One of the hardest things about the private practice of law is the number of hours most lawyers work. TV shows and movies about lawyers don’t show the long hours reading published opinions and deposition transcripts. (And rightfully so, it just wouldn’t be entertainment.) When you work too much, the rest of your life suffers
June 2006
Bar and Grill Singers
The Bar and Grill Singers are an all-lawyer musical review group. They provided entertainment for our Oklahoma Bar Solo and Small Firm Conference this past Friday and the attendees absolutely loved them. In addition to the very funny lyrics of their songs set to familar tunes, they are just excellent singers. I’m naming their website…
What Creates Client Satisfaction? Meeting Expectations.
The subject line of this post is obvious in many ways, but there’s really some depth behind it. In all of our endeavors, we are generally satisfied when we get what we expect. (Well, that may not be true for the pessimists, but this post isn’t about them.)
Therefore it is important to the attorney-client…
New York’s Proposed Lawyer Advertising Rules are Controversial, to Say the Least.
Let me start by saying that I generally hate lawyer ads on television. I’ve seen many of them and they are generally tacky and detrimental to the public’s perception of the legal system and the legal profession. Of course it could be said that they reflect the state of modern television. But having said that…
Who (or What) Answers Your Law Office Phone?
I have several good friends and colleagues who do similar work for other state bars and Canadian law societies. We have some great discussions via e-mail. Recently we had a lengthy discussion about who or what answers your phone. For many law firms, economic reality dictates that the firm should no longer pay a full-time…
Fun with Outlook Autocomplete
Microsoft Outlook’s autocomplete feature is handy. You type in a few letters of an e-mail address and the rest is filled in for you. But there’s more to the feature than first meets the eye. Noted legal technologist Ross Kodner believes the feature is so dangerous it should be disabled in all law firms. (I’ll…
Site of the Week: Oklahoma Almanac online (Free)
As a young lawyer, one of my early "finds" was the Directory of Oklahoma. The book was later renamed the Oklahoma Almanac. This thick book was published every other year by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. It contains a wealth of information about our state, local government, geography and such. I always loved having…
If You Must Play Discovery Games, Then Let’s Play a Real Game
Here’s a draft order (allegedly) from U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida that should give a chuckle to every litigator who has been locked in a ridiculous discovery dispute.
Improving Your Life a Bit and Toward More Flat Fees
Self-Improvement and flat fees. What do these two topics have in common? Not much except that they were both the subject of good articles in June’s Law Practice Today.
Tom Mighell’s Strongest Links column is about web sites that help you improve. But these are not, for the most part, self-motivational websites. Rather as…
Site of the Week: Simply Google
Well, honestly you couldn’t have a more plain and simple looking interface than Google’s. But maybe a bit more can be even more simple, or at least more functional. Check out Simply Google. Thanks to Debbie Foster for this tip. This page also led me to visit Google Current for the first time. Google…