Ah, summertime. Some of us toss things in a bag and answer the siren call of the road, while others are happy staking out a quiet space on the patio for a good read. Either way, a little mellow downtime shouldn’t go to waste. We’ve collected some of our most popular posts — the classics that get quoted, reprinted and shared over and over — to kick off your summer and ignite some creative thinking.

The best lawyers are often the most creative lawyers. But that doesn’t mean they are, or even want to be, labeled as “creative.” Creativity has a certain connotation to it — and it’s traditionally been a term associated with, well, creative people like artists, musicians and writers.

Each year, Bob Denney’s big fourth quarter report on What’s Hot and What’s Not in the Legal Profession keeps us on top of the most important business trends. But there's no need to wait for year’s end to feel a little smarter about the legal landscape. Around midyear, Bob issues an update reporting on fluxes in the marketplace. So, what’s bubbling up at 2016’s halfway point? Like all previous reports, this update is not based just on law firm surveys but also on information we are continually gathering from legal departments, other providers of legal services, the legal and business press and data compiled by various resources. We are not attempting to report on every development, many of which are obvious and widely recognized, but only on those that we believe are having, or will have, an impact on the profession.

Forget juggling. Most of us feel like we're endlessly spinning plates, hoping we can keep all the parts and pieces of our lives from crashing to the ground. And then comes summer, and the promise of a little down time to relax and refresh — or at least remove a few plates from the stack. Assuming, of course, you can squeeze out any time for yourself at all. To wrap up our "Read the Classics" week, we offer five popular Attorney at Work posts that may help you find a little more time to savor the summer.

Two of Legal Tech Industry’s Most Influential Players Together Deliver One-Stop-Shop Legal Technology Solutions Abacus Data Systems, Inc. (Abacus), the premier provider of fully managed legal technology solutions, has announced that Amicus Attorney (Amicus), one of the world’s leading practice management solution for lawyers, will become an integrated part of the Abacus family.

Nothing But the Ruth! Every law firm has a trust account and an operating bank account and allows clients to pay with a check or cash. But in this day, many clients don’t have paper checks and most of my clients assume that credit card payments are the norm. They are confused that we don’t have a credit card machine at our front desk. There are many options to consider when deciding if you’ll accept credit cards. I researched credit card payment options for lawyers in 2012. My awesome editors at Attorney at Work asked for an update.

Lawyer Lists: “Splendid Lawyer” and “Astounding Lawyer” awards are wearing out their value. Ross Fishman says there’s a reason marketers don’t like them. “I’m selling ego to lawyers, Ross. I’m going to make a fortune.” — Actual quote from a marketing friend before starting a vanity directory. Looking back, it turns out he miscalculated. It seems like […]

When a lawyer is firing on all cylinders, stoked by earning win after win, we say they have "a real fire in their belly. (And we don't mean indigestion!) You know the feeling — alight with the meaning of your work, your mental facilities tuned permanently to "turbo." Then there are those other days. Today, lawyers Mark Tamminga, Megan Zavieh, Vedia Jones-Richardson, Julie Tolek and Josh Brown tell us what they do when their get-up-and-go has got up and gone. How do you reignite the fire in your belly? Here's what they told us.

In my experience, most lawyers who don’t have a book of business would like to have one. And, if they don’t know how to build it, they’d like to learn how. Unfortunately, there are very real obstacles to business development success. The challenges lawyers often encounter are outlined and addressed below. With a little effort, most hurdles can be overcome.

Question: Do lawyers use print brochures anymore? I’d like to avoid that expense and get by with PDFs online. In this month's edition of "Ask the Experts from the Legal Marketing Association," LMA Hall of Famer Elonide Semmes and Andrews Kurth's Jessica Aries explain what kind of print pieces make sense and when to leverage your website.