Practice Matters

A Well-Informed Mind

/ Bruce Cameron / 1 Comment
A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and of vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness. – Ann Radcliffe

At a recent “new lawyer” seminar the speaker, in response to a question from the audience, spent quite some time dispensing tips and procedures for avoiding “bad” clients and provided a cautionary tales about how they handled their “worst” clients. While the tips were the usual dull platitudes,  I was struck by the automatic assumption that there are “good” and “bad” clients – seems a fairly silly base level assumption to make if one is in what is essentially a customer service business.

As I see it, clients come to a lawyer during times of stress. They come to us in a frame of mind that prevents them from operating as their highest, most rational self, and they come to us more through the actions of the imp of the perverse than through their own volition. So, is it any wonder that, at these times, they may require some hand-holding as they venture onto this new and unknown path. Or that, to a stranger, they may appear to be difficult or unpleasant. There is no good or bad here, there are just people who are reacting rather than consciously acting.

Implicit in our role as advocate, is the assumption that our clients lack the standing, skill, knowledge, ability, and perhaps even the emotional capacity to speak for themselves. It follows then, that as an advocate, it is part of our function to inform our clients, to clarify expectations, to educate and inform, to stave off that “plunge into error”. When we take on the mantle of advocate, the base level assumption becomes one that allows clients to be somewhat less than themselves; allows for less than stellar behavior.

There are no good or bad clients, there are client’s whose “shadow-self” (to borrow a phrase from Pauline Tesler) is one I am not prepared for, but that is my failing, not the client’s. My job is to learn and do better the next time. Hey, perhaps I did take something away from that CLE after all.

An Accident in the Heartland

/ Bruce Cameron

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.

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Building A Practice: Stepping Up The Hardware

/ Bruce Cameron

Admittedly, the basic hardware for a law office is not very sexy, but utilitarian seldom is. It will get the job done until the money starts rolling in. Now, should you want something a bit more, here’s what I’d add:

  1. A large LCD monitor, and a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. While that laptop keyboard and screen are fine for on-the-go work, for long hours at a desk, an external monitor, and a fullsized keyboard and mouse will significantly reduce eye, neck and finger strain.
  2. A plain paper scanner (preferably one that will scan both sides of a page simultaneously). Anything that will reduce the amount of paper in your office is a time-saver. It is far easier to keep a digital client file organized than it is to track all the paper associated with the hard copy version.
  3. A removable USB hard drive system like the Iomega REV system. This is a backup to your backup. The idea is to have a set of periodic backups that you can store at a remote location and can cycle through on a periodic basis. This way you have a series of backups so that you are not dependent on any single storage device to preserve your data.
  4. A dual monitor desktop computer.  Add this last, it ties you down and eats up desk real estate and for most purposes does not add a great deal more functionality than that provided by your laptop.

Building A Practice: The Minimum Hardware

/ Bruce Cameron / 1 Comment

I was recently discussing the hardware requirements for a new firm with a colleague and we distilled the bare minimum hardware requirements to: a laptop with at least a 15″ display, a black & white laser printer,  and an external USB hard drive at least as big as the laptop’s internal drive.

The laptop should be a desktop-replacement class machine. Leave the ultra-portables for another day, this machine is going to be your office workhorse and should have the computational “horsepower” (CPU speed, system memory, and disk space) to be able to run multiple applications simultaneously, and should have a full-sized keyboard so you can type on it comfortably for long periods.

In terms of print quality, speed, and longevity, single function, black and white laser printers shine. It is even possible to find black and white laser printers with auto duplexing, multiple paper trays and support for both envelopes and legal paper in the sub-$500 price range.

Combine an external USB drive and an on-line backup service like Mozy or Carbonite and you have the bare minimum for a redundant backup system. Use backup software like Retrospect to create a  mirror image of your system disk on the external drive will provide immediate access to your data should your system disk pack it in. Regular incremental backups to an on-line service will allow you to keep a copy of your data in a relatively safe off-site location. It may take longer to rebuild from incremental backups, but at least they will be there should a catastrophy wipe out your office.

LPM Tools: Metrics That Matter

/ Bruce Cameron / 3 Comments

In Comparing the Cost of SaaS LPM Tools to Conventional: The Metrics That Matter Carolyn Elefant presents a well considered argument that simply comparing the cost of software as a service practice management (SaaS LPM) tools to conventional desktop ones (as I do in: RocketMatter & Clio) isn’t accurate as it does not incorporate the intangible benefits inherent in the SaaS model such as the reduction in IT support costs, office space requirements, hours lost responding to client requests for updates, etc. I do have to agree with her assessment that one should make this type of externalities-based comparison when choosing a LPM system. However, I believe that for all its positives, the SaaS model has some serious flaws to overcome.

Current SaaS LPM offerings are immature technology that require reliable a high-speed Internet connection and offer no off-line capabilities. Whereas desktop systems tend to be mature software offerings from stable companies with long track records and most desktop systems offer some form of mobile access. Buying into one of the current SaaS solutions means risking mission-critical software on the belief that you will have Internet access 24/7/365 and that nothing will fail in the electronic chain that connects your computer to the SaaS provider’s servers. Continue reading →