From the e-newslettera: “Are you maximizing the profits from your existing client relationships? "How to Keep Clients and Expand the Relationship", a free, archived seminar sponsored by ConferencePlus, is presented by two experts in developing and enhancing client relationships - Larry Bodine and Michael Cummings.
http://technology.findlaw.com/legal-technology-events/
Source: FindLaw’s MODERN PRACTICE. 28 September 2006. Copyright © 2006 FindLaw, a Thomson Business. Subscribe <http://newsletters.findlaw.com/>.
Evan Schaeffer posts: “"The Anatomy of an Effective Reply Brief," by Steffen J. Johnson, begins at page 29 of the Summer 2006 issue of Certworthy, the newsletter of the DRI Appellate Advocacy Committee.
The article contains many good tips like this one—
Your job . . . is to re-establish your theory of the case. In fact, by the time the judges have read the introduction to your reply brief, they should be singing your tune again, or at least remember what that tune is.
This is followed by two practical ways you can use to "get the judges refocused on the right issues and themes."
Certworthy is edited by Raymond Ward, who writes about other articles in the Summer issue at his weblog, the (new) legal writer. Thanks to reader Celia C. Elwell, a paralegal in Oklahoma City, for pointing me to the new issue of Certworthy.”
Active links are available a the source site listed below.
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 28 September 2006
Posted by John Jantsch: “During a training session for one my Duct Tape Marketing Coaches, I learned about a wonderful example of small business branding practiced by Steve and Beth Gasser of Vivid Image. It seems that they read somewhere that a person is more creative with their shoes off. Being that they were in the creative business, what the heck, everyone take your shoes off at work.
The idea caught on with the staff and so they extended it to visitors, clients, you name it. No shoes in the building. To make it more than a quirky (or religious) experience they acquired socks and printed their logo on each pair. Now, employees, guest, and clients don a pair of Vivid Image socks whenever they are in the church/business (did I mention their business is located in what was once a church?)
While they have established a fun, creative touch to their business with this practice, they have also created something that people can talk about, it's their thing. One of the greatest small business marketing assets your business can own is something that makes people talk about how your firm is different than the rest.”
Active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Duct Tape Marketing, 27 September 2006
Posted by Tom Mighell: “Although I like to think I know Excel pretty well, I'm just no good at creating formulas. Microsoft says, "no problem!", and they've provided this handy page of commonly used formulas, with instructions on how to create them.”
For the active link, visit
Source: Inter Alia, 26 September 2006
From the e-newsletter: “Selling to enterprise organizations provides extraordinary opportunities for software vendors – opportunities to either establish lucrative relationships with reliable customers, or create burdensome "one-off" deals that can cause your organization major headaches.
http://technology.findlaw.com/articles/00006/010280.html
Software Solutions Center”
Source: FindLaw’s MODERN PRACTICE. 28 September 2006. Copyright © 2006 FindLaw, a Thomson Business. Subscribe <http://newsletters.findlaw.com/>.
Posted by Dennis Kennedy: “I've puttered around the edges of knowledge management over the years. I must admit that my interest has always been in personal knowledge management more so than capital-K, capital-M knowledge management.
Dave Pollard has a tremendous post today called "The PK-enabled Organization," that pulls together a personal knowledge management (PKM) approach within the context of an organization. It stresses the bottom-up, rather than the top-down approach to KM that I've always felt makes the most sense.
It's a long read (it'll be a chapter in a book), but you will be well-rewarded for your time and effort.
The money quote:
Rather than trying to impose new processes and infrastructure on people, PKM attempts to support and reflect the ways we intuitively learn and share what we do. It adapts technology to people's behaviour, rather than forcing behaviour to adapt to new technology. What is missing, still, is more pioneers.
Speaking of KM, one of my favorite KM experts, Jack Vinson, has a great short post comparing traditional conferences to unconferences and making the analogy with punk rock - another bottom-up, adaptive approach.
Important ideas."
Active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: DennisKennedy.com, 27 September 2006
Posted by Tom Mighell: “In my recent seminars, I've been touting Topix.net as the best current news search tool. Here's a way to make it even better: read Steve Rubel's Five Ways to Be a Better Info Junkie with Topix.net -- he offers five different ways to super-charge your Topix experience. I especially like #5 -- I am a big fan of sites that give you the ability to create your own customized keyword search, and Topix really delivers on this -- with an RSS feed to boot!”
Active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Inter Alia, 29 September 2006
Posted by Sabrina Pacifici: “Press release: "Today, Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, issued a report that analyzes institutional failures and a lack of initiative by this Administration to enable law enforcement officers as first preventers in the War on Terror. The report, entitled LEAP: A Law Enforcement Assistance and Partnership Strategy, finds that a lack of information sharing between Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement dangerously limits the capabilities of police officers."
Active links are available from the source site listed below.
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici. 28 September 2006. Copyright ©2002-2006 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved. Subscribe <http://www.bespacific.com/mt/subscribe.html>.
Posted by Tom Collins: “Courage is defined as the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear. It would be far more appropriate to say “the act of facing difficulty, danger, pain, etc, in the face of fear.” And there isn’t enough of it around. But it is an essential quality of leadership.
When advising a young lady who had just been promoted to an important management position several years ago, I told her that she needed to pick three to five principles to which she should unwaveringly adhere. The second piece of advice was more important. I told her, the minute those principles were understood by others, some people would began an all-out effort to get her to compromise those principles. For some, it is merely their way of testing you. Are your principles really entrenched, or are they like the Pirate’s code, more guidelines than actual code? There will be others with lesser minds who nevertheless consider themselves intellectually superior. For those, the concept of absolutes, standards, and right and wrong are an anathema. Against such an onslaught, it takes courage to stick to what is right—your beliefs.
Davis Maister talks about Passion, People, and Principles. Passion, people, and principles are the ingredients that make a successful law firm. Numbers and metrics are simply the measuring stick. It takes people with a passion (a common sense of direction) guided by a common set of principles (core beliefs and culture) to make something great.
It takes courage to maintain those principles against the efforts of those who don’t want absolutes. For them, each situation, each event, and each decision can be dealt with intellectually without the constraints of principles or the absolutes of right and wrong. Such relativism can show an absence of courage—a way of subconsciously or consciously rationalizing our actions and inactions to avoid dangers that we fear. In business, those dangers can be the possible loss of clients or the fear of confronting others about their unacceptable behavior or performance. In both our personal and professional lives, peer pressure can lead to compromised principles. Going along with the crowd—doing what is politically correct, intellectually in, what the cool people do, what smart people think, etc.—is motivated by the fear of not being accepted. Without ample courage, we compromise our principles a little here and a little there. With enough compromise, the moral compass is lost altogether….”
Use the active link and/or continue reading this post at the source site listed below.
Source: morepartnerincome.com, 28 September 2006
In the news: “Can group therapy make you a better attorney? A growing number of personal injury lawyers think so. Inspired by celebrity trial lawyer Gerry Spence who advocates psychodrama, which blends theater, group therapy and spiritual exploration, a group gathers for monthly meetings to act out emotional conflicts they confront in the courtroom, such as re-enacting a client's slip and fall. "You have to walk a mile in another person's shoes if you are going to understand their story," says attorney Finlay Boag.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 28 September 2006. Copyright 2006. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
In the news: “As mobile products and services flood the market, attorneys are embracing the technologies' convenience and versatility. Results of the American Bar Association's 2006 Legal Technology Survey reveal lawyers using more mobile devices than ever before, but they're sticking to bread-and-butter functions rather than using many utilities. Apparently, attorneys' taste for tech doesn't include checking what's on the menu.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 27 September 2006. Copyright 2006. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
Posted by Mitch Jackson: “When done right, mediations can be a powerful settlement tool. With the help of counsel, experienced mediators can, in many instances, get parties to reach a win-win settlement without the expense or risk of trial. And that’s generally a good thing for everyone involved.
But if everyone isn’t on the same page when going into a voluntary non-binding settlement mediation, the results can be disastrous and separate the parties even further apart from settlement than where they were before the mediation even began.
That’s what happened to me Wednesday afternoon. We represent a wonderful family in a wrongful death case involving police misconduct inside the living room of their own home. After an earlier Case Management Conference, opposing counsel and I agreed that mediation might be a good way to resolve the matter. At least that’s what I thought.
The problem in this case is that I was dealing with out-of-town counsel and did not have “history” with this attorney. I assumed his willingness to participate in an expensive and non-binding settlement mediation before a well respected retired judge would mean that he had the desire, authority or ability to eventually put a substantial (but reasonable) settlement offer on the table. In return, I would work with my clients to amicably compromise their claim and hopefully reach a full and final settlement."
Continue reading this post at the source site listed below.
Source: MyTrail Blog.com, 28 September 2006
Justin posts: “Kevin O'Keefe (who is frankly my primary source of blog stories) gives us more news about the New York advertisement rules placed on lawyers.
I have previously posted about this issue here in June.
As Kevin writes 'The New York Office of Court Administration, the folks who passed the draconian restrictions on lawyer ads that even the FTC said were anti-consumer, concedes the Internet may not have even been considered when passing the restrictions. That's right, restrictions passed in June, 2006, not 1996, perhaps passed without considering the Internet.
This from the spokesman for the state's Office of Court Administration, David Bookstaver in an excellent story in The New York Sun.
The intent of the new rules is to increase professionalism and accountability within the profession. Was the new Internet world considered? Was blogging considered? I don't know.
This is dumbfounding. Actually sickening.'
From my perspective, just look at look at the exponential rise of the number of blogs - We are in the midst of a technology revolution and blogging is a very significant part of that.
If the Court Office did not consider blogging (and it looks that way), I can only say that when it comes to lawyers dealing with innovation, we let ourselves down.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Human Law, 28 September 2006
From the website: "Baby boomers now make up 26% of the U-S population, many of whom are turning the corner to 60-years old. Important issues are raised in the realm of structured settlements and the aging population such as lifestyles, medical care and financial needs. Join Ringler Radio host, Larry Cohen and co-host, Mike Zea from Ringler Associates exploring the issues with Attorney Michael Miller, partner at Drinker, Biddle & Reath, LLP in Philadelphia who has research and legal experience in this area to share. Hear what you need to know about structuring the settlement in your case for clients in this growing AND aging population!"
Click the play button (or choose another way to listen).
>>Play in Windows Media Player
>>Download the MP3 (right click, "save target as")”
Active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: The Legal Talk Network, 18 September 2006
From the ResourceShelf staff: “Webcast: Blog Versus Print: Have Blogs Replaced Newspapers and Should We Care?
A panel discussion that took place in late July is now available on the web.
Have blogs replaced newspapers and should we care? An expert panel discusses the pros and cons of instant news in an event sponsored by the USC Information Services Division, USC Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and the USC Annenberg School for Communication. As newspapers scurry for readers and advertisers, more and more bloggers deliver gossip, news and commentary faster, cheaper and more efficiently. The debate is that, while bloggers respond more nimbly than traditional news-gathering institutions, they do so by sacrificing objectivity, accuracy and reliability.
Panel: Martin Kaplan, associate dean, USC Annenberg School, Kevin Drum, writer, Washington Monthly, writer and novelist Keven Roderick, author and journalist, LA Observed Ana Marie Cox
Runs about 1 hour.
The active link to the podcast is available at the source site listed below.
Source: The ResourceShelf, 28 September 2006
Posted by Dennis M. Kennedy: “Steve Matthews at the Vancouver Law Librarian Blog (yet another great blog from a law librarian) has a really good post on the practical applications of RSS in law firms called "Top 10 Uses for RSS in Law Firms."
Tons of good ideas - I especially like #10.”
Active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Between Lawyers, 27 September 2006
Posted by Mitch Jackson: “If you struggle in front of a jury trying to get evidence admitted, they will view it less favorably
One of the biggest mistakes I see other trial attorneys make is failing to properly prepare for the introduction of evidence at time of trial. For example, an attorney ask questions of a witness for 20 minutes to try and lay the foundation for a piece of evidence. While all eyes of the jury are on him, he concludes his direct examination and formally makes a motion to have the item introduced into evidence. Opposing counsel objects and a Judge instructs the attorney that a proper foundation has not been established and then, in open court, ask the attorney to try once again to lay a proper foundation. Even if eventually successful, the jury will either (1) think something is wrong with this attorney’s evidence and not give it the weight it deserves or (2) think this attorney does not know what he’s doing and discount the merit of his entire case.
How do you avoid this uncomfortable situation? It’s easy. Just practice the Six P’s. Prior preparation prevents piss poor performance.
Sixty days before your trial date (or pre-trial conference), send opposing counsel a letter with a list of all items you believe EACH of you would like to have entered into evidence. Attach a Joint Stipulation as to foundation, authenticity and admissibility with respect to each item. Follow-up with a call and you’ll be amazed at how many items you’ll be able to agree to stipulate into evidence once the trial begins. Then, get the stipulation signed. The last thing most trial attorneys want to worry about is engaging in unnecessary and time consuming foundational evidentiary requirements and as such, this approach is win-win for everyone. You’ll probably eliminate about 80% of your foundational requirements with this single approach and most trial Judges will appreciate your joint efforts….”
This post is continued at the source site listed below.
Source: MyTrialBlog.com, 22 September 2006
Posted by Evan Schaeffer: “For suggestions about the use of tables, charts, glossaries, and timelines at trial, take a look at "How to Uncomplicate the Complicated," by Michael A. Geibelson and Roman M. Silberfeld (pdf link). Although the articles focuse on California law, most of the suggestions are applicable to any jurisdiction. Link from MyTrialBlog.com.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 26 September 2006 [Via Blawg Republic, 27 September 2006]
Posted by Sue Altmeyer: “For a great article detailing Ohio's business entity modernization act, H.B. 301, see Amendments to Ohio’s Business Entity Statutes Effective in October 2006, Jones Day Commentaries, September 2006 by David P. Porter, Jeanne M. Rickert, Randall M. Walters and Jennifer C. Lewis. See our prior post: Ohio Corporate Law Modernization Act, Aug. 1, 2006.
Active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Cleveland Law Library Weblog, 26 September 2006
Posted By Rob Millard: “My friend and colleague Ed Wesemann has a posting on his blog Creating Dominance, titled Milking a Cash Cow, that is well worth a read. It draws on the Boston Consulting Group matrix to analyze the different services that law firms offer, focusing in particular on how to get the most out of services where the firm is very strong, but market share is stagnating. In other words, the firm's 'cash cows.'
See also this previous posting on this topic on Adventure of Strategy, too.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Adventure of Strategy, 27 September 2006
Posted by Michelle Golden: “It's one thing to say we specialize and it's another thing to do it. Here are 10 ways to prove you have a specialty and to maximize it:
1. Make the specialty a priority in CPE/CLE, marketing, and service (and SAY SO publicly!)
2. Bring in non-technical experts to speak at exclusive events you host or underwrite. Other industry experts or entertainers mean less work for you, more enjoyment for the audience, and you get all the credit.
3. Attend industry seminars and other events where you see, or even accompany, your clients.
4. Spend ample time developing processes to most effectively and (and profitably!) serve THOSE clients.
5. Continuously add and improve products (services) to solve problems inherent in that industry.
6. Read and write for key print or on-line publications of the industry.
7. Explore, teach, and even help legislate about a variety of topics (meaning not JUST accounting or legal topics) within the industry.
8. Feature industry specific websites/blogs, updated often to show day-to-day involvement and expertise.
9. Hire non-financial or non-legal professionals to enhance expertise to industry (e.g. hire a registered nurse to consult with HC clients--some law and CPA firms do this very successfully)
10. Partner with other organizations to provide non-traditional solutions when it’s not practical or profitable to have the resource in-house.
We do at least seven of these. How many do you do?”
Please check out more of Michelle’s posts at the source site listed below – worth your time!!
Source: Golden Practices, 26 September 2006
Posted by JD Hull: “There are 7 habits of "Bad Writing". Do see Susan McDonald's post at Legal Research & Writing blog, as well as Roy Jacobsen's, both commenting on Matthew Stibbe's original post setting out the 7 types at Bad Language. "It was a dark and stormy night..."
Active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: What About Clients?, 25 September 2006
From the blog: “It seems like an almost daily occurence: you pick up a newspaper and read about a company that has a CEO, a board member, or even a GC under some ethical cloud. Once a matter has come to the attention of the public (and the regulators), a company is in damage control mode.
One way to guard against this is for corporate counsel to practice preventative law and educate managers in the business case for ethical conduct.
In today’s audiocast, we address this timely issue with Hanna Hasl-Kelchner, a corporate counsel and author of “The Business Guide to Legal Literacy.”
Today’s show is here (just click on the “mp3″ link):
mp3 (9:12 min; 2.1 mb)
Show Notes:
– Ms. Hasl-Kelchner’s website is found here.
– Her bio is here.
– The Legal Literacy weblog.
– A link to Ms. Hasl-Kelchner’s book on Amazon. Buy it! It’s cheaper than litigation…”
Active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: The Wired GC, 14 September 2006
Posted By Tom Kane: “Thinking about whether the projection screen at an upcoming speech was the proper size for the size of the group or room may have crossed my mind once or twice, but to be honest, I pretty much assumed that the event planner would know the right size based on the intended audience. I guess I should have been more circumspect, since I have had to make last minute adjustments (fortunately, only minor in nature) to a screen’s location to accommodate my presentation.
After seeing a recent post by Tom Antion of Great Public Speaking that contained a screen size approximation chart, based on the size of an audience, it gave me a whole new perspective. He credits B&H Photo for the chart.
Here it is:
3-5 people – 21 inches diagonal (53.34 cm)
5-9 people – 29 inches diagonal (73.66 cm)
10-15 people – 37 inches diagonal (93.98 cm)
16-35 people – 60 inches diagonal (152.4 cm)
36-50 people – 72 inches diagonal (182.88 cm)
51-140 people – 120 inches diagonal (304.8 cm)
141-220 people – 150 inches diagonal (381.0 cm)
221-390 people – 200 inches diagonal (508.0 cm)
391+ people – 300 inches diagonal (762.0 cm)
I definitely plan to add it to my “speeches” file for future reference, and to share with my host organizations. Thanks for the tip, Tom.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: The Legal Marketing Blog, 22 September 2006
Posted by Sabrina Pacifici:
• “Identity Theft: A Bibliography of Federal, State, Consumer and News Resources - Revised and Updated, by Sabrina I. Pacifici & Catherine Guthrie
• Small Content, Long Tails, and Big Ideas in Law Libraries, by Jason Eisenman
• E-Discovery Update - by Fios Inc.: The Myth of Search, by Conrad J. Jacoby
• CongressLine, by GalleryWatch.com: Congressional Intent, by Paul Jenks
• Burney's Gadgets for Legal Pros, Reviews: A Paperless ScanJet and A Device to MPEG your Video from any Source, by Brett Burney
• FOIA Facts - The Slow Road: FOIA Litigation, by Scott A. Hodes
• Commentary: Previously Unreleased FCC Reports on TV Localism Raise Questions About Media Diversity, by Beth Wellington
• A Cup of Creativi-tea: Brainstorming, by Terri Wilson
• After Hours: The Soda Gallery / Second Helping: The Algonquin Wits,
by Kathy Biehl
For active links, visit
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici. 25 September 2006. Copyright ©2002-2006 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved. Subscribe <http://www.bespacific.com/mt/subscribe.html>.
Posted by Sue Altmeyer: “The Ohio Supreme Court has published Proposed Amendments to Ohio Civil, Criminal and Evidence Rules. The Court will accept public comments until November 8, 2006. The rule revisions include rules regarding video conferencing in criminal cases (Crim.R. 10, 43); numerous changes to criminal discovery rules (Crim.R. 16); and changes concerning the affidavit of merit in medical malpractice cases (Civ.R. 10(d)(2)). Numerous evidence rules are changed to incorporate gender neutral language.”
The active link is available at the source site listed below.
Source: Cleveland Law Library Weblog, 25 September 2006
Posted by Chuck Kallendorf: “Ohio’s latest revision to its sex offender statutes is a law—the only one in the country—that’s providing that, “In any case in which an individual is precluded from commencing a civil action for assault or battery based on childhood sexual abuse against a person solely because the limitation period under section 2305.111 of the Revised Code for the action expired on or before the effective date of this section, the attorney general or the prosecuting attorney may bring an action in a court designated in division (C) of this section for a declaratory judgment finding that the person would have been liable for assault or battery based on childhood sexual abuse but for the expiration of the limitation period under section 2305.111 of the Revised Code. The attorney general or prosecuting attorney may bring an action pursuant to this section only for childhood sexual abuse that allegedly occurred in this state.”
Further,“If the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence in an action brought pursuant to this section that the defendant would be liable for assault or battery based on childhood sexual abuse but for the expiration of the limitation period under section 2305.111 of the Revised Code, the court shall enter a judgment with that finding against the defendant and shall order that the defendant be listed on the civil registry maintained by the attorney general pursuant to section 3797.08 of the Revised Code. The court shall notify the defendant of the defendant's obligations under sections 3797.02, 3797.03, and 3797.04 of the Revised Code.”
The law became effective Aug. 3rd.
Article
Senate Bill 17 Summary & Analysis"
Active links are available at the source site liste below.
Source: Cincinnati Law Library Blog, 25 September 2006
Posted by Allison Shields: “As September draws to a close, I couldn't resist another school-themed post.
Remember the excitement of a new school year?
As a kid, I always got excited at the beginning of a new year. It represented new possibilities, new friends and learning new things. It was an opportunity to do things better than I’d done before. With new clothes, brand new notebooks and other school supplies, the new school year was a clean slate.
When we’re in school, we’re forced to learn new things all the time. But after we’ve been in practice for a number of years, the days start to merge into one another. We get stuck in a rut. Our work becomes rote. And that’s not good for us or for our clients.
Creativity is key to getting and keeping clients
More and more lawyers are entering the practice, and that means lawyers have to work harder and harder to get and keep clients. Knowing the law isn’t enough any more. In order to provide excellent service to our clients, we’ve got to stay on top of the marketplace, and on top of our clients’ wants and needs. In fact, we’ve got to anticipate their needs before they know they have them. To do that, we need to be creative.
The best way to keep that innovation and creativity going is to keep learning - keep filling our own well in order to have enough mental energy to come up with new ideas, new approaches to the law, new ways to package our services, new ways to make those services sound attractive to clients, and new ways to surprise our clients with excellent service.
I can hear you groaning already, thinking you don’t have time to learn anything new, because you’re already too busy. But the truth of the matter is that if we’re not growing, we’re stagnating, and stagnation is the downfall of your practice.
Try something completely different
Finish reading Allison’s post at
Source: Legal Ease Blog, 25 September 2006
Posted by Silvia Coulter: “Competition. Whether it's in law school for the mock trial win or whether it's on the tennis court for the game--competition is everywhere. And with competition comes the opportunity to be your best. To be your best, your message--whether to a jury or to a prospect--needs to be direct, confident and tight. So why all the words on all the law firm web sites and practice descriptions? There are some great resources to help you tighten the message and win the game. Here are a few: www.contentpilot.net, Deborah McMurray's site that provides great resources for making the message succint; or Vistance Group--masters of the message spin; or Andy Havens, who has a talent for the tongue. Whatever the resource, use it and start to live, breathe, write and talk the brand for your firm!”
Active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: The Legal Compass, 17 September 2006
In the news: “Electronic data discovery really does cost less than paper discovery: It's cheaper to collect, index, store, copy, transport, search and share electronically stored information. But as computer forensics/EDD special master Craig Ball writes: "We hoard data with an indiscriminate tenacity we'd label mental illness if we were piling up paper." Ball suggests 10 tips for keeping e-discovery costs under control. Above all, if you don't need it, get rid of it. But that's only the beginning.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 25 September 2006. Copyright 2006. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
J. Jones writes: “The ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law, commonly called the ERG, is an extensive narrated web guide to understanding and locating international law. Updated twice a year by co-editors Marci Hoffman and Jill McC. Watson, the ERG is an excellent tool for students, teachers, lawyers, and researchers looking both for primary and secondary sources of international law. The guide is divided into eleven main sections: an introduction explaining the organization of the ERG, Human Rights, International Commercial Arbitration, International Criminal Law, International Economic Law, International Environmental Law, International Intellectual Property Law, International Organizations, Private International Law, Treaties, and United Nations. Each section provides a descriptive overview of the area of law, best methods for researching, links to vetted websites, and helpful tips. Also available in print, the ERG is an essential resource for any researcher delving into the complicated world of international law.”
Source: “InSite.” Vol. 12, No. 3. 25 September 2006. Cornell University Law Library. To subscribe send the following request to: listproc@cornell.edu:
Subscribe InSITE-L [YourFirstName] [YourLastName]
In the news: “Attorney Rick Georges walks us through the ups and downs of purchasing a new laptop. When his 1.1 Ghz Dell X1 laptop fails to run Dragon Naturally Speaking 9, it prompts him to upgrade to the Dell Latitude D620, which "screams speed." Fortunately, the fact that he images his hard drive on a weekly basis speeds the data transfer process -- but it still took longer than the three hours anticipated. Georges reports how he sidestepped most of the agony of laptop exchange.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 26 September 2006. Copyright 2006. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
Posted by Robert Ambrogi: “The annual, all-online and entirely free Cyberweek conference starts Monday, focused on the future of online dispute resolution and online justice. The conference is organized by the University of Massachusetts Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution and InternetBar.org. Here is the nutshell description:
Cyberweek consists of many different kinds of activities and opportunities, from Skypecasts to meetings in virtual worlds to Podcasts to discussion forums and more, all related to the topic of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). Cyberweek is a free all-online conference and we invite you join us in both asynchronous and real-time events. Last year, we had several hundred participants from over forty countries and we are working to have a most ambitious program this year.
The schedule of events runs through the week. On Thursday, I will participate as a panel member in an online teleconference program, "Mediation Excellence in Cyberspace," part of a three-day series of teleconferences on mediation excellence organized by John DeBruyn at CoADR Online.”
For active links, visit
Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites, 22 September 2006
Posted by Douglas Berman: “Everywhere you surf, there are clear signs that the SCOTUS preview season is now in high gear. Marcia Coyle has this effective article up at law.com entitled "New Supreme Court Term Promises Early Drama." Also, as How Appealing notes here, the Cato Institute's annual SCOTUS event to place Thursday, and it can now be watched on-line through links here. Similarly, the annual Supreme Court preview conference at William and Mary School of Law is going on this weekend (details here).
Unsurprisingly, even though SCOTUS has a criminal-heavy docket this fall, as detailed here, most of the preview buzz is focused on issues like abortion, affirmative action and punitive damages. Still, with fall arguments in big Blakely cases like Cunningham addressing California's sentencing system (archive here) and Burton addressing retroactivity (archive here), I expect there will ultimately be plenty of SCOTUS buzz to feed my Blakely obsessions.
Some recent related posts:
• Joint advice for SCOTUS on Cunningham
• Ideas for starting a SCOTUS fantasy league?
• Time to take some more Blakely and Booker cases....
• A criminal start to OT '06 for SCOTUS
• Getting excited for Cunningham
• Could they, would they, should they ... declare Blakely retroactive?
UPDATE: In the comments, Kent Scheidegger reminds me of his great work in this post at Crime & Consequences, where Kent details the criminal law cases that Tom Goldstein predicts have a decent chance of a cert grant. Notably, few of these cases deal with sentencing issues, though I am predict some more sentencing related cert grants before this calender year is complete.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Sentencing Law and Policy, 16 September 2006 [Via Blawg Republic, 25 September 2006]
Posted by Arnie Herz: “Earlier on, I wrote a series of posts on positive psychology - the scientific study of human happiness – and the related field of Positive Organizational Scholarship (pdf) - a branch of the organizational sciences focusing on “the dynamics in organizations that lead to the development of human strength, foster vitality and flourishing in employees, make possible resilience and restoration, and cultivate extraordinary individual and organizational performance.”
This topic duo has kept my attention over time and I often question how law firms might employ some of the relevant field work in redressing employee disengagement, discontent and depletion. As it’s done before, Harvard’s Working Knowledge forum again sheds some significant light on this question. In an article called The Power of Ordinary Practices, researchers share the results of a recent study on the ways business leaders “can influence the motivation, creativity, and performance” of the “knowledge workers who are carrying out the [day-to-day] work of the organization.”
According to the piece, a key discovery the researchers made is that workers’ performance is tied to their “emotions, motivations, and perceptions about their work environment.” These feelings, in turn, are “powerfully influenced by particular daily events” on the job. Positive feelings generated in the workplace lead to “more flexible, fluent, and original thinking” that “can carryover, [via] an incubation effect, to the next day.”
Because of their regular interactions with the knowledge worker population, leaders are the linchpins for generating or squelching the positive sentiments underlying employee happiness and productivity. So, the researchers advise, leaders need to understand how “ordinary, trivial, mundane” things they do in the regular course of business “can have an enormous impact” on an employee’s daily experience and performance.
The article goes on to cite “five leader behaviors that have a positive influence on people's feelings.” Among these five positive reinforcers are: providing emotional support; giving positive feedback on their work; and publicly recognizing people for good performance.”
All the active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Legal Sanity, 20September 2006
Evan Schaeffer posts: “According to reports, an entirely new industry called "associate training and development" has sprung up because young lawyers can't dress themselves, don't know anything about wine, and have covered their bodies with unsightly tattoos.
Want to learn more? It's all here in "Law firms are investing in the finer points of etiquette," by Gail Appleson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.”
For the active link, go to
Source: Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Under Ground, 25 September 2006
Posted by Larry Bodine: “Cross-selling is an elusive goal for law firms. The idea is simple: to interest clients that are using one practice area in using a second or third area. But the devil is in the details and most cross-selling plans fail as soon as they meet one of several common objections.
As a result, to paraphrase Mark Twain, everyone talks about cross-selling, but nobody is doing anything about it.
Yet cross-selling is more important than ever. According to new research by The BTI Consulting Group in Boston, corporations in the Fortune 1000 list are using 20% fewer core law firms than they did a year earlier. This means that fewer law firms will get the available work, and they will likely be the firms that successfully cross-sold their practices.
Knowing this, law firms send out calls to come to cross-selling sessions, but can’t get lawyers to attend the meetings. Firms struggle to identify cross-selling targets but falter when it comes to making contact with the client. The keys to success are overcoming the objections that partners raise and focusing on firmwide, rather than individual, goals.
To jump-start a program, attorneys need to keep in mind the firmwide goals of cross-selling:
• To keep current clients by establishing as many points of contact with the law firm as possible.
• To expand client relationships by assuring that the client is completely satisfied with the firm’s service and inquiring into the additional business problems a client has.
• To familiarize the lawyers with the client, so that they know the client’s business and understand the client’s industry.
There are seven common objections that derail most cross-sellng programs, and you'll find them at at http://www.larrybodine.com/HowtoJump-StartCross-Selling.htm.
For the active link, visit
Source: Larry Bodine’s Professional Services Marketing Blog, September 25, 2006
Posted by Carolyn Elefant: “Most of us know that it can take several months for a marketing connection to pan out. This is a post about one that was 14 years in the making. I write this story not to discourage those of you who need your leads to pop now, but rather to make the point that solo practice is one long connected journey and you never know whether or when the seeds you scatter today will finally bear fruit. Read on for details....
Continue reading "Waiting 14 Years for the Call"
Read the whole story at
Source: MyShingle, 17 September 2006
From the blog: “One of the most overlooked features in Microsoft Outlook is its ability to flag emails. If you look to the right side of your incoming emails, you will notice that there is a blank flag on the right. By toggling that flag, you can cause it to appear in red or a variety of other colors. This is incredibly powerful given the large volume of emails that we receive.
Of course, everyone has to deal with this same problem. Fifty or more emails come in on any given day. Sometimes you have the opportunity to deal with them directly. More often, you are in the middle of other things and can simply note the email. How do you know which emails have been handled and which emails have not?
By flagging emails as they come in, you can identify those which need follow-up work or response. This allows you to briefly read an incoming email, flag it, and know that you have to come back to it later. For those who are even more organized, you can develop a system for flag color. Red flag color may mean a general follow-up needs to occur. A purple flag can mean that the follow-up is a priority item. A yellow flag can mean a follow-up phone call is necessary.
Note that all out going emails can be flagged before they are sent as well.
I doubt that there is anyone out there who has not had an email slip through the cracks. If you and your firm do not develop an email policy which precludes incoming email communications from getting lost in the shuffle, you may be setting yourself up for complaints of poor customer service or worse. For those firms that are using Microsoft Outlook, they should develop policies and training for their personnel, many of whom are probably oblivious to the powerful potential of email flagging.”
Source: The Greatest American Lawyer, 22 September 2006
Posted by Matt Steinke: “InSite recently wrote about the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy. From Insite:
Sponsored by Capital University Law School, the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy (NCALP) seeks to improve the law, policies, and practices associated with child protection and adoption systems using education, advocacy, and research. The NCALP website provides a weekly news summary and information about several of the Center's projects, such as the Adoption JobSite and the Adoption LawSite Project. Legal researchers will be interested in the site's "Weekly Case Summaries," a weekly summary of relevant case law in the areas of adoption, and child welfare available via e-mail or through the Center's website. Summary archives are available back to 2002.”
The active links are available from the source site listed below.
Source: Moritz Legal Information Blog, 20 September 2006
Allison Shields: “At a meeting of one of my networking groups earlier this week, in addition to our regular 'who I am, what I do, and what good leads for me are' discussion, the group coordinator suggested that we each talk about a teacher who had an impact on our lives. Since September is back to school month, it seemed an appropriate topic for discussion.
The ensuing conversation turned out to be enlightening on many levels. Some people in the group described 'teachers' who weren't classroom teachers, but nonetheless impacted their lives and their learning, including parents and grandparents. Some talked about teachers that had a lasting impact on their lives 20 or 30 years after they'd last seen them. Others described teachers with whom they're still in contact. And still others talked about business colleagues or mentors who shaped their professional lives long after their school years were behind them.
Although there were many positive and heartwarming stories, not all of the experiences described were positive ones. Some members of the group were only realizing now, many years later, the impact that these 'teachers' had on their lives,. In some cases, it's taken many years for these professionals to realize that they were operating under a misconception because of the influence of a particular adult 'teacher.'
One thing that amazed me as we were going around the room was how much one experience or one conversation which may very well have seemed insignificant at the time, could shape a person's experience, choice of profession, and outlook on life. Sometimes those experiences were made up of observations about how the 'teacher' lived their life - without any particular words having been exchanged.
What impact have the various 'teachers' in your life had on you and on your choice to become a lawyer, or a particular kind of lawyer? Perhaps more importantly, what impact are you having on those around you - whether they be children, younger lawyers or staff members? Does your word or your opinion carry more weight than you think it does? Are you encouraging those around you to follow their dreams or seek their own path? Are you leading by example? What are you telling those around you without speaking? Are you sending the kinds of messages you want to send?”
Please visit Allison’s blog at
Source: Legal Ease Blog, 21 September 2006
In the news: “Small firms and go-it-alone attorneys take notice: Ed Siebel is a solo practitioner who's been using Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh computers since 1988. His office network has been on the same server for 12 years and he hasn't had a system crash on his desktop machine in a year -- can PC enthusiasts say that? He even dismisses the idea that there's not enough software made for Macs. In his words: "I've stayed with Macs for a single reason -- they just work. Simply, consistently and at a high quality."
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 22 September 2006. Copyright 2006. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
In the news: “For attorneys who take a break from law, rejoining the workforce can be a hard slog. Firms often don't see them as committed, aren't sure where to put them and are afraid their expertise is rusty. Now the ABA, a law school and two Skadden Arps partners are starting projects to update nonpracticing attorneys on legal matters and smooth their return. Law firms also stand to benefit, according to Hastings professor Joan Williams, who notes that firms are "driving up expenses by driving out valuable workers."
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 22 September 2006. Copyright 2006. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
Posted by David Swanner: "A while ago, I wrote about showing damages to the jury - why are they awarding money?. A standard defense tactic is to complain that the injured party is greedy. "A terrible accident happened and they got injured. Now what do they do?? Come here and ask for money. Money." The defense makes it sound dirty as if that wasn’t the only remedy available.
Michael Atwater wrote a response on how he deals with this standard tactic and explains to the jury why we are asking for money. Take it away Michael:
One of the things that I do in my closing is to first explain the damages and ask the jury for a verdict which fairly compensates my client.
Then I wait for the defense attorney to predictably tell the jury that my client is there looking for money.
When I get back up, I walk over to the jury box and pick up the ambulance bill. I tell the jury that a few days after the accident, while my client was at home recuperating, his wife (or another family member) brought in the mail from the mailbox. As my client is there perusing the mail, he sees a letter from York County EMS.
He recalls that they are the ones who initially treated him at the scene and transported him to the hospital from the accident which was caused by the defendant. He open the envelope and unfolds the paper inside. And what do you think that the EMS folks are seeking from my client as a result of his accident?...........MONEY!
I repeat this with the ER bill and the subsequent bills.
Then I explain to the jury that they must award my client the amount of these bills because he legally owes them and will be left holding the bag for the defendant's actions if the jury doesn't award this money. I go on to explain that this money is owed to and will be paid to the medical providers.
I tell the jury that if they only award an amount equal to the medical bills (the defendant many times concedes that the Plaintiff should get the ER bill), then they have given my client NOTHING.
I re-explain the issues of non-economic damages and again ask the jury for a fair verdict (with a suggestion of what would be fair).
I have had a great deal of success with this approach.
Thanks for the thoughts Mike. I think that’s helpful and a good idea.”
For more interesting, helpful posts and the active link at the beginning of the post, visit David’s blog at
Source: South Carolina Trial Law Blog, 17 September 2006
Genie Tyburski posts: “ According to the newly released Altman Weil Law Department Metrics Benchmarking Survey the cost of outside legal spending rose sharply - up 7.9% from 2005. "Despite rising costs, only 25.2% of law departments formally evaluate their outside counsel.... Asked about serious relationship mistakes made by their outside counsel, law departments pointed to lack of responsiveness, over-billing and over-lawyering as the top three problems."
Please note: The link in the press release to Altman Weil Publications, where you may purchase the survey, is incorrect. See the link below.
SEE: Altman Weil Publications
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: TVC Alert Research News, 22 September 2006, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, http://www.virtualchase.com/tvcalert/transfer.asp?xmlFile=sep06/22sep06.xml
From the e-newsletter: “This step-by-step guide to desktop computers "clues you in to what you need to know, from finding the type of PC that fits your lifestyle to catching up on all of the latest trends." Discusses specifications for different users (general purpose user, "power" user, home theater enthusiast, home office worker), processors and memory, drives, peripherals (such as monitors), and related topics. Includes links to other buying guides. From CNET.
URL: http://reviews.cnet.com/Desktop_buying_guide/4520-7963_7-5114565-1.htm...
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/22615”
Source: LII Librarians' Index to the Internet. NEW THIS WEEK for 21 September 2006. Copyright 2006 by Librarians' Index to the Internet, LII. Subscribe <http://lii.org/search/file/mailinglist>.
From the e-newsletter: “Americans are going to have to keep better records of their charitable contributions if they want to claim them as tax deductions in coming years. Older Americans, meanwhile, will get a break on taxes when they make donations from their Individual Retirement Accounts. These are among the charitable tax reforms tucked into the huge Pension Protection Act of 2006 that was approved by Congress this summer.
http://public.findlaw.com/pnews/news/ap/f/63/09-20-2006/1ead003b4dfb824c.html
Tax Center”
Source: FindLaw’s PUBLIC ADVISOR. 21 September 2006. Copyright © 2006 FindLaw, a Thomson Business. Subscribe <http://newsletters.findlaw.com/>.
From the e-newsletter: “For couples going through the divorce process, or anyone considering a divorce, the "Divorce & Separation" topic in FindLaw for the Public's Family Law Center offers information and resources on the impact of divorce on a married couple's property, including discussion of "community" property and in-depth articles on the effect of divorce on specific types of assets -- including the family home, businesses, and personal debts. Click on the link below to learn more.
http://family.findlaw.com/divorce/divorce-property/
Divorce Laws in Your State”
Source: FindLaw’s PUBLIC ADVISOR. 21 September 2006. Copyright © 2006 FindLaw, a Thomson Business. Subscribe <http://newsletters.findlaw.com/>.
Posted by Chuck Kallendorf: “The U.S. Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules, last Aug. 10th., released for public comment a set of proposed amendments to Federal rules of criminal procedure, while the Committee on Evidence Rules is seeking input on a proposal that would add a new rule on privilege waiver. Comments are due by Feb. 15, 2007, with public hearing in Washington on Jan. 26, 2007 and in San Francisco on Feb. 2
The proposed criminal rule amendments are implementing the Crime Victims