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Big Brother or Just Good Business?

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Office Management, Security, Technology Leave a comment

The following Guest Post is from Tom Lambotte from GlobalMac IT:

Imagine you decide to check one of your employees’ history on their browsers one day. The most recent 30 stops were at Facebook, Pinterest, Match.com and Amazon. Let’s assume there had been previous incidents of on-the-job theft, how would respond? Theft you say!? Yes, it’s theft and it’s rampant and epic. It’s time theft, which you need to look at exactly the same way as any other kind of stealing in your firm.

“But we are a small law firm and I trust everyone, this surely isn’t happening in my firm?” Everyone wants to think that, but the hard truth is that this goes on, way more than you would ever think. And I you don’t have a system in place to monitor it, you are an ostrich with it’s head stuck in the sand.

When you pay an employee a set wage in exchange for a set amount of work, lets say a 40 hour work week, did you ever agree that they only have to actually work 30 or 35 hours and can goof off the rest o the time? Should you be paying them for checking their Yahoo and Gmail email accounts, Facebook or browsing on Amazon while at work?

A very common thing I have seen, in small firms and mid-sized firms alike (and a mid-size firm in our books is a firm with 25 -50 users) is they ‘trust’ everyone on their staff. I don’t question trust, but I do question focus and output. As I’ve repeated time and time again, on average, 45.03% of your revenues go towards payroll. Legal services has the the 4th highest percentage of revenues going to payroll in the nation. You need to do everything you can to ensure that your staff is as productive as possible.

Browsing that is NOT related to work is theft. I know how extreme that sounds and I used to be on your side as well. I’m a laid-back, highly trusting, organic-eating eating, hippie from the 90s (funny I know). I trust and love people. But I have seen an overwhelming amount of data that shows, consistently, that this is going, unchecked on in every firm. The truth is, online communities like Facebook and commerce giants from Amazon to eBay would lose a tremendous amount of business if it were not for all the daytime use by employees at work, effectively stealing from their employers while playing on the internet. If their attention is going towards non work-related things, they are NOT working. Make no mistake: While the cat’s not watching, the mice are at play at these websites, playing computer games, doing their personal banking online, sending email greeting cards, text-messaging friends, watching movies, while your law practices phones go unanswered, your clients get treated as annoying interruptions and paperwork gets hidden and buried. I know how extreme this viewpoint is, but please hang with me.

On average, research shows that it takes 23 minutes to get back to the previous task at hand every time you are interrupted. Have you even peeked at Facebook for only a minute because there was a notification and before you know it, 11 minutes later you break the death-grip of Facebook, pop back out into the world, left to wonder what the heck just happened? If you know what I’m talking about here, imagine your staff doing this every day on your dime.

We recently added Content Monitoring and Filtering, Umbrella by OpenDNS, as a new service included in our offering and have been setting up all our existing clients on this. After monitoring only for a month, the data is far worse than I expected. Internally, I can confidently say that every one of our employees does the work of 3 regular employees. They are true A players, I trust them 100%. Even then, I saw a good chunk of Facebook usage, Amazon, Zulily, Etsy, Tumbler blog sites and yes, even a little bit of ‘inappropriate content.’

The results have been extremely similar at every law firm we have deployed this at so far. So back to the example of my staff, after monitoring traffic for a month, we implemented content filtering, blocking certain categories and types of content from being visited while at work. I setup a bypass code for WORK and for BREAKS, so that if a site is blocked but should not be, they can easily bypass it. If they are on a break they can go to Facebook, or Zulily or Amazon. All these exceptions are tracked, by user, so I can easily go back and review the exceptions if needed.

I suggest you work on creating a “productivity-only” workplace,” with distractions removed. The less distractions your team has, the more productive they will be. In terms of the Big Brother mindset and fear, the truth is, in the workplace, people need to grasp that they are there to work; they have no right to expect privacy. Whatever they’re doing is your business as long as they are doing it at your business on your business’s clock.

Idle browsing is like a dripping faucet that’s always on, however, labor is quite a bit more expensive than water. That water drip, according to a report by Salary.com, adds up to over $750 billion (that’s billion with a b) that American companies spend paying people for work they’re not doing. In the workplace, Big Brother has to watch. The cat must never be away.

Our service for Mac-based law firms includes content monitoring and filtering. We implement Acceptable Use Policies for our clients and their staff and then install, configure and maintain their content filtering to reduce the amount of time spent at work NOT working.

I highly recommend that if you don’t currently have this in place in your firm, you reach out to your IT guy and demand they implement this. If they can’t do it, find a competent IT firm that can. And if you’re a Mac-based law firm, call us, you won’t find anyone better at supporting Mac-based law firms, since that’s the ONLY thing we do! Happy browsing.

Provided as an educational service by Tom Lambotte, President of GlobalMac IT

GlobalMac IT was founded by Tom Lambotte – renowned nationwide as an author, speaker, trusted IT advisor, and cutting edge, successful provider of the #1 complete end-to-end IT solution for Mac-Based Law Firms in the world. Private firms from throughout North America – and as far reaching as American Samoa – running with a staff of 5-50 – have relied on his expertise to help them put their IT headaches behind once and for all.

Using his real world experience, where results rule and dollars can’t be wasted on negligent computer consultants, he wanted to help managing partners and office managers of Mac-based law firms to put an end to wasting their time and money on IT support that does not work and rescue them from the frustration.

Our unique “TotalCare” approach integrates classic IT support with proven proactive support that truly converts IT from something to be dealt with, into a tool that truly increases law firm profits, increases staff productivity, and provides piece of mind that firm and client data is secure and that their security is never at risk. You can reach GlobalMac IT at (440) 941-1622 to request more information.

4 Creative Ways to Market Your Law Practice on a Budget

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Ben Stevens Posted in Office Management, Offline Resources 1 Comment

The following guest post is from one of my readers, Texas attorney Billy Skinner:

With the overwhelming number of law school graduates flooding the market each year, getting your law practice noticed above the crowd can seem like a daunting task. Attorneys often think the only way to promote their practice is through expensive TV advertisement or roadside billboards.

However, small law firms and solo law practices can produce successful marketing campaigns by creatively using alternative marketing methods. There are several inexpensive ways you can promote your practice and build your client base. Here are some suggestions:

Using Facebook Ads

Most of your potential clients probably use Facebook on a daily basis. Advertising through the social media network can help you target those potential clients while not breaking your advertising budget. Facebook advertisements can be priced either on a per view or per action basis, so your budget can range from a few dollars to tens of thousands of dollars a month depending on your audience targets.

Facebook ads can be created through your company’s business Facebook page in a few simple steps. During this process, you can choose the audiences who will see it based on location, age, interests and more. This demographic targeting is the key to making Facebook ads cost effective. By knowing the interests, demographics, or geo-locations of your future clients, you can exclusively target these individuals, meaning you aren’t paying for people who aren’t likely to become customers to view your ads.

Once the ads are running, they appear in a person’s timeline seamlessly with their friends’ updates, on both mobile and desktop devices. This can help to catch their attention without feeling intrusive, like popup ads do. The ads can provide information about the business and have multiple actionable buttons, like a link to the website or a phone number.

The cost of the advertisements are significantly lower than other online options, like Google AdWords. Facebook ads can run for as little as $5 per month, and the budget can be changed at any time. You are always in control of the amount of money you spend, and the company will not charge more than the amount you designate.

Through a Monthly Email List to Market to Referring Attorneys

Attorneys actively involved in the legal community can be the biggest asset to small firms. According to research by LexisNexis, about 26 percent of an American law firm’s income typically comes from referred work. One way to increase lawyer-to-lawyer referrals is through a monthly email communication.

Creating a list of possible referring attorneys is a free way to promote your business. Once on your email list, you can foster your relationship with that referring attorney through a monthly email, which can include updates about your practice area, information they can use to assist their clients, and details about the types of cases your seek.

When compiling the list, you should search for firms that are not competition and other attorneys who practice in different areas of the law but who deal generally with the same type of client. For example, if you are a criminal defense attorney, you might seek out family law attorneys as they both deal with individuals. By contrast, an M&A attorney might look to build an email list of business attorneys.

Reminding these attorneys monthly of your availability and skills is a free and effective marketing tool. Referral relationships cannot simply be sustained through an annual mixer at a local bar event, rather they take time and effort, and frequent communication is critical to making that happen. So, by sending regular email newsletters you subtly remind them of who you are, and what you do. And in so doing, you stay top of mind for when the moment comes that they need to make a referral.

Writing and Updating a Blog

Having a legal blog could be a simple and inexpensive way to promote your law practice. This type of marketing, however, is different from advertisements that could produce a quicker return on investment. Creating an online journal is a long-term venture that could help differentiate your business from competitors with a mild amount of effort.

Creating the blog itself is a simple task, and it likely is something you could do on your own. Although a hired designer could create a more unique and intricate design, a simple WordPress format could be enough when starting the online journal. Once the blog is personalized to suit your firm, think of the image you would like to portray and who your audience likely will be. There are two main techniques, the first is to appeal to potential referral sources, and the second is to appeal to clients directly.

Whichever audience you decide to target, posting creative and unique content is the most important aspect of a blog. Blogs need to be updated with timely information and material relevant to your legal field. The content could include authentic text, videos, infographics and even images. Having varied material will make the blog more appealing to readers.

For example, if you are a criminal defense attorney who handles drunk driving cases, you could write about a specific aspect of the law, such as how to challenge the results of a field sobriety test. You also could create a video in which you or your staff demonstrate how common field sobriety tests are administered. These two alternative formats of essentially the same content allow you to reach a broader audience as some visitors will want to view the video and others read an article.

Moreover, when a new post is made, share it on your company’s social media. This helps to keep your social media active with current information, while helping your work to reach an even larger audience. If the information is unique and creative, it likely will be shared on different social media accounts, helping to get your company name out to potential clients.

Frequent blog posts also could assist your website in searches. Google uses the recency of content updates, paired with the magnitude of updates, as part of its algorithm to determine search rankings. Search engine rankings are important because 96 percent of people seeking legal advice use a search engine, according to Google.

Volunteer with Legal Groups

Spending some of your extra moments volunteering with local legal groups and associations is another inexpensive way to indirectly market your law practice. Like with any type of volunteering, this would allow you to meet an ample amount of people and provide you with an avenue to discuss what you do.

Volunteering helps connect you to those who may need your services in the future, whether they are future clients or experienced lawyers who may be able to refer clients to your practice. In addition to doing good, it provides you the exposure you need to meet as many people as possible in a short amount of time.

To the extent that your volunteering is done, at least in part, for marketing, it’s important to select activities that will put you into contact with potential clients or referring attorneys. So, for example, if you’re a tax attorney, volunteering at the local soup kitchen, while admirable, will likely be less professionally helpful than volunteering to be on your local communities business owner’s association.

Conclusion

Effective marketing and client development does not have require a substantial budget. In fact, many of the most effective forms of attorney advertising take little to no money. What they do require, however, is thinking ahead of time about what your clients are like, what their interests are, and what their needs are. Once identified, practices should then consider alternative ways to connect with them, whether it is through social media, a practice’s blog, meeting in person through volunteering or through referrals.

About the Author: Attorney Billy Skinner is an experienced criminal defense attorney who represents individuals accused of sex crimes in Texas. Visit his website or follow him on Google+.

2015 Apple at Law User Survey

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in Mac vs. PC, Office Management, Online Resources, Software, Switching to Macs, Technology Leave a comment

The following Guest Post was written by Tom Lambotte of GlobalMac IT and is reprinted here with his permission:

Attorney at Work recently collaborated with MILOfest to conduct the “2015 Apple at Law Users Survey,” aimed at getting a snapshot of how law firms are using Apple products. Tom Lambotte, CEO of GlobalMac IT and one of the MILOfest conference and survey organizers, reviews the results and points out the highlights. Be sure to download the full highlights report PDF, too.

This year’s Apple at Law User Survey revives the annual tradition begun with Clio’s “Apple in Law Offices” survey, conducted from 2010 to 2013. The 2015 Attorney at Work survey drew 339 respondents from firms of all sizes, and the results show some interesting statistics.

Apple Ascending

It’s no surprise that use of Apple products in the legal market continues, but it is amazing to see the continual growth.

Of the individuals responding to the survey, 27 percent were solos, 44 percent had between 2 to 10 employees on staff, 18 percent had between 11 to 50 employees, 6 percent employed 51 to 200, and another 5 percent were in large firms of more than 200. The spread among these numbers confirms that Apple products are being used in larger firms — not just in solo and small law offices.

All Mac or a Mix?

Almost one-third (29 percent) of the respondents were 100 percent on Macs in their law firms, which is not shocking considering the dramatic advancements made possible by cloud-based platforms and software-as-a-service (SaaS). This is a major shift from five years ago when the Apple platform had very limited options in areas such as case management, document assembly, and time and billing software.

Now, with more and more software becoming platform agnostic (meaning it will run on any operating system), I predict we will continue to see the number of all-Mac offices continually increase, year after year.

A full 22 percent of respondents reported using a mix of PCs and Macs, further confirming my point. One of the biggest benefits of SaaS is that firms can give their employees a choice of which platform they would like to use. It also makes it possible to test out a couple of Macs in the office before eventually making the full switch. Often, we encounter a managing partner wanting a MacBook Air, testing it out, falling in love, and then pushing the full migration to Macs in the office.

Another 27 people (8 percent) reported being the only Mac users in their firm. I foresee these trailblazers — along with the mixed PCs and Macs firms — playing a big role in the coming adoption of all-Mac law offices. In fact, we just signed a client with a 15-person firm, where it started with one attorney bringing in his Mac a couple of years ago. They gradually converted and are now on Apple 100 percent.

A Spike in New Users

It’s interesting to compare some of the results from the last Clio survey to the 2015 numbers. Clio’s 2013 Apple in Law Offices Survey reported that 44 percent of respondents had been using Macs for more than three years, while 2015 survey results came in at 50 percent. The biggest difference is new users: In 2013, only 9 percent of respondents had been using Macs for less than a year. That number almost tripled among respondents to the 2015 survey, at 26 percent, pointing to a big spike in increased Mac usage in law firms.

Tablets in Law Offices

Shifting to tablets, 84 percent of the respondents currently use iPads, compared with 75 percent in 2013 and 70 percent in 2012. In 2011, only 15 percent of those surveyed owned an iPad, up from only 10 percent in 2010. Remember that the iPad made its debut in 2010, so those 10 percent were early adopters. In just three years, the iPad had widely penetrated the legal market.

As for the specific iPad model in use, 45 percent say they use either an iPad Air or the iPad Air2. The brand new iPad Pro, just released on November 10, came in at 5 percent. Keep in mind, this survey closed on November 23, so a 5 percent adoption rate in the first two weeks is quite impressive! The older models are still heavily in use, with a third (34 percent) of respondents using an iPad2 or older. This speaks highly to the long, usable life span of the iPads.

Popular Desktop and Laptops

Moving into desktop computer use, the iMac was the most popular desktop model among respondents, with 62 percent of the Mac desktop share. It is hard to beat the all-in-one lines of the iMac. The other two options were the Mac minis at 23 percent and the Mac Pros at 14 percent.

I had expected the Mac mini’s use to be higher and to see less of the Mac Pros. These results may be swayed by the respondents since the survey asked what kind of Mac the respondent was using — not the overall number and types of Macs used firmwide. We frequently see attorneys using iMacs while support staff use Mac minis. The Mac minis are a great option for firms switching from PCs that already have newer monitors and keyboards and mice.

As for laptops, I expected to see a higher percentage of MacBook Airs. (I love my 11-inch Air). A third of the respondents reported using MacBook Airs (32 percent), with over half (58 percent) using MacBook Pros.

While I personally believe the MacBook Pros are overkill for most lawyers, no other laptops had retina screens up until the recent introduction of the new MacBook. I think that was a big reason for the high percentage of these. I forecast an increase in MacBooks and MacBook Airs over the next year.

Talking again about the early adopters, the new MacBook was released on April 10, 2015, and 9 percent reported using these devices — consistent with that 10 percent early adoption rate for other devices.

Apple’s new market item, the Apple Watch (not the iWatch), again hit that 10 percent early adopter mark, coming in at 11 percent. Looking back at the introduction of the iPods, iPhones and iPads, the first year’s sales tend to be a bit slow, with adoption rate striking up tremendously in years to follow. I’m excited to see where this number will be in next year’s survey!

Why Mac?

We also polled users about why they chose to use Macs. The top two reasons, both chosen by more than 70 percent of respondents, were usability and reliability. The third most popular reason was security, followed by aesthetics and familiarity.

Usability (73 percent)
Reliability (70 percent)
Security (44 percent)
Aesthetics/Design (37 percent)
Familiarity (Used at Home) (35 percent)

“Usability” typically refers to ease of use and the user interface (UI). For the most part, Apple and Windows operating systems have the same features. It’s the UI that makes all the difference in the world. If you don’t know how to access or use a feature, you won’t use it. If you are not comfortable and confident in doing a certain task, you won’t do it.

I think this is why the “halo effect” is so dominant with Apple products. The first time someone uses an iPhone or an iPad, they often have that “aha” moment, where they react with: “Wow, this is SO easy.” When someone experiences this they eventually wonder, “Can this happen on my computer, too?” So they buy more Apple products, and, in time, move towards switching their firms to Macs.

What Software and Apps Do Mac-based Lawyers Use?

The survey also asked lawyers whether they use software and apps in these categories: practice management, document management, time and billing, accounting, and project management, as well as what particular products they use.

Practice management. Among those who identified a practice management application, Clio was the most popular, with Rocket Matter and MyCase tying for second. After these, Amicus Attorney, CaseManager and Daylite all had around 5 percent of users. The “other” option turned up an interesting range of products in use, from custom systems to workarounds for PC-based systems to those using general business apps like Google and Evernote. Time Matters was among the most popular “write-ins.”

However, 36 percent — one out of three respondents — don’t use any type of practice management software at all. Based on my experience with Mac-based law firms, this sounds about right, and these results reinforce my belief that many firms are still not properly leveraging the tools available to maximize their practice.

Document management and file storage. A whopping 60 percent of respondents reported using Dropbox. After Dropbox, Google Drive was a distant second at 27 percent. Still, this was much higher than I anticipated. Based on my experience, not one of our Mac-based law firm clients use Google Drive. In third place was Box.

As a side note, if your law firm is classified as a “business associate” under HIPAA rules and you are using a Dropbox Pro or Business account, you are not HIPAA compliant. Until recently, Dropbox would not sign a BAA. On December 2, 2015, they introduced Dropbox Enterprise, an additional higher-level tier — and the only tier where they will sign a BAA. Google will sign a BAA, as will Box, but also only on the Box Enterprise plan, which has been out for two years.

Document drafting and production. Microsoft continues to lead the way with 91 percent of respondents using Microsoft Office apps. Of those, 22 percent are already using the 2016 version, which mirrors the recent uptick seen elsewhere in the adoption of Office 365. Apple’s Pages, in the iWork suite, was in use by 17 percent of respondents. For working with PDFs, Acrobat continues to lead with 55 percent of users; 12 percent use PDFpen, and 10 percent use Apple’s built-in Preview application. An unsuspected contender was WordPerfect coming in at 1.4 percent.

For those running Windows on their Macs, the most popular applications were Microsoft Office, HotDocs, Quickbooks and Adobe Acrobat.

(For a deeper look into the software results, download the full survey highlights report.)

Best Part of Running a Mac-Based Practice?

The survey asked the open-ended question, “What do you feel is the best part about running a Mac-based practice?” Here are a few of their answers:

“Reliability and usability. I feel my productivity is much greater on my Mac.”
“Legal apps/tools are starting to catch up on Mac platform.”
“Ease of use and integration with the Mac-iOS ecosystem.”
“Clarity of retina screens for significant hours of reading and writing online, plus track record of virus protection security.”
“Macs are simpler to use, more reliable by far, and my MacBook Air is so much faster than our Dell desktops that I use it whenever I can in place of ‘high-end’ Dells.”
“Reliability. When we ran PCs the computer repair person was a regular visitor.”
“Mac is such a fluid operating system. It makes the programs work seamlessly and improves interaction and communication. The Apple products increase the value of whatever programs or application we might use because they work better on Apple devices!”
“Never having to worry. A former partner had all PCs in her office. It felt like half of her time was spent acting as tech support.”

I find that people usually make decisions based on emotion, then justify those decisions with logic. Chances are, if you own an Apple product, you’ve already had good experiences with Macs. Perhaps you’ve been holding off switching your law firm over to Macs because you felt it couldn’t be done, or maybe you still think Macs are just for graphic designers and photographers. As you can see in this survey, plenty of law offices are using Apple computers.

High Marks for MILOfest

Many Mac-using attorneys don’t even know of its existence, but there is a legal technology conference specifically designed for Mac-users. MILOfest (Macs-In-Law-Offices) and has taken place at Walt Disney World in Orlando since 2010. Of the 2015 Apple at Law survey respondents who had previously attended MILOfest, 74 percent rated it an 8 or higher on a scale of 1 to 10. For more details on MILOfest 2016, go visit the MILOfest.com site.

More Apple at Law Survey Results

Attorney at Work’s report on the survey highlights is available for download here.

About the Author: Tom Lambotte is CEO of GlobalMacIT, a company specializing in providing IT support to Mac-based law firms. Tom is the author of “Hassle Free Mac IT Support for Law Firms” and “Legal Boost: Big Profits Through an IT Transformation.” He is a popular speaker at national events such as the ABA TECHSHOW and MILOfest, a Mac Lovin’ Lawyers Event. Follow Tom on Twitter @LegalMacIT.

Features Are Worthless – A Case for New Case Management Software

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Office Management Leave a comment

PCLaw. TABS3. PracticeMaster. Amicus Attorney. Needles. Time Matters. Timeslips.

Most attorneys will have heard of at least a few of these solutions as they have been the main contenders for decades. The problem is that they have turned into massive and immobile pieces of bloatware. What is bloatware? From wikipedia: “In long-lived software, perceived bloat can occur from the software servicing a large, diverse marketplace with many differing requirements. Most end users will feel they only need some limited subset of the available functions and will regard the others as unnecessary bloat, even if people with different requirements do use them.”

The problem with adding on every feature request for 5, 10, 15 years or more is that features, when you are not able to easily access them, become worthless. The software becomes so intimidating and non-inviting to the user that it simply goes unused. You see, if you and your staff are not both comfortable and confident with a solution, it is not going to be used.

I know many firms who had been using TABS3, PracticeMaster or PCLaw. However, they continued to track time on an excel sheet, which they would then send to their Office Manager once a week to manually enter. I have also heard from clients, who are making the switch from PC to Mac, that although they own one of these archaic pieces of bloatware, they rarely use them, if at all.

Another very common problem I see for these massive companies, especially those that have been around forever, is that they are very slow in moving to the cloud. If they do decide to move, they simply copy what they currently have, add a new pretty coat of paint and then offer it to their clientele. The problem here is that none of the weight is shed. This causes the migration to the cloud to be both slow and unexciting.

The Cloud

The new cloud-based management solutions have made gigantic strides in reinventing the software to what it should have been in the first place. They are lean, simple to use, easy to deploy and have great educational content to help the new users ease into it.

The older big name management solutions mentioned above often cost thousands of dollars to get up and running, thousands of dollars to maintain, and require expensive servers on-site, which in turn create expensive IT bills to properly manage and keep up to date. The new cloud-based solutions are turn-key, without massive initial fees to get up and running. They can easily scale and contract with the needs of your firm, making the process very easy to budget, since you will also know exactly what a new user will cost to add on. They also offer may ways to learn the software, so that when you bring on a new attorney, they can learn though self-paced methods such as pre-recorded videos on specific topics, live webinars, and easy to search and use online support portals. In comparison, most of the older software will have a 300 page PDF manual, which no one ever cracks into.

One of the biggest features is that ‘modern’, reinvented solutions also can integrate with many of the solutions your firm currently uses. Services like File sharing, like ShareFile, Dropbox for Business, Box, Quickbooks Online, Xero (accounting software), payment gateways, and more can seamlessly integrate and talk with these case management software solutions. These integrations will make working easier for your staff and will remove many of the tedious steps that are currently being manually performed by someone in your office.

If you feel your firm is currently using one of these ‘bloatware’ case management systems, I highly recommend taking a look at Clio and Rocket Matter. These are the two most popular ‘modern’ case management systems that our firm implements for our clients. The easier the interface of your case management solution is, the easier it will be for your staff to begin using it. The more they use it, the more productive they will be. And, whammy! You’ve just increased the profitability of your firm.

Provided as an educational service by Tom Lambotte, President of GlobalMac IT

IT Insurance – 007 at Your Service

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Office Management, Office Resources, Software, Technology 1 Comment

The following Guest Post is provided as an educational service by Tom Lambotte, President of GlobalMacIT:

The s 007 enior partner of a firm had just called our emergency line and told us his laptop and iPhone were stolen just minutes ago from a small café in Paris, France (not to be confused with Paris, TX). I couldn’t help slightly grinning, knowing all of his client data was both completely secure and backed up, thanks to the tools and best practices we had in place, and having complete certainty that he would be fully operational and back to work within a few minutes. Rare moments like these, where we get to use the full capability of our tools, makes everyone on our team feel a bit like 007.

We had him enroll his wife’s iPhone into our Mobile Device Management solution, and tapped into the magical powers of our IT solutions with the click of a few buttons on our end. POW! Within less than 5 minutes, our client had full access to his email, contacts, calendars, case management system and firm files. The work he had been working on minutes before the event, were all backed up and he picked up right where he left off. Best of all, this was all accomplished with very little effort on our end and done in a calm and collected manner. This last part is key, as we know what it’s like to receive stressed out, unconfident support on the other end of the line. This allowed our client to remain calm and comfortable through the process, as we put our tools to use from the other side of the globe. He went back to work and enjoyed the rest of his work-ation; our clients’ trip was shaken a bit, but not stirred.

Disasters happen. Unplanned events. “Acts of God.” This is why we carry at least half a dozen types of insurance. We do so to have peace of mind and certainty in times of chaos. You see, when something happens, your reaction should be calm and collected, “Well, that sucks, but I have a plan for this in place.” For example, if you lost your phone or dropped your laptop, what would happen? Well, there’s the financial hit of the loss of hardware, but the data you’ve most recently worked on is, in most cases, irreplaceable. In addition, the risk of a data breach is not to be taken lightly. When you’ve got the right IT Best Practices, support and solutions in place, your response should be something like this: “Oh snap, I lost the hardware, but the “stuff” is secure, backed up AND I have solutions in place to get back up and running with minimal effort.”

In this scenario GlobalMac IT was able to save the day. We calmly and confidently explained to our client that:

All of his firm and client data on his laptop and iPhone was completely secure and there was zero risk of a data breach.
Everything he had been working on all the way up to the fateful restroom break was backed up to our cloud file system and backup solution.
He would be back up and running in a matter of minutes.

The role of IT insurance in most small to medium law firms is often not taken seriously enough; for example, we see far too many firms using one of Amazon’s most highly rated and inexpensive, residential router or an Apple Extreme Base Station, to protect their firm’s network. We commonly see people doing their own IT or receiving support from their neighbor’s son living at home. You cannot expect someone whom you pay hourly and only in dire situations to implement pro-active solutions. Everyone has come across a legal case in which had they called you 6 months earlier, their case would have been much easier to take on and win. It’s the exact same with IT.

I challenge you to question the role of IT in your firm and how it is currently being approached. Is it a reactive model? Ignore-it-and-hope-everything-is-fine-model? “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” model? – (with 7 year old XP machines that are both a security risk and a massive loss leader in productivity in your firm). If you had been the one traveling in Paris and had your laptop and iPhone stolen with all your firm data on it, how would you have reacted and how quickly would you have been back up and running? James Bond did not make or guess which tools he would need on his missions, Q always provided them ahead of time.

Tom Lambotte is the CEO of GlobalMacIT, the only company in the world that specializes in providing IT support to Mac-based law firms. His methods are based on close to a decade of research, testing and real-world refinement of Best Practices, working directly with Mac-based law firms and firms switching from PC to Mac, across the country and around the world. Tom is the author of Hassle Free Mac IT Support for Law Firms and a highly sought after speaker at national events such as the ABA Techshow and MILOfest, a Mac Lovin’ Lawyers Event. Learn more about Tom and GlobalMac IT at www.globalmacit.com. GlobalMac IT, 95 Executive Pkwy, Suite 700, Hudson, OH 44236, 440-941-1622

“The Pillars of Digital Security” for Lawyers

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in Office Management, Security, Technology Leave a comment

I believe that attorneys can never learn too much about ethics, technology, or the intersection of the two. If you follow this subject closely, you will know that there is not a consensus of opinion when it comes to topics like Dropbox, Evernote, iCloud, Facebook, email, smartphones, and iPads.

Philippe Doyle Gray, a Barrister in New South Wales, Australia, and frequent speaker at the ABA TECHSHOW, has written a paper, “The Pillars of Digital Security“, which he says synthesizes disparate sources from around the world into a statement of principles that reflect an international consensus amongst lawyers and computer scientists about fundamental safeguards for lawyers’ use of technology.

Philippe’s paper provides a vocabulary for lawyers who know little about technology, and it aims to provide a universal approach to issues of ethics and malpractice, regardless of the operating system, device, or particular technology. His formulation links (1) key terms of the American Bar Association’s model rules of professional conduct, (2) the way in which computing devices work, and (3) the way in which lawyers practice their profession.

You can read more about Philippe’s thought on this subject in his article and/or download his paper here. Thanks to Philippe for his work in writing this paper, alerting me to it, and allowing me to share it with my readers.

Source: “The Pillars of Digital Security” by Philippe Doyle Gray.

Do You Know “The Cost of Slow”?

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in Did You Know?, Guest Posts, Office Management, Other Operating Systems, Software, Technology Leave a comment

“Time is money.” We’ve all heard that old adage, but have you ever thought about it from the perspective of how moving slowly can actually hurt your practice? The following Guest Post from Tom Lambotte addresses some of the ways that lawyers and law firms lose time and money without even knowing it:

The Cost of Slow

A very strange thing occurred to us in October 2014. A prospective client signed up for our services, wrote us a big check (which we cashed), then disappeared. When he came to us, he had been reading our materials for some time and was ready to move forward. He definitely had a need and was keenly aware that his IT situation was out of whack. Being a Mac guy himself, he had been trying to make the move from PCs to Macs for some time. He had accepted that he wouldn’t be able to do it himself, saw the value in our services and we had a signed agreement overnight. We charged his card and started our in-depth onboarding process. Then…he disappeared. Completely. Not a peep. We couldn’t get a call back and were unable to connect via calls or email. We eventually gave up, and were left scratching our heads as to what happened.

Fast-forward three months later, and out of the blue, I received an email from him saying he was ready to get started. We were happy to have his business, but I was more concerned about what had happened in the first place. I had to clear the air and be confident he would prove to be a good, responsive client for us to work with. Our service depends on having a quality two-way relationship with our clients.

He explained to me that after we spoke his father had convinced him that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ and that since the computers were still running, why upgrade them? These were old PCs running Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server. Well, after that decision, two systems went down, one of them actually went down twice, and one never came back up at all. This left their users unable to work for multiple days at a time and one of his employees was literally left without a computer to work on. So he was now more ready to move forward than ever before, especially since they were tax attorneys heading into the busiest season of the year. We picked things up and since then have switched his office to Macs and everyone is now thrilled.

In terms of technology, the old adage, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” is a completely flawed belief system. There exists a perception that the longer you keep computers, the better ‘bang for your buck’ you are getting. Technically that is true, however, the unrealized cost of this is massive. Today, I’m going to dive into this topic through 2 primary arguments. First, I am going to challenge the ‘perception of savings,’ helping you see the real cost of slowness. Second, we’re going to dive into the value of your time.

Cost of slow

Based upon a 2007 survey, the U.S. Census Bureau report shows that the legal services industry has the 3rd highest payroll costs, coming in at 45.03%. If you can increase your firm’s productivity, you can increase your profitability. That sounds like my money in your pocket. Ok, so how do we impact productivity using technology?

In its most basic method, I always start by first looking at bottlenecks that can be removed and then determine ways to increase productivity through training and having the proper tools and solutions in place. Without getting too geeky (this is not the place), today’s fastest consumer CPU (processor) is over 3x as fast as the fastest consumer CPU that was available 5 years ago. In the mean time, we also moved from DDR2 to DDR3 memory, and SSDs are slowly becoming the norm over HDDs. The experience of a new high-end PC today is definitely a whole lot different than five years ago.

That time spent waiting for Internet Explorer to startup, or the time it takes for a computer to startup and log in? You’re paying for that. A lot more than you realize. If a modern computer saves someone just 10 minutes a day, that comes out to 2,400 minutes per year, or 40 hours. On average, what is the fully burdened cost of one week of payroll? Let’s take $40/hr as a very conservative example, which adds up to $1,600 per year, per computer. This isn’t even taking anything else into account, such as having an easier User Interface, to work with, as you get with a Mac, additional training that can be provided to your staff, or rolling out solutions that make it easier for your staff to achieve the things they do dozens of time every day.

You see, slow is expensive and in most cases our computers are the bottlenecks in our workflow, when we are waiting on them to finish. Waiting for programs to open, for large PDFs to be OCR’d after they are scanned (you do scan all your files, right?), or waiting for a file to be saved. When working on a slow machine, most people don’t notice it, since it’s all they know and they have become accustomed to it. Your role is to make sure your staff has the best tools available to them so they can be as productive as possible. Their job is not to tell you their computers are old and slow and need to be replaced.

Spend money where you spend your time

Once you’ve saved money, where should you spend it in order to maximize the usefulness of your money spent—or even your happiness? To answer that, just look at what you spend your day doing, proportionally, and allocate money accordingly. Let’s call this the comfort principle.

Simply calculate how much of your day is spent using a certain item. Let’s say we get our recommended 8 hours of sleep per night, leaving us with 16 hours. If we spend 8 hours of our day on or at our computers, we’ve spent 50% of our days on our computers. Let’s get some actual numbers instead of abstract numbers, as this tends to be easier to grasp. In being (very) conservative I am going to use a 40 hour work week, and we’ll say an attorney spends 30 hours of that time on their computers. Over 52 weeks, this comes out to 1,560 hours. Our company cycles all of our clients’ hardware on a 3 year cycle, as we have found this to be the optimal schedule. Going with that, you will spend 4,680 hours on your computer over 3 years. Wouldn’t it make sense to invest a few extra dollars there? Can you see how working on an old machine, simply because it still runs, is not a good idea?

Seeing how much time you actually spend working on your computer, wouldn’t it be worth it to spend a little more up front to make sure you have a great computer? If your computer takes 10 seconds to open an app and you can shave it down to 2 by upgrading to a newer computer, that’s a worthwhile purchase when you factor in frustration and time saved. If your computer locks up frequently because you don’t have enough RAM or if it’s just too slow, it’s in your own interest to upgrade or get a new computer. If you and your staff can get through your day with as little aggravation, frustration and discomfort as possible, everyone will be much more relaxed, which benefits you and everyone around you. And preventing stress is much better than having to spend money later on to alleviate stress. A new client recently told us they had lost an Office Manager the year prior due to issues with her slow computer that were never addressed.

The sad truth is that most people don’t ‘get’ this concept. Time and time again, I have found myself talking to some clients with older systems, quite often the managing partner, trying to convince them to upgrade to a newer one. When the day comes and they finally upgrade, I ALWAYS get raving “thank yous” and “I wish I had done this sooner.” The same goes for laptop users finally getting a big monitor to work on, but that’s a topic for another month.

I challenge you to look at the hardware that you and your staff are working on. Do they have the right tools to complete their work done in an efficient manner or are their systems acting as bottlenecks in their workflow? Is your firms’ hardware over 3 years old? If so, while it may feel good to not be writing a check for the computer hardware, you are, in fact, writing the check, it’s just going to another line item, your payroll. I challenge you to question the way you look towards IT. Is it an expense you dread putting any money towards? Or is it a measurable investment you should be making into smart investments into. Remember, the legal services industry has the 3rd highest payroll cost, 45.03%! Every boost in productivity for your staff raises your revenue and your overall profitability.

About the Author: Tom Lambotte is CEO of GlobalMac IT, the only company in the world that specializes in providing IT support to Mac-based law firms. His methods are based on close to a decade of research, testing and real-world refinement of Best Practices, working directly with Mac-based law firms and firms switching from PC to Mac, across the country and around the world. Tom is the author of Hassle Free Mac IT Support for Law Firms and a highly sought after speaker at national events such as the ABA Techshow and MILOfest, a Mac Lovin’ Lawyers Event. Learn more about Tom and GlobalMac IT at www.globalmacit.com, and readers of The Mac Lawyer can obtain a free copy of Tom’s book, Hassle Free Mac IT Support for Law Firms, at this link.

How TrialPad and Scannable Can Work Together for Lawyers

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in Apps, Guest Posts, iPad, Office Management, Software Leave a comment

The following Guest Post is provided exclusively to The Mac Lawyer by my buddy, Ware Cornell, a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer and 2015 Super Lawyer, who practices in Florida. Ware has been a long time reader of this blog, and he has provided several other great Guest Posts over the years which you can view and read here. He asked last week if I thought my readers would be interested in learning how he uses TrialPad and Scannable together to maximize his efficiency, and I’m pleased to present his article below. I hope it’s helpful to you and your practice.

Background

When I started practicing law, my first assignment relative to the courtroom was to lug in a couple of “trial bags” and organize the file on counsel table for my boss. By organizing and understanding the file in order to anticipate what would be needed and when it would be needed, I was taking an invaluable step on the road to becoming an actual trial lawyer myself.

Forty years later, I am still analyzing documentary evidence and organizing it for presentation. The forty pound trial bag is gone. When I go to trial these days, I take a notebook with hard copies of exhibits to be admitted, one legal pad, and my iPad Air 2.

I am still engaged in organizing evidence, examining witnesses, preparing instructions, and making opening and closing statements. But what replaces the forty pound trial bag? What functions as well as two paralegals and four file cabinets which were brought into the courtroom by a BigLaw opponent?

There are two principal apps that I use: (1) TrialPad from Lit Software and (2) Scannable from Evernote. I start using them at the beginning of the case and all throughout discovery. There are a few other apps that help me along, namely WD MyCloud which connects directly to the MyBook Live Duo, a network-attached storage device, which functions as our office network and storage center. Using the My Cloud app, I can retrieve any document from the office and view and save it on my iPad. So if an issue comes up in the trial over a discovery motion that is not already saved on TrialPad, I can quickly retrieve it.

TrialPad

TrialPad is my organizer. It forces me to think about the elements of my case and how I am going to present it. It also allows me to put documents in a central folder and in the witness folders for introduction or cross examination. Once in a folder my case looks like this:

As you see, I use green internal folders with a Pi sign for the Plaintiff’s case and red folders with Delta embossed for the Defendant’s case. Normally I would have folders with significant orders, the pleadings, jury instructions, opening statement and closing argument. This particular case was a short arbitration and closing argument was submitted post hearing in writing.

TrialPad is very flexible and it is easy to add documents to witness folders for cross examination or to the argument folder for handy reference. As to closing argument TrialPad has an output feature where exhibits, powerpoint, and even video can be presented to the jury by projector or video link.

Scannable

Now what is Scannable and why do I put it in the same pantheon as TrialPad. Scannable is an Evernote app that uses the camera on an iPhone or iPad to capture a document and create a pdf file. Unlike other apps, the Scannable “finds” the four corners of a document and automatically snaps it. This means you do not have to focus or press the button to take a picture.

I use it in depositions extensively. As most trial lawyers of a certain age know, the days of making speaking objections or generally misbehaving are over. When your client is being deposed, you pretty much have to sit there, objecting only to the form and without the ability, except in areas of privilege to instruct a client not to answer. This is, for me anyway, a very boring time, listening to a client tell a story I heard on intake and in depo prep.

In order to avoid taking home lots of paper exhibits of which I probably already have copies I began to use Scannable to preserve the exhibit as a pdf. But then what, I needed to put exhibit numbers on each document. Then I remembered a TrialPad feature. TrialPad allows you to attach exhibit stickers to any document. Further more it numbers them consecutively (even if exhibits are alphabetically marked).

Scannable automatically saves to Evernote, and then asked if you are do or want to “Share Again”. Sharing again enables you to save to other apps including TrialPad. In the case folder in TrialPad I will create a deposition exhibit holder and export my Scannable pdf to it. I then add an exhibit sticker to the document and rename if necessary.

Scannable is a free app but Evernote will sell you two feature packed versions for $29.99 and $49.99 annually, TrialPad is expensive at $129.99. It is well worth the price.

About the Author: G. Ware Cornell, Jr. is a 2015 Super Lawyer and Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer in Weston, Florida. Ware graduated from Emory University and the University of Georgia School of Law. He served as a federal law clerk in the Southern District of Florida. Ware is AV®-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, a 2014 Super Lawyer in the field of Employment and Labor Law, and a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. His interest in computers began in 1984 when he saw a commercial during the Super Bowl. He immediately bought the original 128kb Macintosh. He has reviewed computers, software, and gadgets of all kinds in addition to books as an Amazon top reviewer.

Rocket Matter Automates Its Client Intake Process for Lawyers

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in Office Management, Software Leave a comment

Rocket Matter, the leading cloud-based legal software program, recently announced the launch of Rocket Matter Intake. This new process connects a law firm’s website to Rocket Matter’s practice management and time and billing software to automate the process of gathering new client information.

This client intake process can be utilized by law firms in many different ways. For instance, when a new client comes into the office, the receptionist could hand him/her an iPad instead of a piece of paper to collect the typical name, address, and other necessary information. Not only does this reduce errors and save staff time because it’s being entered by the client, but it also enables the firm to then use that data to create engagement letters, wills, motions, or any number of documents with just a few clicks.

Larry Port, CEO of Rocket Matter, explained it best:

“Rocket Matter Intake is all about growing firm profitability and making lawyers’ lives easier. Collecting information through online forms for client intake removes errors and saves time. Then, when Rocket Matter auto-populates that same data into legal forms, we’re removing hours of wasted time from the legal workflow. That creates more opportunity for actual lawyering.”

As the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words (and a video may therefore be worth a million), so I urge you to spend just over one minute and watch the video below to see this powerful new feature in action.

To learn more about Rocket Matter or its new Intake Forms, click here.

Superb Computer Security Guide for Attorneys

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in Office Management, Security, Technology 1 Comment

Is your computer secure? Seriously, just between us, is it really secure? Secure enough that your clients would sleep soundly if they knew all the details? If pressed, would the powers-that-be conclude that you met your ethical obligations set forth in the Rules of Professional Conduct?

If you had to pause (even for a moment) to think about the answer to any of those questions, I have both good news and bad news for you. The “good” news is that you are like many other lawyers – who generally lag behind the technology curve. Far too many law firms would earn a “D” (at best) if they were graded on their computer security. The bad news is that saying “I didn’t know” isn’t a sufficient response – to a client, a malpractice claim, or an ethical complaint.

Rule 1.6(c) of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct states: “A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the representation of a client.” Pay close attention to the verb, as it states shall, not should. This is a requirement – and yes it extends to the information on your computer. Most attorneys are overworked, stressed out, and reluctant to change. These factors are not conducive to staying up to date on the latest technology, and even then, security is often one of the last items to be considered.

However, the “real” good news is that there is help available, today – for only $10. Sam Glover, Editor in Chief of Lawyerist.com, has written a short, simple, easy to follow guide that he claims “will take you from a D- to a solid B on computer security.” I have reviewed his 4-Step Computer Security Upgrade, and I agree with Sam and wholeheartedly recommend you buy it.

This computer security guide is a combination of concrete steps and best practices for such important topics as encryption, wi-fi security, two factor authentication, and secure passwords. Best of all, it includes step-by-step instructions for implementation (for both Macs and PCs) that anyone (even a non-tech savvy lawyer) can follow. It does all of this in a mere 35 pages and for only $10. What more could a busy, stressed, time-starved attorney possibly want?

Seriously, do yourself a favor and get this guide today – before it’s too late! Click here to learn more about this guide or to purchase a copy.