George Bernard Shaw said that his “main reason for adopting literature as a profession was that, as the author is never seen by his clients, he need not dress respectably” – I’ve been test driving a Virtual Law Office in the hopes that, like Mr. Shaw, I could, on occasion, dress a bit less respectably (or at the very least wander about the office barefoot) and TotalAttorneys has been good enough to allow me to abuse their product, picking nits, and ask odd questions since mid-June. I’ve come away very impressed.
July 28, 2011
Not Dressing Respectably
Posted by Bruce under Practice Tools, Ramblings, Rural Practice, Small Town Life, Software | Tags: Client Expectations, Practice Management, Rural Law, SaaS, Software, Software as a Service, Technology, Virtual Law Office |[2] Comments
April 25, 2011
Good Help
Posted by Bruce under Practice Matters, Ramblings, Rural Practice | Tags: Practice Management, Rural Law |[2] Comments
It is spring and the latest crop of Paralegals and Legal Assistants is close to matriculating from the local business college and my firm is on their radar. I know this because of the stream of blind resumes from plucky new graduates seeking employment with my firm. It is truly odd feeling to be on the receiving end of that stream and write those short notes that say “thanks, but no thanks” in a few brief polite words.
Some of those letters are easier to write than others; it is fairly easy to say no to the Legal Assistant who can’t spell my name correctly or the Paralegal who e-mailed me his résumé in a format that I couldn’t open. I did give extra points for initiative to the applicant who dropped into my office unannounced with cover letter, resume, and references in hand wanting just a few moments of my time – too bad she lost so many points in the consideration category.
The hard letters to write are to those applications who are good candidates, the ones who have taken the effort to research what it is that I do and have crafted their cover letters and resumes to show me how what they have to offer fits with my practice. These are good studious kids entering a tough job market. I wish them the best of luck.
August 31, 2010
An Accident in the Heartland
Posted by Bruce under Practice Management, Practice Matters, Ramblings, Rural Practice | Tags: Going Solo, Practice Management, Rural Law |Comments Off
This weekend there was an accident in our community. It was one of those events where we learn yet again that there is a fine line between urgency and carelessness and where we are shown that the human body is no match for horsepower, physics and heavy machinery. It was also one of those events that brings a rural community together – when the calls of concern and the offers of help arrive on the heels of the emergency vehicles. Neighbors, friends and strangers band together to see that the crops are brought in, the chores are done and the injured are cared for. And it was one of those events where one senses a wave of palpable relief sweep through the community when the word comes through that, this time, there were no life threatening injuries, no serious trauma and the only injuries are those cured by time and rest.
Now that the moment has past, I am left contemplating my fragility, the wholly unpleasant thought of emergency planning for my practice, and asking if my ICE file (in case of emergency) will be adequate for the occasion of my injury. The very nature of being a solo means that, unless prior plans are made, no one will be there to care for my clients. So, I am spending some time reviewing plans made and thinking about what new plans need to be made.
June 9, 2009
The Mutable Cloud
Posted by Bruce under Practice Management, Practice Tools, Software | Tags: Practice Management, SaaS, Software, Software as a Service, Technology |Comments Off
Emmerson observed that “nature is a mutable cloud, which is always and never the same”. The same observation can be made about web-based practice management systems. In her latest screencast, Nicole Black does an excellent job in reviewing the mutable world of web-based practice management systems. She does an excellent job of comparing and contrasting the features of the 3 major players in the web-based LPM world (Clio, LawRD & Rocket Matter) with on-screen demonstrations of each of the systems. If you are thinking of investing in a web-based LPM service, Ms. Black’s screencast is a must see.
While Ms. Black does provide some general words of warning about the ethical traps and general risks involved with using web-based systems (in fact, I applaud her insistance that one checks out the service’s data backup and recovery systems before investing), I would have liked more in-depth information on these subjects. (more…)
March 16, 2009
Virtual Law Office Technology For The Rural Lawyer
Posted by slkimbro under Practice Tools, Software, Uncategorized | Tags: Practice Management, SaaS, Software, Software as a Service, Virtual Law Office |1 Comment
Many of my clients are located in rural areas of North Carolina. It would take them an hour to drive to “the big city” to meet with an attorney in person. However, these clients have access to the Internet and like any other segment of the population, they need access to legal services from time to time.
As a way to meet this public need, for the past three years I have used my web-based virtual law office (VLO) to provide online unbundled legal services to clients across the state of NC where I am licensed to practice law. Sometimes the work is transactional, such as drafting contracts, leases, setting up businesses or drafting estate planning documents. Other times I provide basic legal advice and guidance as my clients navigate the justice system as a pro se litigant in their small county courthouse. The public response to a web-based virtual law office as an alternative method of communicating with an attorney has been great. (more…)
