New Solo

A chatbot is a form of artificial intelligence software that can participate in conversation and websites use them to engage with site viewers. Host Adriana Linares talks to Tom Martin about how small firm lawyers can implement chatbots on their own websites. They discuss how the technology works and address some of the common hesitations lawyers have when considering the use of a chatbot.

If you’ve ever wondered about using freelance lawyers and the process involved, this may be the episode for you. Host Adriana Linares talks to Greg Garman about New Solo’s new sponsor Lawclerk and what it offers to solo and small firm lawyers. They discuss how posting and responding to projects works within Lawclerk and address common ethical and practical questions lawyers have about using the site.

Host Adriana Linares and co-host Jack Newton talk to Renee Thompson and Zack Zuroweste about how law firms can prepare for and recover from natural disasters. They discuss switching to the cloud in order to eliminate the loss of physical files, ensuring your backups are actually saving everything you need, and the ability to be mobile and take your office with you in a pinch.

You don’t have to have a physical office to be a lawyer. Host Adriana Linares talks to Greg McLawsen about the lifestyle of the nomadic attorney. Greg shares how he decided to wander the globe and how he built his law firm around his desire to travel. He also discusses the technology that enables him to run a mobile law office, from chatbots to visual project management.

Starting your own solo practice in a competitive area is hard enough; raising five kids while running your business is even harder. Host Adriana Linares talks to Bill Galione about how he combined research, personal interest, and passion to establish a niche within personal injury law. He also shares how he balances caring for five kids on top of his solo practice, which could potentially qualify as another kid.

In December 2015, Barbara Leach shared how she managed to split office resources without causing office drama. Adriana Linares talks to Barbara about how to effectively separate after sharing an office with another firm. She also shares tips on hiring and what she does to create a supportive and creative work environment for her coworkers.

Laptops are kind of like that greener grass; they always look shinier in someone else’s hands. But switching around your technology, whether it’s transitioning to using Macs or deciding to use a tablet, could be more work than you think. In this episode of New Solo, host Adriana Linares talks to Joe Patrice talk about what it really looks like to switch from Windows to Mac and the advantages and disadvantages of using tablets for your business. Sprinkled into their conversation are tips about buying new tech tools, switching to the cloud, and where you can find small firm content on Above The Law.Joe Patrice is an Editor at Above the Law where, for him, making snide remarks about other lawyers is at least as fulfilling as motion practice.Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio, Answer1, PerfectIt, and Unbundled Attorney.

Microsoft Word has a feature specifically for creating a table of authorities but many are still intimidated when it comes to using the software. In this episode of New Solo, Legal Office Guru Deborah Savadra joins host Adriana Linares to explain the details of creating tables of authority in Word. They review everything from dialog boxes and categories to styles and pagination. They also discuss the complaints they hear the most and the easiest ways for lawyers to save time and prevent mistakes while using Word’s tables of authority software.Deborah Savadra, over the course of her career, has worked in law offices as a legal secretary, paralegal, and technology “fixer upper.”Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio, Answer1, PerfectIt, and Unbundled Attorney.

Email marketing can be a very valuable tool for solo lawyers. But how can you make your newsletter stand out from spam and competition? In this episode of New Solo recorded at the 2017 Clio Cloud Conference, host Adriana Linares and guest host Liz McCausland talk to Andrew LeGrand about the ins and outs of using newsletters as a marketing strategy. They discuss things like open rates, tracking referrals, and how to make newsletter content relevant and interesting. They also briefly cover blogging and how to use your blog to effectively reuse content you already have. Andrew Legrand is the founding partner at Spera Law Group, LLC, a cloud and paperless law firm in New Orleans, Louisiana. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio, Answer1, PerfectIt, and Unbundled Attorney.

As a lawyer, you write a lot. Whether it’s a contract, report, proposal, or even just a long email, your writing needs to be professional and clear of errors. In this episode of New Solo, host Adriana Linares talks to Ivy Grey and Daniel Heuman of Intelligent Editing’s PerfectIt about the editing services that their product offers and how it helps lawyers on a daily basis. They also discuss the importance of technology competence for lawyers and share their favorite apps and tips to saving time and effort in your business. Ivy B. Grey is the author of “American Legal Style for PerfectIt,” and is a senior attorney at Griffin Hamersky LLP. Daniel Heuman developed PerfectIt, an add-in for MS Word that finds mistakes that spelling and grammar checkers can’t find. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio, Answer1, PerfectIt, and Unbundled Attorney.