Skip Navigation

 
The Florida Bar
www.floridabar.org

Practice Management Assistance Tip of the Week and Pipe

PMA TIP OF THE WEEK

From the Practice Management Advisors of North America
Disclaimer: The PMA Pipe and PMA Tips are offered as a service to our members. Materials and links on these pages are intended to provide only guidance and are not legal authority. Some information is from jurisdictions other than Florida, and may reference the law of other jurisdictions. Views and opinions expressed by the authors of the articles contained in the PMA Pipe or PMA Tips may not be those shared by The Florida Bar’s Law Office Management Assistance Service (LOMAS). For assistance with law practice management and law office management issues particular to Florida law firms, we suggest that you contact a LOMAS practice management advisor for a confidential teleconference at (866) 730-2020 or (850) 561-5616.

ABA's Solo and Small Firm Resource Center Home Page

THE PMA PIPE
An outpouring of information, blog excerpts and articles from PMA's across North America

Ten Tips to Supercharge Your Online Presence . . . is the title of my article I co-authored with Jim Calloway and Nerino Petro in the February issue of Law Practice Today that was just published last week. Jim, Nerino, and I selected these tips from our presentation 60+ Best Marketing Practices for Lawyers in 60 Minutes. The tips focus on web-based marketing, including social [...]
from: The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Success  05/25/2013
5 basic steps for building a solid social media brand There is a great post on the Social Media Examiner blog today. It asks the question: “What message does your brand convey to socially engaged customers?” I think too many people (and their SEO consultants) try to take the tact that you need to be all things to all people in all channels.  Unless you [...]
from: The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Success  05/25/2013
Guest Post: The Legal Ethics of Cloud Computing in Massachusetts Judging from the number of questions we get on the topic here at LOMAP, it’s clear that lawyers retain an abiding interest in cloud services, due, in large part, to the increased efficiency and flexibility cloud services purport to provide.  However, a number of attorneys I speak to are reluctant to use the cloud; and, [...]
from: Mass LOMAP  05/25/2013
Restoring Your Computer System and Recovering Data in the Event of the Unthinkable Backing up your files is essential!  But, if you don’t know how to restore and recover your data in the event of a data loss, then your backup is worthless.  I’ve written a post for the ABA’s Legal Technology Today blog that covers how to restore and recover data. You can read my post here.
from: Mass LOMAP  05/25/2013
Grab this FreeDragon NaturallySpeaking Command Cheat Sheet Dragon NaturallySpeaking (DNS) version 12 is a terrific program, but trying to remember all of the commands can be a challenge. Nuance, the maker of DNS has compiled this handy two page Command Cheat Sheet that you can download for free here. And if you are curious about the state of speech recognition on your Windows, Mac and smart devices (think iPhone and Android), don't miss my ABA TECHSHOW 2013 session Speech Recognition: Hear, There, and Everywhere Friday April 5 at 8 AM.
from: Nerino Petro's Compujurist.com  05/23/2013
Keep your batteries charged. Since most of us regularly recharge our smartphones and tablets, we don’t often think about having a battery backup plan. To avoid being caught in a situation where your mobile device’s battery is on the verge of dying, read Dennis Kennedy’s recent blog post, Keeping Your Mobile Devices Charged. His number one tip: pack an [...]
from: SC Small Firm.comSC Small Firm.com  05/23/2013
Voluntary Good Practices Guidance to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing The ABA Task Force on Gatekeeper Regulation and the Profession has worked with other entities to develop voluntary good practices guidance for lawyers to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The Task Force has concerns about how mandatory gatekeeper provisions might affect confidential attorney-client relationships and other issues. Below are two publications from the ABA [...]
from: SC Small Firm.comSC Small Firm.com  05/23/2013
Email Account Hacked? Suddenly you’re unable to login to your email account. Your friends say they’re getting strange spam emails from you. Chances are, you’ve been hacked. What do you do now? 1. Regain control of your account. Try resetting your password by clicking the “forgot password?” link. Of course, this will only work if the hacker hasn’t [...]
from: SC Small Firm.comSC Small Firm.com  05/23/2013
Encryption, Privacy and the Dark Side of the Internet Encryption, Privacy and the Dark Side of the Internet was written by Duane Croft, a Norman, Oklahoma lawyer with an engineering background. This Oklahoma Bar Journal article covers encryption in depth, while still being readable for the lawyer with only...
from: Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog  05/20/2013
Big Time Competition Just Arrived 

The legal marketplace has become extremely competitive.  You know that.  But it just became a lot worse, and you may not yet be aware of the new threat. A 700 lawyer private law firm in China — Zhong Lun Law Firm — has opened an office in New York.  The firm announced in a press [...]

The post Big Time Competition Just Arrived appeared first on PA Law Practice Management by Ellen Freedman.


from: PA Law Practice Management by Ellen Freedman  05/17/2013
Top 3 Game changing technologies from the ABA TECHSHOW 2013 Exhibitor Hall There were three technologies in the Exhibit hall at ABA TECHSHOW 2013 that brought me a WOW moment when I learned about them. These three technologies have the potential to be game changers for lawyers. Learn why I think a video conferencing and screen sharing service, technology from HP and a MS Word add-in are potentially game changing technology for lawyers after the break.
from: Nerino Petro's Compujurist.com  05/16/2013
Announcing 2009 International Human Rights Award Recipient The recipient of the Section of Litigations 2009 International Human Rights Award is Edwin Rekosh. The Award will be presented during the ABA's Annual Meeting in Chicago at The Fairmont Hotel on Friday, July 31, 2009. Learn more about Mr. Rekosh and the International Human Rights Award.
from: ABA Section of Litigation: Online Resources for Litigators  05/16/2013
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor Addresses the Section of Litigation Concerning State Court Judicial Campaign Contributions and Disqualification The Section of Litigation is pleased to present audio recordings of the Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor who spoke on January 9, 2009 in Scottsdale, AZ to a plenary gathering of Section members. Justice O'Connor led a panel discussion concerning state court judicial campaign contributions and disqualification, a subject of great interest to the legal community in light of Caperton v. Massey, currently pending before the United States Supreme Court and on which oral arguments were heard on March 2, 2009.
from: ABA Section of Litigation: Online Resources for Litigators  05/16/2013
Can Email Create Personal Jurisdiction over a Foreign Defendant? A recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, finding that email and telephone communications are insufficient to establish personal jurisdiction over a foreign defendant in a lawsuit asserting tort and contract claims, is causing litigators to once again consider the importance of forum selection clauses.
from: ABA Section of Litigation: Online Resources for Litigators  05/16/2013
Solo Practice You: A Collection of Recordings for the Curious Attorney While my regular podcasting home is the Legal Talk Network (watch for a new episode of the Legal Toolkit later this week, in which I explain my long hiatus and introduce a show co-host), I have been known to dip my toe into other waters, appearing as a guest on other podcasts, from time to [...]
from: Mass LOMAP  05/14/2013
I really hate Windows 8, can I downgrade to Windows 7? Some folks are just not taking to Microsoft's new Windows 8 interface. In fact, many folks hate it and pine for Windows 7. Last week at ABA TECHSHOW 2013, several attendees during my sessions on Windows 8 asked if they could downgrade a Windows 8 computer to Windows 7. While the short answer is yes, you can generally downgrade to Windows 8, there are a number of caveats that go along with that. With fortuitous timing, the folks over at PCMag.com published How to Uninstall Windows 8, Install Windows 7 on Your PC this week.
from: Nerino Petro's Compujurist.com  05/13/2013
Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers Each year my friend and colleague, Reid Trautz, publishes a Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers. I always find something new, interesting and amusing in Reid’s collections, and this year was no different. Reid, being a bit of a gadget guy, has a few gift ideas for the tech-oriented lawyer: Apple TV continues to permeate our... Continue Reading
from: Law Practice Matters  05/12/2013
Rocket Matter Adds Slick Email Integration The evolution of cloud-based legal technology software – practice management software in particular – continues. One of the common frustrations faced by a lot of lawyers as they embrace practice management software is how to integrate matter-related emails into their digital case files. Email gets trapped within the silo of Gmail, Outlook or some other... Continue Reading
from: Law Practice Matters  05/12/2013
It’s Time to Sell Your iPhone Sell my iPhone? What?! You can pry it from my cold dead hands, to paraphrase Moses Charlton Heston. Apple has announced a special event for September 12, 2012, widely believed to be an announcement of the new iPhone 5 (or just plain new iPhone, as they seem more likely to call it). Most Apple events... Continue Reading
from: Law Practice Matters  05/12/2013
Boosting Your Productivity in 2011 With the New Year just around the corner, soon many of us will resolve to improve our law practices in 2011. To help with those resolutions, the ABA Inside Practice newsletter has published Tips for Boosting Productivity at the Office from our book. The list has a dozen practical ways to improve productivity within a [...]
from: The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Success  05/12/2013
Another June Seminar Presentation Scheduled 

Monroe County Bar Association just scheduled me for June 25th.  I will be presenting Survival 101: Law Practice Emergency Planning for Death or Disability as part of their Lunch ‘n Learn Series.  I expect that the registration details will appear on their web site shortly.  This course will qualify for 1.0 Ethics credit.  Hope to [...]

The post Another June Seminar Presentation Scheduled appeared first on PA Law Practice Management by Ellen Freedman.


from: PA Law Practice Management by Ellen Freedman  05/12/2013
Cyber Security and Data Privacy 

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP just published a very sobering article on this topic.  The article is entitled “Cyber-security and Data Privacy Outlook and Review: 2013,” and it is probably one of the most comprehensive reviews on the status of lawsuits, regulatory changes, and breaches I’ve read to date.  It’s guaranteed to make you wince.  [...]

The post Cyber Security and Data Privacy appeared first on PA Law Practice Management by Ellen Freedman.


from: PA Law Practice Management by Ellen Freedman  05/12/2013

[Revised: 04-01-2013]