Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home and communicating and collaborating via real-time communication tools has become the norm for many law firms and offices. The benefits of such arrangements are obvious. However, some firms, including several of the largest in the country, have begged to differ. Citing a need to maintain or preserve office culture and strengthen personal connections, these firms are now mandating at least four days in the office per week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Experts discuss disaster preparedness and the role of civil legal aid in recovery on LSC’s “Talk Justice” podcast. September is National Disaster Preparedness Month. Since 2022 the federal government has issued more than 75 major disaster declarations across the U.S. and its territories. Yet even with the increasing frequency and ferocity of natural disasters, the overwhelming majority of Americans are unprepared if disaster strikes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn to manage the data your law firm already creates to make better business and strategic decisions. Zack talks with Joyce Brafford, from CosmoLex, about how internal analytics can drive your marketing decisions, firm growth, and processes. Links from the episode:Grow Your Law Firm with Data-Drive Decisions10 Metrics Law Firms Should TrackIdentify Key Metrics to Determine Your Law Firm's SuccessQuickBooks vs. CosmoLex: Keeping Eyes on Your Business Health with Advanced Reporting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode’s discussions around the Community Table:   Our first topic is how to use vacations – including your own breaks – to affirm company culture. How do you get away without fully abandoning ship and leaving your team to fend for itself? You encourage team members to take vacations to renew and regroup, but what about you as the leader of the firm? Company culture starts at the top.  Prevent your email and calendar from running your life and set your own priorities. Don’t let your email own you, and certainly don’t let your team run your life. You run your life. You run your firm. (It’s harder than that sounds When is it appropriate to let an employee know the relationship isn’t working and it’s time to part ways? And, what’s an appropriate severance package  Plus, let’s talk about how to grade support staff. Set expectations and reasonable goals so staffers know what’s expected and you know what to expect.Mentioned in this Episode:“Come Up For Air,” by Nick Sonnenberg“We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us,” Pogo by Walt KellyJoin the next Community Table live! What’s on your mind? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Ross McDaniel shares his insights on growing your firm through local SEO.Ross McDaniel is a dynamic strategist with a rich history of amplifying both local stores and mega brands. Ross is an advocate for the prosperity of local businesses, believing they are the heart and soul of thriving communities.As the founder of Fencepost and the Local Growth Formula, Ross connects quality home service businesses with the best customers. His mission? Foster community growth by championing local service providers and helping the best customers find them. Ross McDaniel, not just a strategist, but a community ally.Ross gives listeners actionable tips on: [0:00] Intro [1:40] How he sees local SEO work for his clients [5:10] The power of answering your phone [7:10] First step in getting into local SEO [11:50] Understanding local SEO metrics [17:05] Optimizing for mobile [19:15] Four key ingredients of growth [24:50] Being able to take critical feedback [26:00] Using social proof to boost conversions [27:40] Ross’ book review [29:00] One key takeaway from this episode Resources mentioned in this episode:From Poop to Gold by Chris JonesConnect with Ross here: https://www.facebook.com/fencepostads https://www.instagram.com/fencepost.co/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lrmcdaniel/  https://twitter.com/therossmcdaniel https://fencepost.co   Connect with me Instagram Pinterest Facebook Twitter Karin on Twitter Karin on LinkedIn Conroy Creative Counsel on Facebook https://conroycreativecounsel.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The legal profession places an enormous premium on getting judicial clerkships, which usually offer both valuable learning experiences and a major boost to a young lawyer’s future prospects. But, are there potential downsides to clerkships? Some law clerks have a wonderful experience, but too many have had an experience marked by harassment and mistreatment at the hands of an abusive judge. Molly Ranns and JoAnn Hathaway welcome Aliza Shatzman to talk about her personal story and her efforts to bring transparency and awareness about the full range of clerkship experiences to lift current stigmas and prevent future judiciary workplace mistreatment. Aliza Shatzman is the president and co-founder of the Legal Accountability Project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is our current approach to legal tech education helping or hurting lawyers? Dennis and Tom think through this question out loud, pondering whether lawyers can truly learn what they need to know through the typical legal tech conference session or CLE class. The guys might not agree, but they hash out their thoughts on learning opportunities, tech engagement, new approaches to tech-ed resources, and more. Later, time for another round of Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down! Dennis reveals his latest scheme for creating better legal profession standards for technology competence, placing both Tom and himself on a “task force” of sorts. Does Tom want to join in on this tech-competence dictatorship? Tune in to find out. As always, stay tuned for the parting shots, that one tip, website, or observation that you can use the second the podcast ends.Have a technology question for Dennis and Tom? Call their Tech Question Hotline at 720-441-6820 for the answers to your most burning tech questions.As Dennis mentioned, be sure to check out episodes from the Fresh Voices Series: Nick Rishwain Amani Smathers Ivy Grey Tiffany Graves  Natalie Knowlton Chase Hertel Kristen Sonday  Show Notes - Kennedy-Mighell Report #347A Segment: Learning at Legal Tech ConferencesB Segment: Thumbs Up/Thumbs DownParting Shots: Notebook LM: https://notebooklm.google/ Displaying and Evidencing Contract Terms in a Post-Visual Era” - https://www.michiganstatelawreview.org/vol-20222023/2023/4/6/displaying-and-evidencing-contract-terms-in-a-post-visual-era;   LTRC Roundtable Discussion: Phishing and Email Scams - https://www.lawtechnologytoday.org/2023/08/ltrc-roundtable-discussion-phishing-and-email-scams/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new set of laws has just been enacted by the 88th Texas Legislature, and the September 2023 edition of the Texas Bar Journal is chock full of informative articles on these changes. To look at some of these laws in greater detail, Rocky Dhir welcomes Kristal Thomson and Jerry Bullard to discuss their articles on the areas of family law and civil litigation/appellate law, respectively. Tune in to keep ahead of the latest updates! Kristal explains what did and didn’t change for the Texas Family Code and other updates for family lawyers, and Jerry offers pertinent information for civil trial and appellate practitioners.Kristal C. Thomson is a partner in the family law practice group of the firm Langley & Banack in San Antonio.Jerry D. Bullard is a shareholder in the Grapevine firm of Adams, Lynch & Loftin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephanie talks with our new Lawyerist Lab business coach, Leticia DeSuze, about what is holding most business owners back and how working with a business coach can help. They also explore why it is time to be radically honest with ourselves about what we are—and aren’t—willing to do.   Links from the episode:  If today’s podcast resonates with you and you haven’t read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Posh Virtual Receptionists, Postali & LawPay for sponsoring this episode.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Also, how to create a culture that welcomes Biglaw vacations.------Amy Coney Barrett recently spoke publicly about how she longs for the days when most Americans couldn't recognize Supreme Court justices, highlighting that justices don't have to be there long for a culture of unaccountability to set in. Speaking of which, the majority of Clarence Thomas's former clerks signed an open letter shrugging off his ethical problems. But the real question is... did any of them bother to read a draft before signing on? And a managing partner wrote the firm about the virtues of taking a real vacation and got some blowback from attorneys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices