Monthly Archives: September 2018

Heads Up! Federal Civil Procedure Amendments Effective December 1, 2018.

30 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by in Federal Law, Research

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2018-2019 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Approved © 2014-2018 The National Court Rules Committee

https://bit.ly/2R9XNC5

The U.S. Supreme Court approved amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on April 26, 2018. The new amendments go into effect on December 1, 2018, which is now only a few months away. As usual, new text is underlined; deleted text is struck through.

When you review the amendments, I recommend taking the time to read the notes that explain the reasons for the changes. As for the amendment to Rule 5. I suggest that, if you serve a complaint by e-mail, use the email option to show delivery to and/or read receipt by the recipient.

This link will take you to the revised rules, but it is also a free resource that provides access to all the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For both reasons, worth a bookmark. – CCE

Ken Adams Makes A Standing Offer.

27 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by in Boilerplate Forms, Contract Law, Legal Writing

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How I Would Go About Redrafting Your Templates, by Ken Adams, Adams On Contract Drafting Blog

http://www.adamsdrafting.com/how-i-would-go-about-redrafting-your-templates/

Ken Adams has made a “standing offer.” If you send him one of your contract templates, he will take the time to edit it.

Wow. Even if you are the best contract writer in the world, why wouldn’t you take Mr. Adams’ up on such a generous offer? Opportunities such as this do not come along every day. Thank you, Mr. Adams! -CCE

New Bill Proposes Free Access to PACER.

19 Wednesday Sep 2018

Posted by in Recent Links and Articles

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Proposed Bill Would Eliminate PACER Fees, by Joshua Tashea, ABA Journal Blog

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/new_bill_wants_to_end_pacer_fees?icn=most_read

States have already made the leap to provide free access to cases on their judges’ dockets. You can read all documents filed by the parties and the assigned judge, the date of any hearing or trial date and their outcome, and access every document (for the most part) filed with the all state courts. Not so with the federal district, appellate, or bankruptcy courts. Your only access is through PACER, a completely different system.

The proposed Electronic Court Records Reform Act is long overdue and removes the fee to access these documents. -CCE

Ways to Improve Your Performance.

16 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by in Billing, Diligence, Job Performance, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Management, Time Management

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Associates: Top 10 Questions to Ask Your Supervising Attorney, by Cordell Parvin, Cordell Parvin Blog (with hat tip to William Statsky)

https://bit.ly/2oPQqmf

Let’s go with the premise that, whenever a supervisor gives you an assignment, you are familiar with office procedures, court rules, or whatever basics you need to perform the work. This post has two sections: (1) questions to ask before starting an assignment, and (2) questions to ask after completion.

Even if you already know some or all of the answers to the first, asking the second set of questions will help you get valuable feedback to improve your performance. – CCE

“[A]t the Beginning of a Project:

  1. When would you like me to complete this project?
  2. Describe what you have been told to do and then ask: Have I missed anything?
  3. How many hours are you expecting me to take on the project?
  4. Are there any materials I should review?
  5. Would it be helpful if I gave you my initial findings/conclusions?

At the end of the project:

  1. Have I covered all the areas you wanted?
  2. Is there anything more I can do to help you with this?
  3. Can you give me some feedback on my work?
  4. Are there any areas where you think I could improve?
  5. Can I help you with any other projects now?”

E-Filing Tips.

09 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by in E-Filing, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Office Procedures, Technology

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E-Filing Tips for Attorneys, by Smokeball

https://www.smokeball.com/blog/e-filing-tips-for-attorneys/

Are you an e-filing superstar or novice? Regardless of your court jurisdiction, Smokeball has provided tips that cross jurisdictional lines. These are more common-sense suggestions rather than tips specific to a particular court, and worth your time. Smokeball includes a commercial for its product. Even if Smokeball is not your cup of tea, the underlying premise is a good one. -CCE

With the advent of e-filing comes new challenges and opportunities for mistakes. Some e-filling mistakes are caused by poor planning, clunky software or even something as simple as a setting in your inbox. To help you stay on top of your e-filling, here are five e-filing tips to help you avoid e-filing pitfalls.

‘[A] computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history – with the possible exception of handguns and tequila.’[1]

Use a Separate and Distinct E-Filing Email Address

Did you know that the average person receives about 120 emails everyday?

If you are like most people, you have to sift through the clutter to get to emails that are important. But, because you get so many emails everyday, you may overlook or mistakenly delete an important email.

With mandatory e-filing, every attorney is required to provide a primary email address and up to two secondary email addresses on all appearances and documents filed with the court.[2] This means that not only will you electronically file documents, you will also receive documents filed by other parties via email.

As you list your primary email address on your appearance, don’t use your personal email address as your primary address. Create a separate email address for e-filing to help you stay organized. A dedicated email address for e-filing will ensure that all notices are sent to one central address. This allows other members of your firm to access emails and look for notices from the courts specifically for your cases. Also, when you are out of the office, others can cover and look out for any actions taken on cases.

Check Your Junk and Spam Folders

Another simple but overlooked e-filing tip is checking your spam folder.

Everyday you receive junk or spam mail that clogs up your mailbox. Because of the countless number of junk mail we receive each day, our mail servers have filters that uses a set of protocols to determine what is junk and what are legitimate emails. However, there are times that legitimate emails are caught by an aggressive filter. For attorneys, that could potentially be an e-filling.

To ensure that you don’t miss a notice from the court or opposing counsel, make sure to check your junk mail folders. Also, don’t set your junk mail folder to delete automatically. You don’t want to make a mistake of missing a deadline because it was stuck in the junk mail folder and then auto-deleted.

Whitelist Important Senders

A whitelist is a list of email addresses or domain names that you provide that allows your junk mail or spam filter will allow through into your inbox. I recommend that you put the domain names of the courts and clerk’s offices on your whitelist.  Also, enter opposing counsels and key clients on the whitelist to ensure that emails are not blocked. It’s important to keep your whitelist updated as people and organizations change email addresses or domain names.

Check the Online Court Docket

It’s easy to rely on emails and notifications for new events on your cases, but don’t rely on emails to stay on top of your cases. It’s still a best practice to check the court’s docket online to ensure that no new action or orders were entered. There may be instances where emails were blocked, sent to the wrong address, or other technical glitches causing you to not receive a notice. Create a protocol to check the court’s online docket every 2 to 3 weeks on all your active cases.

Don’t Wait ’till the Last Minute

Supreme Court Rule 9(d) provides that you have until midnight to electronically file a document and still have it considered as filed that same day.  However, don’t wait till the last minute to file a document. E-Filing is a new process and there may be technical issues that you will encounter at the last minute. You may lose your internet connection, lose power, have computer issues, etc., which can cause you to miss your deadline.

Make sure your computer is up to date and have your anti-virus updated. Use a legal practice management system to ensure your data is backed up and you can collaborate with other members of your firm just in case something goes wrong with your computer.

E-filing with Legal Practice Management Software

It’s more important with e-filing to have all your case and critical data in a digital file, where you store all documents, emails, and other important case details in one central location. Enter Smokeball.

Smokeball not only allows you to keep all your information in one central place, you have access to over 14,000 automated legal forms, the most comprehensive automated legal forms library in the industry.

For attorneys in Illinois, Smokeball’s integration with InfoTrack allows you e-file directly from your practice management software. To learn more, see the software for yourself.

[1] Mitch Ratcliffe (quoted in Herb Brody, The Pleasure Machine: Computers, Technology Review, Apr. 1992, at 31).

[2] Rule 11, Rule 131(d)(1)

 

Focus!

06 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by in Law Office Management, Office Procedures, Time Management

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New Book on Attention Focusing, by Scott Fruehwald, Legal Skills Prof Blog

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_skills/2018/09/new-book-on-attention-focusing.html

In the legal profession, multi-tasking is considered a required skill for attorneys and staff alike. Depending on the project, there are times when I want – or need – a chunk of uninterrupted time to perform that particular task. At other times, I can easily juggle several things at once. It depends on the task and how many distractions are competing for my attention.

There is an opposite point of view that multi-tasking is a myth. Rather than multi-tasking, they advocate that focusing on one thing at a time is the most efficient use of your time.

This difference of opinion about multi-tasking is why this post caught my eye. We all have days when we wonder whether our brain cells decided to commit mass suicide without warning us. Conversely, there are times when we are solidly in the zone and knock out one assignment after the other.

Professor Fruehwald’s post tweaked my curiosity about a person’s short-term memory and how it works, as well as the title of Chris Bailey’s book, “Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction.” Looks like an excellent read. -CCE

One of the most important aspects of being an effective learner is attention focusing.  Short-term memory has only about 4 to 7 slots, and an effective learner focuses her attention on the task at hand.  Chris Bailey has just published a self-help book on attention focusing for a popular audience: Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction (2018).

From the New York Times:

‘Hyperfocus’ teaches readers to control their limited capacity to focus on and process things in the moment, which he calls our ‘attentional space.’ It turns out our brain’s scratchpad is pretty small and can only hold a handful of tasks at a time. When one of those tasks is complex — like putting together a business proposal or taking care of a toddler — that number dwindles down to one or two.