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.

Clio-using lawyers get paid on the same day they issue a bill. Most law firms wait an average of three months for clients to pay their bills. Clio-using lawyers have an advantage over these law firms because they don’t have to spend time tracking down clients and dealing with collections. Instead, Clio provides tools that make it easy for clients to deposit funds and pay their bills. These tools include automated trust accounting, integrations with online payment processors, and built-in credit card processing using Clio Payments, powered by LawPay. Clio has just added another tool to help lawyers manage their finances — Trust Requests.

It is a common lament: “My clients say they only want me. How do I introduce colleagues or juniors in a way that creates trust?”

Lawyers negotiate all the time — with other lawyers, partners, staff and clients. Even at home, you’re probably negotiating to get someone in your family to do what you want. One key to successful negotiation is creating a deep feeling of connection with the person you are communicating with. Think about it. Don't people say yes much more often when they’re already comfortable with you? With some people, you reach that level of comfort and connection automatically, but why leave it to chance? You can get to agreement much more easily when you master a few simple techniques to create ease and flow in your communications.

Working from home — even for part of the time — has many advantages. It saves money on office space, reduces time wasted on commuting, and can help you achieve greater work-life balance. According to the American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Survey Report, the percentage of lawyers with virtual practices has more than doubled since 2011. Disruptive Innovation, a recent study by the University of California-Hastings' Center for WorkLife Law, reports on the emergence of new practice models that aim to offer lawyers more control over their work and better work-life balance — and in large part, flexible scheduling and teleworking make it possible. But working from home or in a virtual practice also comes with challenges. Communications issues can contribute to a feeling of isolation and lost productivity. And without the camaraderie that develops from seeing your colleagues every day, it can be difficult to establish trust and a feeling of togetherness.