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The Legal Toolkit

Latest episodes

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Jan 6, 2015 • 37min

Making the Transition from PCs to Macs in Your Law Office

Apple products are gaining traction in the legal field, particularly among solo and small firm lawyers. As more software and apps are being created for Apple computers and law firms are working in the cloud, using Macs in your legal practice is becoming a better option for many attorneys. But often, it can be intimidating or seem challenging to make the switch to a new computer. Changing operating systems seems like an unnecessary added task, especially for already busy lawyers, but you might find that an Apple computer better suits your practice. In this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Heidi Alexander interviews Jenny Stevens, also known as Mrs. Mac Lawyer, about her switch from a PC law office to one using exclusively Apple products. Stevens was converted by her husband, The Mac Lawyer, when they merged their family law practices. She had the benefit of already having a cloud based office, so she was able to access all of her files and applications in the same way. She was also already using an iPhone so she understood the way that iOS works to a certain degree. Stevens explains that there was not much of a learning curve and she mostly had to adapt to new keyboard shortcuts. Switching from Microsoft Office to Mac applications Pages and Numbers was easy, she explains, and her practice improved when she added other apps such as Dropbox, Keynote, Rocket Matter, and Textexpander. While switching to a Mac is certainly not for everyone, Stevens encourages attorneys who are thinking of making the switch to jump in with both feet. When she didn't have access to her PC, she learned to use the Mac much faster. Jenny Stevens co-owns and practices family law at the Stevens Firm in South Carolina with her husband. Before they merged, Stevens worked for an all PC law office in Charleston, South Carolina. She has nicknamed herself Mrs. Mac Lawyer and frequently contributes to The Mac Lawyer, a blog about using Apple products in your legal practice. Jenny is also a frequent speaker at local, state, and national continuing legal education seminars.
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Dec 4, 2014 • 27min

Power Networking: Making the Right Connections

Lawyers all know they should be networking, and most of them are, but there is an important distinction between the quantity and quality of your connections. Many lawyers are more comfortable networking with other lawyers and find themselves at the same conferences every year. But in order to be truly successful, a rainmaker, lawyers must become power connectors and apply strategic thinking and high level planning to making and keeping the right business contacts. So what does it mean to have valuable connections? How should you get started properly networking while avoiding potentially harmful relationships? In this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Jared Correia interviews business relationship expert Judy Robinett about how to become a power connector by meeting the right people, bonding quickly with them, and developing mutually beneficial relationships. She discusses the concept of different sized network circles, 5 close friends and family members, 50 closest business connections, and 150 as the largest number of effective connections to be made. She explains the importance of considering your professional goals and obstacles before reaching out to others. Often, the most valuable people aren't other lawyers or people in close networks, but professionals in other fields. The best way for lawyers to build strategic relationships, Robinett suggests, is to join a powerful group, start talking to strangers, and always provide value to others first. She gives three great examples of questions to ask a potentially beneficial connection: How can I help you? What ideas do you have for me? Who else do you know that I should talk to? In the end, all resources are connected to people, Robinett explains. Be scrappy and learn to connect the dots from where you are to where you want to go. Judy Robinett is the author of How to Be a Power Connector: The 5 + 50 + 150 Rule. She has more than 30 years experience as an entrepreneur and corporate leader and has served as the CEO of both public and private companies and in management positions at fortune 500 companies. Robinett was the managing director at Golden Seeds Angel Network and a member of the Department of Commerce team that defined performance criteria for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality award for Performance Excellence in Healthcare, for which she received an award from President Bill Clinton. She has been called the "woman with the titanium digital rolodex."
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Nov 18, 2014 • 31min

Success in Your Remote Workplace

Whether it is from a coffee shop, home office, or library, more people than ever are working remotely. This includes employees at a law firm or business, but many of the principles could be applied to a solo lawyer working at home. The benefits of working from a remote office include shorter commutes, potentially flexible work hours, saving money on office space, and having the best employees for the job regardless of locale. Drawbacks include production-based judgement on employees, isolation issues, and a reduced opportunity for learning directly from coworkers. Despite these drawbacks, many companies are now allowing their employees to work remotely. If this is your company and you are already working from home, or thinking about starting to do so, what are the main considerations and best practices to put into place? In this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Heidi Alexander interviews Tim Baran, a remote employee at a cloud-based legal software company, about the benefits and drawbacks of working remotely, the hardware and software needed, and how to overcome the core issues that many remote lawyers encounter. Baran discusses how the benefit of bringing the work to the employee often outweighs the inability for those workers to interact with and potentially mentor other employees. By spending more time with friends and family, getting involved in industry associations, and going out for lunch, he explains, remote employees can avoid emotional isolation. This advice applies equally to solo lawyers who often do not have a lot of personal contact. Alexander and Baran then go over the practicalities of working remote. While you only need a computer and a phone as hardware, there are many useful apps for practice management, organization, communication, reading and writing, social media, and even encryption (see episode notes for a list of products mentioned). Obviously, it is important for a remote employee to stay connected with their office and other employees. Baran recommends regular video meetings, daily standups, visits to the home office, communication even with non-urgent matters, and even a fun video activity that includes the whole company. The more communication the employees are able to have, he explains, the more opportunities for feedback, connection, and therefore productivity. At the end of the podcast, Baran gives some succinct but very thorough general productivity advice to all employees, whether remote or not. His systems include: touch everything once, keep a checklist, set a pomodoro timer, develop consistent habits with a calendar, plan the night before, and Alexander adds that the Getting Things Done (GTD) process by David Allen has worked for many lawyers. Tim Baran is the Community Manager for Rocket Matter, a cloud-based legal software company that makes a law practice management tool. Previously, Baran ran his own CLE company, and has worked in library services at a law firm, a law school, and for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Oct 15, 2014 • 32min

Virtualization of a Law Practice

There has recently been an increase in virtualization of law practices and the rate at which firms are beginning to adopt internet-based technology solutions. There are significant advantages attached to those programs including mobility, flexibility, ease of installation and management, and decreased setup cost. But most lawyers don't know what a virtual office entails, are wary of trusting a remote server, or worry about the security of working through a browser. What is virtualization, how does it apply to law firms, and why should lawyers be adopting this new technology now? On this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Jared Correia interviews AbacusLaw CEO Alessandra Lezama about cloud-based case management systems and why lawyers should virtualize their firms. Lezama explains the difference between desktop as a service (DaaS) and software as a service (SaaS), the benefits of virtualization, and how to choose a company to help with this process. The encrypted remote servers should have geographic redundancy, regular and thorough security audits, and have local data centers. Lezama points out that lawyers are hesitant towards virtualization due to anxiety of the unknown or lack of time, resources, or knowledge but they must adopt new technology as a matter of ethical compliance. Because there are so many intricacies to this process, many lawyers do not know where to start. Lezama encourages attorneys to invest time, perform due diligence, and seek a good partner to help guide the process. In the long run, the relief of IT burden will more than pay off. Alessandra Lezama is the chief executive officer of Abacus, a legal technology solution company that designs, installs, and manages virtual practice systems. Before joining Abacus, she was chairman of the board and chief executive officer of two Blackthorn Investment Fund companies, chief operating officer and CEO at American Internet Services, and has held key leadership roles in sales, marketing, and operations for Comsat International.
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Sep 2, 2014 • 42min

iPhone and iPad Apps and Accessories for Lawyers to Use in Their Practice

New applications and accessories for the iPhone and iPad consistently promise to improve the professional and personal lives of lawyers. However, with limited time and so many options, it is difficult for busy lawyers to keep up with trends and make educated decisions about which products will make their practice more efficient and which might be distracting or impractical. Tech junkies and new iPhone acquirers alike can benefit from an update on the best new products to improve a lawyer's Apple experience. On this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Heidi Alexander interviews iPhoneJD blog author Jeff Richardson about his favorite iPhone and iPad apps and accessories that lawyers use in their practice and lives. Richardson and Alexander list their favorite iPad, iPhone, and universal iOS apps for professional uses such as document readers, presentation tools, and Twitter managers, as well as apps for personal uses like podcasts or meditation. Because they are almost never free, accessories are best purchased with a positive review. The favored accessories included mobile hard drives, docks, cases, keyboards, and the best bags in which to carry everything else. While not every lawyer will benefit from all of the tech products listed, in 30 minutes, all will learn about the next app or accessory that can improve their practice. Jeff Richardson, a litigator for Adams and Reese LLP in New Orleans, is well known in the legal tech industry for his website iPhoneJD.com which helps lawyers who use iPhones and iPads in their practice. Founded in 2008, iPhoneJD has been named the best legal technology blog more than once by the ABA Journal.
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Aug 1, 2014 • 31min

Why It’s Important for Lawyers to Build Expertise and Stand Out From A Crowd

In this increasingly saturated market, being a successful lawyer means standing out from the crowd and becoming the expert in a specific field. Due to economic pressures, it is now necessary for a lawyer to develop a powerful brand in order to make a good living. This means going above and beyond being a hard worker and a self-aware lawyer. Additional research in the field, networking, and self-promotion to garner awareness are all necessary actions required to thrive in the legal community. In this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Jared Correia interviews internationally established marketing strategy consultant, Dorie Clark, about why it is important for lawyers to become subject matter experts, how they might realistically do so, and what the benefits of success are. Clark explains how many lawyers don't try to become experts because they don't believe it is possible, others think that expertise and success should fall into their laps due to hard work, and a third group think that it requires a genius level of intelligence. They should instead be expanding an expert niche, doing original research, combining ideas and fields, or creating a definitive guide to a system. Although expertise requires additional work, the benefits include a more trusting relationship with clients resulting in increased efficiency and results. Dorie Clark is the CEO at Clark Strategic Communications and is a frequent contributor to Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and Entrepreneur. She has guest lectured at Harvard Business School, the Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School and the MIT Sloan School of Management. Her new book, Stand Out: How To Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It, further delves into the topics discussed in this podcast.
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Jul 3, 2014 • 30min

Top New Legal Technology Products of 2014

It is important for lawyers to keep up with the newest pieces of technology. Software and products are constantly improving and it can be incredibly beneficial for a firm to switch to a new system. These new software packages can save time for lawyers who are then able to focus on new clients or marketing rather than busywork that can be automated. TechnoLawyer is a network of free legal newsletters that keeps lawyers and legal administrators up to date with the newest technology in the field. Every year, TechnoLawyer's newsletter, TL Newswire, reports on nearly 200 new products and services for law firms. From these, TL NewsWire subscribers choose the top 25 new products of the year. On this episode of The Legal Toolkit, host Heidi Alexander interviews TechnoLawyer's founder, Neil Squillante, about the newest legal technology products for 2014, what they do, which ones are the most popular, and how each one can improve a law firm's efficiency. These products include management software, dedicated document management systems, case prep and litigation support tools, e-discovery tools, trial specific software, document encrypting tools, eNewsletter marketing tools, and research products and services. Companies like LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters have developed features that range from connecting with Dropbox to assisting in public records research. Every lawyer or legal administrator could benefit from the information that this crash course provides. Neil Squillante, the founder and publisher of TechnoLawyer, has practiced commercial, intellectual property, and securities litigation at a large international firm in New York City. Neil's areas of expertise include advertising and publishing technologies, information architecture, persuasive writing techniques, statistical analysis and research, and legal technology. At the end of each year, Neil gives the TL Newswire's Top 25 Products Awards to the legal products subscribers find the most interesting. *Correction: An earlier version of this description said TL Newswire prints the top 25 most popular new products each year. TL Newswire reports on nearly 200 products and services each year, with subscribers choosing the top 25.
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May 12, 2014 • 27min

Law Firm Marketing Tips: What Small Firms Can Adopt From Large Firms

Many large law firms are embracing modern marketing strategies to be more competitive. Although some of the options are out of budget for smaller firms, there are many within reach. On this episode of Legal Toolkit, host Jared Correia interviews Jennifer O'Leary Cathell from Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP. Together, they discuss what marketing paradigms and strategies small firms can adopt from the big firms. Whether your firm is in need of a new website or new look, there are many obtainable objectives to explore. Tune in to learn more about design by committee, relevant metrics, and when to hire outside consultants. Jennifer O'Leary Cathell is the eMarketing, Design and Brand Manager at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP, where she conceptualizes, produces and enforces the visual identity for the firm's brand. She oversees the creation, design and production of all Edwards Wildman marketing materials, including websites, blogs and videos. Prior to her 16 years with Edwards Wildman, Cathell worked with the Warren Group (publisher of Banker and Tradesman).
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Apr 16, 2014 • 35min

Email Marketing for Attorneys

Many attorneys believe email is the most effective form of marketing communication because of list segmentation, custom content ability, and reach into mobile devices. On this episode Legal Toolkit, host Heidi Alexander is joined by email marketing expert Heather Jackson from Constant Contact. Together, they discuss the advantages of using email for marketing as well as the do's and don'ts associated with this type of outreach. Furthermore, we discover better practices for content creation and the importance of being consistent. Tune in to learn more about beating the spam filters, writing proper subject lines, and recommended frequency of message. Heather Jackson is the Regional Development Director for Constant Contact. She has a long history in the sales and marketing industry having founded and operated a PR firm before joining Constant Contact. Jackson regularly conducts outreach to small businesses and provides education surrounding email and online relationship marketing. In addition, she will be presenting at this year's LOMAP Super Marketing Conference held in Boston at Suffolk University Law School on June 5th.
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Mar 18, 2014 • 26min

Managing Overflow Work with Freelance Attorneys

When overwhelmed with work, some firms hire freelance attorneys to fill the gap between client demand and firm capacity. Whether it's niche expertise, transactional labor, or long-term temp. assignments, these contract attorneys are well-equipped to support the unique interests of their hiring firms. On this episode of Legal Toolkit, host Jared Correia interviews talent placement experts Leila Kanani from Intermix Legal Group and Gil Schipani from Tempus Fugit Law to learn more about the benefits of freelance attorney placement. Kanani discusses how firms who hire freelance attorneys benefit from improved workflow and enhanced expertise without the need to hire a permanent associate. Tune in to learn more. Leila Kanani is an IP solo attorney and founder of Intermix Legal. After over 10 years of practice in BigLaw, she left for more control and balance in her life. Her objective in creating Intermix was to provide a flexible framework for experienced attorneys to participate in project-based contract legal services for solos and small firms. Gil Schipani is the founder of Tempus Fugit Law, which specializes in substitute counsel/court coverage for lawyers as well as single transaction services. He is currently a partner with Schipani and Sinay and former Assistant City Solicitor of Brockton, Massachusetts. His practice area focuses on real estate, personal injury, business, and employment law.

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