Seems like you're always under the gun, doesn't it? Time pressure is the very nature of a lawyer's life. But now you've found that your new iPad makes your load lighter, let's make it quicker, too. Get beyond the basic 101-level of iPad use, and you can apply all kinds of micro-efficiencies to speed things up. Just as Microsoft Office and other programs have shortcuts, there are shortcuts for the iPad2 and iPad as well. ...

No doubt you've heard about those lawyers who scan everything that crosses their desks, efficiently coding and filing each receipt or treatise like a lean, mean legal document management machine. It sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Truth is, you love the idea of becoming a paperless, even semi- paperless firm, but you have no idea what to do once you scan that first piece of paper. Where do you put it? How do you find it when you need it? And how do you get your partners to go along? Well, you're in good company. So when we heard about Steve Irons' "Scanbition" seminars, we asked him for a few tips to help lawyers make the move to firm-wide scanning. ...

Who are these “enterprising lawyers”? Actually, they are easy to spot. Look for the more engaged and happier lawyers in the crowd. Deeply invested in the power of the work they do for their clients, they have ample interests beyond the practice of law as well. You probably know one or two—you may even be one yourself! In this interview, we talk with Todd Flaming—a big-time litigator in a small Chicago firm ...

Once you get comfortable with social media, you'll no doubt chuckle at your early days—including the etiquette quandaries and minor panic attacks. (Will they know if I unfriend them? What was I thinking with that profile picture? I didn't know that comment was public!) Rookie mistakes on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+? We've made plenty. So for this week's Friday Five, we're sharing a bit of what we've painfully learned and called in the big guns—Stem Legal's Steve Matthews—for advice on avoiding, or overcoming, some of the gaffes lawyers make with social media. ...

While some people are “lawyering up,” lawyers are labeling up. Advertisements, as well as brochures and emails, often seem to be screaming out at even the most sophisticated audience: “Lawyer Advertisement!” “Advertising Material!” “This is an Advertisement!” Of course lawyers don’t label up because they are concerned people will be confused about whether firm websites […]

In part one of this series on how to use project management software to manage people, Brett Owens started simple with some easy-to-use, off-the-shelf apps—Workflowy and Basecamp. In part two, Brett shows us how delegation and collaboration might be handled via your firm's practice management system, specifically Rocket Matter and Clio—two popular programs for smaller law firms.

One of the benefits of being a lawyer with a laptop, tablet or smartphone is that you really can work anywhere with access to Wi-Fi and your files. But the question of security must be addressed. How can you protect yourself and your clients when working in public spaces? While at ABA TECHSHOW last month, I picked up some valuable advice for lawyers who like to work in coffee shops.

Do a lot of keyboarding? (We're thinking yes.) Small City Law Firm Tech blogger Vivian Manning has an easy way to boost your speed and your accuracy, to boot. Text expansion software, she says, can free you from tons of repetitive typing—and can ensure that much of your keyboarding is error-free. Today she guides a nice round-up of your options, both plain and fancy ...

Sure there are plenty of project management apps to keep us on task, personally. But can project management software be used for managing others, too? In "Project Management: Easy as 1-2-3," Brett Owens highlighted products to help you manage your practice. So we asked him back to apply his "effective, yet simple" criteria to explore that intersection between the products and the people needed to get things done.

Attorney Bill Gibson still remembers the ordeal of making a transatlantic phone call back in the 1970s when his wife lived in Europe. You had to put in a request at the post office or American Express office, then return hours later at an appointed time for the call to be put through. Today, he’s taken groups of lawyers to China, and has seen people call their office in the US standing atop the Great Wall. Yes, things have changed, particularly with ease of communication, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do a little preparation before hopping that plane. Here are seven things you can do ward off potential problems abroad so you can focus on getting the most from your trip, whether it is for business or pleasure.