I'll begin by pulling the Band-Aid off quickly: After 15 years, I'm leaving the e-discovery space. For those who know me, this will come as a really big surprise — especially given my longtime social media moniker "eDiscovery Gold.” In truth, the decision was surprisingly easier than I expected. It was easier because of my strong personal mission statement, vision, values and beliefs.

Having your own clients and business has long been characterized as “critical” for lawyers in firms of any size. Now that’s elevated to the survival level. The days of paternalistic law firms maintaining client-less lawyers at their long-time compensation levels (or at all) is over. Now, those lawyers’ compensation is being cannibalized to satisfy the growing income demands of the rainmakers the firm is desperate to keep — and of those the firm aspires to recruit. That money is coming from you.

“Let me tell you how wonderful I am!” One of the most difficult things about business development is having to promote yourself. Given the centuries-long tradition that deems it unseemly for lawyers to talk about their accomplishments, abilities and conquests, you come by this struggle with self-promotion honestly. But keeping mum about your ability to help a client is not going to end well for you if your goal is to develop new business. A useful way to overcome the problem is to focus on helping others by, say, introducing them to potential clients and making them look good. ... the truth is that helping others makes them want to help you, too.

If you're a word nerd, the use of "whisky" and "whiskey" in my recent post, "How to Order Whisky for Your Boss — Like a Boss" may have given you an aneurysm. I feel ya. But it was all well and proper as those are separate spirits, not the same thing misspelled. Let's explore.

If you write and interact online or on your phone — which is everyone — you’re engaging in digital marketing. Why not put some strategic thinking behind your efforts to get more leads and clients? "But it seems daunting," you say. "I don’t know where to start.” I empathize. There’s a lot of information out there, some of it even good. And, frankly, you’d rather spend the time serving your clients. The thing is, you can do both. Here’s a look at a low-stress digital marketing effort to get you started.

Facebook continues to gain fans in the profession, according to Attorney at Work's 2017 Social Media Marketing Survey, conducted in February. This is the third year we've asked lawyers about their social media habits, preferences and attitudes, and 302 responded to this year's survey. How are lawyers using social media in their marketing efforts? Here is what we learned.

Your legal career comes down to a choice between two paths. One feels safe, the other fraught with risk. One requires conformity, the other originality. One leads away from fear, the other straight toward it. Building a successful personal brand requires dancing with the fear.

Social media is trending in much the same way it has in past years: It's an even more reliable tool for nurturing and solidifying relationships. People turn to online social networks for recommendations on all sorts of things, including lawyers. And, yes, even lawyers ask for recommendations for lawyers from other lawyers on social networks. The truth is, despite the skepticism of many lawyers, people have been doing this now for years. But many of you already know this. So, let’s dive right into what I think you ought to know (but might not) about using social media in 2017.

When talking with lawyers about Evernote, I often get the same comment: “I heard it was a good productivity tool so I downloaded Evernote, but I haven’t figured out how to get started with it.” Fortunately, there are some simple ways to jumpstart using Evernote in your law practice.

Legal technology entrepreneur Gary Kinder earned a law degree, but he didn’t go straight into the law. Instead, he taught writing at his alma mater, became a published author himself, and began traveling the country teaching lawyers how to write. It was during this decades-long teaching stint Kinder realized he could leverage his passion for writing and teaching to create software that helps lawyers hone their skills.