SC Small Firm.com

Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

I find that many small law firms have reserved a domain name and have set up their email to use that name, but they have no Web page yet. I think that it’s really important to have some kind of Web presence if you are giving out your email address and it ends in something like @Doelawfirm.com.  I imagine the prospective client seeing that domain name and trying to look it up on the Internet. What do they think when nothing is there? When it happens to me, I think that maybe the firm isn’t quite as “together” as I would like my lawyer to be. It shows a lack of completion.

So what is holding so many lawyers back? Fear of high cost, for one thing. Difficulty in finding a Web page designer is another. And then there’s the content factor: what are we going to say? No one wants to have an amateurish Web page. I understand all of these concerns. But I think that having a simple page with the firm’s directory information and practice areas, lawyer’s names and a map is a good thing. No need for a “contact us” button. I think soliciting business on the Internet isn’t something you should do without thinking about it a long time and weighing all the pros and cons.

As for cost, there are loads of unemployed or part-time Web designers advertising reasonably priced Web pages on the Internet. Chances are, one of your friends has a friend who has a college age kid who’s a wiz at designing Web pages. Also, with the advent of blogging, so many free, professional looking, templates are available online. There are also inexpensive editors that you can find online – see my post on Artisteer, for example. I’ve known more than a few lawyers who tackled their own designs. Look at local law firm Web pages and see who took design credit. Contact them and get a price. Google “web design” and your city name to see a list of local companies and to request some quotes.

Coming soon: search engine optimization: does it work and is it worth paying extra?

A few years back, a professor at a well-known law school told me how his university dealt with old computer hard drives. “We used to pay students to smash them with sledge hammers,” he recalled, “until someone got a piece of metal in his eye. Then we stopped.” Around the same time I heard this tale, I discovered an experiment by MIT researchers. The students at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (I’m sure you have a visual of what they might have looked like) purchased used hard drives from eBay and other sources. Of the approximately 170 drives, they found only 12 that were properly sanitized. The rest all contained data, including credit card numbers and medical records. Doh! This study sparked another project, this one involving “drive slagging.” If you know that slag relates to molten metals, you probably figured out that drive slagging means melting down your hard drive. If you’d like to see some neat pictures, check out the link. I think you will agree, there’s no way to rescue that data!

Aside from melting, foolproof ways of sanitizing a hard drive so that it can be disposed of are few and the techniques for rescuing data on hard drives have improved over the last few years. I’ve heard experts in computer forensics state that data can be retrieved from hard drives that were submerged in sea water, burned, and otherwise abused. Such feats are not inexpensive, of course. Spending $1000 for one drive would not be unusual (which is why you’re glad you made that backup, right?).

So, what’s the best way to dispose of a hard drive? See my eCycle post from December 2009.

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 legal/tech world. The atmosphere was electric, and I met other lawyers from around the country – all enjoying a truly unique experience. No other so-called legal conference has the same focus on “real” lawyers.

That first TECHSHOW, I met a kind, generous lawyer who encouraged me and introduced me to people instrumental in putting on the conference. His name was Jim Keane, and his legacy as a pioneer and amazingly nice guy lives on, even though he passed away too young from cancer.  In his honor, TECHSHOW awards the annual James I. Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in eLawyering.

Chicago seemed really distant to me back in those days and it was a big step to get on the plane and go there by myself. But looking back now, 17 years later, it was one of the best steps I ever took. This year, TECHSHOW is March 25-27, at the Hilton Chicago. If you’re interested in taking the leap, please take advantage now of the Early Bird pricing and special SC Bar discount. Just enter discount code EP1001 when you register. I hope I see you there!

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 of legal technology. Past speakers have included Ross Kodner, Sharon Nelson and John Simek, Craig Ball, Walt Mossberg, Jim Calloway, and more. This year, Convention attendees were wowed by Carole Levitt and Mark Rosch, of Internet for Lawyers.

Mark and Carole are nationally known and respected “cybersleuths.”  Mark’s background is in business, the entertainment industry and technology; Carole’s is in law and library science. Together they have created Internet for Lawyers, through which they speak, write,  and assist lawyers with finding the electronic “smoking gun.” Their current book, The Cybersleuth’s Guide to the Internet, will be joined soon by two new books for the ABA Law Practice Management Section – Find Info Like a Pro, vol. I, will debut at ABA TECHSHOW in March.

The session was fast, funny, and informative. Mark and Carole really know their stuff. I learned many things I didn’t know about research on the Internet. Judging from the comments from the lawyers attending, I wasn’t alone. In three hours, we covered everything from how to investigate people and companies using free web sites, to some great tips on software and web sites most lawyers have, but aren’t using as well as they should. I know it will be hard to top this year’s program. I’ll be looking hard for next year’s speakers when I attend ABA TECHSHOW in March.

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 of the old clunker.

Being responsible means taking or shipping it to a government or private recycling center. It means doing a little research on the Internet to find out where to go and which location accepts what.  It means sanitizing hard drives and other storage media so that you don’t breach your ethical and legal duties to safeguard your client’s property (not to mention your own personal data). This can be done using software like Darik’s Boot And Nuke, Disk Wipe or Eraser .

You can also use a physical device to erase, like Drive eRazer, which works well if you have miscellaneous hard drives without the computer case. CD’s, DVD’s, floppies and tapes are the Tribbles of the law office – they have a way of self-proliferating. Most new paper shredders can shred CD’s and old floppies.

Once your computer is sanitized and free of data, you need to find someone who will accept it for proper disposal. It is not proper to put a computer in a landfill!  For a list of e-cycling websites, go to the PMAP pages of SC Bar.org and find “old computers.”  Be sure to read the article there on disposing of computers responsibly –  by yours truly and Ross Kodner: “Dumpster Disasters.”  Good luck and happy e-cycling!