♫ The bells are ringing
The song they’re singing
The sound is bringing the people ’round
They hear the instructions
They follow directions…♫
Words and music by John Flansburgh and John Linnell, recorded by They Might be Giants
Tip from Thomas M. R. Irwin, a lawyer in North Saanich, BC, Canada:
Dear Dave:
Just a note of thanks for your feedback and info about an office move. On December 20 I closed my office in “downtown” Sidney and moved it to my home office in North Saanich (10 minutes away). My wife Gillian (who is my conveyancer) and I have been delighted with the move. Yes clients can actually find us at the end of a rural road and they actually seem to enjoy the extra 10 minute drive in the country to come and see us. I am enjoying making house calls to see elderly clients who used to walk over to my office in Sidney.
In your latest BarTalk acticle [editor’s note - I will add in the web link as soon as the BarTalk people take away the password requirement- sigh] about retirement you talked about the change in firm financial models with more of us wanting to work part time - I have the answer - electronic commuting, the part timers don’t need a full time office space at the firm - they can set up home offices, schedule office appointments for specific days that they come into the firm office. Dictation and document work as you know can all be done online/email. The Firm may even be able to downsize because they don’t need as much office space.
I think this is an excellent tip on how to downshift and move into a more flexible work schedule without the overhead of a full-time office constantly hanging over you. Courtesy of the Internet, more and more lawyers will be able to work at least part of the time from their home or other location, meeting the need to see clients at their places of business if necessary. In Tom’s case, the clients hear the instructions and follow directions to his home office!
♫ Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, uh oh …♫
Words and music by: Anthony Anderson, Dane DeViller, Sean Hosein, Rosette Sharma, Steve Smith
I was using GoogleDocs today and made a terrible discovery. I was using the automatic paragraph numbering in GoogleDocs and on the screen, the document looked just fine. I used the ‘print’ feature in GoogleDocs (rather than converting the document to Word) and found out that after the document printed, the paragraph numbering was scrambled…badly so.
There was no indication that this would occur from looking at the screen.
This is just a word of warning for those using GoogleDocs….all may not be as it seems when you print up something..and it isn’t a great feeling when you hand the document out only to find that it has errors..and all you can say is uh oh………
♫ Here Comes the Night… ♫
Words and Music by Bert Berns, recorded by Them (Van Morrison).
ABA TECHSHOW
Here it comes – ABA TECHSHOW 2008! This is *the* legal technology program for lawyers and anyone involved in the delivery of legal services. For three days,
This year BC Crown Counsel Nils Jensen will be one of TECHSHOW’s new speakers, speaking on his innovative use of technology in the courtroom. Other Canadian speakers (full faculty listing can be found at: http://www.abanet.org/techshow/faculty/index.html will include Dan Pinnington of LawPro, recently appointed Judge Carole Curtis (who was until recently a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada), Dominic Jaar, a litigator with
If you are a Canadian Bar Association member, you can save $100 off the registration fee (the CBA is a program promoter of TECHSHOW). Techshow is March 13-15, 2008 at the Chicago Hilton Hotel.
You will welcome the opportunity to go to a Chicago Blues Bar just to relax by the time Saturday evening hits, and say: “Here comes the night!” For more information go to: http://www.abanet.org/techshow
♫ Make it easy (easy)
Easy to be with you…♫
Words and Music by Steven Page and Ed Robertson, recorded by The BareNaked Ladies.
I had the honour to meet with the Solo and Small Practice Section of the Washington State Bar Association this weekend and participate in their annual strategic planning retreat and renew my contact with friends such as Pete Roberts, the Practice Management Advisor for the WSBA, the Solo and Small Firm Section Chair Dirk Bartram, and the rest of the Executive Committee.
During the meeting, Julie Fowler introduced me to Constant Contact, a newsletter and survey website that is quite simply, a wonderful service for any lawyer looking at developing and sending out an electronic newsletter. Not only is the interface straightforward and easy to use, it is also very powerful and cost-effective. It has many tools that makes the entire process of creating, editing, uploading of images and the creation of links, the sending of the emails and the collection of data following the sending of the email newsletter very straightforward.
These days lawyers need to develop methods to reach out to their clients and potential clients in ways that are user-friendly. While blogs and Web 2.0 tools are receiving a lot of attention lately, there are many clients for whom email is about as far as they wish to go with technology. RSS feeds and such may be too overly complex for many clients. However, meeting these client’s needs by sending out an electronic newsletter is a great way to push out information on you and your practice in a form that is easily understood and read by most clients. I believe that tax, estate planning, wills and estates practices would be a natural for this type of marketing, along with other practice areas.
Tools that makes it easy for clients to be in constant contact with you are always welcome!
♫What’s new pussycat? Woah, Woah♫
by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, sung by Tom Jones.
I gave a TIPS presentation at a CLE in December. During the question period when I asked for TIPS from the audience, a lawyer came up to the mic and said that the *best* piece of technology that he has acquired was a Tablet PC combined with an Aircard for internet access. He stated that he takes it to court and while waiting for his case, he can call up his email and write his replies (that are recognized by the tablet PC’s handwriting recognition software) and draft notes etc. And since it is a a Tablet PC and he is handwriting, he isn’t disturbing the court and the judges leave him be. The Aircard gives him access to the Internet from virtually anywhere.
This is a great adaptation of three different technologies – the Aircard, the Tablet PC and handwriting recognition software – that allows this lawyer to be more effective and efficient wherever he may find himself. And it is also a great example of how we all can benefit by occasionally asking each other: “What’s New, Pussycat?”
♫ How do I feel by the end of the day
Are you sad because you’re on your own ..
No, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends…♫
Words and music by Lennon-McCartney
It seems I am on a roll lately with The Beatles…and with a little help from my friends Allison Wolf and Doug Jasinski. It seems we are sharing a 2007 CLawBie award in the area of Practice Management Blogs! In addition I seemed to have snagged a runner-up award for Best New Law Blog along with Donna Seale’s Human Rights in the Workplace and Dan Michaluk’s All About Information.
I am humbled by this recognition. Blogging seems a solitary affair and it is gratifying to find your work recognized. I also wish to thank Steve Matthews and his work in developing the CLawBies …he is indeed a leader in the whole area of Canadian Legal Blogs and moving law into the world of Web 2.0. Steve deserves the most recognition of all!
And in reflection, you realize that as a blogger, you are not alone…you are part of a community of like-minded individuals - and we all get by with a little help from our friends.
♫ Been away so long I hardly knew the place
Gee, it’s good to be back home
Leave it till tomorrow to unpack my case
Honey disconnect the phone
I’m back in the USSR…♫
Words and music by Lennon-McCartney.
I have just returned from speaking for the Law Society of Manitoba on Friday Jan. 18, where I not only had the chance to chat with fellow blogger Donna Seale (Human Rights in the Workplace), but also to present with fellow Practice Management Advisor Barney Christianson Q.C. , Robert McCulloch and Martin Gutnik on the program entitled: “Minding Your Own Business, 2nd Annual Forum on Solo & Small Firm Practice”. While originally a Winnipeg boy, I have been away so long I hardly recognized the place…or at least, parts of it anyway. It was wonderful for the ‘peggers to arrange the -43 (with wind chill) weather to remind me that I was back in the USSR..ahh…no …Winnipeg…but it was truly *good* to be back home…
This trip gave me the opportunity to use a hot new web site: TripIt.
TripIt works as follows: You register with TripIt (supplying the usual information) and establish an email address and password. From there, you make your plane, hotel, car etc reservations - and email a copy of your confirmations to plans@tripit.com. Here is where the magic starts.
TripIt starts a new itinerary for you - and as you add in your hotel to your plane reservations, car etc…it automatically builds your trip itinerary for you. This is truly magic..you do *not* have to rekey in anything - TripIt scrapes or discerns your travel plans automatically - and adds in links to “online checkin”, “check flight status”, “get seating advice” as well as necessary info such as departure and arrival information.
Hotel information is similarly organized…and includes a summary of the hotel room’s details (such as free internet). It also includes check out times, maps and directions from the airport to the hotel, weather information and such. You can invite in collaborators, add notes to the trip and much more. This is one cool travel site and one that will have me coming back time after time. Hat tip to Tom Mighell and his blog Inter Alia who also is the Chair of ABA TECHSHOW this year for putting me onto this site!
♫Tell him “no”, oh-oh-oh, Tell him “no”..♫
Words and music by Travis Pritchett, recorded by Travis & Bob.
A posting on InfoWorld’s web site today reports that British Schools have been advised not to upgrade to Microsoft’s Vista operating system and the Office 2007 productivity suite. The reasons are telling:
“We have not had sight of any evidence to support the argument that the costs of upgrading to Vista in educational establishments would be offset by appropriate benefit,” it said.
Furthermore, it continues:
“As for Office 2007, “there remains no compelling case for deployment,” the agency said in its full report, published this week.”
InfoWorld states that the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA) advised that ‘the added value of Vista’s new features was not sufficient to justify the cost of deployment, while Office 2007 contained no “must-have” features.‘
In a telling move away from proprietary file formats: ‘the agency also recommended setting up desktops to make it easy to use such open-source applications, and advised schools to insist their suppliers deliver office productivity software that can open and save ODF documents, setting it as the default file format.’
This may be an early sign for organizations generally, including law firms, to move toward greater standardization around ODF formats. And if file formats become open and standard, that leads to questions as to why one would need a proprietary word processor, if Open Source software can easily meet the needs of a business organization.
This means that when the automatic request comes to purchase the next upgrade from Microsoft, the answer may be, to tell him no…
♫ Come together right now over me ♫
Words and Music by Lennon-McCartney
I have been remiss in making a new post due to my scrambling to finish my papers for two presentations at ABA TECSHOW 2008 in Chicago in March. Papers are due this Friday!
This year’s rendition of the Worlds Premier Legal Technology Conference promises to be as good, if not better, than all past Conferences. I find the quality of the discussions between presenters and attendees, the first-class presentations and the ideas that crackle in the air to be a fairly heady mix! For anyone looking for new approaches, concepts, applications and inspiration, this conference is an extremely nutrient-rich environment!
I also hope to again co-host one of the Taste of Techshow dinners…so if you are coming to Techshow, sign up for my dinner and we can chat in person at one of the fine restaurants in Chicago!
Check out the schedule and hotel and travel information on the Techshow web site. Oh and come to my sessions: Records Management Technology: It’s a Small World After All and Drafting Bills Your Clients Will Rush to Pay.
See you there - March 13-15, 2008.
Come together..right now….over me!
♫ And though my lack of education
Hasn’t hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall… ♫
Words and music by Paul Simon.
In talking with lawyers of all ages, there is a general consensus that while law schools teach the theory of law well, they do a less-than stellar job in actually preparing lawyers to practice law. While anecdotal evidence is interesting, Gene Koo of The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at
They found:
- “More than 75 percent of lawyers surveyed said they lacked critical practice skills after completing their law school education.
- Today’s workplace demands skills that the traditional law school curriculum does not cover.
- Many attorneys work in complex teams distributed across multiple offices: nearly 80 percent of lawyers surveyed belong to one or more work teams, with 19 percent participating in more than five teams. Yet only 12 percent of law students report working in groups on class projects.
- Smaller firms can stay competitive with larger firms through more nimble deployment of technology tools and by exploiting the exploding amount of data openly available on the Web. Attorneys at these firms need tech-related skills to realize these opportunities.
- Many attorneys work in complex teams distributed across multiple offices: nearly 80 percent of lawyers surveyed belong to one or more work teams, with 19 percent participating in more than five teams. Yet only 12 percent of law students report working in groups on class projects.
- Legal educators seriously under-utilize new technologies, even in those settings, such as clinical legal education, that are the most practice-oriented.”
The question is, are law schools adequately preparing student for real-life practice? According to Prof Gary Munnuke of
(www.abanet.org/lpm/magazine/articles/v33/is4/an13.shtml) (I wish I could find similar stats for
At least in
The Berkman study notes that law students should be exposed to four new skill areas:
- knowledge-generating (separating knowledge from data, or in other words, dealing with information overload)
- techno-social (working with colleagues via technology. An example is negotiating settlements via email and other ‘low emotional bandwidth’ methods, that require different social skills than face-to-face negotiations)
- metapractice (translation of one-off situations into systems of practice. This skill set incorporates ‘systems level’ thinking that allows a lawyer to combine technology with the process of law and build systems that deliver legal services in a cost-effective manner up and down the value chain) and
- for those who manage lawyers, technology management skills.
The emphasis on teamwork, collaboration skills (including on-line collaboration skills as are necessary to draft and edit a document among different parties in different time zones using the Internet) and how technology has changed the way lawyers practice law are overriding themes of this study.
An interesting aspect is the growing need for lawyers to work in teams, supported by technology. This is not surprising for lawyers in larger firms, but the study found that 53% of respondents in firms of 2-20 lawyers report belonging to at least one team. Interestingly, while emails, conference calls and in-person meetings were found ‘useful’ for team collaboration, “Practice-specific software such as litigation support or document management systems represents another significant means of collaboration (46%)”. This rather counters the image of the solitary knight riding off to do battle on behalf of a client. It further underscores the importance that litigation support technology has come to play in helping litigation lawyers work as a team as well as organize the case!
Certainly there is a need for law schools to have clinical development programs, which expose students to the actual practice of law. However, the report noted for even for those law schools that had clinical programs in place, “not all clinical programs have robust technology infrastructures, meaning that students may not in fact be experiencing fully authentic practice”. The report’s author also found that lawyers entering smaller practices may need more extensive and specific training in technology management skills than their big-firm counterparts.
The report’s authors found that at one top-tier school with several clinical programs in place, only the largest clinical projects actively use Time Matters; the others apparently lack the resources necessary to customize the product to their needs. While the study found that generally speaking law students are much more skilled with technology than the lawyers in the firms in which they are hired, law students come out of law school with at best, a limited exposure to the legal technological tools that are actually in use in law firms. This raises the question of where lawyers are going to acquire the knowledge of how to effectively use legal technology – if not in law school and not in practice…then ..exactly…where? Perhaps it is time to look at the reports in black and white and read the writing on the wall…
(this is based on a column originally published in PracticeTalk in the Canadian Bar Association - BC Branch’s newsletter BarTalk)