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The Researching Paralegal

~ Articles and Research for Legal Professionals

The Researching Paralegal

Tag Archives: Law Office Management

There’s Positive Stress and Then There’s the Other Kind.

11 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bullying, Employment Law, Harassment, Law Office Management, Marketing, Office Procedures

≈ Comments Off on There’s Positive Stress and Then There’s the Other Kind.

Tags

Celeste Duke, Diversity Insight Blog, Law Office Management, Workplace Bullying

Stress at Work: Defining the Line Between Motivation and an Abusive Workplace, by Celeste Duke, Diversity Insight Blog

http://bit.ly/29Nja5b

Regardless of whether you are a lawyer or legal professional, if you have been out there for a while, you have run into a “bad” boss. They are described in different ways – bully, perfectionist, bi-polar, belittling, and just plain unpleasant – but they are all accomplish at least one thing. They chase off good employees, and make an associates’ and staff’s miserable.

Many rules in a law office may not make sense to the uninitiated. Usually strict rules accompanied with micro-management are a red flag. New hires will likely inherit left over residue from a former employee who abused the rules so badly and frequently that management adopted more restrictive rules. It doesn’t matter that the bad apple is no longer there. New employees are stuck with jumping through the hoop actually designed for a former employee.

If you are interviewing and the office manager asks whether you mind working with difficult people, that is clearly a red flag. Ask why a position is open. Often, when all other things are equal, someone who works for a good boss rarely leaves a job.

If you have a boss who is truly making you miserable or has made it clear you are as far up the ladder as you will go, it doesn’t hurt to polish up your resume and stick your toe in the water. As a good friend once said that, when it comes to job hunting, you can always shop but you don’t have to buy.

If you have found that the nice prospective boss in the interview has turned into an extremely difficult tyrant, of course you have options. But, to be on the safe side, you may want to polish your resume and start putting out feelers. There is a difference between positive stress and the extremely destructive kind. Before this boss has destroyed any self-confidence you have left, get out of there.

Happily, not all attorney supervisors believe that intimidation and abusive behavior is the best way to encourage quality work and employees. Some people even thing that positive reinforcement, team work, and mutual respect and consideration actually improve employee performance and enhance the firm’s overall quality. What a concept! – CCE

In the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, Blake is a trainer sent by corporate to motivate a sales team. In addition to offering helpful gems like the acronym ABC to remind the salesmen that they should ‘always be closing,’ he repeatedly berates them and calls them names while bragging about his own success. He tells the team about a new sales competition that week: First place gets a Cadillac, second place gets a set of steak knives, and third place gets fired.

We hope you have never had a boss like Blake, but it’s likely that you recognize shades of his character in past managers, coworkers, or even a current manager in your organization. You want managers to push employees to do good work and get the best results for the company, but it can be hard to know how far is too far. During his ‘motivational’ speech, Blake asks one salesman, ‘You think this is abuse?’ As it turns out, it just might be, and this could be a new frontier in employee claims.

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Yep – Just A Paralegal.

10 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Management, Paralegals/Legal Assistants

≈ Comments Off on Yep – Just A Paralegal.

Tags

California Bar Journal, Christopher Beck, Law Office Management, Paralegal

“Just” a Paralegal? by Christopher Beck, California Bar Journal (May 2016)(with hat tip to William P. Statsky)

http://calbarjournal.com/May2016/Opinion/ChristopherBeckCYLA.aspx

[I] remember something very intelligent and profound that my professor said during this first day: ‘One day you’ll be out in the world working at a law office, big or small, government or private. And on that first day you will have absolutely no idea what you are doing. To make it worse, no other associate will help you. The best advice I can give you is this: Be nice to the paralegals. They know more than you think, often as much as the lawyers, and they have been at the firm longer. If you want to survive, befriend them.’

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App Honey Pot for Lawyers and Other Legal Professionals.

13 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Apps, Clouds, Document Retention, Dropbox, Evernote, Google, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Management, Marketing, Office Procedures, Technology, Time Management

≈ Comments Off on App Honey Pot for Lawyers and Other Legal Professionals.

Tags

Apps, Document Storage, Dropbox, E-Discovery, Law Office Management, Legal Productivity Blog, Marketing, Note Taking, Tim Baran

50+ Apps and Services to Manage and Grow Your Law Practice, by Tim Baran, Legal Productivity Blog

http://bit.ly/1O8iPGC

[H]ere’s a list culled from feedback from solos and small firm lawyers and administrators, my own experience, and lots of research, that will help to optimize the day-to-day management and growth of your practice. . . .

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Less Stress and More Clients? What’s Not To Like?

17 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Management, Marketing

≈ Comments Off on Less Stress and More Clients? What’s Not To Like?

Tags

Jim Calloway, Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog, Law Office Management, Law Office Marketing

Toward a Less Stressful Workplace (and More Clients), by Jim Calloway, Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog

http://www.lawpracticetipsblog.com/2016/01/a-less-stressful-workplace.html

Toward a Less Stressful Workplace is my column in the January/February 2015 issue of Law Practice Magazine. Law offices often deal with very high stakes matters under strict time deadlines. It is not news to those in the legal profession that there is a lot of stress associated with being a lawyer. So there may be nothing earth-shattering for you in these tips. But it is the beginning of a new year and aiming for less stress in your life and the lives of your coworkers has to be a good thing. So read and feel free to share. . . .

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More Ways To Use The Versatility of Evernote.

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Evernote, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Note Taking, Office Procedures, Technology

≈ Comments Off on More Ways To Use The Versatility of Evernote.

Tags

Evernote, Law Office Management, Legal Productivity, Legal Technology, Tim Baran

How Lawyers Use Evernote, by Tim Baran, Legal Productivity®

http://www.legalproductivity.com/practice-management/evernote-lawyers/

Evernote has so much potential. I have barely scratched the surface. This is a tool I definitely want to use and know more about. -CCE

Evernote is more than a note-taking application. We use it to store ideas, recordings, projects, tasks, images…The list is as comprehensive as we want it to be. Evernote allows us to offload our brain and organize our lives.

And how do lawyers use Evernote? I asked a few Evernote-loving lawyers. Here are their stories.

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Your Electronic Communications and Record Keeping Requirements.

21 Monday Sep 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Ethics Opinions, Law Firm Web Sites, Law Office Management, Legal Blogs, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Rules of Professional Responsibility, Technology, Technology

≈ Comments Off on Your Electronic Communications and Record Keeping Requirements.

Tags

Anna Massoglia, Law Office Management, Lawyerist Blog, Legal Ethics, Record Keeping Requirements, Websites

Deleting Your Website Can Come Back to Bite You in the Assets, by Anna Massoglia, Lawyerist Blog

http://tinyurl.com/nzda7hh

Chances are, you are all too aware that record-keeping is a tedious but necessary evil in the legal profession. There’s also a good chance that you have a website. According to the 2014 ABA Technology Survey Report, 84% of law firms do.

Record-keeping requirements include more than just client files and financial transactions. Many state rules also apply to other electronic communications — including websites.

It is not true that something released to the internet is ‘out there’ forever — especially when it comes to those attempting to comply with record-keeping requirements. . . .

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Retooling and Law Office Management Tips From Jim Calloway.

15 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Economics, Law Office Management, Management, Marketing, Office Procedures, Technology, Time Management

≈ Comments Off on Retooling and Law Office Management Tips From Jim Calloway.

Tags

3 Geeks and a Law Blog, Client Intake, Greg Lambert, Hourly Billing, Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog, Law Office Management, Law Practice Magazine

Effective Client Intake and the Rise of Firm Pricers, by Jim Calloway, Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog

http://tinyurl.com/pfxnpk5


Effective client intake and law firm pricing may not seem like closely connected topics, but they are connected and will be even more connected in the future. My column in the September Law Practice Magazine is Effective Client Intake and the Rise of Firm Pricers.

Law firms are retooling and reevaluating many of their operations and procedures. How long has it been since you have taken at look at your new client (or new matter for an existing client) intake procedures? . . .

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App Resources – Save Time and Plug In!

27 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Apple, Apps, Cell Phones, Emails, iPhones, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Time Management

≈ Comments Off on App Resources – Save Time and Plug In!

Tags

Belle Beth Cooper, Buffer Blog, iOS Apps, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, RSS, Shawn J. Roberts, Social media

The Beginner’s Guide to Putting the Internet to Work for You: How to Easily Save 60 Minutes Every Day, by Belle Beth Cooper, Buffer Blog (with hat tip to Shawn J. Roberts)

http://tinyurl.com/ncu683v

So many great ideas and useful apps, even if you are not tech savvy. This is stuff you can, and should, use right now. -CCE

One of the most fun and useful things I’ve been doing lately is automating small processes I do all the time. It took me a while to work up the courage to dive into automation, as it always seemed like a really difficult, technical thing to do, which should be left to programmers.

Luckily, there are lots of tools being created lately to make automation easier for those of us without a solid understanding of how our computers really work. . . .

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Big Brother Pilot Program Comes To Watchell Lipton Rosen & Katz.

22 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Management, Office Procedures, Time Management

≈ Comments Off on Big Brother Pilot Program Comes To Watchell Lipton Rosen & Katz.

Tags

Big Brother, BNA Bloomberg Blog, Casey Sullivan, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz

Wachtell Lipton To Start Tracking Employee Work Status, by Casey Sullivan, BNA Bloomberg Blog

https://bol.bna.com/wachtell-lipton-to-start-tracking-employee-work-status/

This firm has a philosophy – treat its lawyers like grown ups with no billable hour requirement and other perks. Now they appear to have a problem finding their attorneys.

Who gets the job of tracking the attorneys? Their assistants, of course. Will this encourage a great working relationship between the assistants and their supervising attorneys? Probably not.

How long do you think this pilot program will last, and will other firms follow their example? -CCE

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz will start a pilot program next week, requiring its assistants to report the status and location of the firm’s attorneys each morning, according to an internal memo leaked to the legal blog Above the Law.

Still unknown: how Wachtell plans to use the information it gathers?

From the memo: ‘The lack of awareness of the status and/or location of our colleagues results in staffing and work-related complications and other concerns.’

It also explained the process. The assistants would have an icon on their computers that would include a variety of options, such as ‘working from home,’ ‘traveling on business,’ and ‘leave of absence,’ and they will be required to input the status and location of their assigned attorneys. . . .

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Is It Okay To Wipe A Former Employee’s Computer?

04 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Discovery, E-Discovery, Evidence, Forensic Evidence, Law Office Management, Litigation Hold, Office Procedures, Preservation, Technology

≈ Comments Off on Is It Okay To Wipe A Former Employee’s Computer?

Tags

Computer Files, Doug Austin, E-Discovery Preservation, eDiscoverydaily, Law Office Management, Litigation Hold, Spoliation

Court Denies Request for Sanctions for Routine Deletion of Files of Departed Employees: eDiscovery Case Law, by Doug Austin, eDiscoverydaily

http://tinyurl.com/p2jfsqe

For many employers, it is normal procedure to “wipe” the computer of recently former employees after removing anything not already stored on the employer’s network. Is this a bad practice? -CCE

In Charvat et al. v. Valente et al., 12-5746 (N.D. Ill. July 1, 2015), Illinois Magistrate Judge Mary M. Rowland denied the plaintiff’s request for spoliation sanctions for the defendant’s admitted destruction of computer files belonging to two departed employees, finding that the plaintiff did not provide any evidence that the defendant acted in bad faith. . . .

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Let’s Think About Going Paperless.

19 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Economics, File Naming Conventions, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Office Procedures, Scanners, Technology, Technology, Time Management

≈ Comments Off on Let’s Think About Going Paperless.

Tags

Andrew Kucera, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Rocket Matter, Scanners, Tim Baran

How One Law Firm Went Paperless: An Interview with Andrew Kucera, by Tim Baran, Rocket Matter

http://tinyurl.com/noy2suz

For years, law firms have talked about going “paperless.” It took some time to catch on. Scanners were sometimes more trouble than they were worth. It took money and many hours to convert all the files to a paperless system. It sounded like a good idea, but not everyone was convinced.

Things have changed. These days, going paperless makes good sense and good economics. No more filing or indexing pleadings? I can live with that.

This post from Rocket Matter makes good sense. If you decide to go that route, do not start until you look into file naming conventions. Pick one that is logical and easy to understand. Now you are on your way. -CCE

While putting together the Paperless Law Office E-Book, we thought, who better to learn from than a firm who went through the process? So we interviewed Andrew Kucera who was instrumental in helping move six-person Cuttone & Kucera, PC (now, Cuttone & Associates), a real estate and business law firm in Fresno, California, to a paperless operation. . . .

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More File Naming Convention Tips.

07 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in File Naming Conventions, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Office Procedures

≈ Comments Off on More File Naming Convention Tips.

Tags

File Naming Conventions, Law Office Management, Legal Technology & Tips, Office Procedures

File Naming Conventions  

This supplements a previous post listing file naming conventions. See https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/03/29/please-use-electronic-file-naming-conventions/. If none of those were a good fit for you, perhaps one of these will hit the mark. -CCE

Best Practices For File Naming, Stanford University Libraries
http://library.stanford.edu/research/data-management-services/data-best-practices/best-practices-file-naming

File Naming Conventions, Data Management for Undergraduate Researchers, Purdue University Librarians
http://guides.lib.purdue.edu/content.php?pid=440001&sid=4901667

Getting Organized: Great Tips for Better File Names, by Jill Duffy, PC Mag
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2385613,00.asp

File Naming Guidelines, The Center for Teaching and Learning, Division of Academic Affairs, UNC Charlotte
http://teaching.uncc.edu/learning-resources/articles-books/best-practice/web-accessibility/file-naming-guidelines

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I Have A Little List . . . .

23 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Management, Marketing, Office Procedures, Time Management

≈ Comments Off on I Have A Little List . . . .

Tags

Bad Language Blog, Law Office Management, Matthew Stibbe

40 Essential Rules Of Client Management (Collected Over 10 Years), by Matthew Stibbe, Bad Language Blog

http://tinyurl.com/kuovcje

For the last decade, I’ve been compiling a list of ‘rules’ for client management based on very personal, subjective reactions to things that happened to me, mainly in the business world. I was partly inspired by NASA’s 100 rules for project managers.

I always meant it to be very personal and some of the rules relate to very specific things that happened to me. But I realised that with proper scrubbing it might be interesting for you too. . . .

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Jim Calloway’s New Legal Technology Column – This Will Be A “Must Read!”

11 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Technology, Time Management

≈ Comments Off on Jim Calloway’s New Legal Technology Column – This Will Be A “Must Read!”

Tags

Jim Calloway, Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Time Management

It’s Time To Love Technology, by Jim Calloway, Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog

http://www.lawpracticetipsblog.com/2015/01/ime-to-love-technology.html

Lawyers tend to have a love/hate relationship with technology. Of course, that’s often true for any of us who use today’s technology for our work. But for many lawyers, these feelings are quite pronounced and, without offering any amateur psychological diagnosis, I feel many members of the legal profession evidence a split personality when using technology.

So begins my column, It’s Time To Love Technology, in the January/February issue of Law Practice Magazine. I know that statement is easier for me to say, having an interest in technology rather than the very-typical lawyer aversion to technology. But it is time, past time actually, to be updating to technology-based digital work flows. It is time to embrace the fact that the tools of our trade are mainly technology-based tools. We would certainly judge others who did not know how to use the basic tools of their trade properly. It is time. I appreciate that you are too busy and think you don’t have the time.

But, as I noted in my column:

If you are billing a client for four hours to do something that could be done in 20 minutes, you are not doing right by your law practice or your client.

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Abusive Bosses Learn by Playing Follow The Leader. Is It That Simple?

17 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bullying, Employment Law, Harassment, Hostile Work Environment, Law Office Management, Management

≈ Comments Off on Abusive Bosses Learn by Playing Follow The Leader. Is It That Simple?

Tags

Bullying, Child Abuse Syndrome, Employment Law, HBR Blog, Hostile Work Environment, Law Office Management, the careerist blog, Vivia Chen

My Boss / My Self, by Vivia Chen, the careerist blog

http://thecareerist.typepad.com/thecareerist/2013/01/are-you-mean-and-nasty-at-work-.html

I’ve heard bosses give this reason before. “I used to be a nice person.” At least they see it. Some don’t or won’t. So what happened? -CCE

Do you ever feel like wringing the necks of underlings who seem incapable of following your directives? Okay, so who hasn’t? But do you go one step further—like berating or humiliating them?

If you are becoming short-tempered, mean, or just nasty at work, don’t blame it on your crushing workload. According to a study described in the Harvard Business Review Blog, you might be modeling your behavior after your own boss.

It’s the child abuse syndrome: Those who were abused end up as abusers themselves.

The study, which was conducted by Christine Porath of Georgetown University and Christine Pearson of the Thunderbird School of Global Management, finds that 60 percent of employees ‘blame their bad behavior on being overloaded at work.’ But the research indicates other dyanamics in play, writes the authors in HBR Blog:

In one of our surveys, 25 percent of managers who admitted to having behaved badly said they were uncivil because their leaders—their own role models—were rude. If employees see that those who have climbed the corporate ladder tolerate or embrace uncivil behavior, they’re likely to follow suit.

Of course, it doesn’t take a management genius to figure out that having an office full of bullies and victims doesn’t make for a productive workplace. The report finds:

– 48 percent of employees intentionally decreased their work effort.

– 47 percent intentionally decreased their work time.

– 80 percent lost work time worrying about their treatment.

– 66 percent said that their performance declined.

So what can businesses do to eradicate workplace incivility? . . .

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It’s Almost The First Of The Year – Time For Strategic Planning Meeting!

25 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Disaster Preparedness, Law Office Management, Management, Marketing, Office Procedures, Technology, Time Management

≈ Comments Off on It’s Almost The First Of The Year – Time For Strategic Planning Meeting!

Tags

Billing, Disaster Preparedness, Law Office Management

Leadership for Lawyers: How to Conduct a Strategic Planning Meeting, by Larry Port, Legal Productivity

http://tinyurl.com/o8txfh9

Your office may run perfectly – or so you think. We all have room for improvement. The same goes for the workplace. You may feel that, if there are any changes needed, you’ll make that decision. Fair enough. But is it possible that someone else at your office may have an idea you haven’t considered? You won’t know unless you ask. -CCE

What I’m about to ask you to do may initially seem like madness for an hourly lawyer, but I argue that it’s madness NOT to do it.

For the love of all that’s holy, PLEASE spend a day or two (even three) a year, locked in a room away from your office with the most important people in your law firm.

You need a yearly planning meeting like the one I describe below, and without it you’re spinning in circles without a navigation system. You won’t know where you’re going or when you’ve arrived.

Your annual planning meeting is the most critical conversation you will have all year for your law firm. When well-executed, you will emerge with a blueprint for the future direction of your firm. You’ll lay out concrete initiatives and goals that will, in turn, drive quarterly plans, which trickle down to your everyday to-do list.

Thought of in reverse, every activity you engage in on a daily basis should support a quarterly objective which is derived from the road map you draw in your annual offsite meeting. . . .

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Is It Legal Malpractice If You Are Technologically Incompetent?

01 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Malpractice, Social Media, Technology, Technology, Technology, Trial Tips and Techniques, Using Social Media

≈ Comments Off on Is It Legal Malpractice If You Are Technologically Incompetent?

Tags

ABA's Model Rules, Law Office Management, Lawyerist Blog, Legal Ethics, Legal Malpractice, Legal Technology, Luddite, Megan Zavieh

Luddite Lawyers Are Ethical Violations Waiting To Happen, by Megan Zavieh, Lawyerist Blog

http://tinyurl.com/lo9fs45

Do you have a smart phone but only know how to make a telephone call? Do you think of a cloud as some white puffy thing in the sky that looks like a ducky? Do you have a computer on your desk but never turn it on? Is the password to your computer actually “password”? Then this article is for you. Technology is here, and it is not going away. Resistance if futile. -CCE

Technological incompetence used to be merely a competitive disadvantage. Now, it is a potential ethics violation — or even legal malpractice.

During my first year of law school, we were not allowed to do computerized research. Instead, we were taught to use the leather-bound reporters, Shepherds, and treatises. It was only during our second year that we were deemed worthy to use Westlaw and Lexis to ‘confirm’ our book findings. (Of course, I doubt any of us ventured into the stacks again.)

This approach reflected the general attitude of the legal profession in the mid-to-late 1990s. Technology was grudgingly accepted, but not required. Lawyers at big firms had online research accounts and solos went to the law library to use the books. Nobody thought anything was wrong with this, although online research did give big firms a competitive edge.

In 2013, email is ubiquitous, and just about every lawyer has some form of electronic research available on his laptop, tablet, or phone. And everyone — lawyers included — uses Google to find everything else. In law practice, that includes research on witnesses, opponents, judges, and anything else not found in a Fastcase, Westlaw, or Lexis database. Technology is an unavoidable part of practicing law.

Ethics rules follow practice

The ethics rulemakers have taken note of this evolution, and the rules have grown to require technological competence.

Lawyers cannot ignore technology

The ABA made it abundantly clear that lawyers must keep up with technology when it amended comment 8 to Model Rule 1.1 on competence. Comment 8 now reads:

To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology, engage in continuing study and education and comply with all continuing legal education requirements to which the lawyer is subject.

(Emphasis added.)

As Nicole Black, Director of Business Development at MyCase, puts it, ‘I think it’s pretty clear that […] lawyers can no longer turn a blind eye to technological advancements and their effect on the practice of law.’ . . .

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How To Recognize A Bad Client The Easy Way.

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Management, Marketing

≈ Comments Off on How To Recognize A Bad Client The Easy Way.

Tags

Bad Clients, Law Office Management, Lawyerist Blog, Marketing, Randall Ryder

The Bad Clients You Don’t Take Will Be the Best Money You Never Made, by Randall Ryder, Lawyerist Blog

http://lawyerist.com/75147/bad-clients/

Wouldn’t it be nice if every client who called to retain a lawyer were completely honest and forthright during that first meeting or telephone call? Have you ever been burned by believing your client and finding out the hard way that the facts are not what you’ve been told? You ask all the right questions. They seem to give all the right answers. Perhaps you do not see had bad it was until you have spent time and money on the case. Here are some warning signs that will help you avoid bad clients. -CCE

Not all clients are created equal. Great clients will enhance your legal skills, your reputation, and your bottom line. Bad clients can make you question your skills, destroy your reputation, and result in the worst money you have ever made.

Once you have a better understanding of how bad clients can wreck your practice, you will get better at spotting them and avoiding them. And it will be the best money you never made. . . .

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Your Management Style – Do You Fix It Or Improve It? It’s Hard To Do Both.

15 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Management, Supervising Support Staff

≈ Comments Off on Your Management Style – Do You Fix It Or Improve It? It’s Hard To Do Both.

Tags

Jill Geisler, Law Office Management, Leadership, Managers, Poynter

5 Reasons Managers Are Addicted To “Fixing” – And How To Recover, by Jill Geisler, Poynter.com

http://tinyurl.com/pn83wov

I admit it. I’m a recovering fixer. Show me a piece of copy and my fingers get itchy. I crave contact with a keyboard, with a gnawing urge to tweak someone’s writing a little — or maybe a lot.

Then I remind myself of the pledge I took years ago:

‘Remember, Jill. Sit on your hands. Coach, don’t fix.’

I adopted that mantra so I’d have to learn how to help my newsroom staff improve their work without taking away their ownership, responsibility, and too often, their pride in performance. I’d have to learn to teach, not just do. Moreover, I’d need to teach in a way that would help people discover ideas and approaches for themselves, instead of just following instructions from the boss.

Now, in my leadership workshops, when I identify myself as a recovering fixer, I ask if there are any others like me in the room.

I’m never alone.

Many of the aspiring great bosses my workshops say they, too, are hooked on fixing. They’re also the ones who play catch-up on all their other daily duties as they hand-polish the work of others. But it’s become their way of life. Maybe it’s your reality, too.

Why are managers so addicted to fixing? I’ve identified top five reasons: . . . .

 

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ClearView Social App – Sharing Social Media or Spam?

24 Saturday May 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Advertising, Law Firm Web Sites, Law Office Management, Legal Blogs, Technology

≈ Comments Off on ClearView Social App – Sharing Social Media or Spam?

Tags

ClearView Social, Law Office Management, LinkedIn, Robert Ambrogi, Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites Blog, Social media, Spam, Twitter

Pseudo Social Sharing Isn’t Smart, It’s Spam, by Robert Ambrogi, Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites Blog

http://tinyurl.com/mkqjkpu

I have to admit I was taken aback by the premise of ClearView Social, the new app being developed by social marketing consultant Adrian Dayton. Targeted at medium and large firms, the app ‘helps attorneys more easily share content with their professional networks through LinkedIn, Twitter and other platforms,’ according to the press release last February.

That sounds harmless enough. But further reading reveals more about what the app does:

ClearView Social allows one person in the firm – for example, a designated marketer – to create a queue of content to be shared in an email template. When attorneys receive the email, they can click a link, which launches the application for sharing the content via various social media platforms, including LinkedIn and Twitter, which are integrated in the tool. This allows attorneys to share on those networks without leaving ClearView Social. It’s as easy as responding to an email.

So the app doesn’t actually help attorneys share content they find worthwhile. Rather, it makes the attorneys the conduits or redistributors of content someone else chooses to share. . . .

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Complete Guide to Everything Apple for Legal Professionals.

18 Sunday May 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Apple, Apps, iPad, iPhones, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Mac, Technology

≈ Comments Off on Complete Guide to Everything Apple for Legal Professionals.

Tags

Accessories, Apple, Apps, iPad, iPhone, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Mac, State Bar of Michigan Practice Management Resource Center

Mi Apple Practice, from the State Bar of Michigan Practice Management Resource Center

http://www.michbar.org/pmrc/applepractice.cfm

Everything related to using Apple products in a law office, e.g., iPhones, iPads, and Mac. Accessories, apps, articles, blogs, podcasts, how-to’s, reviews, groups, websites, and more – it’s all here. -CCE

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The Mashable Hit List.

13 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Android Phones, Apps, Cell Phones, Clouds, Computer Virus, Disaster Preparedness, Dropbox, Emails, Encryption, Google, Heartbleed, Identity Theft, Law Firm Web Sites, Law Office Management, Legal Blogs, Legal Technology, Malware, Office Procedures, Passwords, PC Computers, Search Enginges, Technology, Using Social Media

≈ Comments Off on The Mashable Hit List.

Tags

Computer Bugs, Computer Fraud, Heartbleed, Identity Theft, Law Office Management, Password Managers, Passwords, Social media, The Mashable Team

The Heartbleed Hit List: The Passwords You Need to Change Right Now, The Mashable Team

http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/heartbleed-bug-websites-affected/

If you wondered whether any main specific websites are affected, such as Yahoo, this list will help you.  It will also help explain the Heartbleed bug,  and why you should pay attention to what it is. If you want to know whether your specific bank was compromised, this list may not answer all your questions. So, if you’re not sure whether you should change your password, go ahead and do it.

Even better, find a password manager in this list of the best of the best from PC Magazine by Neil J. Rubenking — http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407168,00.asp. If you use one password for more than one website — and lots of people do — this is a good solution and a wise move regardless of the Heartbleed bug. -CCE

 

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Spread The Love.

16 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Management, Supervising Support Staff

≈ Comments Off on Spread The Love.

Tags

Daniel E. Cummins, Law Office Management, Management, Professionalism, Supervising Support Staff, TORT TALK

Spread A Little Love: Being Pleasant And Considerate Is Part Of Being A Professional, by Daniel E. Cummins, TORT TALK

http://www.torttalk.com/2014/02/spread-little-love-article-for.html

Excellent relationship advice for all professionals. -CCE

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How to Stop Procrastinating And Top Time Management Tips From The Experts.

07 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Time Management

≈ Comments Off on How to Stop Procrastinating And Top Time Management Tips From The Experts.

Tags

Jim Calloway, Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog, Law Office Management, Meg Spencer Dixon, Podcast, Procrastination, The Digital Edge, Time Management, Time Management for Lawyers

Digital Edge Podcast – Time Management for Lawyers, by Jim Calloway, Jim Calloway’s Practice Tips Blog

http://tinyurl.com/kuandok

Meg Spencer Dixon pulled three consecutive all-nighters before she began pursuing time management as a career. Now, she is a consultant in task management for legal professionals. In this edition of  The Digital Edge – Lawyers and Technology podcast, Time Management for Lawyers, Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway invite Dixon to discuss her top tips for legal professionals looking to master project management, how to stop procrastinating, and more.

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Legal Research and Writing Resources Worth Bookmarking.

03 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Clouds, Corporate Law, E-Discovery, Google, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Legal Writing, Research

≈ Comments Off on Legal Research and Writing Resources Worth Bookmarking.

Tags

Adams Contract Drafting, Bose Law and Technology Blog, Briefly Writing, Cheryl Niemeier, Corporate Law, eDiscovery Daily, Finance, Internet for Lawyers, Law Office Management, Legal Research, Legal Research Plus, Legal Technology, LLRX, Mergers & Acquisitions, MyCase, Witnesseth

8 Great Legal Research and Writing Resources and Blogs, by Cheryl Niemeier, Bose Law and Technology Blog

http://tinyurl.com/lje3ode

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