This weekend my daughter & I will be two of the 42,000 runners in the Cooper River Bridge Run. We will be spending the next seven days soaking up the sunshine, enjoying great food, and relaxing in southern comfort at our beachfront condo rental.
If we have a rainy day I may post, but don’t count on it!
Posted by Cindy L. Chick: “Considering how much we use email to communicate, day in and day out, it would behove us to use it as effectively as possible, or we could spend our days doing nothing but reading and responding to email. I've read many articles on using email efficiently, but never found one that offered more than common sense advice.
That's why I really espcially enjoyed Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload by Steve Robbins.
He starts by noting that he receives over 100 REAL emails daily, and that "at three minutes apiece it will take five hours just to read and respond." But let's get real, I don't know about you, but if I spent 3 minutes per email, I'd never get anything done! Perhaps that's why email communication can be frustrating...people tend to skim, me included, sometimes completely missing the critical point.
In order to get the full advantage of his suggestions, you need to get cooperation from those who send YOU email, and manage to improve THEIR email habits. For example:
Use a subject line to summarize, not describe. This tip will help you get the attention of those who are reading your missive.
Give your reader full context at the start of your message. I think this one is particularly important. I get some email messages that append 6 or 7 emails, an entire discussion. If the upshot of those emails isn't summarized, with an indication of what action the sender wants ME to take, I may have to spend 10 minutes digging through all the information to figure it out.
When you copy lots of people...mark out why each person should care. And if it's not clear in the message what the recipient is supposed to do, the work may not get done.
Or, you can make good use of his final suggestion. "Ignore it." Hmm, that's definitely tempting!”
Source: LawLibTech, 28 March 2005
In the news: “A "sure thing" falls through. The once sympathetic jury finds for your opponent. In a full courtroom, the judge questions your ability to read. Every attorney experiences such gut-wrenching, sweat-inducing, spirit-breaking, "my entire career is over" moments. As columnist Raymond Dowd reminds us, even David Boies had to look Al Gore in the eye after a very public defeat. Dowd offers advice on how to deal with such setbacks and some words of encouragement for all small firm underdogs.”
Read the article
Source: Small Firm Business, 30 March 2005
Diane Murley posts: “Matthew Homann at the [non]billable hour linked to this news release on Why Do We Overcommit?. The article discusses a study by two business-school professors on why people overcommit their time and money. Many of the authors' conclusions could also explain why we procrastinate, a bad habit for law students and lawyers alike, so I quote from the news release here:
Research by two business-school professors reveals that people over-commit because we expect to have more time in the future than we have in the present. Of course, when tomorrow turns into today, we discover that we are too busy to do everything we promised.
The authors suspect that's because every day's a little different: The nature of time fools us and we "forget" about how things fill our days.
Zauberman and Lynch continue, "People are consistently surprised to be so busy today. Lacking knowledge of what specific tasks will compete for their time in the future, they act as if new demands will not inevitably arise that are as pressing as those faced today."
In short, the future is ideal: The fridge is stocked, the weather clear, the train runs on schedule and meetings end on time. Today, well, stuff happens.
Can people learn to predict future time demands more in line with reality? The authors observe, "It is difficult to learn from feedback that time will not be more abundant in the future. Specific activities vary from day to day, so [people] do not learn from feedback that, in aggregate, total demands are similar."
Gal Zauberman and John G. Lynch Jr., Resource Slack and Propensity to Discount Delayed Investments of Time Versus Money, 134 Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 23-37 (Feb. 2005) <http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/xge134123.pdf>.
Whatever your reason for procrastinating, break it now. You will not have more time in the future — in fact, you will have less. In addition to regular demands on your time, which would keep you as busy as you are today, you will have to deal with everything that you put off today. Plus, those professors who started the semester slowly to make sure you understood the material will have to accelerate their pace to cover everything; you will get new clients and new cases; and other pressing demands will arise. Save yourself some stress and do it now."
Source: Law Dawg Blawg, 29 March 2005
Posted by Denise Howell: "I spend lots of time in cars and airplanes and behind strollers (running and walking). Thank goodness for podcasts. And for iPodder and similar applications. When things that interest you are being automatically delivered to a device you have with you all the time, you don't need to "make time" to listen. Time makes itself. Driving around, getting an oil change, etc. Whenever I'm going to be stuck somewhere is when I listen. So, some days I catch a few shows, some days I catch a whole bunch, some days none. This translates into lots of intellectual candy for me, and no more "what am I going to listen to?" thoughts or housekeeping before running out the door. I love the degree of control it gives you over the signal:noise ratio in your life.
As far as the intersection of podcasting and the legal field, as with blogs this is a great vehicle for lawyers and firms to demonstrate expertise and distribute information on important, complicated, and/or controversial topics. Or maybe just to lighten up a little. It also strikes me as a great tool to use internally: in-house MCLE, training, informational meetings, etc. could be captured as podcasts for those unable to be there in person or even virtually at the particular scheduled time. There are a whole host of internal administrative uses I would think.
But enough about that — I couldn't agree with Marty more about timeshifted and portable appellate oral argument. Though forward-looking courts are Webcasting, I really hope we'll start to see some syndicating their audio before long as well, or adopting an encouraging attitude toward those who want to do so.
As far as excellent production values and relentlessly engaging material go, it's tough to beat Evan Schaeffer and his various podcasts including "Law Related Things That Suck." The current installment is some biting political commentary regarding the Schiavo case: "In these sorts of complex cases, when it comes to judges President Bush and Congress want a judge who's less like Flounder and more like Dean Wormer — in other words, a good old-fashioned federal judge."
Also, podcasting will only get more and more accessible on both the production and listener fronts. Witness the Podcast Hotel Corante is planning, and BlawgCast, as examples."
Source: Between Lawyers, 29 March 2005
Sabrina Pacifici posts: “From the WSJ's Free Features today, New Web-Watching Tools Pique Interest of Investors.
· See PubSub, Feedster and Bloglines
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
29 March 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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In the news: “In choosing the most significant defense wins of 2004, The National Law Journal weighed the obstacles that defense attorneys encountered: plaintiff-friendly venues, astronomical damages at stake and the verdicts' potential effects on similar cases. Nearly 100 submissions from across the country were whittled down to 10 cases. Topping the heap: Oracle Corp.'s risky antitrust battle to acquire rival PeopleSoft Inc.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
30 March 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Marty Schwimmer: "Boing Boing posted about the TAUBMANSUCKS case, which led massive traffic to defendant's site, which has comprehensively indexed the registrant's (ultimately successful) litigation with plaintiff (and defendant's grievances with plaintiff's lawyer).
Taubman's lawyer is now the subject of public scorn, being taken to task for, among other things, her manners.
Mencken said: Don't pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel. But now every potential defendant's a publisher.
Is the lesson: never draft a demand letter you wouldn't want to see posted on the recipient's website?
Or take the (incorrect) view that your demand letters are confidential?
Or take the Duke of Wellington's view: "Publish and Be Damned!"
Source: Between Lawyers, 28 March 2005
Posted by Carolyn Elefant: “Some of the most important marketing advice you can find doesn't come from law marketing gurus who counsel lawyers on what they think clients want. Rather, it comes from articles such as this one, How To Hire A Lawyer (NJ Star Ledger, 3/27/05) that advise prospective clients on what to look for in retaining a lawyer. After all, if you know that clients are out shopping for a lawyer using this kind of checklist, you'll be a step ahead if you can provide them with exactly what they're looking for.
So for starters, where should clients go shopping for a lawyer? The article recommends either asking a friend for a referral or calling the local bar. That means that lawyers' marketing efforts should focus on actively seeking referrals from existing and former clients - and also signing up for bar referrals. That's not to say that Yellow Pages or Internet listings shouldn't be considered. But if prospective clients are being advised to look to referrals to find attorneys, then lawyers are best off marketing where clients will be looking.
Next, the article tells prospective clients to investigate whether "the lawyer is any good," by checking background on a website or calling the bar to find out about disciplinary action. What does this mean for a lawyer? First off, it shows that a website is necessary - if not for advertising, than simply for establishing credibility and providing information about your credentials. Second, if clients are concerned about ethics violations, why not put their minds at ease up front and either volunteer information about your disciplinary method - or give clients a number to call to check you out for themselves. Asking about violations can be awkward for a clients - so why not help put their minds at ease and give them the information that they want?
Finally, the article encourages clients to broach the issue of fees in advance - and to negotiate fees. As an aside, I'm not sure why the article encourages clients to negotiate fees - I can't think of any other service profession where people bargain on price. In any event, it's my own opinion that lawyers should not engage in negotiation over fees with clients. Those prospective clients who question a lawyer's fee and try to bargain it down most likely do not value the lawyers' service and will persist in asking for discounts or write-offs as the case progresses or if they are unhappy with the result. A lawyer can simply offer a "take it or leave it" rate, but my preferred alternative to opening the door to client fee negotiation is to offer different fee options (hourly rate, contingency, flat fees, volume discounts) and explain them fully to clients. When clients have a choice, they are less inclined to negotiate - and when lawyers have given a choice, they're less inclined to engage in negotiation over fees.
So the next time you see an article advising folks on how to hire a lawyer, don't skip over it. Clip it, save it and use it as a blueprint for the types of service that you want to sell.”
Source: MyShingle, March 28, 2005
“Thomson Legal Record: FindLaw offers this tool for finding information about an attorney's litigation record. Search by a lawyer's name, or search and compare lawyers by a description of their experience. Information provided includes the lawyer's name, law firm affiliation, address, phone, fax and practice categories. Registered users may also display the names of the first 10 relevant cases, dockets or judges. Accessing the full-text of the relevant information requires logging in to your Westlaw account.
Technical note: Pop-up blockers may interfere with the performance of this search utility. If you receive no response when you click a hyperlink, disable any pop-up blockers on your PC. (et)”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
29 March 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Reid Trautz posts: "The April 2005 issue of Washington Lawyer, published by the District of Columbia Bar is now on-line, and features an in-depth story of legal blogging written by veteran reporter, Sara Kellogg. She does a nice job of introducing legal readers to the world of blogging with help from such pioneers as Dennis Kennedy, Amy Howe, Ernie Svenson, among others. The article also highlights the potential benefits and ethical pitfalls of blogging, so be sure to check it out!”
Source: Reid My Blog, 29 March 2005
Add this link to your web page to promote Law Day (I know NOTHING about law, and managed 6 out of 7 correct answers) OK, I take tests well, but still it should be a good PR move!
From Charlie: "Every year we [the ABA] do a special online quiz on the Law Day theme. The 2005 Law Day Quiz--on "The American Jury: We the People in Action"--just went live on our website.
We try to make it a good teaching tool by giving important information on the answer page. So tell your friends and your friends' friends about it.
Just access http://www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/quiz05.html to take the quiz."
Source: An e-mail from Charlie White, “Take the 2005 Law Day Quiz, 25 March 2005.
Genie Tyburski posts: “Walt Mossberg examines two "full-featured ultralight laptops, the Sony Vaio T250 and the Fujitsu LifeBook P7010." The bottom line: "If the extra features and lower price matter a lot, go with the Fujitsu. But if lower weight, thinner size and better battery life are your key considerations, the Sony is the better choice."
RELATED, Top 15 Notebook PCs
PC World, April 2005
(In the "ultraportable" category, the Sony VAIO VGN-T150P takes first place. The Fujitsu LifeBook P7010D ranks third, but is rated "best buy" for the category.)”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
29 March 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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But Would It Work Here?
Posted by J. Craig Williams : “On the heels of St. Patrick's Day, "Kiss me, I'm Irish" has taken on a new meaning across Ireland. No longer do many Irish men and women taste like an ashtray.
The smoking ban enacted across Ireland last year has been a resounding success. The government claims a 94%-97% compliance rate, fueled by two factors:
· 70% of the population don't smoke anyway; and,
· fines are stiff: the equivalent of $3,900 per violation.
If you're looking to light up, check out Action on Smoking and Health first. If you're a cigar smoker like me, smoke 'em while you got 'em.”
Source: May It Please the Court, 25 March 2005
Sabrina Pacifici posts: "WSJ Free Feature Today: From Wikipedia's Creator, A New Site for Anyone, Anything.
· See Wikicities.com and the free encyclopedia, Wikipedia, which the WSJ article reports had more than 5 million visitors in February 2005."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by
28 March 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted by Carolyn Elefant: “Solo practice keeps a lawyer so hopping, what with networking lunches, new client consultations, sending out bills and studying up on new areas of law that it's hard to believe in those early years that it can ever turn dull or boring. But it does. And if that's how you're feeling about your practice now, Reid Trautz has some tips at his blog on How To Energize Your Professional Life. Some ideas include exploring new practice areas, changing your mix of clients and changing your attitude.
For those inclined to simply suck up boredom as an unavoidable fact of practice, think again. Because as Reid points out, boredom can breed carelessness which in turn can lead to career ending mistakes. So if you're feeling bored and uninspired now, take some action. The boredom you're experiencing now is nothing compared to how bored you might feel if your license is revoked and you can't practice law at all.”
Source: MyShingle, 27 March 2005
"At Point of Law, Ted Frank has now responded to Tiberius' reaction to our own post about the notion that defense costs for unpaid claims account for the malpractice "crisis."
Frank raises a point that initially looks hard to contest in the abstract: Malpractice insurers must defend even meritless suits, rather than reflexively settle them for nuisance value, because if all that is needed to elicit a settlement check from an insurer is to file a claim, then members of the plaintiffs' malpractice bar will file against that insurer's policyholders every time they lay their hands on even the weakest of claimants.
There are two ways to argue about these issues, we suppose. One is to study them empirically. The other is to argue from what Theory Predicts. It probably makes sense to pursue both angles. It would be nice, in the end, to reach a considered view that harmonized with both Theory and the empirical facts.
So let us give Theory its due. Why then doesn't Theory Predict that the malpractice plaintiffs' bar will eventually give up filing unremunerative claims? Why, indeed, doesn't Theory Predict that it should already have done so? Yes, there are transaction costs to defending even worthless claims. But there are transaction costs to filing and litigating them too. If insurers never pay the weak claims, shouldn't rational plaintiffs' counsel stop filing them and move on? Why should they respond by filing still more weak claims, incurring still greater expense, and losing still more money? Why, in particular, would we expect them to have done so with such gusto, lately, that malpractice premiums have spiked by 30% to 50% or more?
There may be empirical answers to these questions, or there may be conceptual ones. The best conceptual candidate, we suspect, would be a claim that lawyers cannot determine in advance which claims are strong or weak (in the settlement-value sense), because malpractice litigation is effectively a lottery, with results largely random with respect to the objective attributes of the claim. In such a situation, plaintiffs' lawyers might go on taking turns at the roulette wheel, because their pile of chips would be randomly replenished with sufficient frequency to warrant a continued sojourn in the casino.
We don't want to write the "tort reformers'" rhetorical playbook for them, but if that were indeed the line of argument, there would be at least two things to say about it: (1) It rests on an underlying factual assumption (the "lottery" assumption) that may be amenable to rigorous empirical investigation (e.g., compare samples of verdicts in like cases -- as has already been done, for all we know). (2) If the assumption is not in fact amenable to rigorous empirical investigation (maybe weak medical malpractice claims are like snowflakes, so that assembling them into categories of comparable claims is insuperably difficult), then seemingly it cannot be defended on the alternative ground that Theory Predicts it. Theory may predict some random variation in verdicts, but not (we suspect) any a priori level of variation."
Source: Blog 702, 25 March 2005
In the news: “The proliferation of computer networks and other technology has caused some employees to think that actually showing up at the office is optional. "Why can't I just work from home?" is the common refrain. At the same time, most employers typically want people on the premises. But must an employer modify the rules when an employee claims that a disability makes commuting to work difficult or impossible? In many cases, the answer is "no," says Paul W. Cane Jr., a partner at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
28 March 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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"Rutgers law professor Sherry Colb discusses the City of Oakland's plan to put photos of convicted johns -- men who have solicited prostitutes -- on billboards. Colb uses the Oakland case as a springboard to discuss "shaming" punishments more generally, and to delve into the reasons why society criminalizes prostitution and solicitation in the first place."
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Source: FindLaw's WRIT Legal Commentary
25 March 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved
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Posted by Abbie Bradfield Mulvihill : “Denise Howell over at Bag & Baggage mentioned BlawgCast.com today. It's one-stop shopping for legal podcasting feeds. I know there are an awful lot of people interested in podcasting right now, so I thought I'd mention it. I love one-stop shopping, but until podcasts feed into my car radio, so I can listen to them on my commute, I'm not subscribing. Here's the audio feed."
Source: AbsTracked, 25 March 2005
Tom Mighell writes: “The Electronic Filing and Service for Courts blog says it all -- the blog provides news and information about e-filing and service in U.S. courts.”
Source: Internet Legal Research Weekly
27 March 2005
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From G. Baker: “For Terms and Connectors searching, use connectors to specify the relationships that must exist between the terms in your retrieved documents.
Connector - Type this - To retrieve documents that contain
AND - & - Both search terms: narcotic & warrant
OR - a space - Either search term or both terms: car automobile
Grammatical connectors
/p - Search terms in the same paragraph: hearsay /p utterance
/s - Search terms in the same sentence: design /s defect
+s - The first term preceding the second within the same sentence: palsgraf +s island
Numerical connectors
/n - Search terms within n terms of each other (where n is a number from 1-255): personal /3 jurisdiction
+n - The first search term preceding the second by n terms (where n is a number from 1-255): 20 +5 1080
Phrase - " " - Search terms appearing in the same order as in the quotation marks: "attractive nuisance"
BUT NOT - % - None of the terms following the percent symbol: laminectomy % to(413)”
Source: an E-mail from G. Baker, “Terms & Connectors with WL,” 24 March 2005
From Charlie White: “Just click on this URL http://www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/nie.html for four articles intended for use with your local newspapers, over a four week period around Law Day. Each instructional feature explores a topic related to the 2005 Law Day theme, "The American Jury: We the People in Action."
These lessons can also be used directly by teachers in the classroom, to stimulate discussion of such topics as the origins of the American jury, the jury in America's struggle for independence, the importance of the jury today, and jury improvements.”
Source: An e-mail from Charlie White, “NIE Features Available,” 23 March 2005
Posted by Tom Mighell: “Amazon's terrific A9 now allows you to customize your search page, and add interfaces for various other sources, including the New York Times, Wikipedia, top weblogs, Furl, CSpan, and lots more.”
Source: Inter Alia, 25 March 2005
Ernie Svenson posts: "On April 20th JD Bliss will be hosting a one hour webinar on Work-Life Balance. If you are one of those people who feel stressed out practicing law or doing whatever it is you do for a living then you should consider this kind of seminar as a way of focusing your attention on something important, i.e. you. For more information on this webinar, click here.
Source: Ernie the Attorney, 25 March 2005
Evan Schaeffer posts: “Are you a podcasting naysayer like, say, Jurispundit? In a post titled "What's the Big Deal with Podcasts?" Jurispundit wrote:
[T]he "Information Era" brought the internet and to a lesser extent cable news such that we could avoid the dreaded "local news anchor." It seems we have gone full circle. Only this time to new lows. Rather than amateur broadcasters, we're listening to amateurs pretending to be amateur broadcasters. Here's to hoping this fad passes quickly.
I'm one who happens to disagree. You can argue about the quality of podcasting content all day long. As with weblogs, there's plenty of junk. But the revolutionary thing about podcasting in these early stages isn't the content, but the way the content is delivered. Using software like iPodder, the content is delivered to your mp3 device automatically. Podcasting is TIVO for your iPod. You can choose what you want to listen to and you can listen to it without having to sit at a computer. Not only does podcasting give you more options than with radio, but the content isn't governed by the restrictive FCC-enforced rules that have made ordinary radio so plain vanilla. And that content continues to improve every day.
Perhaps my cheerleading makes you ill. If so, you'll be happy to learn that this is the last time I'll promote podcasting on this weblog. Why's that? Because as of this week, I've become a co-host at Kevin Heller's BlawgCast.com, a weblog designed to bring you news about all the developments in law-related podcasting.
Although I'll continue to post my own podcasts on this weblog, I won't be commenting very much on the phenomenon of podcasting. I'll save all that for BlawgCast. It's at BlawgCast, for example, that I'll be urging Professor Althouse to record one those con-law lectures she frequently writes about. I mean, why not? Why can't the occasional law-school lecture be a podcast? Or oral arguments from appellate courts? Or recordings of lawyers giving practice tips like the Texas Bar's Ten Minute Mentor? To turn such audio content into a podcast is as simple as putting it into a RSS feed. It really takes no time at all.
It's at BlawgCast where Kevin and I will be discussing ideas like these while we cover all the latest news about judges, law professors, lawyers and law students who podcast. Already, Kevin has developed a can't-be-missed feature at BlawgCast: a single feed that will allow you to keep up on a variety of legal podcasts at once. You'll find the details here."
See you at BlawgCast!”
Source: Notes from the (Legal) Underground, 24 March 2005
Dazzle your family at dinner on Sunday with info gleaned from these pages: “The official site for this quintessential Easter confection features recipes and crafts, an animated history timeline, and a virtual factory tour. For fun and reference, see the results for the 2003 survey, "State of the Peeps," which among other data includes Peep-lovers' opinions of "which public person or celebrity most resembles a Peep either in his/her physique or personality, or both."
http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/
Marshmallow Peeps: Those Resilient Little Birds
Also from the e-newsletter: "Humorous "educational tour" that characterizes Marshmallow Peeps by investigating their reactions to cold, heat, solubility testing, and low-pressure environments. Also analyzes the risk of "the effects of smoking and alcohol on Peep health," explains the daring surgery to separate conjoined Peep quintuplets, and investigates Peeps' fear response. Includes a literature review."
http://www.peepresearch.org/
Source: LII Librarians' Index to the Internet
NEW THIS WEEK for 24 March 2005
Copyright 2005 by Librarians' Index to the Internet, LII.
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From the e-newsletter: “What if April 15 rolls by and you haven't had time to complete your return, or you can't pay what you owe? The consequences may not be as serious as you fear -- if you take some simple steps before the deadline.”
http://public.findlaw.com/taxation/nolo/ency/2E69E125-55A5-45FE-B635870BE0D3E27E.html
Source: FindLaw's PUBLIC ADVISOR
A Weekly FindLaw Newsletter Providing News and Resources for the Public
24 March 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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From the e-newsletter: "We're in the law business? No. Maybe in other times, but not now. In today's competitive climate, we're in the marketing business, and practicing law is what we do to serve our markets."
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Source: THE PRACTICE PAPER, Edited by Joel R. Zand, Esq.
A FindLaw Resource for Solo Attorneys and Small Law Firms
23 March 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Jeff Beard: “Now here's a post I could see Matt Homann sinking his teeth into, and it's something I'll probably mention at LexThink! Chicago: Building the Perfect Firm:
Via the LegalMarketingBlog.com, I came across Fresh Inc.'s "The No-time Networking Plan" post by Keith Ferrazzi.
Keith's idea: If you can't find any time for networking, then don't. Don't stress yourself out over it either. Instead, let networking time come to you. How? By meeting people during the things you're already doing. Consider your down time while waiting in line, in a waiting room, running errands, etc., and then turn that dead time into networking time.
Keith posts a particularly inspirational account of how his friend Ben found a job in a new line of work by networking while at jury duty. Well, perhaps "networking" isn't the best description for his particular approach -- basically, he got up in front of a huge crowd of potential jurors and asked who was in the line of work he wanted. His timing was impeccable, and one can't argue with the results.
Here are my take-aways from all of this:
1. Lawyers generally have the gift of gab -- so use it. It's one of our many talents.
2. Don't be afraid to do something so unconventional or unexpected which your competitors would probably never try or even think of. Of course, don't confuse unconventional with unprofessional. I like to think that unconventional approaches are like our brains -- we're only using about 10% of them.
3. Work smarter not harder: Ben worked the room with incredible efficiency, and it didn't take any extra time out of his day.
4. Creative cold calling works with the right touch: Ben basically cold-called an entire room in less than a minute. I've personally obtained jobs by cold-calling -- jobs that turned into my career. Ben's approach was certainly more creative, less time-consuming, and required more than a little self-confidence. It took guts. Cold calling shows initiative.
5. Don't be afraid to ask people for a little information. People love to help. I've personally had good luck with "I wonder if you could help me..."
6. Turn adversity into opportunity. At jury duty, Ben was the only one who forgot to bring reading material. He turned an otherwise brain-numbing boredom slot into a self-marketing windfall.
7. Be yourself. Be gutsy, be clever, but above all else, be genuine.
8. Leverage what others know. Ben's contact in the juror room wasn't his future employer, but that person knew the people Ben was looking to meet.
This no-time approach breaks some of the well established marketing rules, such as targeting your intended audience. As such, it probably won't turn up leads as often as you might hope. But ask yourself, what have you lost by trying it during otherwise dead time?”
Source: LawTech Guru by Jeff Beard, 24 March 2005
From the e-newsletter: “Millions of fingers would freeze in mid-type right now if everyone in the world could keep in mind what a minefield e-mail can be...."E-mail is not a confidential communication system," said Donald A. Rea, attorney and co-chairman of the electronic discovery practice group at the law firm Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander LLC. "Part of the problem is because it's so anonymous. With a telephone conversation, you're speaking to a human being so you have that connection. With a letter, there's a certain amount of formality to that. "With e-mail, you're sitting there by yourself with your door closed, maybe at 2 o'clock in the morning," Rea said. "You hit the button and it's gone.”
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Source: THE PRACTICE PAPER, Edited by Joel R. Zand, Esq.
A FindLaw Resource for Solo Attorneys and Small Law Firms
23 March 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sabrina Pacifici posts: "Following up on previous postings involving the FEC and potential regs impacting blogs, Declan McCullagh reports that public response to such plans have resulted in a longer, more contested process than may have otherwise been the case."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
23 March 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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From the e-newsletter: “Terri Schiavo didn't have a living will. But because of her, thousands of other Americans won't make that same mistake. Attorneys and organizations that promote the importance of living wills and advance directives say the bitter legal battle over the severely brain damaged woman has led many people to put their end-of-life wishes in writing. At attorney Christopher Likens' office in Sarasota, clients invariably bring up Terri Schiavo as they put their affairs in order.”
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Source: THE PRACTICE PAPER, Edited by Joel R. Zand, Esq.
A FindLaw Resource for Solo Attorneys and Small Law Firms
23 March 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Martin Schwimmer posts: “IT Conversations first edition of SOUND POLICY hosted by Denise Howell (of Bag and Baggage and the project-we're-about-to-announce fame), on everyone's favorite tool bar function, GOOGLE AUTO-LINK. Participants (pictured above) were novelist and IP policy advocate Cory Doctorow, RSS evangelist Robert Scoble, and me.Remember, you do not need a pod to listen to a podcast."
Source: The Trademark Blog, 21 March 2005
Gary Price posts: "By now, many are using RSS feeds to keep track of weblogs, journal tables-of-contents, press releases, newspaper content, and more. In addition to following dozens of weblogs of interest, I use RSS to keep track of movie reviews from the New York Times, search engine alerts, and library-related weblogs and resources. The application of RSS feeds has moved into the library world, riding the wave of hundreds of library-related weblogs and other services." Column by Randy Reichardt, Cameron Science and Technology Library, University of Alberta.”
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Source: The ResourceShelf, 18 March 2005
Gary Price posts: "Calculate the estimated fuel cost of your trip" based on current gasoline prices. Choose your starting point, destination, make/model/year of vehicle from dropdown menus and click "Calculate." Map on page shows current day's average fuel costs in different regions of the country.”
Source: The ResourceShelf, 22 March 2005
Jim Calloway posts: “This is a brief follow-up to my post to law students earlier this week.
Attitude is everything. It is great to be confident, but not good to be cocky. As a Norman lawyer advises new lawyers, "You've been given your driver's license, but you aren't ready for the Indy 500, or maybe not even rush hour on the freeway." Understand that once you get your license, you will much to learn from court staff, other lawyers, judges, and even from your clients.
You may be surprised to learn that even your parents and grandparents have a lot to teach you about opening a law practice and being a good lawyer. See my article "Everything I Need To Know About Practicing Law I Learned From My Mom."
Source: Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog, 17 March 2005
Posted by Genie Tyburski: “Mary Ellen Bates talks about using the Wikipedia and Answers.com to find background information for launching serious research projects. She provides several examples and useful quick searching tips.”
Source: Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
23 March 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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From http://www.llrx.com
**Internal Blogs: So, Are They Different From External Blogs?
http://www.llrx.com/features/internalblogs.htm
"Dennis Hamilton shares his experience with launching a blog behind the corporate firewall, and suggests parameters that focus on content value to ensure its successful implementation."
**Law Firm Marketing: Interview with Carmen Delessio - CTO, Internet Services Division, Harris Publishing
http://www.llrx.com/columns/marketing7.htm
"This month Andy Havens explores a peer-to-peer, permission based, secure, remotely hosted database that can be continually updated with useful contact information."
**Software Rundown: Adobe Acrobat 7.0; ZoneAlarm Security Suite 5.5; Diskeeper 9 and Norton SystemWorks 2005
http://www.llrx.com/columns/legaltech31.htm
"Brett Burney reviews the new features, pros and cons of these well known applications that are now essential components of most professional desktops."
**The Government Domain: GovTrack.us: Under Development
http://www.llrx.com/columns/govdomain3.htm
"Peggy Garvin takes a new, free, publicly available, privately run, open-government-web service through its paces, detailing the features and options available to researchers who track and monitor federal legislation."
**Notes from the Technology Trenches: Advisen: A Unique Approach to Business Background Information
http://www.llrx.com/columns/notes77.htm
"Cindy Carlson reviews this fee-based service that was originally intended for use by the insurance industry in evaluating corporate entities in terms of stability, especially for Directors and Officers (D&O) Insurance, but is a relevant resource for general business research."
**FOIA Facts: New FOIA Legislation Introduced
http://www.llrx.com/columns/foia19.htm
"Scott Hodes comments on the Open Government Act of 2005, which "grants privileged FOIA fees for bloggers and writers for Internet outlets."
**After Hours: Checking the Oil
http://www.llrx.com/columns/afterhours17.htm
"Kathy Biehl recommends a range of oils, from vegetable and nuts sources, and suggests the best ways to use them to add flavor, interest and zest to your cooking."
**LLRX.com Bookstore
http://www.llrx.com/bookstore/
"Review the two dozen new entries on topics that include: the decline of news reporting, open government, publishing blogs, email rules, ID theft, finding government information, electronic surveillance, and of course...food"
**"And don't forget LLRX Court Rules, Forms, and Dockets, the only such free searchable database, updated and maintained by Margaret Berkland"
http://www.llrx.com/courtrules/
Source: LLRX Update, 13 March 2005
Copyright © LLRX TM, Law Library Resource Xchange, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Ernie Svensen posts: “Great article by Jim Calloway on the use of Macs in a law office. There are lots of reasons to be upset with Windows, and there are lots of reasons to be pleased with Macs. It's hard to believe that Apple has only 4% market share of computer sales. Then again, it sort of makes sense. Most people will follow the herd, even if the herd is heading for a cliff.”
Source: Ernie the Attorney, 22 March 2005
In the news: “When Lance Cpl. Justin Ellsworth was killed in Iraq, his death sparked a controversy about e-mail ownership, with his parents suing for access to his Yahoo account. If Ellsworth had printed his e-mails, they likely would have been the property of his estate. But, says attorney Mark D. Rasch, ownership of electronic information is tied to ownership of the medium in which the information is stored. The case is the first of its kind to be widely reported, but the issue is apt to recur.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
23 March 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sabrina Pacifici posts: "Available as a free feature on today's Wall Street Journal, State Laws for Living Wills - "Rules for living wills, written instructions on the type of care a person would want in the event of a life-threatening medical condition, vary by state. Download the details on living wills and advance directives for your state."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
22 March 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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From Charlie White: "Law Day is a great occasion for lawyers and judges to reach out to the public. The ABA has provided plenty of ideas to help you frame the best Law Day speeches and presentations. Just click on http://www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/talking/home.html for dozens of talking points and ideas for speeches, as well as some model speeches. A number of the topics directly relate to this year's theme of "The American Jury: We the People in Action," including four sets of talking points on juries."
Source: E-mail from Charlie White, “Law day Speech Materials Online,” 21 March 2005 (Copy on file with author)
Bankruptcy
“Provides an overview of U.S. bankruptcy laws and procedures and explains the differences between Chapter 7 (liquidation) and Chapter 11, 12, and 13 (reorganization) bankruptcy filings. Features a FAQ, glossary, comparison charts, and related resources. Also includes updates on bankruptcy legislation. From Nolo, a California publisher of legal self-help books.”
http://www.nolo.com/resource.cfm/catID/462A9501-9B21-4E09-A08C5A7B8AF51A79/213/161/
Source: LII Librarians' Index to the Internet
NEW THIS WEEK for 17 March 2005
Copyright 2005 by Librarians' Index to the Internet, LII.
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Handy Tax Links
Posted by Tom Mighell: “Still working on your (or someone else's) taxes? Check out these pages from the Federation of Tax Administrators -- one features state tax forms on a clickable map, and the other provides links to states that allow Internet filing.” [Orange States/Blue States]
Source: Inter Alia, 23 March 2005
Posted by Carolyn Elefant: “Here's a story, Plan for Supermarket Legal Advice (BBC, 3/20/05) about a proposal that will shake up the legal profession in England and Wales by allowing commercial businesses to own and run law firms. The intent of the proposal, known as the Tesco law, is to make legal services "a better deal for consumers." Under the plan, commercial interests like insurance companies or supermarkets can invest in, own and manage legal services. In addition, the new plan would allow lawyers to work in partnership with non-lawyers such as accountants or financial advisors. (incidentally, I have no idea where the ABA and the various state bars stand on multi-disciplinary practice. I took a look at the ABA Web Resources on Multi-Disciplinary Practice but it's not clear whether much has happened beyond debate (as with the seemingly endless debates and commissioned studies over the billable hour)
I'm all for proposals that open up competition in the legal profession and reduce costs. But when I read about this idea, all I could think was Enron. And surprisingly, even though the Tesco multidisciplinary proposal is being debated overseas, I wasn't the only one who thought of the Enron analogy either."
Source: MyShingle, 21 March 2004
From Genie Tyburski: “The Committee on Court Administration and Case Management of the Judicial Conference provided federal judges with guidelines regarding the use of wireless devices in courts.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
22 March 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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In the news: "With the onslaught of corporate multijurisdictional, multiparty litigation, in-house attorneys say they are placing a premium on team players who can band together with other defense attorneys to help curb legal bills and put big cases behind them. "General counsel want someone who is not a jerk, somebody who plays well in the sandbox," said Candace Beinecke, managing partner of New York's Hughes Hubbard & Reed, national counsel for Merck & Co. in the Vioxx litigation."
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
22 March 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Tom Mighell: "Andy Beal at Search Engine Lowdown points to a new search tool called Factbites, "where results make sense." It differentiates itself from Google and the other search engines by offering users "meaningful, relevant sentences from every site in the search results." In its current state, 800,000 topics are offered.
The search results display three bullet points with sentences containing the specific words in your query. It's way more effective than Google's results, where the words in the results are often not even close in proximity to your search terms."
Source: Inter Alia, 21 March 2005
Sabrina Pacifici posts: “As a follow-up to my recent posting about Dennis Hamilton's new article, Internal Blogs: So, Are They Different From External Blogs?, I suggested the monikers enterpriselogs or enterlogs to describe blogs behind the corporate firewall. MrDave's Blog! has a related posting I recommend, IntraBlog - the next wave?. Other suggestions welcome! [thanks Claudia]”
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
21 March 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted by Jeff Beard: “Microsoft, in its battle against spam and online fraud, has a very good article describing deceptive e-mails. It covers how they work, and how you can spot their characteristics.
To summarize, many deceptive e-mails have the following attributes, either separately or in combination:
· Requests for personal information
· Urgency, such as closing or deleting your account unless you respond
· Deceptive links (HTML e-mails can display seemingly valid links, but the underlying link goes elsewhere)
· One or more images to get past spam text filters and/or phone home as web beacons
· Attachments containing all kinds of malware
· If it sounds too good to be true -- it is
I'll add one of my own: False authority. Many appear to come from recognized companies and organizations.
Say what you will about Microsoft security, but I applaud their efforts to educate people on these attacks. Protective software and security only go so far, especially when it comes to e-mail. The rest is up to the recipients, so we need to know how to protect ourselves.”
Source: LawTech Guru By Jeff Beard, 21 March 2005
From Sabrina Pacifici: “From research guru Marcus P. Zillman, news that his terrific Finding People Info blog has been completely updated, as he has published a new, free white paper, Knowledge Discovery Resources 2005.”
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
19 March 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Genie Tybursky posts: “There's a new "government" tab at meta search service Clusty. It provides a search shortcut for finding information about members of Congress. It also enables querying sources such as FirstGov, DefenseLink and political news from Reuters, the Associated Press and CNN. Clusty is Vivisimo's beta that demonstrates search clustering.”
ALSO, Clusty Now Offering Government Info Search and Cluster
SEW Blog, 14 March 2005
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
21 March 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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From Charlie White: "The ABA Commission on the American Jury has developed a Juror Appreciation Kit that is online at http://www.abanet.org/jury/jurorkit.html and can be easily downloaded. This kit dovetails with the theme of Law Day this year and could be quite helpful for you in your Law Day planning.
The kit includes various appreciation activities to help courts devise programs that will honor local citizens who serve as jurors. It includes outreach activities & ideas; a sample resolution; certificate of appreciation; samples of op-ed article, guest editorial, radio spots, and press release; and information of posters and bookmarks.
The site has many excellent resources. Check it out at
http://www.abanet.org/jury/home.html"
Source: An e-mail communication from Charlie White, Division for Public Education (20.2), American Bar Association, 18 March 2005
From the e-newsletter: “FindLaw columnist and U.C. Hastings law professor Vikram Amar assesses the LSAT (Law School Admission Test), and questions if it ought to count as heavily as it currently does in law school admissions decisions. Drawing on the work of Indiana University law professor Bill Henderson, Amar notes that evidence suggests the LSAT may be testing for speed, not skill, in legal analysis-- and notes, too, that law school "racehorse" exams that ask students to spot dozens of issues in a few hours are vulnerable to the same criticism.”
Read About It
Source: FindLaw's WRIT Legal Commentary
18 March 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved
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What Employers Need to Know About 'Citizen Soldiers'
In the news: “More than ever, the U.S. servicemen and women being sent into action are not career military personnel, but "citizen soldiers" with regular jobs that they expect to resume without complication when their tour of duty is over. Attorney Victoria M. Phipps highlights recent litigation that suggests many employers may be unaware of a federal statute protecting those jobs. Failure to understand such rules can create liabilities for employers. And, as Phipps notes, ignorance of the law is no defense.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
21 March 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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From the e-newsletter: “The use of ethical wills - a centuries-old practice of passing along beliefs, values and personal experiences to loved ones - has begun to re-emerge as catastrophic events underline the unpredictability of life and many see society as increasingly materialistic and transient. The wills are not legally enforceable. But the founder of an elder law firm in Sarasota, Fla., said he suggests them to clients because they add more humanity to estate planning. "When you focus strictly on transmitting wealth and property, it can make it a very cold and heartless process for everyone," said Ira Wiesner of Advocates in Aging.”
Read About It
Estate Planning, Wills, and Trusts
http://estate.findlaw.com/estate-planning/
Source: FindLaw's PUBLIC ADVISOR
A Weekly FindLaw Newsletter Providing News and Resources for the Public
17 March 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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From the e-newsletter: “Whether you're paying someone to fix your car, booking a vacation, or considering an investment, you should be aware of your rights as a consumer, and take steps to protect yourself against consumer scams. FindLaw for the Public offers information, tips, and FAQs related to common consumer-related scams and consumer protection. Click on the links below to get started.”
Don't Get Taken: Protect Yourself from Common Abuses and Rip-Offs
http://public.findlaw.com/consumer/newcontent/consumerbook/
Consumer Scams FAQ
http://public.findlaw.com/consumer/nolo/faq/9E72D4C3-BB5C-4A02-A4353481
CAD0A784.html
Travel Scams FAQ
http://public.findlaw.com/consumer/nolo/faq/AF821737-3F33-
4667-B6D! 9EF2A30DD814D.html
Cars: False and Deceptive Repair Practices
http://public.findlaw.com/consumer/newcontent/consumerlaw/chp9_g_2.html
The Consumer Fraud Acts
http://public.findlaw.com/consumer/newcontent/consumerlaw/chp15_e.html
Find a Consumer Protection Attorney Near You
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Consumer%20Protection
Source: FindLaw's PUBLIC ADVISOR
A Weekly FindLaw Newsletter Providing News and Resources for the Public
17 March 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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There will be no posting for the rest of the week. This is the time of year that basketball RULES.
Last night I chose my NCAA bracket winners – Go Gonzaga! (Can you tell I go for underdogs!!)
And this afternoon I am heading to Columbus, Ohio for the best 16 games of high school basketball in three days!
Sabrina posts: "LexisNexis has created a Web site with helpful information regarding data privacy at http://privacyfacts.lexisnexis.com."
· Related news: Kurt Sanford, President and CEO of LexisNexis Corporate and Federal Markets stated during his testimony today to the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Committee that: "LexisNexis plans to further restrict access to such sensitive information as SSNs [social security numbers] and DLNs [drivers license numbers], by extending the more restrictive SSN truncation policy currently in place for LexisNexis to its recently acquired Seisint business and by adding a policy to include the masking of DLNs. These steps are part of the on-going review that LexisNexis has been conducting on security practices, authorization and verification procedures and privacy policies across its businesses..."
· See also LexisNexis Reports ID Theft Scam
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
15 March 2005
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Posted by Jerry Lawson: “There are lots of good ideas in a Washington Lawyer article by American University law professor Walter Effross entitled Thwarting Ethical Violations With Web Site Disclaimers. Here's one:
[I]t might be an ethically questionable practice to allow visitors to e-mail the firm’s attorneys directly through an e-mail link featured on the site (for instance, on an attorney’s individual page) without interposing a click-wrap box that contains such warnings as those above, and requiring the visitor to click “I agree” before actually composing and sending the e-mail. The box could also specify the jurisdictions in which the attorney in question is licensed to practice, and could state that visitors from other jurisdictions should not contact that attorney for representation. One firm states in such a click-wrap box, “Our policy is not to return e-mail regarding a specific legal matter from anyone who has not already engaged the firm.”
Even if such click-wrap boxes appear when a visitor attempts to send e-mail to an attorney through the site, the site should not display the attorney’s e-mail address, since a visitor could merely write it down or cut and paste it into the address line of an e-mail form generated by the visitor’s own e-mail program, and thereby avoid the warnings entirely.
Effross goes on to note that including e-mail address exposes your lawyers to spam, since sophisticated spammers use software that "harvests" e-mail addresses from public web sites.
I'm not sure I agree with all of Effross' reasoning, but I think his bottom line is good, and similar to advice I've given for years. There are good reasons for exercising care in displaying e-mail addresses at your web site. Suppose a lawyer is sick, on vacation, or in an intensive trial and misses a key e-mail message. Your malpractice carrier may not like the result.
It makes sense to have all e-mail to the firm sent through a central contact point. This would prevent the ball from being dropped. The central screener could also look for conflicts of interest and possibly help reduce the danger of being conflicted out of a case.”
Source: Netlawblog, 12 March 2005
Posted by Tom Mighell: “The folks over at Yahoo! have punched up their Yahoo! Mobile http://mobile.yahoo.com/ services. If you use My Yahoo! to view RSS feeds (and if you don't, here's how), you can now access them on your cell phone. Just plug in http://mobile.yahoo.com into your phone's web browser, and navigate to the News section. Your feeds will be there under My News.
Russell Beattie has more on this at the Yahoo! Search Blog.
Source: Inter Alia, 16 March 2005
In the news: "A cottage industry has arisen that uses the Freedom of Information Act to spy on companies doing business with the government and then sells the intelligence -- including detailed pricing information, hourly labor rates, profit margins, and more recently, performance evaluations -- to competing contractors. Companies such as MCI WorldCom, Boeing and General Electric Co. have turned to the courts to prevent federal agencies from releasing such data."
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
16 March 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted by J. Craig Williams : “Here's one you don't see every day: A lawyer recommending that you don't use a lawyer. Yep, you heard it here first. Surprise, surprise.
To draft a will. Not just any will, though, an ethical will. An ethical will allows you to use a written document to pass along your values. What concerns me, though, is why the need arose in the first place. If you are truly going to pass along your values, ask for forgiveness and the like, wouldn't it be better to do that while you're alive? Isn't that what we've been teaching our children all along?
For the will that you use to pass along money and property, yes by all means use a lawyer. But for an ethical will, which is not enforceable by the Courts, you can DIY.
Well, they're your values, aren't they? Who better to write it than you?
For some who are not good writers, there are resources available. For those who want an ethical will that is written well, certainly a well-trained lawyer should be able to help you.
But be careful if you elect to write one on your own. The FindLaw story from the Associated Press (first link, second paragraph above) cautions that you should only write what you are willing to have others read, and you will want to be thoughtful and "not script others' lives." Certainly, you should not use an ethical will in an attempt to transfer money or property.
Maybe you should use a lawyer after all.”
Source: May It Please the Court, 14 March 2004
Sabrina Pacifici posts: "Just a reminder that LLRX.com's Court Rules, Forms and Dockets remains the only comprehensive, free, regularly updated guide of its kind on the web. Suggestions for new links are always welcome.
· "This site includes links to over 1,400 sources for state and federal court rules, forms and dockets. You can browse to find the resource you need, or search by keyword."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
14 March 2005
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From the e-magazine: “What's the most significant mistake that small firms make when using litigation support technology? Buying too much? Or maybe using it too little? Monica Bay, editorial director of Small Firm Business magazine, posed this question to solos, small firm attorneys and industry experts. Read on to make sure you don't commit what our respondents identified as the biggest blunders.”
Read full text
Source: Law.com’s Small Firm Business, 9 March 2005
Gary Price posts: “From the web site, "Government Information Online (GIO) is a national pilot project sponsored by the Illinois State Library, OCLC, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. GPO is participating in the pilot along with more than 30 federal depository libraries from across the United States. Users of the service can interact online with government information librarians during a weekly chat schedule, or users can submit questions at any time using an email interface. To use the service, visit the project's website at http://govtinfo.org. The pilot is scheduled to run through November 14, 2005."
Source: The ResourceShelf, 15 March 2005
Sabrina Pacifici posts: "From the founder and CEO of Technorati's posting today: "Technorati is now tracking over 7.8 million weblogs, and 937 million links. That's just about double the number of weblogs tracked in October 2004. In fact, the blogosphere is doubling in size about once every 5 months. It has already done so at this pace four times, which means that in the last 20 months, the blogosphere has increased in size by over 16 times."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
14 March 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted by Tom Mighell: "Check out Lynn Lenart's useful Law Weblogs - Blawgs pathfinder at the University of Akron Law School web site. The page provides a blog glossary, examples of blawgs (including Inter Alia -- thanks!), and links to aggregators, blog search engines/directories, hosting sites, and more."
Source: Inter Alia, 15 March 2005
Posted by Kevin Heller: “David Giacalone thinks that the associates who were made anonymous should be offered the opportunity to "decloak" without having to invest in individual domain names. As such, I have decided to offer free space for the associates on this site.
If you want to make yourself "available for hire" then please submit your information to me and I will post it on the Legal Jobs Blog under the title: Available: ....
If you simply want to have your contact information and biographical information listed then you can submit that and I will create a new directory entitled Decloaked Associates.
Update: Bruce MacEwen has info on how to find associates ripe for the picking.”
Source: Tech Law Advisor, 14 March 2005
Posted by Jerry Lawson: “The DC Bar Association monthly magazine has a nice story entitled The Tyranny of the Billable Hour. Here is an excerpt:
“In a firm where billable hours are emphasized over everything else, associate management is not a strong suit. When law firms pay fat bonuses based on billable hours, they are asking for bad behavior. They’re asking for people to do make-work, not necessarily padding the hours, but finding things to do, doing things in four hours that could normally take them two. If you’re telling associates that they’re not going to get their bonus unless they bill a certain number of hours, what do you expect them to do? You’re sticking your head in the sand if you think that bad behavior isn’t going to be encouraged.” ...
One of the major problems with the billable hour system, as the ABA commission pointed out, is that it is “fundamentally about quantity over quality, repetition over creativity. With no gauge for intangibles such as productivity, creativity, knowledge or technological advancements, the billable hours model is a counter-intuitive measure of value.”
The dominance of hourly billing is one of the biggest barriers to wider adoption of eLawyering. Why become efficient when you believe (rightly or wrongly) it will hurt your bottom line? The article suggests a possible motivator for change: "The pressure is going to have to come from clients, and some of them, but only some of them, are doing it."
There is another possible motivator: the desire for competitive advantage. Used intelligently, technology can provide a higher quality of service at lower rates. Smart lawyers will lead the way in shown their clients they understand this message.”
Source: eLawyer Blog, 12 March 2005
Posted by Cindy L. Chick: “If you're not using web conferencing tools for training and/or collaboration, you're missing a great opportunity to connect with people that you otherwise might not reach. Though these tools are quite inexpensive when compared with something like video conferencing, price still can be an obstacle.
If cost and ease of use is holding you back, you've got no more excuses. Take a look at the PC Magazine article, "Instant Meeting" for reviews of seven services including GoToMeeting Corporate, which gets their Editors Choice.
Most of these tools are great for small meetings with fewer than 10 people. (Webex and Live Meeting that can handle hundreds; for a price, of course.) And these simpler tools don't have all of the bells and whistles that the big guys offer, but most people won't miss things such as integrated audio conferencing. But I certainly would miss the ability to easily record the online sessions, a feature that's not offered by any of the services on the list with the exception of Linktivity WebDemo Hosted.
By the way, Live Meeting is getting a face lift this month. I'm hoping for easier setup. Their current administrative interface just cries out for usability testing.”
Source: LawLibTech, 13 March 2005
Posted by Carolyn Elefant: “I've always explained that the reason I went solo was because a big firm wasn't big enough. Not big enough for my ego or aspirations, not even big enough to fit two tiny words - my name - on the door. Apparently, these days, a big firm isn't big enough (in heart, not size) to include associates' names on the firm website either.
There's a great post here from Dennis Kennedy on the utter stupidity of this new law firm policy to keep associates anonymous - as well commentary from my new ALM blogger-colleague Bruce McEwan here.
Source: MyShingle, 11 March 2005
In the news: “A recent bias suit filed by 12 female employees against pharmaceutical giant Novartis Corp. illustrates a dramatic spike in so-called "sex-plus" bias suits, according to employment law experts. "Sex-plus" actions differ from traditional gender bias suits because they include claims of caregiver discrimination. Plaintiffs lawyers say there is lots of talk about "work-life balance," but employers still treat women differently after having children.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
14 March 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sabrina posts: "Blogs Not Yet in the Media Big Leagues - Very few Americans read them with any frequency:
· "Three-quarters of the U.S. public uses the Internet at work, school, or home, but only one in four Americans are either very familiar or somewhat familiar with blogs. More than half, 56%, have no knowledge of them. Even among Internet users, only 32% are very or somewhat familiar with blogs." [The devil is in the details] Said differently, monthly-plus readership of blogs is 21% among 18- to 29-year olds, 16% among those 30 to 49, 14% among those 50 to 64 and just 7% among those 65 and older."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
11 March 2005
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In the e-newsletter: “Judged by its title alone, New York City's Gun Industry Responsibility Act (GIRA) sounds like a good idea, but is it? Brooklyn law professor Anthony Sebok and Albany law professor Timothy Lytton explain why, in their view, GIRA may end up actually making New Yorkers more vulnerable, rather than protecting them. Sebok and Lytton argue that GIRA will be invalidated by the courts on a number of grounds, so its only real effect will be symbolic: To serve as a "poster child" for "blue state" gun regulation and to add fuel to the fire of those who support tort reform legislation.”
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Source: FindLaw's WRIT Legal Commentary
11 March 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved
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From the e-newsletter: “The National Conference of State Legislatures has put together a page with links to State Legislators' Blogs, and Legislatures with RSS Feeds. As you might expect, there aren't a whole lot right now -- only 24 legislators, and 8 legislative feeds. Still, it's a start.”
Read about it
Source: Internet Legal Research Weekly
13 March 2005
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First Podcasting, Now Screencasting
Jim Calloway posts: “The Oklahoma City-based IP blog Phosita has just placed something cool on the Web. Using the software Camtasia Studio, OKC attorney Douglas J. Sorocco, has created a screencast as a demonstration of his firm's blog and the power of Camtasia. Check it out and learn more about how Doug used Camtasia. I do have to say that getting Camtasia has been on my "if I had more time and more money" list for over a year. But I think I've been inspired to move it up to "next month" on my priorities.”
Source: Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog, 11 March 2005
The next new thing: Screencasting
Robert Ambrogi posts: "... The technology combines audio -- a la podcasting -- with a recording of the broadcaster's computer screen. Sorocco uses a software program called Camtasia Studio, which is available for a free trial download or to purchase for $299.
What makes this so compelling is that the screen recording takes the premise of podcasting and raises it to a much broader array of applications. I've written before about podcasting as CLE, but with screencasting, you can easily produce and package a complete audiovisual presentation and easily make it available for broad distribution via the Web or on CD-ROM. Think of the applications in law: marketing and business development, CLE, online dispute resolution, settlement negotiations ... and on and rocco's small step into screencasting suggests greater strides to come.”
Source: Robert Ambrogi’s Lawsites, 10 March 2005
From Charlie White: "The first is a Law Day proclamation that you may wish to use as a model for proclamations in your state or locality. Having your mayor or governor "proclaim" Law Day is great way of giving Law Day more impact. A public signing is a good photo opportunity and provides another way for key Law Day planners and partners to get the recognition they deserve.
The second is a juror appreciation proclamation, keyed to May 2-May 6, 2005, which is Juror Appreciation Week. Celebrating Juror Appreciation Week is a natural tie-in to Law Day this year, giving additional opportunities to build public understanding and raise the profile of Law Day and Law Week.
Both proclamations can be found at:
http://www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/proclamation.html
Source: An e-mail from Charlie White “Law Day Sample Proclamations On-line” 9 March 2005
In the news: “Much of the speculation about Chief Justice William Rehnquist's health turns on whether he is able to participate in oral arguments on the Supreme Court bench. But another barometer will emerge Tuesday when he presides over the annual meeting of the Judicial Conference, the policy-making body of the federal judiciary. Leading the conference is a significant part of the chief justice's duties. But there will be no public glimpse of Rehnquist -- the meetings are held in secret.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
11 March 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Genie Tyburski: “Paul Bush, founder of Legal Dockets Online, sends word that it now offers free access to students and faculty. Instructions appear at the site for requesting free access.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
11 March 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Carolyn Elefant: “It's hard enough getting ready for a trial, but as a solo, there's even more to think about because of staffing constraints, as Kimberly Fanady points out in this piece, Flying Solo at Trial, Small Firm Business (3/10/05). Among other tips, Fanady suggests retaining a temp to put files and exhibits in order and calling in colleagues to practice cross examination with clients. And then of course, there's all that work that could pile up at the office while you're tied up at court.
But for all of the tribulations involved with going to trial as a solo, there's one major benefit that outweighs all the drawbacks: you actually get to first chair - to handle the witnesses, make opening and closing arguments and pick the jury. And if you don't think that's a great perk, why don't you talk to some of the senior associates or even junior partners in biglaw litigation departments who have yet to come off the bench and into the game.”
Source: MyShingle, 10 March 2005
From Mary Ellen Bates: "So often, I find that the first stage of a research project involves bringing myself up to speed on a subject. Linda Cooper, an information consultant in Pennsylvania, once referred to this as "I am my own end user", meaning that her initial search is often for her own use, not for that of her "end user" or client.
Fortunately, we have a number of surprisingly reliable, free ready-reference sources that we can tap into. A couple that I have found I use frequently are the Wikipedia and Answers.com.
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org) is a free encyclopedia, written and edited by volunteers. There have been many debates about the relative value of the Wikipedia and commercial encyclopedias. Most of the focus has been on the fact that the structure of the Wikipedia (like any other wiki, or collaboratively-created document) allows anyone to change an existing article and, with some limitations, to create a new article. Fortunately, the Wikipedia is "tended" by a number of editors, and people who have authored articles can also monitor any changes to their material, which serves as a quick correction to changes that are wrong or malicious.
More background on how the Wikipedia works can be found in, of course, the Wikipedia article within the Wikipedia itself.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia) And this month's issue of Wired magazine has an article on the Wikipedia (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.03/wiki.html)
While I take anything I read in the Wikipedia with a grain of salt, I do the same for any other reference source. I had a project a while ago that involved the market for tungsten. Turning myself into my own end user, as Linda would say, I realized that I first had to figure out what this metal was and what it was used for. I headed over to Wikipedia and... bingo! The article there gave me plenty of background information, so I could head off to other sources to get the information my client needed.
There's a lot of intelligence built into the Wikipedia. I was looking for information on a breed of dog that a friend thinks may be part of my puppy's very mixed parentage, so I typed "viszla" in the search box. Happily, I was redirected to the article on Vizslas, a Hungarian hunting dog. And if you search for "Mercury", you will be shown a "disambiguation" page that lists the various entries for Mercury, including the planet, the element, the car, and even the singer Freddie Mercury.
Just be warned -- the Wikipedia is addictive. Each article is full of links to related concepts, and once you start clicking, there goes an hour of your day.
The other ready-reference site I use frequently is Answers.com (http://www.answers.com), formerly the fee-based GuruNet. While the site offers some plug-ins that I don't feel the need for, its main strength is in providing quick answers. Interestingly, just today they announced a new feature in which you don't even have to get to the search page to make a query; just type the URL, followed by the topic you want to search -- for example, http://answers.com/tungsten
The tungsten entry in Answers.com includes:
* several dictionary definitions, along with an audio file
with someone pronouncing the word
* a brief entry from the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia
* the Wikipedia article on tungsten
* translations of the word into 14 languages
* a link to a "best of the web" site, pointing you to a
relevant page from one of the US Department of Energy labs
And a search for Boeing retrieves:
* a brief company profile
* links to 10 recent articles on the company
* stock price information
* the Wikipedia article on Boeing
* links to "best of the web" sites; curiously, no link to
Boeing's own site
Answers.com works best for quick look-ups -- aggregated information on a city or a company, for example, or how to pronounce a word. Since much of its content comes from the Wikipedia, if you need more in-depth information, you are better off just going directly to the Wikipedia.
And finally, for really quick look-ups, I frequently use the search engines' "Shortcuts" -- quick, pre-packaged search results. For example, if I need to find out what the current time is in Sydney, Australia (I can never keep track of when they go on "summer time"), I can type "time in Sydney" in Yahoo!'s search box, and the first result will be not a URL but the answer to my information need... what the current time is in Sydney.”
Source: “Search Tip of the Month: Finding Authoritative Sources,” 8 March 2005
On the Web at: http://www.batesinfo.com/tip.html
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Posted by Sabrina Pacifici: "From The Globe and Mail (via Connie Crosby), this article describes how video clips drive considerable traffic to even small blogs. In addition, it notes the potentially significant impact of vlogs on e-commerce, political discourse and news in general. And don't forget the video search engines as well."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
10 March 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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THIS WEEK'S TAX TIP: HOW TO REDUCE THE CHANCE OF AN AUDIT
From the e-newsletter: “There is no surefire way to audit-proof your tax return. Nevertheless, there are numerous steps you can take to reduce your audit risk. Here are some suggestions to help you file a return that won't raise any eyebrows at the IRS:
http://public.findlaw.com/taxation/nolo/ency/C2C1C683-D113-4796-
9C028A770CD2B7E0.html
Taxes and the IRS: Articles, FAQs, and More
Source: FindLaw's PUBLIC ADVISOR
A Weekly FindLaw Newsletter Providing News and Resources for the Public
10 March 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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I LOVE visiting English pubs – they have such GREAT names – so I just couldn’t resist this entry. If you are a British pub-crawler at heart, you will love this site!!!
From the e-newsletter: “Light-hearted information for tourists about the unspoken rules that apply when visiting a pub (short for "public house") in Britain. Topics covered include the basics (such as the "pantomime ritual ... [to] attract the attention of the bar staff without making any noise or resorting to the vulgarity of too-obvious gesticulation"), choosing a pub, pub talk, and pub games. From the Social Issues Research Centre, Oxford, England.”
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Source: LII Librarians' Index to the Internet
NEW THIS WEEK for 10 March 2005
Copyright 2005 by Librarians' Index to the Internet, LII.
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