If you like this sort of thing (and I really do), the P3 Conference was an energizing, cutting-edge event that, for the first time, brought together three traditionally discrete disciplines — pricing, practice improvement and project management — to compare notes on some big trends in the practice of law.

Krebbs came to me for advice. It seems one of his associates had called in sick the day they were to prepare massive final documents for a filing, leaving Johnson high and dry to finish it by himself. That very same night, however, Krebbs saw this guy's Facebook status — complete with selfies, mind you — about the romantic day he'd had with his girlfriend in the city. Needless to say, Krebbs was pissed, but he couldn’t figure out the best way to react. Should he fire the associate for lying? Make him take vacation instead of sick leave? Berate him for leaving Krebbs in the lurch? All — or none — of the above?

Once you know that no one is looking at your law firm website, it’s time to get serious about turning that around. How?

If you’ve turned to the web to shop, reserve a hotel room or even sign up for a guest pass to your local gym, you’ve likely become a recipient of the vendors’ e-newsletters. From mega-corporations like Kellogg all the way down to one-person flower shops, businesses across a multitude of industries are spending big bucks on e-newsletter […]

Some of the legal profession’s foremost thought leaders gathered last week at the College of Law Practice Management’s 2013 Futures Conference, October 4-5, in Chicago. This year, a new format combined brief TED-style talks with longer breakout sessions on three topics: "The Market for Legal Services from the Buyer’s Point of View," "Innovation in the Law Firm" and "The Future of U.S. Law Schools." Here are some of the things I learned. ... READ MORE

"Stephanie hated me at first. She thought I was really annoying." – Chad Burton "I thought Chad was trying to pump me for free information. He was on his iPad the whole time." – Stephanie Kimbro Whatever scenario by which a small law firm is built in your dreams, it is probably not the way it plays out in reality. When Stephanie Kimbro, a solo attorney from North Carolina and 2009 winner of the American Bar Association's annual award for Excellence in eLawyering, decided to join Chad Burton’s Ohio-based Burton Law LLC, they’d only met in person one time. No matter. They had plenty of other methods to get to know each other. ... READ MORE

Virtual Law Practice. The legal industry has not experienced such a trendy concept since "per stirpes" hit the scene back in the day. The virtual concept must be doing something right, though, because it is both embraced and disliked. What is it? Over the past few years, virtual law practices have been defined on a sliding scale — from solos delivering services exclusively online, to multi-lawyer, multi-jurisdictional firms providing traditional and online services, and everything in between. READ MORE

I love my dog, Rosie. One of the benefits of having a virtual law practice is I get to work from home a lot — and that means my six-year-old basset hound is never far away. I also take her on work-related errands to dog-friendly places.

In law firms, most of us copy and paste within and between documents a lot. Especially when a well-written document crosses your desk with text you could use in a precedent – why not borrow and reshape it instead of starting from scratch? I field a lot of questions about Microsoft Word’s copy-and-paste function: "Why is the text I pasted in a different font than the document I’m working in?" "Why isn’t the paragraph formatting of the pasted material the same as the document I’m working in?"

Scientific studies show that taking a 30-second microbreak periodically during the day can reduce stress and increase productivity. One microbreak technique, in 30 seconds, will cause you to be more centered (C), aware (A) and resourceful (R). The technique involves pressing your thumb against your little finger, as if pressing a button — hence its nickname, the “CAR Button.” David King Keller's got it down to a science. READ MORE