As I looked out at the audience while teaching a CLE course recently, I started to wonder how many of them were there because they were interested in the material or because they just needed the credit hours. What were they really doing when they appeared to be taking notes? I’ve been to my fair share of interesting-sounding CLE programs that turned out to be boring or not on the topic I expected — that’s when I spend the hour catching up on Twitter. I thought I’d see what my fellow legal eagles think about and do at CLE programs, so I created a survey. Some of the results were pretty interesting. ... READ MORE

In an age where data breach incidents have become a common occurrence, many corporations are beefing up security to protect themselves against data theft and the huge losses that accompany it — financial, IP and customer trust, among others. As a result, hackers have been increasingly turning their attention toward softer targets, including law firms and other service providers. Here are five steps you can take to protect your practice from technology-based threats without restricting the use of technologies that help increase your practice's efficiency. ... READ MORE

Ryan Sullivan has advice on setting boundaries and controlling the tone of your interactions with aggressive clients.

Question: We saw the TV ad the Georgia lawyer created for the Super Bowl and also heard that a national law firm spent a ton of money on Super Bowl advertising a few years ago. Was that a good idea? I think it was awfully expensive. Is this kind of TV advertising generally successful? In this edition of "Ask the Experts from the Legal Marketing Association," we check in with law firm marketers Joe Calve, Tina Emerson and Ian Turvill. ... READ MORE

It's a fitting way to celebrate National Grammar Day: Today we are announcing that lawyer and author Teddy Snyder is taking over Attorney at Work's monthly "Get to the Point" column. Teddy will be giving practical tips, picking at nits and — we're certain — offering an occasional rant aimed at helping us all communicate more effectively and confidently.

Few things will jolt lawyers into action faster than an incursion into the legal services market by someone who is not a lawyer. Claws out, fangs bared, hair raised on end, the profession aggressively protects its territory the way it knows best: by initiating a proceeding under the appropriate jurisdiction’s unauthorized practice of law regulatory framework. This […]

Question: "We're all using personal tablets, smartphones and laptops, but there's worry about the threat it poses to our law firm's IT systems and infrastructure. What can we do to keep firm and client data secure from outside threats while using our personal technology for work?" In this edition of "Ask the Experts from the Association of Legal Administrators," law firm IT veterans Glen Boyer and Rick Rusch provide a few good safety tips to follow. READ MORE

No matter how technologically advanced we are as a society, we still follow a tradition that goes all the way back to the 1600s, when calling cards made their debut. Over the next centuries, calling cards were used to announce the impending arrival of prosperous or aristocratic people, or as a means of formal introduction — leading us to business cards. Format-wise, business cards have been a little slow to adapt to our always-online culture. It seems that exchanging paper cards at networking events is still the quickest way to get someone’s contact information. But therein lies the challenge: What happens after the event, when you get back to the office with a stack of cards?

What if you had completed all of the requirements to become an attorney admitted to practice law but, despite your best efforts to rectify the situation, were in the United States without a valid visa? That is exactly the question the Supreme Court of California took up recently in a first-of-its-kind case, In re Sergio C. Garcia On Admission. And its ramifications could be far-reaching for lawyers across the country. ... READ MORE

Fortunately, the discussion of websites in the legal industry has mostly changed from, “Do you have a website for your firm?” to “Have you leveraged the latest technology and best practices to fully optimize your site?” Here are five trends shaping the new standard for law firm websites, so you'll know smart ways to improve your firm's site in 2014. ... READ MORE