Category Archives: Online Resources

Rocket X1 Is The Game-Changing Internet Marketing Service for Lawyers

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Marketing your law firm is an essential part of being successful in today’s fast-paced, information-based world.  Unfortunately, far too many lawyers are really really really bad at marketing – and that’s far from a secret. Therefore, rarely a day goes by that some company doesn’t contact our firm with an offer to “help” our efforts in that regard, and rarely does such an inquiry take longer that 0.02 seconds to end up in the trash.

Take note: Today is the day that everything changed in the world of internet marketing for lawyers.  Bold statement? Yes, but I’m confident that it’s a true one. You see, today marks the launch of Rocket X1, a new comprehensive Internet marketing agency and software platform designed specifically for attorneys.

While I believe that Rocket X1 is in a class all by itself, there are several key characteristics that distinguish it from any would be competitors.

  • First, it takes a unified approach to the marketing process, combining a comprehensive portfolio of services, such as website construction, social media & newsletter strategy, search engine optimization, and content marketing. In the past, this typically required firms to work with multiple different companies, resulting in higher costs and less synchronicity.
  • Next, Rocket X1 assigns an expert account manager to work with each participating firm. The manager gets to know the firm and its unique needs and then can develop a customized plan for each firm. Better yet, the folks at X1 understand that lawyers are busy and detest marketing, so their program includes checklists, deadlines, analytics, and milestones to keep the firm on track and to continually measure progress.
  • Finally, it has a proven track record of success. But wait, how can a company that is launching today already have a proven track record? No, that’s not a trick question. Rocket X1 a new service from the folks at Rocket Matter, which over the last five years has built itself into the leading web-based legal case management program using the above-referenced techniques. They have used their successful marketing experience to create a proven, proprietary process that delivers fast, measurable results.

Rocket X1 looks nothing short of phenomenal. If you don’t believe me, go to their website and watch the short informational video. I saw it a few weeks ago, and I was blown away because I have never seen anything like it. If you are in Chicago this week, stop by Rocket Matter’s booth at ABA TECHSHOW and learn more about their internet marketing service for lawyers.

Do You Have A Social Media Will?

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Social media is everywhere. Each of us will die one day. We would be well served to prepare for the convergence of those two realities.  The following article from my friend, Tim Baran, does an excellent job addressing this topic, and he’s graciously agreed for me to republish it here.  I hope that you not only read it, but also consider Tim’s suggestions. 

Social Media WillA couple of my Facebook friends died last year. I went to the memorial services and thought I had closure, but their profiles were still alive and I didn’t have the heart to unfriend. Then the other day I was startled to get an automated birthday notification from one them. It was time to unfriend but it got me thinking about what happens to our social media accounts and online identity when we die.

A few platforms, like Twitter and Google, have policies around accessing or deactivating accounts of deceased users. Or, you can choose to memorialize an account on Facebook.

The government addressed this concern by adding a breakdown of what to consider when creating a social media will on the USA.gov personal finance and estate planning site:

Social media is a part of daily life, so what happens to the online content that you created once you die? If you are active online you should consider creating a statement of how you would like your online identity to be handled, like a social media will. You should appoint someone you trust as an online executor. This person will be responsible for the closure of your email addresses, social media profiles, and blogs after you are deceased. Take these steps to help you write a social media will:

  • Review the privacy policies and the terms and conditions of each website where you have a presence.
  • State how you would like your profiles to be handled. You may want to completely cancel your profile or keep it up for friends and family to visit. Some sites allow users to create a memorial profile where other users can still see your profile but can’t post anything new.
  • Give the social media executor a document that lists all the websites where you have a profile, along with your usernames and passwords.
  • Stipulate in your will that the online executor should have a copy of your death certificate. The online executor may need this as proof in order for websites to take any actions on your behalf.

Thing is, a list of usernames and paswords might be less than helpful since we often change them. I suggest investing in a password manager, like 1Password. Then all you’ll need is one master password on that list.

Rocket Lawyer has a social media will that you can fill out online. It allows you to state how you’d like your online identity and other digital assets, such as email accounts and computer files, to be handled after your death.

It’s never too soon to get your virtual affairs in order.

About the Author:  Tim Baran is the Community Manager for Rocket Matter, the leading mobile online legal practice management and time and billing software.

Rocket Matter Celebrating 5th Anniversary and Giving Away Prizes

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Rocket Matter, the world’s best law office management program, has announced that in celebration of its fifth anniversary, it is kicking off a year-long celebration and giving away iPads, Android Tablets, and Kindle Fire devices to celebrate the occasion and their commitment to mobile lawyering.

I remember the first time I ever spoke with Rocket Matter’s CEO Larry Port back in the Fall of 2007, when he called me to discuss an upcoming legal software product that he claimed would revolutionize the industry.  He asked if I would be interested in checking it out for my firm, and I agreed.  When Rocket Matter launched in late February 2008, we were on board from day one, and we’ve been with them ever since.

Discussing this milestone, Larry says

It’s been a great ride so far, and we’re just getting started. We’re committed to making the lives of attorneys a whole lot easier, and the best way to do that is to keep improving the product and get more mobile devices into their hands.  Our Five-Year Celebration of Legal Mobility aims to do just that.

If you haven’t taken a look at Rocket Matter yet (or recently), take a few minutes to do so.  It has really improved our efficiency and as a result made us better lawyers, and it can do the same for your firm too.  You can also get more information about their tablet giveaways can be found on their website.  Again, happy anniversary from The Mac Lawyer to my friends at Rocket Matter, and may you have many many more years of success!

Rocket Matter Launches API and Integration with Automatic Time Tracking Tool Chrometa

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Rocket Matter, the leading cloud-based legal practice management and time and billing software for small to mid-sized law firms, has announced a publicly available application programming interface for Rocket Matter (RMAPI) and one-click integration with Chrometa, an automatic time capture technology for Macs and PCs.  RMAPI allows other software companies to seamlessly and securely retrieve and send information to Rocket Matter without error-prone downloads and import files.   In providing a scalable platform for other technology partners, Rocket Matter is one of the first legal practice management program with a publicly available API.

“Rocket Matter is no longer just a product: it’s a platform for other software companies to create amazing products for lawyers,” says Larry Port, CEO of Rocket Matter. “We wanted our first API integration to be with an incredibly useful, amazing product and forward-thinking company, and found this partner in Chrometa. Their automatic time capture gels with our idea of partnering with law firms to improve their efficiency and profitability. We look forward to offering law firms additional end-to-end experiences with our future RMAPI partners.”

Rocket Matter and Chrometa will demonstrate their new integration next week at ABA Techshow in Chicago, where both companies are exhibiting.  “We’re very excited about our integration with Rocket Matter,” says Brett Owens, CEO and Co-Founder of Chrometa.  “We think our users will love the one-touch ability to send time automatically captured on Chrometa over to Rocket Matter.”

In addition to RMAPI, Rocket Matter is proud to announce an elegant solution to an inelegant problem:  the incorporation of ABA Task Codes and LEDES 98 billing into their flagship product.  Via Rocket Matter’s autocompletion technology, users don’t need to remember codes.  Rather, they can enter the description, and the ABA code will be pulled into their billable activity.  LEDES 98 invoices can be generated one matter at a time or across all matters with the click of a button via Rocket Matter’s Batch Billing functionality.

Rocket Matter and Chrometa One-Click Integration, LEDES 1998 Billing from Rocket Matter on Vimeo.

About Rocket Matter, LLC

Rocket Matter, LLC provides Rocket Matter®, an online legal practice management and time tracking application for small to mid-sized law firms. The benefits of Rocket Matter®, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) application, include increased security, business continuity, decreased technology infrastructure and maintenance costs, and improved return on investment for information technology expenses. Launched in February 2008, Rocket Matter’s corporate headquarters is in Boca Raton, FL.

About Chrometa, LLC 

Headquartered in Sacramento, Calif., Chrometa, LLC, creates software that acts as your very own personal timekeeper. Chrometa’s time tracking tools are used by attorneys and other professionals to enhance revenue and gross billings, and spend less time reconciling time. Please visit www.chrometa.com for a free trial of Chrometa’s proprietary time capture technology.

Rocket Matter 2.0 Released, Now Featuring Document Assembly

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The Mac Lawyer has long found Rocket Matter to be the leading practice management program for law firms, including my own.  It providers users the ability to quickly and efficiently manage their calendars, tasks, contacts, and time and billing.  Within the last few months, it introduced the ability to integrate with Dropbox and Evernote.

Last week, Rocket Matter announced its 2.0 release, which now features document assembly.  Users can merge client and matter data to easily generate customizable documents, with no limit to the number of custom fields that may be used.  This new functionality makes this already impressive product stand head and shoulders above its peers, and it can greatly increase both productivity and efficiency for its users.

“For the first time in the cloud and for the first time on Macs, attorneys have software that can instantly create new legal documents, store them, and bill for them,” says Larry Port, CEO of Rocket Matter.  “Our 2.0 release is a major step forward for cloud legal software.  The document assembly and custom field combination offers incredible power while adhering to our well-known ease-of-use philosophy.   Creating a new document with existing matter and client information literally takes the click of a mouse.”

Because Rocket Matter is web-based, users can utilize all its features and generate documents on their Macs, iPads, iPhones (and even PC’s).  To the best of my knowledge, Rocket Matter is the first and only SaaS (Software as a Service) case management program to offer document generation.  Kudos to the folks at Rocket Matter for recognizing this glaring need and addressing it in such a useful manner.  You can learn more about the document generation and other new features at their website or in the preview video below:

A Preview of Rocket Matter 2.0: Document Assembly and Custom Fields from Rocket Matter on Vimeo.

Guest Post :: Implications of iCloud on the Legal Field

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Cloud computing technology has been making serious headway in the past few years. Most of those endeavors have been on the “back end,” allowing businesses to create and implement scalable solutions that rely on third-party, Internet-based providers. The legal field, however, has sometimes been resistant to these technologies. A variety of concerns – primarily those involving security – have kept many cloud solutions at bay.

With the advent of Apple’s iCloud, however, the legal field may not be able to hold out much longer. While iCloud isn’t necessarily revolutionary in what it does, it comes at an auspicious time. Consumer cloud computing solutions have been gaining rapid acceptance, as evidenced by the rapid growth of DropBox.  iCloud has the potential to bring cloud computing to the masses.

Personal use drives business use

Over and over again in the history of technology, we’ve seen as personal use of technology tends to drive business use. The situation with iCloud is likely to be similar. Once people (including those in the legal field) get used to accessing all of their personal data from many locations with many different devices, they’ll want to be able to do so with their work data, as well.

Security concerns and iCloud

This, then, is raising concerns about security for many in the field. There are at least three major security questions iCloud brings to the fore, including:

  • How do cloud solutions impact confidentiality? If a third party – in the case of iCloud, this would be Apple – is hosting your client files, can the data be considered secure and confidential? Will this kind of storage meet legal challenges to confidentiality?
  • How can timestamped data be captured in the cloud? For example, when you’re talking about an iCloud file, you can see the file changed from one moment to the next. How will businesses capture specific time-related data? This is particularly relevant for issues like e-discovery.
  • How does iCloud security compare to existing security? The fact of the matter is that many businesses – even those involved in legal issues – have relatively poor security. That might be at the desktop level, the network level, or both. Does iCloud and related technologies actually offer a more secure environment than the status quo?

How the legal field fits in

Many in the legal field may be resistant to this emerging technology. This would be a mistake, as there’s plenty of potential for those in legal to make a positive impact on the cloud computing trend. Specifically, legal professionals can:

  • Become educated about security technologies. By gaining an understanding of how things like encryption function in the iCloud environment, you can better analyze a given solution.
  • Challenge cloud solutions providers to create stronger security measures. Legal firms can be a driving force behind improved security from cloud providers.
  • Identify ways that cloud solutions can meet legal requirements. In addition, legal firms can help to identify how regulatory requirements can be met, and how the cloud can be made to be more friendly to e-discovery and related processes.

Whether or not iCloud gains widespread use, one thing is certain: those in the legal field can’t afford to ignore cloud technology. It’s time to get out at the forefront, and make sure the tech meets all of the important legal requirements that you and your clients need to meet.

About the Author: Eric Greenwood is an information and online storage technology expert whose advice is sought after by friends and strangers alike – Read more of his work on his blog, Online Storage!

The Law Firm of Tomorrow Is Available Today

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Now you can have The Law Firm of Tomorrow today.  Rocket Matter, the leading web-based legal practice management and time and billing software for small to mid-sized law firms has released the first installment of their serially published e-book, which focuses on social media marketing for law firms and legal technology, with an emphasis on cloud and mobile.

Based on over three years of serving small and mid-sized law firms and witnessing thousands of attorneys managing law firms, The Law Firm of Tomorrow, when completed, will address a spectrum of operational issues for modern law practices ranging from Facebook strategies to managing cash flow and choosing office space wisely.

“Not only have we been in the trenches with law firms on a day to day basis, we’ve been chronicling our findings via industry trade publications, social media, webinars, and CLE.” says Larry Port, the company’s CEO and co-founder. “We’re excited to share our experiences and suggestions, and hope that The Law Firm of Tomorrow gives solo and small firm attorneys a competitive advantage in an increasingly challenging marketplace.”

The Law Firm of Tomorrow is not Rocket Matter’s first foray into e-book publishing. Last year’s Legal Productivity focused on efficiency techniques for legal professionals, including a look at the Getting Things Done System®, the Pomodoro Technique, mind mapping, and practices in the software industry that can help manage law firms.

You can download your own copy of The Law Firm of Tomorrow by clicking here.  Thanks to the good folks at Rocket Matter for making this resource available (for free) to attorneys.

Guest Post :: “Must Have” Apps & Other Tips for Working While Traveling Abroad

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When traveling abroad, busy professionals often do not have time to craft a detailed, comprehensive itinerary, and the stress induced by planning (or the failure to carefully plan) your international journey may be eclipsed by the anxiety that comes from being away from the office. Regardless of whether you are traveling abroad for business or pleasure, the following applications for your iPhone, iPod or iPad can help make your trip a more pleasurable experience

Applications to Help You Adjust to Your New Surroundings

These applications can assist the international traveler and take some of the stress out of your global excursion.

Google Maps :: If navigation is not your thing, let your Mac gadget do the work for you. With all major international regions covered on the app from Google Maps, directions to your destination are at your fingertips.

XE Currency :: Who knew that one U.S. dollar is the equivalent of 4,712 Zambian kwachas, 1.34407 Bosnian convertible markas, 1.49802 Ghanaian cedis, 3,047 Belarusian rubles, and 2.85 Turkmenistani manats? Even if the homes to these currencies are not high on your list of places to visit, this app appears to have the capacity to calculate the conversion of nearly every currency on the planet.

iTranslate :: Speak like the locals with this app that can translate words, phrases and even entire sentences in 50 languages. In addition, the newest version boasts a voice recognition component for easy use.

TravelMD :: Getting sick while abroad can be a nuisance, particularly if you are away on business. Trying to find the right physician and get prescriptions filled can be stressful when you are ill, even if you are in familiar surroundings. Add to that equation a foreign language and an unfamiliar healthcare system, and the situation could become particularly overwhelming. This app can help you locate healthcare professionals in several foreign countries, and destinations where this app is available appears to be growing.

Sutro Media :: Don’t have the attention span to read the 200+ page travel guide your friend gave you? Traveling on business and don’t have the time to thoroughly research your itinerary? If you want to bypass the long narrative common in most guide books, Sutro Media may be able to help. This is not a single application; rather, it is a company that produces numerous apps geared toward traveling. Every international destination is not represented, but the list is growing.

SitOrSquat :: Getting the urge to go when you’re in unfamiliar surroundings can be stressful, particularly if a language barrier makes asking where the nearest restroom is difficult or impossible. This app identifies the locations of public toilets across the globe. Users can add toilets to the database, and you can even review ratings of public restrooms, hence the app’s name.

APPLICATIONS TO HELP YOU STAY CONNECTED TO HOME

These apps can help globetrotting professionals stay connected back home with friends, family and the office.

iChat :: Whether you need the ability to instantly communicate with colleagues and clients while abroad, or whether you just want to be able to let that special someone know that you’re thinking about them thousands of miles away, iChat makes it simple to connect, regardless of where you are in the world.

Skype :: Skype is widely regarded as a software application that allows friends and loved ones to communicate in real time while seeing each other onscreen. However, business professionals often find that conferencing via Skype adds a much more personal touch than your average business call. Trying to make a connection with a client who is thousands of miles away can be difficult, but the intimate environment possible with your iPhone’s Skype app can help bridge the gap, even if an ocean separates you from the person on the other line.

Facebook :: Sure, the Facebook app is probably geared more toward social networking, but nowadays the lines are often blurred between social networking and professional networking. So, whether you want to post photos of the amazing sites from your international adventure, or whether you need to message a coworker on the other side of the globe, Facebook can be very handy.

Twitter :: Be the envy of your friends and colleagues back home with your tweets about your trip. Or, use your Twitter app to conduct business abroad.

Insanely Simple Country Codes for International Calling :: This app is exactly what the name implies. Get easy access to what can often be confusing country codes to help dial anywhere around the world.

The World Clock :: Use this app to help yourself remember the time difference between your current location and your family, friends and colleagues back home. That way, you can avoid annoying, middle-of-the-night phone calls and won’t expect immediate responses to emails sent at certain times of the day.

About the Author:  Ripley Daniels is an editor at Without The Stress, a passport, travel visa, and immigration advisory firm located in Los Angeles.

Five SEO Tips for Lawyers

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The following Guest Post is from Lior Levin:

Most lawyers and law firms are aware of the need to have a website. It gives them an Internet presence and makes it easier for potential new clients to find them. Unfortunately, the vast majority of lawyers don’t quite grasp the importance of search engine optimization, or SEO, and how it can affect your site’s visibility.

Think about when you type something into a search engine. You want to see results that match your search term, so you check out the sites shown to you on that front page of the results.

How many times have you actually clicked onto the second or third page of results to find what you’re looking for? Chances are you probably ended up typing a more refined search phrase into the search engine and tried again.

Now think about where your website appears in those search engine results for your own keywords and phrases. If clients are searching for a lawyer, are they going to find your website or your competitor’s site?

Understanding Keywords
Before you rush off to a convenient search engine to check where your site appears, do you even know what keywords a visitor needs to search for in order to find you?

Most visitors won’t begin a search using your firm’s name. It’s more likely they’ll begin by searching for a specific type of lawyer in their area. For example, they might type in “estate planning lawyer in Los Angeles” or “divorce lawyer in Salt Lake City”. Or they might look for a specific service like E2 visa in our case.

If you can get your website to rank well in the search engines for terms that match your firm’s specialty and location, imagine the number of free leads you could end up with.

Start a Blog

A blog isn’t exactly the professionally designed website you’d expect to see for a lawyer or a law firm. However, it’s not intended to replace your professional business website.

Rather, it’s intended to help boost your search engine rankings. Blogs tend to rank very well on Google and blogging platforms like WordPress usually take care of most SEO work behind the scenes for you.

Your blog needs to contain content that includes and relates to the keywords you want to rank for. Each post you add to the blog should contain a link back to your firm’s business website to encourage visitors to the blog to seek more information about the firm. 

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