do it? Should you do it? Yes and yes. The secret is not only planning, it’s learning to let go and recognizing that you can’t control everything. You can manage it as professionally as possible, but eventually, you’re going to conk out. Working at the Bar, you notice the stories of lawyers passing away suddenly. You know the lawyers who suffered serious health set-backs. Life has a way of teaching us that we aren’t in control. Figuring out a way to take vacations helps us also figure out how to manage our practices better; plus, we learn something about planning for the future and when we’re no longer around.

It’s a cliché, but on your deathbed, are you going to think that you should have worked more?

“It’s what my friend who practices law uses.” That sounds like an innocuous sentence. And it can be, if it’s in reference to a credit card, or a copier. But if it’s the basis for purchasing case management or other law office software, it sets my teeth on edge. Why? Because you’re admitting that you really don’t know what to buy and you haven’t bothered to research it further.

Take a step back and think: how similar am I to that lawyer? Do we have the same level of tech expertise? Do we use the same hardware and software? Do we have the same type of practice? What about staff? Since this isn’t the television show “Fringe” and you don’t live in a parallel world, you are probably more different from one another than you are alike.

So how should you decide what to purchase? Research, expert advice, and testing. Case management or law office accounting software is mission critical to your practice and one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make as far as practice management goes.

Before you start researching, assess your current situation and your future needs.
• Do an inventory of the software and hardware you currently use.
• List the functions you need the software to perform (e.g. produce reports of case activity, remind me of due dates).
• Determine who will need access to the software and whether it will be in a support role or as a timekeeper or primary user. Before you buy, you should know who needs the software and why they need it.
• Turn to the Internet to see the options available.
• Peruse the tech overviews and compare the features using the Legal Technology Resource Center’s (LTRC) comparison charts.
• Refer to the 2011 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide by Sharon Nelson, John Simek, Michael Maschke.
• Refer to The Lawyer’s Guide to Practice Management Systems Software, Second Edition by Andy Adkins.
• Consult your bar association’s practice management advisor. (If your state doesn’t have one, you might want to talk to your bar leadership about hiring one.)
• Go to the web pages of the software products you like. Watch online videos on their sites and read faq’s.
• Contact the company or certified consultants in the software you think you are interested in. Ask specific questions. See if they will give you a free demonstration via the Web.

Once you’ve narrowed the products down, do testing for a month. Some products offer 30 days free, others offer a full refund if you cancel or return within 30 days. If you find something you like, remember that buying the software is just one piece of the puzzle. You need to budget for training, installation and customization by an expert as well. Otherwise, you can expect frustration in the short and long term.

Tech vendors! Four speakers from this year’s ABA TECHSHOW! A white tablecloth luncheon! CLE specifically for small firms! Prizes!

I just returned from the Marriott on Main Street in Columbia, where I viewed the location of our 2011 Solo & Small Firm CLE and Annual Meeting to be held September 23. It is going to be great! We will have two ballrooms for our simultaneous CLE tracks – one track for technology for small firms and the other for law office management. For the plenary sessions on ethics and Tips, the hotel will combine the rooms by taking out the center wall. The speakers are experts in practice management and technology, and we will have a sprinkle of South Carolina lawyers speaking and doing product demonstrations.

Just outside the ballrooms, in the common area, we have space for 15 tech and office vendors, whom we are busy contacting. We are approaching vendors who will be of particular interest to small firms. We’ll have the breakfast out in the vendor area, so be sure to come early that day. For lunch, we will stroll through the vendor area to a separate ballroom set up for our seated affair. It will be an opportunity to see one another as well as mingle with the speakers and vendors.  And there will be prize drawings!

The Marriott looks great since its remodeling. Since you do want to get there early, you can stay at the hotel at the special rate of $129, or stay at any of the other excellent hotels nearby. The meeting is on Friday, and the next day is a home football game for Carolina (vs. Vanderbilt).

Last year’s Hot Tips seminar was a warm-up to this much larger CLE and meeting. We believe it will be something really fun and very special. Mark your calendar and save your pennies!

Many small firm lawyers are looking for ways to keep their computer technology costs down, particularly costs associated with networking.  Google Apps is hosted tools for business. Google Apps suite includes: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Apps Marketplace and more. Apps offers customized email addresses (smith@smithlawfirm.com, for example), mobile email, calendar, and IM access. The cost begins at around $50 a year per user.

By using a web-hosted solution instead of an Exchange Server, there are no additional hardware or software costs. Google handles spam filtering. Apps claims to offer 24/7 email and phone support and 99.9% uptime guarantee. Naturally, there are also long-standing security concerns with Google and all other online service providers. Google has a white paper available http://bit.ly/awqMS8 in PDF.

Google now offers two-step verification which is similar to what large law firms and major companies use. Two-step verification requires two means of identification to sign in to a Google Apps account, something you know: a password, and something you have: a mobile phone. It doesn’t require any special tokens or devices. After entering your password, a verification code is sent to your mobile phone via SMS, voice calls, or generated on an application you can install on your Android, BlackBerry or iPhone device. This makes it much more likely that you’re the only one accessing your data: even if someone has stolen your password, they’ll need more than that to access your account. You can also indicate when you’re using a computer you trust and don’t want to be asked for a verification code from that machine in the future.