Many people now participate in online communities of interest. Getting several opinions when you have a question about something is good, whether you do it in the courthouse snack bar or electronically. I’ve mentioned Solosez before as an example of a large online community, primarily of lawyers, that operates via an electronic mailing list.  Well, the list manager for Solosez, the incomparable jennifer rose, each month places a few of the most popular message Solosez threads online for all to use. Recent topics range from Internet faxing to banking for solos and small firms to accepting credit cards. It is more work than you might imagine to strip extraneous material and leave just the good content. The result is really useful. So check it out. Thanks, jen.

30 Boxes is a nifty free Web 2.0 calendaring application. It is an online calendar you can share with certain others or make public. It may not be appropriate for a lawyer’s calendar or for a single trying to date several people without the others finding out. But it might well be appropriate for a calendar for several opposing counsel to use in scheduling many depositions within a short time or some other similar situation. Where I could see it being really useful is for busy parents. The parents would have data entry access while the children, babysitter and grandparents have viewing access. Or maybe you could use it for a Little League game and practice schedule for all of the players and families. In short, like so many new Web 2.0 applications, you just need to be aware of 30 Boxes in case you see a need for it.

I get a few e-mails tagged as high priority or urgent, e.g. tagged with that red exclamation mark. I’m not sure how many end users even know what means. If someone e-mailing me thinks it is urgent, they usually begin the subject line with URGENT!!! That usually gets my attention, especially if they fall into the category of boss, spouse, person who helps me when I need it or OBA member needing help. But for me, the red mark works as good as the word in the subject line, even if it is used infrequently.

Now when is the last time you received an e-mail tagged with the low priority tag? That’s a downward pointing blue arrow (in Outlook at least.)  While there may be some firms that use this, I think generally it is unused. We all probably think that our e-mail is important or we wouldn’t be sending it, right? So why would we tag it as a low priority? This is particularly true these days. Considering the amount of e-mail that many of us receive, low priority may equate to "never read." So try this experiment. The next time you are sending someone a link to an article they should read or some truly low priority item, tag it with the blue arrow. I’ll bet that many of you find that the e-mail is read more quickly and that you get a reply commenting on the blue arrow. But I could be wrong. Maybe it is just that everyone I know truly has no low priorities where e-mail is concerned.

Welcome to Blawg Review #49

For those of you who have never partaken of the Blawg Review, it is what is referred to as a carnival. I am this week’s guest host. Yes, this is a carnival, an online traveling sideshow of sorts. Carnivals are where one plays what one may believe to be rigged games to win items you’d never purchase in a store for the price of the chance. See here for hundreds of blog carnivals, covering many interests.

Well, there is little chance you’ll be cheated here, since it is yours truly, the carnival host, who has been conned by the Blawg Review Editor into donating an unanticipated amount of time to assemble a one week collection of blawg posts in the quest for Kewpie doll-sized nuggets of fame and blog traffic. And let me note that this is my project, done at home on the weekend, and not in any way the responsibility of my employer, the Oklahoma Bar Association.

Here in my part of the world, this summary of the week in online legal punditry doesn’t really seem like a carnival. Here we reckon we would call it a roundup- yep, a roundup of the week’s best of the blawg (or law blog) posts as culled from the herd of those that I learned existed. So head ‘em up and move ‘em out. There’s no time for shark jumping or re-thinking.  We gotta get them doggies, uh, bloggies to market. This week join the ranch hands for:

  Roundup at the OK Blawgger Corral
  (aka Blawg Review #49 – Oklahoma Style)

ALL TOGETHER NOW!   
“O-O-O-O-O-O-O Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain….” *** (These days we just hope it doesn’t carry any fire or ash along with it.)

(The symbol *** notes that all lyrics to songs from Oklahoma! are (c) Rodgers & Hammerstein 1943.)

One thing we believe in in Oklahoma is home field advantage and so we’ll lead off with a link to Oklahoma City blogger Russ Wheeler who keeps rolling out those Tenth Circuit criminal appellate opinion summaries and links to the full opinions.

Sheriff, we need to round up a posse.

On those days when I have to round up a posse to assist me when there are bedeviling tech questions or management mysteries, I count on the state bar practice management advisors and some of those fine folks who served on the ABA TECHSHOW Board with me. It’s not surprising that a number of them have blawgs.

Reid Trautz, of the D.C. Bar and Reid My Blog, offers his opinion that designers of some law firm websites should examine whether they are more concerned with Building Architecture or Building Clients?

Pennsylvania’s Ellen Freedman notes that you should “Purchase Your PC with Windows Vista in Mind” at her Law Practice Management blog.

Dennis Kennedy pointed to several blog posts that made him think (always dangerous, Dennis)
including one I’ll reference later.

Jeff Beard posts the complete text of two of his recent articles published in Law Office Computing. One is on Enhancing Mobile Security and one is on Avoiding Mobile Computing Burnout.

Tom Migell of Inter Alia noted that FirstGov launched a new search tool, FirstGov Search last month.

“Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends.
One man likes to push a plough, the other likes to chase a cow,
But that’s no reason why they cain’t be friends.” ***

Well sure, and the Arabs and Israelis should be friends too. But debates, arguments and heated discussions seem to go with the law like country ham goes with eggs.

From Pointoflaw.com, we have this commentary on two respected Ivy League professors examining the data on punitive damage awards and apparently coming to very different conclusions.

Jonathan Stein of The Practice defends the contingency fee.

Bruce MacEwen at Adam Smith, Esq. has a great post discrediting a line of thinking that the quality of law firm management really does not matter.

Deborah McMurray questions whether corporations are really firing their law firms in record numbers, as stated in a BTI study released this year. I’m pleased to see her questioning this. Certainly there’s more movement than there used to be, but if 52% of companies actually fired their primary law firm in the last two years, I don’t think it would have taken a study to make it apparent. (Of course, I’m reading “fired” to mean just that, fired, not merely decreasing the percentage of assignments.)

Meanwhile Dan Hull at WhatAboutClients?™ blog thinks any such trend is mostly about client’s dissatisfaction with service delivery as he discusses McMurray’s comments, the BTI study and general observations about “biglaw.”

“I’m a Lone Cowhand!”

Longtime blawger Ernie the Attorney is now a solo practitioner and he’s blogging about New Orleans politics.

Alaskablawger Steve Wells leaves a public defender career for solo private practice, announcing that he’s Got to be Moving on.

Anthony Cermino of BizzBangBuzz is another new solo as of earlier this month and his blog lists the Dirty Dozen Top IRS Scams for 2006.

Just the hired help

You might remember the character Judd in the musical Oklahoma! He was the hired help who lost the girl (and then his life.) Well, OBA member B. Janell Grenier’s at her BenefitsBlog and  Walter Olson at Point of Law commented about the wave of overtime compensation suits recently brought by stockbrokers maintaining that they are just the hourly hired help and are owed overtime on top of their pay of up to $400,000 a year.

Then Workplace Prof Blog notes a case where an employer sending flowers to an ill employee was used as evidence of notice in an FMLA case.

Professor Baimbridge discusses whether the grant dates of options for corporate managers could be timed to coincide with news that impacts their value.

“People will say we’re in love!”***

Adriana Linares loves technology and at her IHeartTech blog, she asks the potentially problematic question Have you Hugged Your Tech Team Today?  Adriana, that assumes that they all want to be hugged by all of us!

Some Native American tribes have a War Chief and a Peace Chief. In many legal disputes, peace and settlement may mark the wisest path. Diane Levin, on her Mediation Blog, corrals her own roundup of online mediation-related posts. (Nice cow picture.)

Arnie Herz at LegalSanity.com posts about law firm leadership and links to a nice article from Law Practice Today, “What Does It Take to Develop Effective Law Firm Leaders?” by Dr. Larry Richard and Susan Raridon Lambreth. 

If any would-be blawgers are reading this, Dave Swanner at the South Carolina Trial Law Blog has a series of instructive posts on how to write a weblog, how to set it up, what to write about and, well, why to do it in the first place. They are all grouped together here and are good reading for all bloggers.

Gunfight at Blawger Corral

Sadly, this week saw Ben Cowgill at his Legal Ethics blog unleash a series of attacks on Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog. Go here and scroll down. The criticisms seemed a bit thin, leading some of us to conclude that this is personal and not about ethics. But readers are free to make their own calls. Evan Shaeffer of  Legal Underground has an initial rebuttal. If you actually have an interest, read Evan’s post and the numerous comments by Cowgill and others afterwards. In an indirect response, Kevin commented generally about upholding free speech on the Web. Another comment shootout followed.

Speaking of the importance of reputation, Larry Bodine’s Legal Marketing Blog nails an important marketing concept with “Ain’t Nothin’ Worse than Bad Word of Mouth.”

There was a good discussion about whether lawyers doing annual onsite client satisfaction reviews (or sending client satisfaction surveys) have an opportunity for “selling” more legal services or whether that is just an occasional pleasant by-product. But seriously, the goal does greatly impact planning of the visit. Gerry Risken (via Jim Hassett,) Patrick J. Lamb and Michelle Golden all jump in.

End of the trail

Well, partners, all good things must end, so it is time to pour some water on the campfire, saddle up and ride off into the sunset with a few melancholy guitar chords playing in the background. Hope y’all had a real good time. “Happy trails to you until we meet again.”

Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

I have to admit it is a little more difficult to do a Website of the Week in the weeks leading up our presentation of 60 Sites in 60 Minutes for ABA TECHSHOW 2006. I’ve got to hold a few back. So, I decided to look at last year’s 60 Sites for a few really great sites that I have yet to feature here. That turned out to be a good idea as I apparently had not yet mentioned Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools. The author describes the content as focused on "[c]ool tools [that] really work. A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. I am chiefly interested in stuff that is extraordinary, better than similar products, little-known, and reliably useful for an individual or small group." I’d also note that the contributors seem to especially appreciate inexpensive tools, like the $10 Power Squid, the free graph paper generator, and the $9 USB cell phone charger. But there’s also material like this cutting edge piece on Consensus Web Filters.

If you slipped up last week and forget to register for ABA TECHSHOW before the Early Bird Deadline expired, I have some good news for you. The Early Bird Deadline has been extended until March 17th. Since this is a $200 discount, it is important to register early. Oklahoma Bar members can contact me for additional discount information. The bad news, however, is that the host hotel for ABA TECHSHOW, the Sheraton Hotel & Towers, and some other downtown hotels are sold out due to a bath, home and garden show or something. So get on the room hunt now if you do not have reservations. Here’s one alternative. Hope this means we are going to have a great crowd at TECHSHOW.

It’s been a busy week for roll-outs and rumors of new online services. We are seeing the early rounds of an escalating battle between Google and Microsoft to become the dominant online user service provider. But don’t expect Yahoo or AOL to sit this one out on the sidelines.

Microsoft launched its new search engine at live.com. Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of information services at MSN, predicted people’s reaction : "They’re going to say, ‘Holy cow, I had no idea that search could get this much better!’ " Google search is pretty good, so we’ll see if the immediate bovine exclamations prove to be warranted.

Google leaked (allegedly by accident) its plan for offering consumers infinite online storage. "The online copy of your data will become your Golden Copy," Google’s notes said, with the original information kept on a user’s PC essentially serving as a backup.

But there’s more than meets the eye to both these disclosures. Regular readers have seen my comments on Web 2.0 applications. If not, review here.

Microsoft wants to grab headlines by touting a better search engine than Google. But check out Windows Live (TM) Ideas for the real scope of their plans. The laundry list includes an improved webmail service, automated computer maintenance, custom domains, traveling favorites, Microsoft Office Live on the web and a whole lot more. Then check out the newly released Microsoft Gadgets feature. Microsoft says "Gadgets are a new category of mini-application designed to provide information, useful lookup, or enhance an application or service on your Windows PC or the Web." There are lots of interesting Gadgets available on day one, including many simple games, information presenters, applications that enhance current Microsoft services and even all sorts of Gadgets that work with Google or iTunes. Then they’ve made it easy for developers and hobbyists to design and publish their own Gadgets. It almost looks like Microsoft is promoting an open source movement or a return to the early days of computing when independent developers released all sorts of applications from the silly to the sublime. But this is all under Microsoft’s live.com umbrella. So every new Gadget (and there will be many) adds to Microsoft’s empire.

The concept from Google is no less breathtaking in its scope when you think about it. Online storage has been around for a long time. Google’s Gmail invites massive online storage of e-mail archives at no cost. But the concept of online storage is gaining more attention for typical, non-expert computer users. I was summoned to a friend’s house a few weeks ago to look at a computer that had been in service for too long and was obviously nearing the end of its lifespan. The computer was too old to upgrade or send out for repairs. So I noted that the most important step was to copy off onto CD’s or a thumbdrive any important documents and other data while the computer still lived. I made a casual comment that the family’s large collection of digital pictures of their children growing up was likely the most valuable part of the computer and if they hadn’t been burning copies onto CD’s, that was the first priority. The wife mulled over my remarks for a few hours after I left. My friend later advised me that by the next day my comments about computer data triage had become not just their first priority in data management, but their primary focus in life. Happily all of the pictures were saved- in duplicate – with a set now stored off-site. But I’m,sure the idea of online backup would not seem unreasonable to this couple.

So what? If you are a lawyer reading this blog, the odds are a virtual certainty that you’ve already been advised to do regular backup and to store copies in a different location. Although images of the aftermath of Katrina should make you consider whether an off-site copy of your backup media taken to your home a few miles from your office is really safe enough for your mission critical data.

But Google isn’t just talking about off-site backup of consumer’s important data with its Golden Copy concept. They are discussing a protected copy of everything. The logical conclusion to that concept is much broader than just bullet-proof backup for consumers and their digital photos. The excitement will be when you buy a brand new computer and hook it up and tell Google, "This is my new machine." And then a few hours later Google has installed all of your data, your installed commercial software, your tweaks and customizations, the little applications you’ve downloaded, your music, and the Desktop display looks (and acts) just like the former computer, but faster. That, my friends, would be worth some payment, whether it comes from me as a subscriber or advertisers touting their wares as I use Google All or Microsoft World Everything.

Please note that we are talking about consumer’s data, not attorney’s confidential records. Google probably will have to do some image repair on how it really respects privacy and confidentiality to even attract a broad consumer base with this concept. After all, a growing number of home computers have online banking access information.

But as we march on, it was announced yesterday that Google bought the parent company of Writely, a really slick on-line Web 2.0 word processing tool.

The final point is that there will soon be so many Web 2.0 services that you won’t even be able to try all of the useful ones within one mega-parent provider, much less spend a lot of time shopping the entire online universe. It is unlikely that most consumers will pick webmail from Microsoft, Instant Messaging from Yahoo, voice telephony from Skype, search from Google and online file storage from AOL, even if those particular services may get the best ratings in the technology trade press. Likely most all of giants will offer most all of these functions that will be "good enough" after a few releases and the interactivity between the functions will lead most to choose one primary brand for most, and likely all, of these services.

The race for these consumers’ attention may not technically have just begun. But it sure did seem like we heard the crack of the starter’s pistol this week. (Or maybe that signaled the "gun lap.")

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a short, concise book on the basics of improving your law firm’s client service? In theory, it would be brief enough so that you’d actually have time to read it- maybe 50 pages. It would have a self analysis tool so you could rate how well your firm is doing now. It would discuss how to use better communication to have more satisfied clients. It would cover everything from more effective daily working techniques to marketing to strategic planning. It would even include a client satisfaction survey form. Yes, it is here and it is free. Dan Pinnington and his team at PracticePro have produced "Managing a Better Professional Services Firm." Don’t miss it! (There’s even a bonus link to download the LawPro Magazine (Winter 2006) with related information.)

I’m going to cheat a bit with my Website of the Week this week. It is one of ours. The OBA Management Assistance Program Starting a Law Practice Web Directory recently was published online. My loyal assistant, Sharon Dotson, put a lot of work into it and I did a little. We are both pleased with the result. (Well, we are pleased with version 1. Stay tuned.) The directory includes many articles of interest to the new small firm lawyer and links to many other resources, including the online resources of my fellow bar practice management advisors. We hope many will find the information here valuable. This site is posted in support of a new day-long program that the OBA is offering next month called The New Lawyer Experience. You can read all about this free program to help Oklahoma lawyers get started with their new law practices. Enjoy. And, if we missed anything really great with the directory, drop me an e-mail about it. There’s always version 2.

My fellow bar practice management advisors are providing a tip of the week to our members and various other bar associations. You may see them pop up on your state or local bar’s web pages soon. So to restart that project in grand style, here are five (count ’em, five) PMA practice tips.

1. Quickly Zooming Fonts for Easier Reading

When you are reading a document or a webpage and the font is a bit too small to comfortably read, here’s a quick solution. Hold down the control key and use the scroll wheel on your mouse to easily enlarge the text, zooming in. This doesn’t work with everything. But since it works with True Type fonts, it will work most of the time.

2. Return Receipts for E-mails

Many lawyers never use return receipts for e-mails because they generally are not that useful as evidence in court. But when you are e-mailing important time-sensitive documents to clients or other lawyers, it is often helpful for you to know they received the document. Spam filters are one of many reasons an e-mail may not be received, but no "bounce message" is returned to you. Show your clients you care that they received a document and save yourself the aggravation of calling someone just to see if they got your e-mail by using the return receipt option. It is located under View, then Options in our version of Microsoft Outlook and can be located using the Help files if you use a different e-mail client.

3. A/R Aging Priorities Tip

Once a month lawyers should take a financial snapshot of the practice. The main purpose of this practice is to give lawyers a clear picture, on a monthly basis, of where the money is. This snapshot should tell them how much money is going out and how much is coming in. An important part of the money “coming in” is actually what should have come in, but hasn’t yet. This is the accounts receivable (A/R) aging report. This report shows unpaid accounts, their amounts and how old they are. Any collection efforts should look at the largest amounts first. If you are going to spend 30 minutes dealing with an unpaid account, do it on one worth $1000 instead of one worth $10.

4. WiFi vs Cellular Access

There is a lot of hype about the availability of WiFi but the fact is that there is not enough coverage, free or otherwise, to count on it being there in a pinch. If you have to be mobile and you have to be connected, either spend the money for a cellular broadband card for your PC or spend the time learning how to use your cell phone as a cellular modem. Depending on the phone type and the capabilities of your PC you have you may require a cable to connect to your PC or you may connect via Bluetooth. It will not be as fast as WiFi but you will get a signal where no WiFi is available. You can learn more by visiting http://mobileoffice.about.com/od/usingyourphone/a/cellmodem.htm

5. USB Flash Drives: Use with Care

USB flash drives, sometimes called jump drives, have become very popular with lawyers. What lawyer wouldn’t be interested in being able to carry thousands of documents in his pocket? They are very convenient for the lawyer on the go. The problem is that they are so small that they are easy to lose. Therefore you need to take care with any documents containing confidential client communications on them. You may password protect those document, use a zipping utility to compress them while adding a password or maybe just buy a more expensive flash drive with encryption software as a part of the package. Keeping the flash drive on your key ring makes loss less likely as well.

The PMA Practice Tip of the Week is a service of the Practice Management Advisors Committee of the ABA Law Practice Management Section. The PMA tips are not meant as legal advice, nor binding on any bar association or law society.