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LOC from 1999Since the death of Prince you have probably heard the phrase “Party like it’s 1999” recently. I thought I’d spend a few minutes talking about the old days from someone who was actually doing law office technology consulting back in 1999.

In those days you could pretty much keep on top of all legal tech developments with a subscription to Law Office Computing and by reading Burgess Allison’s Technology Update column in Law Practice magazine. Burge retired that column after 18 years and those laugh out loud moments reading Law Practice magazine were far fewer. It was a sad day when Law Office Computing folded, but Law Practice Magazine is in great shape, better than ever.

Above is the cover of Law Office Computing magazine from June/July 1999. Isn’t it interesting that some of the issues covered then are still much discussed topics today? On the cover you see “Unlocking the Power of Document Assembly.” My friend Marc Lauritsen co-authored this article with Alan Soudakof. The article outlined a 12-step program for successful document automation. HotDocs was used for most of the examples and HotDocs is still a huge player today, although I see many law firms opt for less expensive, but extremely powerful solutions like TheFormTool and Pathagorus. Many practice management solutions include document assembly today. For example Smokeball started out as document assembly and has now evolved to include practice management.

The most stunning thing about this issue was the Editor-in-Chief’s column where he bemoaned the death of his trusty notebook and admitted to his readers that he had only backed it up once–when he bought the backup tape a couple of years before. I can’t imagine any tech expert making that admission today, but somewhere some lawyer is reading this column on a computer that also has not been backed up for a very long time. Why not do that today or better yet subscribe to an automated backup service?

The Technodebate column in this issue was Word vs WordPerfect and the hottest news item was that the ABA had just released an ethics opinion saying that unencrypted email, in most circumstances was appropriate for client communication because there was “a reasonable expectation of privacy.” That opinion still stands today, but I’d strongly suggest you look at Texas Center for Legal Ethics Opinion 648 for a more Twenty-First Century view. This is one area where you should not be partying like it is 1999.

This issue also covers one of the most significant legal tech failures I recall. The vast majority of law firms were using Timeslips for time and billing, but with the release of Timeslips 9.0, those users went from happy users to angry users. Despite almost monthly service pack releases, the problems seemed unending. One lawyer was quoted in the story saying “I will never get back the time [I lost.]” Some law firms still use Timeslips today, version 9.0 sent many law firms off looking for other solutions and they never came back.

Of course there was an article on stabilizing Windows 95/98 and a lot of coverage on litigation support technology. The popular Circuit Court column, written by Dan Coolidge, Bruce Dorner and the late Ross Kodner was on Giving Exciting Electronic Presentations. Dan was getting used to PowerPoint 97, but Ross still preferred Corel Presentations, part of the WordPerfect Suite. But you needed a lot of other types od software to accomplish what is all included in PowerPoint today.

I rarely do #TBT (Throwback Thursday) posts on any of my social media, but locating a pristine cost of a 1999 Law Office Computing magazine in my archives reminds me how much better and easier-to-use our tech tools are today, while also recognizing that the legal profession still faces some of the same challenges–along with many new ones. Few would have even understood the term electronic discovery back in 1999.

Plastic bandageBand-Aid Planning is the title of a post on SlawTips by my friend and colleague Barney (Bjorn) Christianson. (Slaw is the well-known Canadian online legal magazine for those of you who might be wondering about that.) I enjoyed Barney's observations on doing strategic planning when you don't have time to plan. I also appreciated that he mentioned my advice about planning and provided a link and a strong suggestion to read my column The Power of Planning. Since that column was published back in 2004, I thought some of you might have missed it or might need to read it again. So I decided to do this quick post encouraging you to read Barney's article and perhaps take his suggestion to read my "Golden Oldie." Planning is both essential and often hard to find time to accomplish. Sometimes a band-aid approach is the best you can do at the moment.

Lawyers, what is your sign? No, I’m not referring to your astrological sign but rather the signage for your business. Because of my many years working with lawyers, I pay attention to law offices. Lawyers Whats Your SignWhether traveling across Oklahoma or in other states, I sometimes notice lawyers have TERRIBLE signage. Terrible signage is a problem akin to the problem of having a poor receptionist. The issue with poor signage or a poor receptionist is that it creates a bad first impression. Even if you are a solo practitioner practicing in a small town, have had the same location for years and "everyone knows you," you should be concerned about the first impression you are projecting to the people who just moved into town last week and don't know you. Similarly, that kid who just turned 18, who suddenly needs a lawyer and has never paid attention to lawyers before, doesn’t know you. Even people who know you very well will get a nice little reminder when they see your law firm's name every day as they drive by a well-designed and maintained sign. Peeling paint on your signage gives the impression of someone who doesn't pay attention to detail or is perhaps not successful.

Paying a professional to upgrade your signage with new colors and different lettering will grab attention. Maybe it will even remind someone that they have been meaning to make an appointment with a lawyer. Is your law firm’s phone number on your signage and visible from the street? Whether this is a good idea might depend on your style of practice. But the idea of what should be on your signage certainly merits consideration and a business decision instead of just doing things the way they have always been done.

Those fine folks from AttorneyatWork asked me to offer some reflections on my thoughts after ABA TECHSHOW. Since I had already written one such piece for the Oklahoma Bar Journal (soon AttorneyatWork Logo to be published- watch this blog or the bar journal), I had to decline of course happily accepted, not exactly knowing what I was going to write. But ABA TECHSHOW is always an inspiration, especially for someone like me in the legal technology field. So I collected my thoughts and the result was Pearls of Legal Technology Wisdom for Solo and Small Firms. I'm quite pleased with this and thank AttorneyatWork for the opportunity. I am pleased to call Merrilyn, Joan, Mark and Joy my friends. They are the brains behind this great resource that has the simple and challenging mission of publishing one great law practice tip per work day. I trust someone will receive some value from my contribution today and if someone is encouraged to attend ABA TECHSHOW 2017, that will be even better.

This observation hopefully does not apply to you or your law firm. But the recent blog post Why Your Clients Will Thank You For Investing In Law Practice Management Software from Susan Cartier Liebel really struck a nerve with me. Her husband is a client of a law firm that they believe does great work, but they probably will not use them again or refer anyone else to them because Frustrationtheir business practices are stuck in the 1980's and they don't use practice management software. You might think not using practice management software is a back office thing and a client wouldn't know the difference. If you think that, then you really need to read Susan's post. It started with a billing error, but then the fact they couldn't respond to a billing error without days of delay and over an hour of research revealed their billing practices were way behind the times. The embarrassment multiplied with their representation that only one person in the entire firm, a busy partner, could correct the billing error. Seriously? The standard today is your billing records should be on a dashboard accessible by at least every lawyer in the firm, if not every employee. The days of a client inquiring about their balance and being told "We will have to get back with you on that" should definitely be in the past.

At our upcoming Oklahoma Bar Association Solo & Small Firm Conference we have ten, yes TEN, sponsors who will be there offering practice management solutions. Oklahoma lawyers who are not yet using these tools will have a great opportunity to shop for their practice management solution. If you are not an OBA member, there is likely a similar conference near you and all practice management providers have online resources to help you have a purchasing decision.

The tale of poor client services that Susan encountered didn't end with the need for more modern tools for this law firm. When they received their next statement, not only had the credit for the mistake not been applied (guess the partner was very busy that month) but they had been billed another $145 for the paralegal researching the billing error and reporting back on it. The idea that we rectify any mistakes at no charge to the client isn't a 1980's concept. It should be a timeless one!

Digital Edge logoIn this episode of The Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology, Jim Calloway interviews lawyer and legal technology blogger/podcaster Bob Ambrogi about the lawyer’s duty B Ambrogi of technology competence, how it applies to discovery and confidentiality, and how technology can really benefit lawyers too. I always enjoy discussing legal technology with Bob and this podcast is a solo hosting effort since my podcast teammate, Sharon Nelson, had a conflict with scheduling at the ABA Midyear meeting where we recorded the podcast. If you are not familiar with Bob's LawSites Blog, you really should visit it regularly as it is most of the best sources on the subject of lawyers and their technology on the Internet. (Bob is also available for presentations to bar associations, bar and bat mitzvahs, graduations and the like.) 

I am aware many lawyers are concerned about this subject because they know that they are not technology experts. Well, let me assure you even the experts feel like they don't know everything they need to know. As we discuss in the podcast, it is more that lawyers need to understand the tools they use daily and also need to understand the risks of the Internet and other commonly-used technology so they can discuss these risks with their clients. You can be competent in this area by having people with these skills on your team.

ABA TECHSHOW is next week in Chicago. You can still attend even if you haven't pre-registered.

People sometimes question why I promote attendance at ABA TECHSHOW with almost an evangelical fervor. That is sometimes hard to put into words because it is a special and extremely ABA TECHSHOW 2016valuable experience.

Kevin O'Keefe, CEO of LexBlog and one of the many legal thought leaders who I met for the first time at ABA TECHSHOW, has done a really great job of putting it into words with his blog post today ABA TECHSHOW for the real lawyers across the country. Every law firm today runs on its technology-based tools. If you cannot attend ABA TECHSHOW this year, make an effort for next year. Many of the state bar associations offer their members discounts on TECHSHOW registration through the TECHSHOW Event Promoter Program. You might check to see if your state bar is listed.

I wanted to publicly thank Kevin O'Keefe for stating what so many of us feel about ABA TECHSHOW.

You need a plan, right? A plan for your career or a business plan for your law firm. As the saying goes, life happens when you are busy making plans. But creating a plan, particularly when there are several people involved is often not as simple as it sounds. So for law firms, the best option often appears to be having a law firm retreat or a strategic planning meeting.

Many things in life are not as entertaining as they sound like they should be. Strategic planning doesn't sound like fun at all and the reality is often worse. But no one doubts its importance.

LP mag coverSo in my Practice Management Advice column in the March/April 2016 issue of Law Practice Magazine, I take on the topic of Avoiding the Pain in Strategic Planning. It is a challenging and important topic. But getting all of the lawyers in a firm together for a meeting is always a challenge and, if you tell them the meeting is about strategic planning, it becomes even more problematic.

So I have outlined an alternative or two. I hope one works for you.

Even though this column has nothing to do with technology, it appears in the annual ABA TECHSHOW issue of Law Practice magazine. There is a lot of great great content in this magazine.

In Technology Competence: New Wine in an Old Ethical Bottle, former State Bar of Arizona Ethics Counsel Patricia A. Sallen reminds us that lawyers can no longer swear off the sauce of technology.

My friend Craig Ball writes on What Every Lawyer Should Know About E-Discovery. Yes, every lawyer. That means you, too, even if you never intend to darken the doors of a courthouse again. You never know when e-discovery will become a topic of conversation at a social gathering. Well, actually you do know that it won't, but it is important to understand the basics.

Say Yes to a Practice Management System is from Natalie Robinson Kelly. She is an expert on practice management systems. I know sometimes the Oklahoma Bar Association members tire of me repeatedly saying that they really need one of these tools. But I only say it because it is true. With Natalie no doubt pleased with her article, I can now publicly confess that I strongly suggested that she be asked to write the column in the magazine board planning session for this issue.

Let me end by noting a significant column in this issue. Tom Mighell selected as the topic for his Digital Toolkit column Note Taking Shoot-Out: OneNote versus Evernote. These are two great products and I use the word significant in describing his review because most lawyers should be using one or both of these tools. I know you will be interested in his overall winner. But you have to read the column to find out which product wins.

 

The grinderSometimes life (and law practice) can be a grind.

But often it is all about your attitude.

Here are a few tips for escaping the negative feelings of being in a daily grind.

“An ancient bit of large law firm wisdom was that there were three types of lawyers: finders, minders and grinders.” That’s how I start discussing coping with the feeling like you are in a grind. Follow the link to read the rest of my Oklahoma Bar Journal column, The Grind.

Refrigerators that automatically help you prepare your shopping list. Thermostats that adjust the temperature to your liking when they detect you are heading home on your commute. A device on the front door that sends a picture to you of everyone who rings the doorbell while you are away. All of these ideas seem great and maybe even a bit magical, and they are headed your way right now. The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) holds a lot of promise.

Unfortunately, as with all things related to technology, it may not be quite that simple.

Almost all of these devices connect through your home WiFi network. And so of them are extremely low-priced. The companies producing these hopefully understand the need for good security, but every one of these devices is potentially a back door into your computer and smart phone through your WiFi network.

Let's look at what has already happened. A family in Washington was horrified to walk into their child's room and hear a strange voice say over the baby monitor, "wake up little boy, daddy's looking for you." They also saw that the night-vision lens was being operated to follow their movements in the room. It turned out a stranger had hacked into their baby monitor and was using it to observe them and their child in the nursery. The child had previously told them of being scared by voices talking to him over the phone at night. There is now a website dedicated to allow people to view vulnerable webcams over the Internet. According to Ars Technica the cams available for viewing include "images of marijuana plantations, back rooms of banks, children, kitchens, living rooms, garages, front gardens, back gardens, ski slopes, swimming pools, colleges and schools, laboratories, and cash register cameras in retail stores." There have been many reports of computer cameras being hijacked to spy on individuals. (No, you are not paranoid if you put a sock or covering over your computer camera at home when it is not is use.)

You may think you are safe to use other non-camera devices. But neither your pets or your pipes would be in good shape if your thermostat was turned off by a hacker in sub-zero weather while you were away at work. Of course a lawyer who installs some of these IoT gadgets in the office might have more serious concerns about the confidentially of information. I do appreciate many law offices have a separate "guest" WiFi that is blocked from being able to access other operations.

As noted in the article linked above, the Federal Trade Commission has already begun prosecutions of device makers who are not installing appropriate security features.

I like gadgets and certainly the home security companies that sell complete packages are well aware of the need for digital security. But before you purchase some cheap and fun home gadget, you will want to do a little research. My guess is that as consumers become more aware and concerned, we will see easy-to-operate home firewalls and other security measures become more widely available. But it is worth some investigation before you allow any new "thing" into your home or your WiFi network.

Internet of Things