Recently in Law Journals Category

This post was written by Dennis Kennedy: "My friend Wendy Werner recently talked me into writing an article on "succession planning" for computer systems, online materials and digital assets for the newly-released issue of the Law Practice Today webzine. Wendy edited the issue and it is an excellent look at succession planning for lawyers and law firms that I highly recommend you take a look at the entire issue.

I'm happy to have contributed an article to the issue. The article is called "Estate Planning for Your Digital Assets."

...I tried to consolidate my suggested approach into 5 basic steps and that section makes up the core of the article:

A Simple Five-Step Plan to Manage Your Digital Estate

Step 1. Inventory Your Digital Assets.

Step 2. Identify Appropriate Help.

Step 3. Provide for Access.

Step 4. Provide Instructions.

Step 5. Give Appropriate Authority."

Full text and active links are available by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Dennis Kennedy.com, 15 March 2010. © 1995 - 2005 Dennis Kennedy, reproduced with permission of the author

This post was written by Dan Pinnington: "Boy, does time fly! Although at this time of year, that ' s a good thing. It means that spring is nearly here, bringing with it another ABA TECHSHOW , and that it's time for Law Practice's annual Tech Tips issue. In this special issue, for the third year in a row, we celebrate the spirit of ABA TECHSHOW with a bounty of legal technology tips that you can put to use right away to help your days go more smoothly. Here's a rundown of what you'll find..."

Full text and active links are available by clicking on the author's name.

Posted by Allison Shields: "The Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association publishes Law Practice Today, an online magazine specifically targeted toward the business issues involved in the practice of law in four core areas: Management, Marketing, Finance and Technology.

Law Practice Today is a FREE resource for attorneys - you don't have to be a member of the LPM Section, or even a member of the ABA, in order to access the magazine and its articles. The May issue was just posted. It focuses on the issues encountered by lawyers starting or re-starting their own practices.

Here's what you'll find in this issue:

Finance
Two of the questions most frequently asked by lawyers are: "How much money do I need in order to open my own practice?" and "What do I do about clients who want me to reduce my fees?" This month's issue addresses both. Erik Mazzone's article, "How Much Money Do You Need to Start a Law Firm" providing tips for lawyers to help them determine whether they're ready to go out on their own.

It's no secret that the recession is hitting the legal profession hard. Ed Poll addresses the ways law firms can retain income and clients by demonstrating value, managing knowledge appropriately, unbundling services and more in Legal Fees: How to Address the Client Pressure to Lower Fees.

Technology
Technology can give lawyers an advantage by helping them to be more productive, but it has its downside, too. In this month's The Legal Mac Column, David Sparks discusses Using Windows on Your Mac, eliminating one more obstacle for those seeking to switch from PCs to Macs, whether you want to use Windows exclusively or Windows and OS X on the same machine. In BlackBerry Behavior: Is It Ruining Your Reputation? the darker side of technology rears its ugly head when BlackBerry users forget to be considerate of those around them (this article previously appeared as a post on this blog).

It's tough keeping up with the latest technology, but Dennis Kennedy's article, Legal Technology Trends for 2009: The Year of Hunkering Down identifies trends and provides tips for what lawyers can do now to stay ahead of the curve - even if they're on a budget.

Speaking of budgets - most lawyers are looking for ways to cut expenses during the downturn. Joseph Kashi identifies Low-Cost Computer Fixes for Tough Times. And our own Rodney Dowell reviews Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Legal and tells of his personal experience installing and using the software across multiple platforms.

Marketing Yourself and Your Firm
Can small firms compete with big firms for business? Davis C. Bae shows how small firms can do just that in The Illusion of Size (And Other Ways to Compete with the Big Competition).  Looking for a job? If so, you're marketing YOU. Meri J. Kahan shows law students how their performance at a summer job or internship is an important first step to landing a full time position in Alchemy in a Down Economy: Turning a 2L Summer Associate Job into a Golden Full-Time One.

In Make Giving Part of Your Business Strategy, Andrea Malone shows lawyers how they can contribute to charity, even in tough times, and to do so strategically to benefit the firm as well as the charity. And Mister Thorne provides A Formula for Shy Attorneys, demonstrating how even shy attorneys can attract business, and learn successful rainmaking tips from Rainmaker Linda J. Ravdin in an interview by Beverly A. Loder.  

Management
One of the decisions lawyers need to make when opening their own practices is about where to establish an office. Home office? Executive suite? Office share? The Essentials of Office Sharing and Executive Suites, an excerpt from Flying Solo provides tips to help lawyers make this all-important decision.

 You've probably heard about the swine flu even if you haven't been directly affected by it yet - but how will an outbreak affect your firm or your clients? Read Swine Flu - Some Employment Issues by Bernard Jacques to find out.

Podcast - Productivity Tips
This month's installment of The Digital Edge Technology Podcast by Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson is a discussion with Reid Trautz and Dan Pinnington about their new book, The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Success: Essential Tips to Power Your Practice. 

These articles and more are available at no cost to you and your readers on the LPM website. This month's issue can be found at: http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/home.shtml.

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: Legal Ease Blog, 20 May 2009

From the on-line Law Practice Today: "Some favorite ABA TECHSHOW presenters offer advice on the hot topics that will be covered in the upcoming conference.

• Stretching Your Research Dollars
• Working Better with Others Online
• Mastering Instant Messaging
• Planning a Successful Scanning Implementation
• Avoiding Costly Technology Gotchas
• The Bad News About Message Recall
• A Techno-Ethics Checklist
• Expanding Your Online Presence
• Essential Tips for E-mail Newsletters
• E-Discovery Tips for Everyday Cases

Source: Law Practice Today, March 2009

From the blog: "Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the fate of newspapers in an increasingly digital society. Just yesterday the Seattle Post-Intelligencer announced that it would be ceasing publication of its print edition, leaving only the seattlepi.com version of the news available. This is just one example from what appears to be an increasingly prevalent trend of newspapers dropping their print forms in favor of a focus on online editions.

Yahoo! recently published a news article listing 10 major newspapers that are expected to either fold entirely or go digital in the near future. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer was on the list of expected digital conversions. Even The Washington Post, widely read outside it's regional area, has suffered due to the economic decline and has been working to shrink its paper edition.

Even law schools are caught up in the digital drama. The Durham Statement on Open Access to Legal Scholarship has called upon law schools to cease publishing journals in paper form, and rely solely on distribution through online editions.

From BeSpacific; Legal Research Plus; BeSpacific; Law Librarian Blog

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Posted by Sabrina I. Pacifici: "...the Journal of Legal Analysis (JLA) is a new open-access law journal co-published by Harvard University Press (HUP) and the John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Business at Harvard Law School. For the record, this is the first new journal we've published in thirty years...articles will be posted, for free, as soon as they are ready for publication. In addition, we're hoping the journal fills a gap in the legal publishing landscape by providing a peer-reviewed, faculty-edited journal that covers the entire academy."

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici. 1 February 2009 Copyright ©2002-2009. BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved. Subscribe <http://www.bespacific.com/mt/subscribe.html>.

Posted by Robert Ambrogi: "Harvard University Press this week announced the launch of the Journal of Legal Analysis, an open-access law journal published in cooperation with the John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics and Business at Harvard Law School. JLA's editors say their plan is to publish "the best legal scholarship from all disciplinary perspectives and in all styles, whether verbal, formal, or empirical." Articles are faculty-edited and subject to peer review.

By describing itself as an open-access journal, the JLA is promising to maintain immediate and no-cost access to its articles via the Web. Once a year, articles published online will be gathered into bound volumes and made available for purchase. The JLA's editor-in-chief is Harvard law professor J. Mark Ramseyer.

The debut issue includes an article that argues that raising judicial salaries would do nothing to improve judicial performance, another that contends that judges should be deferential in reviewing class action settlements, and others, all from well-known names in legal academia."

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: Robert Ambrogi's LawSites, 5 February 2009

Posted by Evan Schaeffer: "This direct-examination tip comes from "Persuasive Direct," by Jim McElhaney, in the January 2009 issue of the ABA Journal--

When you prepare for trial, don't write out your questions. They'll sound stiff and unnatural when you read them out loud. Instead, write down the answers you're looking for on the right-hand side of your outline, leaving the left side of the page for occasional notes and reminders. That system forces you to 'free-form' your questions to get the information you need. It makes everything sound more natural, including the witness's answers.

There's more in the full article, which encourages you to leave the legalese in your office when you head for courtroom."

The active link is available at the source site listed below.

Source: The Trial Practice Tips Weblog, 6 January 2009

Posted by Allison Shields: "The latest edition of the American Bar Association Law Practice Management section's webzine, Law Practice Today, is live today. This month's issue focuses on what's foremost in everyone's mind these days - the economy.

LPT is available to everyone on the web, even if you aren't an LPM section member (or even an ABA member), and many of the articles are written by well-known authors in the practice management arena, so take advantage of this resource!

Here's a sample of the articles available this month:

• David Maister on restoring optimism in the office even in this economy;
• Carly Sproul on marketing and maintaining client relationships in difficult times;
• Deborah Gillis on proper screening of clients (a topic near and dear to my heart);
• A roundtable discussion moderated by Dennis Kennedy on how to practice during economic turmoil (including my own comments).

New this month

• Ben Stevens (the MacLawyer) has a new column in the Webzine debuting this month - he's talking about why Macs are suited for lawyers.
• Another new column is Your Practice Management Advisor. This month's installment covers the frequently asked questions encountered by PMAs
• Finally, and especially for you solos -- Bill Gibson's got a new column, Flying Solo, and this month he's talking about whether you're cut out for solo practice."

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: Legal Ease Blog, 21November 2008

From the e-newsletter: "This journal is published bimonthly by the American Society of Trial Consultants, and its goal is to provide information on the art and science of litigation advocacy. In the current issue you can discover the power of conceptual persuasion, learn how to anticipate and influence juror reactions to successful women, learn more about whether liberals and conservatives punish differently, and much more.  The journal is free, and you can consume it in a number of ways -- by subscribing to the email version, RSS feed, or by downloading the entire journal in PDF format."

 Source: Internet Legal Research Weekly by Tom Mighell. Volume 9, Issue 32. 16 November 2008. Subscribe <http://lists.inter-alia.net/mailman/listinfo/inter-alia>.