How many times have you tried to program a new piece of technology — for instance, a new smart TV —  without the manual? How’d that go? How many times has a team member forgotten a task or step in a matter? How often have you done the same?

In “Why Lawyers Really Struggle with Work-Life Balance,” I gave six steps to building a practice that runs smoothly and allows you to have a life. In this post, we’ll discuss the third step: building better systems and procedures. … Read The Rest

According to the International Legal Technology Association, almost half of all legal purchases of imaging, scanning or optical character recognition is made by small law firms.* If you’re among them, congratulate yourself for making a smart investment in paperless technology, considering that increasingly: Clients prefer the speed and ease… … Read The Rest

According to the projections in a VoiceLabs report, about 33 million voice-first devices were in circulation at the start of the year. By voice-first, we mean devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home that sit on your counter and only interact with voice commands. This report doesn’t even count the hundreds of millions of mobile phones, tablets and convertible PCs that have Siri, Hey Google or Cortana built in.

With all the voice search options in consumers’ hands, here are five things law firms need to know about voice search. … Read The Rest

What writers need is a method they can use to create a first draft. Of course, lots of magic happens during revision of that draft, when writers refine their thoughts further. That’s when they apply Word styles. But they need a first draft to work from. If getting to that first draft is difficult for you, read on. Mind mapping may be for you. … Read The Rest

There are myriad reasons to run an efficient, sound, organized law practice. Here are two great ones, from an ethics standpoint: First, it helps lawyers avoid making the costly errors that lead to ethics trouble. Second, when lawyers receive a bar complaint — as many eventually will, no matter how well they practice law — responding effectively is significantly simpler.

We’ve discussed those reasons in this column before. But, with all the talk about why we should improve our practices, the fact is that tweaking the edges of processes and procedures will not bring about the level of improvement most of us need. … Read The Rest

An Essential Guide to Select the Right Law Practice Management Software for Your Firm We’ve all heard that lawyers are risk averse when it comes to technology. And it could be easy to draw that conclusion from the most recent ABA legal technology survey report, which reveals that the… … Read The Rest

As a judge reviews your brief, they’re evaluating your argument and your professionalism. Consider the words of the Hon. Raymond M. Kethledge, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, in an article he wrote for the ABA.(1) “When I read a brief, the first thing I’m judging is the person… … Read The Rest