Despite widespread recognition that the legal services business is undergoing the greatest change in its history, the industry still clings to a definition of relationships that doesn’t map to today’s reality. Different times and circumstances, as they say, call for different skills and approaches. This includes our worldview of relationships. It’s time for us to invest in “idea relationships” and rethink our personal and professional ones. In an age in which information flows freely and everyone expects answers at the stroke of a keyboard (or voice command), idea relationships succeed because your relevance is initially determined by what you know, not who you know.

Clio gets to see us with our pants off. With data on the billable and nonbillable activities of more than 60,000 lawyers, Clio sees what users of the practice management platform are doing on an everyday basis. And, as with last year’s report, conclusions from Clio’s second Legal Trends Report are striking. Here is the […]

As new technology emerges and new trends take over, how we market our business changes. You have to keep up in order to stay relevant, and all of the moving pieces should work together seamlessly so you can spend more time focused on generating new clients, and less time trying to string these things together. […]

Computer scientist Tony Hoare said, “There are two methods in software design. One is to make the program so simple, there are obviously no errors. The other is to make it so complicated, there are no obvious errors.” Asana falls into the latter category. But before I list the product’s material “Hoare errors,” let me first explain what it is and praise its virtues. Asana, which costs $10 per user per month, is a unique cross between to-do list and project management — more capable than apps like ToDoist or Wunderlist, and more flexible and easier to use than LiquidPlanner, ZoHo Projects and the like.

Most legal professionals would agree that the profession is saturated. With so many lawyers out there, there is heavy competition for clients. But as I wrote about in "Representing Rural Clients from a Big-City Office," this is not the case in rural America, where a lawyer shortage has considerable implications for access to justice. There is opportunity in these rural areas, not just for reaching people in need but also for building your law practice. And with today's technology options, you don’t need to set up shop in a small town to meet this opportunity. Online legal services companies are already using technology to provide legal consumers with virtual help, no matter where they happen to live. For example:

Question: "One of my longtime social and professional friends was appointed this year as our newest local judge. We have been social media friends for years. I haven’t appeared before her yet, but expect I will at some point. Are we obligated to “un-friend” and “unfollow” each other?" Our children are friends, too, and participate in many activities together. We share photos online. It appears harmless. Yet I’m thinking it’s not worth the risk. "And, if we do remain online friends, would disclosure of the online connections prevent any perceptions of impropriety?"

In a 1955 essay in The Economist, Cyril Northcote Parkinson, a British historian, described a phenomenon that would come to be called “Parkinson’s Law.” His key insight: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” In other words, if something must be done in a day, it will get done in a day. If something must be done in a year, it will get done in a year. Work takes as long as we allow for it. If you believe that achieving success as an associate takes 3,000 hours of work per year, then it will. It’s Parkinson’s Law of being a lawyer. Working hard, working long hours, working late into the night — too many of us accept the inevitability of a life driven primarily, if not exclusively, by work.

Change is exciting … and overwhelming. When faced with change, you must manage all the transitions that flow from it. You can feel adrift, and sometimes alone, as you re-evaluate your circumstances, or decisions, or even your entire life. Whether caused by losing a job or starting a new one, relocating to a new state, or enduring a personal change such a divorce, all transitions are difficult in their own way. It's especially tough when the change is not one you chose to make. But transitions also present great opportunities to reflect and redirect. Here are five ways to manage a difficult transition without losing your way (or your mind).

Today, the question is not whether you should be on social media — it’s how long will it take you to get up to speed. For "Engage! A Lawyer's Guide to Social Media Marketing" we asked top law firm marketers for advice on where lawyers should focus their efforts — and for their best tips on how to up your game.

Making any Microsoft Office application easier to use often involves tweaking the interface to suit your work style. Here's one of the quickest, easiest and most powerful tweaks you can make: tricking out each application's Status Bar.