You have just finished typing an e-mail. You look it over and make sure there are no errors and it is addressed to the right person. It’s ready to go. So you grab your mouse and ……..  Well, wait there’s a better way. The mouse is great when you want to choose between several options. But when you consider how many e-mails you send each day, you can save a little time by using the keyboard shortcut for Send E-mail in Outlook. The next time you you are ready to send an e-mail, try holding down the Control key while hitting Enter. Try this one a few times this week. (I know this one is on the drop down menu and should be obvious, but few seem to use it.)

Non-Outlook users, look at your drop down menu for Send to see if your shortcut is the same or not.

Today the Oklahoma Bar Association announces its latest member benefit- law firm merchant accounts for credit card processing for its members. There is no more need to spend time dealing with issues about the service charges on retainers and other trust account deposits and no more depositing of small checks just to cover service charges. It is as simple as can be. When a client uses a credit card, the law firm designates the account to be credited, either the operating account (for payment for services already delivered) or the trust account (for retainers and other trust funds.) But with this plan, all service charges or potential charge backs all come from the operating account, never the trust account.

The client who gives you a retainer has 100% of it in your trust account with your firm absorbing any service charges. Concerns of keeping client trust funds in a "merchant account subject to invasion" are satisfied. See California Bar Ethics opinion 2007-172 for a discussion of the issues.

We are excited about this new way to simply our lawyer’s professional lives. More details are on the bar’s Webpage here. As I wrote way back in 2003 in ‘Do You Accept Credit Cards?’ I think it is very important for law firms whose clients are primarily individuals to accept credit cards. Other law firms can make their own decisions. But if an inanimate gas pump accepts credit cards, how do you tell your client that your law firm cannot?

So what do the three topics about have to do with each other? They are all addressed in the GP Solo Division’s Tech e-Report for October, 2007, which was just released earlier today.  This is a nice publication that I tend to profile every issue, in part because my monthly column reminds me to check it out when it is published. In this month’s Sites for Sore Eyes column, Exploring the Brave New (Tech) World, Courtney Kennaday and I discuss a number of websites that provide definitions of technology terms and explanations about many things. There is quite a growing group of these and many print magazines are now moving into this area.

We all like to see lists of useful Websites. Well, PC Magazine has come up with a great idea. Instead of a top 100 Websites list, it has two lists:  Top 100 Classic Websites and Top 100 Undiscovered Websites. There is lots of interesting material here. I’m holding off on visiting any of the new ones since I have three articles and papers due immediately.

Voice-Activated Technology for Lawyers is the subject of my column in the Oklahoma Bar Journal this month. It is a farily short treatment of a big topic, but it includes links to my previous articles on speech recognition software and digital dictation devices. Regular readers of this blog have already learned of my infatuation with the new speech-to-text service, Jott, so that part of the article should come as no surprise to you.

I do confess that I find truly amazing the improvements that have occurred in in voice-activated technology in just the last few years. Maybe we will reach the day where we can do most anything with our computers via voice commands.

The e-zine Law Practice Today this month republished the materials that Laura Calloway, Director of the Alabama State Bar’s Law Office Management Assistance Program, and I did for our ABA TECHSHOW 2007 presentation "Talking to Yourself: Your Voice as Your Assistant." With all of these articles you should have a fairly good overview of this broad topic.

Our latest edition of our podcast series, The Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology, was posted a couple of weeks ago. It is called "Ethics in the Electronic Era: Staying Out of the Briar Patch." In it Sharon Nelson and I cover many ways that the use of technology increases your risk of ethical missteps. If you’ve never listened to a podcast before, perhaps this is the one for you.

I first became aware of the Shepard Law Group as a result of legal media coverage they received when they banished the billable hour from their firm. Jay Shepard came up with a very cute idea for the name of a blog related to employment law issues: Gruntled Employees. (After all you don’t want DISgruntled employees, do you?)

Since most law firms are also employers, it is good to keep up with this substantive legal area and Jay’s posts are always easy to read and well-thought out. But Jay’s posts are not limited to employer-employee matters. Here’s a great recent post (with links) on alternatives to hourly billing. But the post I really want you to read is one entitled "Your employees are the sizzle." He notes his experience in a restaurant and relates it to customer services generally. As a lot of Oklahoma lawyers are aware, I like to use restaurant analogies when I talk about client service. In fact I just recorded a webcast on improving client services for the OBA. You should be able to purchase by going to this Webpage in a few days.

Pay a visit to Gruntled Employees, this week’s Website of the Week.

OK, this is probably more a life tip than a  practice management tip, but so what? There is one inexpensive item that I have at home, in my computer bag and in a desk drawer. That is a Tide to Go stick. As Ross Kodner recently pointed out at a "60 Tips" presentation, these work so well it makes you wonder about exactly what the secret formula contains. But if you drop some food on your shirt or tie at lunch, you just pull out your Tide To Go stick,Tidetogo  rub it on the offending stain for a moment and watch it disappear. it may not work completely every time, but it improves the matter every time. it also helps when the item goes into the wash. A great investment of $2 or $3.