I will never forget the time an executive with a large international company told of his meeting with a law firm. He and a member of the in-house legal department had agreed to get together with three firm partners, at their request. After the meeting, when asked what happened, the executive replied, “Nothing, really. We talked about a number of different things but we don’t really know why they were here.”

The e-book Paperless, self-published by attorney David Sparks (aka @MacSparky), has won an Apple iBookstore “Best of 2012” award. Okay, so it’s 2014, and I’m a bit late to the parade. But seriously, better late than never: This is one you shouldn't miss. Sparks, a self-proclaimed “Mac zealot,” wrote Paperless primarily for Mac users, so just about anyone with a Mac can use the methods he describes. But the book's big-picture paperless concepts and workflows are applicable for PC users too — and lawyers would be especially well-served by implementing his ideas. ... READ MORE

As Outlook has matured, so has its Junk Mail filter — it’s getting better and better at recognizing what’s good and wanted, and what’s bad and not. You’ll seldom find "good" mail in your Outlook Junk Mail folder, and the filter rarely lets spam email into your inbox. But it’s not perfect and will never be 100 percent right — you still have to check the Junk Mail folder from time to time to ensure email you wanted to see in your inbox hasn’t been rerouted to Junk Mail.

Productivity apps like Evernote may be hugely helpful — and popular — but some of us still like to use paper reminders like sticky notes and paper notebooks to keep on task. Dan Gold says Evernote has that covered, too, with two features that digitize your Post-it Notes and Moleskin Notebook scribbles. Today he explains how you can store, organize and pretty much do whatever you wish with your paper reminders — all from your smartphone or iPad.

Well, I took the plunge this past December and signed a lease for a brick-and-mortar office. I’d had a virtual office for almost two years, using a box at the UPS Store for my mailing address and meeting clients in the conference rooms at the State Bar of Arizona office. It was a great little setup for someone starting out. But I was tired of having to deal with meeting-scheduling issues and I wanted a stronger division between my work and my personal life. Here's how the first weeks have been going. ... READ MORE

A few weeks ago, I was driving down C-470 listening to NPR, mentally checking my Christmas list and chatting with a passenger when a Science Friday feature about multitasking riveted my attention. (Which is really saying something, given the circumstances.) While we've all heard that multitasking is bad for us, it continues to fall into that category populated by other epically heroic activities — like working long hours, drinking too much, driving too fast — that we oddly brag about.

Cloud computing in the practice of law has been a hot topic recently. Regulators in the United Kingdom have issued guidance to solicitors commenting on the practice as it stands in the United States and — of far greater interest — devoting a page to concerns about the potential insecurity of data stored here in light of our National Security Agency surveillance scandal. (See "Silver Linings: Cloud Computing, Law Firms and Risk.") I find it particularly enlightening to hear another country's perspective — in fact, it leads me to add to my recommended criteria for evaluating any cloud computing provider. ...READ MORE

When you are paid to argue for a living, it’s pretty much a given that your job description will encompass some teeth-gnashing, hand-wringing and good old-fashioned tantrum-throwing. But even though a lawyer's world can be filled with anger, it is especially bitter when clients — the same people we work so hard to help — act aggressively toward us. Aggressive clients interrupt and bully their attorneys, engage in awful power struggles and even, on occasion, may stab an attorney’s hand with a pencil in the middle of a hearing. So let’s examine the root of the aggressive client's problem. ... READ MORE

In the quest to drive traffic to their law firm website, many regard search traffic as the Holy Grail. While both direct traffic and referral traffic can be highly valuable to business development efforts, there can be little question that, in terms of volume, search traffic reigns supreme. But not all search traffic will have value to your practice. You have to drive meaningful search traffic — the kind that leads to an intended business goal.

"People don't want to hire at the bottom or middle of the barrel, they want to hire at the top of the barrel." At the Third Annual Super Marketing Conference, Boston lawyer David White pointed out that, "We're all experts, we all have our law degree." The question is, how do you rise to the top? White joined a host of excellent speakers this past June at Suffolk School of Law to deliver some super advice for lawyers. The theme? "Accelerate Your Marketing."  Here are five take-aways for doing just that. 1. Use content to build your credibility — just like always. Content marketing has been around for a long time, says Beth Marie Cuzzone, Director of Client Services and Business Development at Goulston & Storrs. “It’s just a new term for something most of us do intuitively — a technique where you are either constantly pulling or pushing marketing content to a particular target market.” She spoke along with David White and solo Cynthia MacCausland on the topic “Content Is Still King.” What is new, Cuzzone explained, is all the ways we now push out information—our new “distribution channels.” Where we once used newsletters, websites and seminars, now it’s search listings, blogs, ebooks, video, infographics, video and social media. You want to fill all those channels, and more, with credible, consistent content that helps you rise to the top of searches. “You have to stay in front of your audience and remind them why they love you,” White says. And don’t be shy ... READ MORE