Posted by David Swanner: “Fellow trial attorney Ronnie Richter was recently on jury duty and had the [???]
I was recently called for jury duty in Charleston County. I did not get picked (surprise) to sit on a jury, but was called on 3 separate occasions to the jury assembly room. I spent my time trying to observe and listen to what was being said. I offer the following observation to my brother and sister trial lawyers.
Forcing the jury panel to wait absolutely sucks the energy out of them. We are doing ourselves a GRAVE injustice when we arrive at the courthouse and continue a dialogue with the court or opposing counsel that causes the jury to wait. On one occasion, we were asked to report to the assembly room by 2:30. By 2:40, you could feel the tension, and comments such as “now they are on my time” were overheard.
When the judge showed up a little late and commented that he and the lawyers were working, the jury muttered “yeah, but you’re getting paid.” On another occasion, we were asked to report by 9:30. The clerk did not appear until 10:00. In the interim, I overhead the jury commenting on how much lunch cost the day before and how much money their service was costing them.
Continue Reading”
(This is SO right-on!! My husband served on a jury just yesterday and he was also frustrated by the waiting!He calculated his worth at less than a dollar an hour - how wrong is that??]
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Source: South Carolina Trial Law Blog, 30 November 2007
Brian posts: "You’ve all heard the jokes. People love to make fun of attorneys, and is not unlikely that you have not told a lawyer joke or two in your day. However, since I am now an attorney myself, I’ve really begun to think about the importance of my role in society. By no means am I tooting my own horn, or the horn of any other attorney, but rather taking a candid look at the value that an attorney “can” add to a community, to a business or to any individual for that matter. Note that I said “can” instead of does when I said that an attorney can add value to society. The reason being is because, like any other job, you can accomplish what you set out to accomplish. The title doesn’t confer anything. Rather, it is what you do with that title.
Now that I’m approaching my first full month of being an attorney, I realize how important and valuable I can be. Granted, I see how important my partners actually are on a daily basis, and I see the amount of value they deliver to our clients. That being said, I know that I can be just as effective as my career grows and hopefully prospers. For example, every day I see how valuable an attorney can be to helping someone get their business off the ground. Whether it is developing a new brand, trademarking the name of a product or service, starting an LLC or other corporate entity, or drafting the documents and contracts that will dictate how the business will function, these are all critical foundational elements with which an attorney helps businesses and/or individuals in order to get things moving. Furthermore, while criminal work is not my practice, we all see how important attorneys can be to the wrongfully accused or how important prosecutors can be to the family who has lost something or someone. Regardless, I’m a believer that a lawyer can make a difference and be as important and valuable as he or she wants to be. I still believe that being an attorney is a noble and coveted profession. My goal is not to be important for the money or for the fame, although both are nice, but rather to deliver value to the small business owner or to the corporation or to the individual who needs me to help them accomplish what they want in life.
What it really comes down to is that people who want to do important things usually seek the advice and counseling from the all important attorneys themselves. Will you be able to deliver the value?”
Source: The Greatest American Lawyer, 29 November 2007
In the news: “Getting canned from a large law firm is a big deal. The most common means of ouster is dignified and polite. If it's your time to go, you get the "this just isn't working out" speech during your annual review. Humor columnist The Snark compares it to a break-up by offering several examples of the typical firing/break-up speech. He reminds young attorneys to not misinterpret the speech as some coy effort to get you to work harder or as a second chance. "Doing so is nothing short of embarrassing," he says.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 30 November 2007. Copyright 2007. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
Posted by Evan Schaeffer: “When the witness might have participated in a search for documents about a case, it makes sense during the deposition to ask the witness questions about your request for production of documents. This suggestion works for two types of witnesses: (a) the witness who is the opposing party in the case, e.g., the plaintiff or defendant and (b) the witness who works for the opposing party in the case, e.g., the marketing supervisor for the defendant ladder manufacturer in a products liability case.
The questioning is simple. Bring your production request to the deposition, mark it, and go through the various requests with the witness. Ask questions like the following—
• Did the witness assist in the search for documents?
• Who was in charge of the search?
• What was the witness asked to do?
• What did the witness do to insure he located all relevant documents?
• What documents did he locate?
• What did he do with the documents?
• Does the witness know of relevant documents that weren't produced?
• Does he know of areas that should have been searched that weren't?
The goal of this exercise is obvious: to find out whether a proper search was conducted and to insure that nothing was withheld. If you didn't get everything, you can follow up as necessary after the deposition, unless the missing documents are critical to the deposition, in which case the deposition might have to be postponed.”
Get more great practice tips at:
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 29 November 2007
Posted by JD Hull:
"Hey, kid. This document, that contract, your proposed cross-examination--it isn't good. Not even close. It isn't good work, and it was never good in any known universe or context. Your standard is low. And unless someone tells you this NOW using roughly these words and this tone, you'll be hatin' your work and your life by the time you're forty."
What the poets and philosophers say about Man (and Woman) is true: we are all miracles capable of miraculous things. But how do we get there? Well, someone much smarter than me said that excellence at work and in life comes from great habits. In life, examples would be eating fruit instead of glazed donuts or Egg McMuffins in the morning, running two miles 5 times a week, or each day without fail saying thank-you and praying for guidance to God, Allah, Yahweh, the Kibo Demon or The Big-Ass Oak Tree in your yard.
Great work habits? Examples: outlining an argument or contract before starting out; proofreading a document like your life (or job) depended on it; structuring and monitoring with discipline the course of a strategy for a case, deal or marketing campaign; making that marketing phone call or writing that thank you note two days before the big meeting in Europe or the trial in the Southern District of New York; and "following" your good habits even on a bad day, or when you are tired.
Get it down and get it down early.
There are scads of books out there on bringing the best out of our employees based on notions of somehow cultivating their best instincts and igniting the joy of doing great work with a "team". These are noble works. And they almost always miss or omit one ugly truth.
Continue reading..."
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: What About Lawyers?, 30 November 2007
From the e-newsletter: “(FindLaw's LegalMarketing.com) - Largely due to the Internet, a law firm now has many more opportunities to promote its services to prospective clients. A well-designed and well-written Web site, listings in legal directories and other forms of online advertising.”
Read more...
Source: FindLaw’s Practice Paper. 29 November 2007. Copyright © 2007 FindLaw, a Thomson Business. Subscribe <http://newsletters.findlaw.com/>.
In the news: “New Jersey solo Elenora Benz says her pet-trust practice "is not going to make a fortune," but it's a marketing tool, with some clients seeking her out specifically for that reason. It's just one way in which a growing cadre of lawyers is melding a love of animals with legal practice as animal-related issues become incorporated in numerous legal areas, such as personal injury, landlord-tenant and family law. And they're getting a boost from animal-oriented legislation.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 30 November 2007. Copyright 2007. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
“Can You Prepare Yourself to Handle the Bad Things in Life?”
From the e-newsletter: “(FindLaw) - Whether you're dealing with a divorce, death of a loved one or some other drastic, life-altering event, it is possible to prepare yourself for adversity.”
Read more...
Source: FindLaw’s Practice Paper. 29 November 2007. Copyright © 2007 FindLaw, a Thomson Business. Subscribe <http://newsletters.findlaw.com/>.
For Your Clients – “Stop Bullying Now!: Take a Stand, Lend a Hand”
From the e-newsletter: “This government website designed for children and teens offers resources for recognizing and preventing bullying, which can take the form of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse, and "cyber-bullying" ("occurs when children or teens bully each other using the Internet, mobile phones or other cyber technology"). Features games, webisodes, and other resources for youth, and a section for families and educators. From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration.
URL: http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/24980”
Source: LII Librarians' Index to the Internet. NEW THIS WEEK for 29 November 2007. Copyright 2006 by Librarians' Index to the Internet, LII. Subscribe <http://lii.org/search/file/mailinglist>.
In the news: “After graduating from the City University of New York School of Law, Fred Rooney went to work at Lehigh Valley Legal Services in Pennsylvania. But he found that private practice was his only option to make a living, so he opened a law office serving clients about as poor as those who qualified for legal aid. Now Rooney has started a program at CUNY so other attorneys can follow in his footsteps. Rooney believes that solos and small-firm lawyers are the ones whom people who cannot afford a lawyer rely on.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 29 November 2007. Copyright 2007. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
Posted by Arnie Herz: “Last week, I was a panelist and presenter at a two-day conference on Law as a Healing Profession. The presentations and discussions centered on some interesting themes, including:
• The Lawyer as Therapeutic Agent
• Resolving Civil Disputes
• Cultivating Cross-Cultural Competence
• Wellness and Well-being
My panel addressed the subject of law and spirituality. Of course, to many practitioners and observers, this seems to be as potent a combination as oil and water. But, as I’ve explored here at legal sanity and in my training and development programs, there is a potential connection between the two.
To realize that potential, it’s important to understand that spirituality isn’t necessarily synonymous with God or religion. Rather, spirituality can refer to how we infuse what we do for a living with a greater (or higher) sense of meaning and purpose.
When I was at the conference, I met David A. Hoffman. David is the founder of the Boston Law Collaborative, a firm devoted to conflict resolution and collaborative law practice. David pointed me to a commentary on collaborative law he recently wrote for the Christian Science Monitor. The piece offers a well-rounded, insider take on the history, risks and benefits of this “healing approach” to the law.
To me, David’s perspective on the law’s ability to heal, rather than divide, people goes to the heart of the law-spirituality connection. It’s this healing effect that many discontented lawyers are looking to reclaim in their practice. In turn, the more practitioners find their way to reclaiming this kind of meaning and purpose in the law, the healthier the profession will become.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Legal Sanity, 12 November 2007
Posted by Tom Collins: “In a paper titled Managing for Superior Paralegal Profitability, James Wilber with Altman Weil wrote the following:
“Nearly two decades consulting to law firms about paralegals and paralegal programs has demonstrated to this author that, in those firms that really understand how to leverage work and profitability through paralegals, the following circumstances always exist:
• In terms of experience, education, title, job classification and compensation, paralegals do not look like legal secretaries, nor do they perform clerical work (keying the first draft of one’s own documents is not considered clerical work, and of course, the high-volume, routine work performed by low-level paralegals in litigation matters might be considered to be an exception to this rule).
• Paralegals are provided with secretaries and other staff support, just as lawyers are.
• Paralegals are encouraged and allowed to participate in professional development and training activities, just as lawyers do.
• Paralegals are considered to be key members of the legal services delivery team or practice group, and they have input into the group’s discussions, decisions and strategies.
• Paralegals are treated like professionals.
• The work assigned to paralegals is limited only by their abilities (and, of course, ethical considerations).”
The rise of the para-professional seems to be on the increase everywhere. Law firms now routinely report that they have paralegals on staff; however, for midrange law firms, those reported paralegals are often legal secretaries upgraded to billable status. Few midrange firms have made paralegals a strategic element with the objective of lowering cost to the client and providing a profitable alternative to the increasing expensive Juris Doctor. Doing so represents an opportunity for advantage.
The key to the paralegal profitability is the same as that for legal associates—utilization. It requires partners with delegation and supervision skills. It requires effective firm-wide scheduling of billable resources.
Unfortunately, delegation, supervision and scheduling are notable weaknesses among midrange firms. Yet, considering the financial metrics reported by law firms participating in the latest Law Firm Economic Survey from Lexis/Nexis, improving utilization appears to be the best current opportunity for midrange law firms to increase income per partner. Even the top performing firms have less than optimum use of their non-partner billable resources. Associate utilization is poor and firms score worse for billable use of their paralegals.
Increased use of paralegals can be an effective strategy, but it has to be preceded by improved scheduling and delegation. For many firms, that will require a major change in how partners are compensated, shifting emphasis away from personal production to accomplishing billable work through others…
The active link, chart and full text of this article are available at the source site listed below. You may need to use your browser’s REFRESH button to view this post.
Source: morepartnerincome.com, 29 November 2007
In the news: “The nation's largest law firms are in a bit of a holding pattern when it comes to the advancement of women within the firms, according to the National Association of Women Lawyers. The group's second annual survey shows the numbers of women in equity partnership and management have stayed about the same since last year, while the pay disparity between male and female attorneys has increased at certain levels.
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 29 November 2007. Copyright 2007. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
Posted by Tom Kane: “I really believe that the LegalBizDev Success Kit developed by Jim Hassett, Ph.D. is one of the best business development tools that I have seen in more than two decades in the legal marketing business. Having had the opportunity as part of the LegalBizDev Network, to review an advanced copy of the Kit as Jim developed it, I can highly endorse it as one of the best tools out there. (And I don’t get to share in any of the profits from the sales of the Success Kit either. Not one red cent – DARN IT. BTW, why is that, Jim?)
The Kit consists of:
• “The LegalBizDev Desk Reference™ - a 192-page guide to best practices, organized alphabetically to help lawyers find exactly the information they need, just when they need it. Whether you need to create an elevator speech, improve networking, qualify a prospect, plan a meeting, increase client satisfaction, or begin another business development task, this book provides checklists, samples, reports, and quick references to help each lawyer quickly identify the tactics that best fit their practice and their personality.
• “Legal Business Development: Basic Principles and Best Practices - a modular course that can be taken in short segments, on three audio CDs that can be played on a computer, CD player, or iPod. For a demo, see our web page.
• “Legal Business Development: A Step by Step Guide - a book that is already being used at large firms from Boston to Dubai to help lawyers decide how much time to devote to business development, to identify the most productive activities that can be accomplished within that time, and to assure follow-up.
• "A Quick Start card to help lawyers begin maximizing the benefits, as soon as they open the box."
And the best part of the deal is that it comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If for any reason you return the Kit prior to March 1, 2008, you will get a full refund. Cost $995.
For more details on the Success Kit take a look at Jim’s post yesterday on his Legal Business Development blog.
What a GREAT holiday gift to yourself, or to your firm’s lawyers.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: The Legal Marketing Blog.com, 29 November 2007
Posted by Sabrina I. Pacifici: “National Association of State Chief Information Officers - The Search Is On: State CIO Starting Points for E-Discovery
November 2007: "In its September 2007 Issue Brief entitled Seek and Ye Shall Find? State CIOs Must Prepare Now for E-Discovery!, NASCIO raised the importance of State CIO involvement in e-discovery and the need for collaborative state electronic records management activities to properly address e-discovery requests. In this follow-up Research Brief, NASCIO provides starting points for State CIOs to improve the state’s ability to successfully address legal requests for electronic information.
Topics include:
• Getting Started on Electronic Records Management
• Managing an Electronic Records Management Initiative
• The Role of Records Retention Schedules • The Challenge of Retrieving Electronic Information
• Electronic Records Management Training and Awareness for State Employees"
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici. 28 November 2007. Copyright ©2002-2007 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved. Subscribe <http://www.bespacific.com/mt/subscribe.html>.
Posted by Matt Steinke: “The ABA has released its list of the top 100 law blogs. It's a great list of blogs (and everyone likes lists), but be sure to check out the ABA's blog directory. It is a much more comprehensive list of legal blogs organized by subject.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Moritz Legal Information Blog, 29 November 2007
Posted by Ron Miller: “Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Defibrillator Lead wires may cause greater risk to Medtronic defibrillator patients than was originally thought when Medtronic first announced that it was, essentially, recalling the Sprint Fidelis leads. Sadly, and this really underscores where we are in this country with medical device safety, this news comes not from Medtronic, but from a report by a Deutsche Bank analyst named Tao Levy. The report indicates that the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis lead wires had poor sensing capability that may compromise communication between the leads and the defibrillator The Deutsche Bank report stated that potential concerns over the Medtronic Sprint defibrillator lead wires’ sensing and transmitting abilities “is something we have learned from our clinicians contacts, and we could see published in medical journals.”
So, apparently, Medtronic defibrillator lead wires not only have an unacceptable fracture rate, they also appear to have poor sensing capabilities, even if they do not fracture. The first news Medtronic defibrillator lead patients are hearing of this is not from the FDA or Medtronic, but from an investment bank analyzing the stock. Unbelievable. This should be Exhibit A in attacking the preemption defense.
For lawyers not familiar with the litigation, a lead is a wire that is threaded through the blood vessels and connects to a defibrillator in the patient’s chest. The lead sends messages to the defibrillator that a patient’s heart rhythm is significantly abnormal. The defibrillator then returns a shock to the heart, through the leads, to shock the heart back into rhythm. If a defibrillator lead breaks, it can send a painful, and, of course, terrifying shock to the patient who may think he/she is dying. The fractured lead can also fail to give a needed shock to get the patient’s heart back in rhythm.
Unlike a pacemaker or defibrillator recall, these Medtronic leads cannot generally be recalled, because it can be risky and invasive surgery, particularly in those who have had the leads for some time. The FDA has suggested that it is generally not a good idea to replace a defective defibrillator lead. Common sense tells you that patients with the Medtronic defective defibrillator leads should be talking to their doctors about their options.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Trial Lawyer Resource Center, 27 November 2007
Posted by Ron Miller: “The Stella Awards are making the rounds on the Internet once again. It seems that the Stella Awards, honors given out to the most unbelievable lawsuits of the year, may highlight cases that are just that: unbelievable. The year's top prize continues to go to the same case, a woman who won almost two million dollars in a lawsuit against the maker of her RV which crashed while it was on cruise control. The catch in this case is that the owner decided to go to the back and fix herself a sandwich while the Winnebago on cruise control fended for itself. The story of this unbelievable case spread quickly over the internet years ago and was picked up not only by mass chain e-mailers but by respectable news outfits such as CNN and New York Daily News as well. Many people were understandably outraged at the state of the current legal system.
The only problem is that this case of the cruise control to get the sandwich never actually happened, entertaining through it may be. A little fact finding by one reporter revealed that Winnebago, the manufacturer who reportedly paid the almost two million dollar settlement and changed its owner's manual as a result, was never involved in any such case. It seems that reporters and readers were so mesmerized by such a crazy story that they didn't take the time to do a little digging and find out if the story was actually true.
There are also those cases which at first seem completely outlandish but on a closer look prove to have some real merit. The case of Stella Liebeck, the woman who was awarded almost three million dollars for a burn resulting from McDonald's coffee, is one such case. Taken at face value, it seems to be a ridiculous story. But it turns out that McDonald's coffee far exceeded the industry temperature norm and the company had already received hundreds of complaints without enacting any changes. These stories teach us that we as personal injury attorneys need to do a better job of educating the public. Consumers of media do not look for subtly for information. We all cannot know everything about everything so we bite on the simple story to capsulize what is often a far more complex story. For lawyers, the latest crazy pants lawsuit in the summary of our civil justice system. But it is not. We need to do more to get our own story out there, individually in our communities and through our national and local TLAs.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Trial Lawyer Resource Center, 27 November 2007
Posted by Tom Kane: “Thanks to Trey Ryder for asking his e-newsletter subscribers again this year for suggestions on holiday gifts. If you are interested in reading Trey’s 28-page compilation of the e-mail responses he received, click here.
Last year I condensed those suggestions, and you can read my “Holiday Gift Ideas” post of last December for ideas for your gift giving. I won’t repeat many of the good suggestions that are contained in last year’s post; but a list of new and/or interesting ones and variations on those suggestions follows:
• Make a charitable donation to a client’s favorite charity; or donate a specific item, e.g., a goat ($75) to a poor family in Haiti or Malawi through World Vision; or a bedkit ($30 Canadian - a bedkit consists of a mat or mattress, pillow, sheet, blanket, mosquito net (if applicable), clothes outfit, towel and school supplies) through Sleeping Children Around the World;
• Purchase a client’s product(s) to give to other clients (and let each know that);
• “Gift-of-the-Month” basket (fruit, nuts, wine, etc.) – a gift that keeps on giving throughout the year;
• Adopt a barrel of wine ($695) – provides 8 cases of wine over 4 years – then you (or a client) get to keep the barrel with your name on it (you can even visit your barrel in the meantime - now there’s a “top” vacation idea for ya, if there ever was one) at Woodbury Vineyards in Western New York (you’ll have to call 716-679-9463 to order a brochure)
• Free consultation with a non-competing lawyer (who will offer a free consultation with you to his/her clients), or other professionals;
• Gift certificate for a hybrid golf club made to the client’s specs;
• Don’t require a December fee payment (hmmmmm…ouch) until the following month;
• Give a top client a copy of Harv Eker’s book “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” AND his 3-day weekend seminar ($1275);
• Soap and spa products from a non-profit, The Enterprising Kitchen, which provides jobs and support services for women; and
• Finally, a couple of humorous gift sites specifically for lawyers - LawTunes and The Billable Hour.
Remember to look at last year’s post for other ideas.
Happy Shopping!”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: The Legal Marketing Blog.com, 27 November 2007
Posted by Sabrina I. Pacifici: “US Courts: "New rules providing privacy protection for case files posted online in the federal district, bankruptcy and appellate courts are scheduled to take effect December 1, 2007. Some of the rules represent a change in Judicial Conference policy. Meanwhile, a Judicial Conference committee is studying a related privacy issue: Whether courts should restrict Internet access to plea agreements in criminal cases, which may contain information identifying defendants who are cooperating with law enforcement investigations. The new rules were proposed by the Judicial Conference in accordance with the E-Government Act of 2002, which requires that each court make publicly available online any document filed electronically. The rules require parties to redact certain personal information from each filing. The Act required the Supreme Court to prescribe rules “to protect privacy and security concerns related to electronic filing of documents and the public availability of documents filed electronically.” The new privacy rules include Civil Procedure Rule 5.2, Criminal Rule 49.1 and Bankruptcy Rule 9037. Appellate Rule 25 was amended to incorporate the new privacy directive. The rules can be found here."
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici. 27 November 2007. Copyright ©2002-2007 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved. Subscribe <http://www.bespacific.com/mt/subscribe.html>.
Posted by Brian J. Ritchey: “Speaking of irony, one of the most timeless of topics revolves around time. Time and expertise are all an attorney has to sell, whether it be in current expertise (litigating a matter) or in transferring it into a workable and reusable template (transactional forms). Valuation of that expertise is determined by the time it takes to perform a task. The fact that some attorneys consider timekeeping anathema further feeds fodder to irony.
You can’t accurately place a value on a task without recording the time it takes to do it. You can't accurately place a value of an hour's work without recording the time you spend working.
For law firms of any size, discussing the importance of recording billable work timely can quickly become circular. For example, some attorneys use the excuse that recording time costs them money since it takes time away from them doing billable work. Of course, not recording time leaves billable work unrecorded and thus unbillable, which costs them money.
For those firms who have defied the gravitational pull of lazy timekeeping, the issue then becomes execution – how do you provide incentives for compliance? Do you implement punitive or rewarding incentives?
David Lat at Above The Law, in a post in August, posted a memo from a large firm who took the punitive route, punishing lawyers who don’t enter time daily. The relevant portion of the memo read:
Notification of non-compliance will be given to the Office of Attorney Development as well as to the leader of the delinquent timekeeper’s department or practice group. Failure to comply will impact the performance evaluation of a timekeeper and, in repeated cases, will result in a timekeeper no longer being eligible for direct deposit of his or her compensation.
One can envision an attorney first reading the above thinking back to the days in law school, all the promise, all the glory and excitement for being a champion of that which binds our civilization. Then, as he/she focuses on the memo again, the “self actualization” moment: I am a rat in a cage.
Punitive measures for non-compliance appear more like a tax in my opinion. You are taxing the timekeeper for not following your guidelines. If this method works and doesn’t affect the long-term retention of talent, then it is a good idea. However, in the above example, the firm is trading one administrative headache for another. Recording your work timely helps administration by having less to perform to get bills out - the time is in, now bill it. However, if the attorney doesn't record time within the allocated grace period, then not only does the administration get stuck with getting the attorney to record their billable work but they also get the hassle of manually processing the attorney's paycheck! The admin can't win!
There are other ways to encourage compliance. Rewarding contemporaneous timekeeping is like providing a tax cut – you give something back to timekeepers for doing what they should be doing anyway.
For example, a Juris client gives timekeepers cash if they get their time in before deadline. They spend tens of thousands of dollars a year compensating eager timekeepers yet their margins are higher than before the policy was implemented. They are making money by spending money targeted to achieve a positive result.
Another gives out candy – and reports that it works well. Some post numbers to a board or send out daily/weekly emails, ranking those timekeepers based on productivity (you don’t have to show numbers; the ranking alone is enough to expose the weak). If you don’t record your time, your number is lower regardless of how much work has been performed. Using this method, though, is based on an assumption of competitiveness. It isn’t uncommon for the chronic problem attorneys to show little care for their plight.
Any incentive must be accompanied by mentoring for those who struggle to make their numbers. Gimmics may be effective at improving the performance of those who are coachable, but the goal is to keep the cash flowing inward. You can either be punitive up front or on the back end but regardless you need to know when to show a timekeeper the door. A timekeeper that can't or won't help the firm stay profitable is a drain on resources and must be marginalized to lessen the affect it has on the producers. Otherwise you risk losing the talent that help make the firm profitable.
There are many ways to get attorneys to record time as work is performed. Set up benchmarks and measure against them to see if your methods are working. If not, change them. Management isn’t a one-time check of the pulse. It requires constant measurement and adjustment.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below. You may need to use your browser’s REFRESH button to view this post.
Source: morepartnerincome.com, 28 November 2007
In the news: “Legal blogs are putting a spotlight on bad behavior by judges in Florida. Supporters credit the blogs with providing valuable information and bringing change. Critics counter that the blogs can be venues for inaccurate information and unsubstantiated personal attacks.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 28 November 2007. Copyright 2007. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
Posted by Evan Schaeffer: “At the (new) legal writer, longtime legal weblogger Raymond Ward always has something interesting to say. An appellate lawyer in New Orleans, Ward describes his weblog as "A collection of resources for lawyers and other writers." Some representative posts:
• "150 resources" (linking to 150 resources for writing better, faster, and more persuasively);
• "How to write good legal stuff" (linking to a free guide to good legal writing);
• "How to write an appellate brief" (linking to one of Ward's own articles);
• "More help with dates" (linking to a tool that helps calculate due dates); and
• "A simple trick for more effective self-editing" (describing a couple of simple tricks).
It's one for the feed reader.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 27 November 2007
Posted by Tom Mighell: “Here's an e-discovery blog for you today: Post Process is a blog about "everything to do with E-discovery & ESI" (electronically stored information). It's published by an as-yet anonymous consultant in the electronic discovery and computer forensics field. Also check out his EDD Bibliography, which has an impressive listing of e-discovery case law, broken down into categories.”
The active link is available at the source site listed below.
Source: Inter Alia, 28 November 2007
Posted by Robert Ambrogi: “At first I thought it was just my computer, but it turns out that something is broken in the latest version of Google Desktop that can disable its desktop search function for Firefox users. Try to perform a desktop search and instead of results, Firefox displays the error message, "The connection was reset." The problem started when I "upgraded" to the latest version of Google Desktop. After unsuccessfully fiddling with my settings, I searched Google's help and found this discussion thread which revealed that I am not alone in experiencing this problem. The thread also reveals a fix for the problem, albeit an unsatisfactory one.
The problem only occurs if you've turned off indexing of your Web history in Google Desktop's preferences. Turn it back on and the search function also turns back on (although the discussion thread suggests that some people still had problems with indexing of their e-mail). This is an unsatisfactory fix because many people don't want Google indexing their Web-surfing histories. The discussion thread suggested another fix, which is to delete your "GoogleDesktopMozilla.dll" file, but when I tried this, it caused Google Desktop to stop indexing any new files or e-mails. The most-functional workaround, it appears, is to revert to a prior version of Google Desktop, which can be downloaded from the Google Desktop page.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites, 27 November 2007
Posted by Carolyn Elefant: “With so many lawyers running for president, there's a natural curiosity about their choices for legal advisers. Slate's Emily Bazelon posed that question to the lawyer-candidates (plus non-lawyer John McCain) and reports on the responses here. (H/T to ABA News which offers a summary list.) Bazelon noticed that "Republican campaigns like talk about legal advisers more than Democratic ones," and provided comprehensive lists of lawyers and law professors. To me, the Republicans' preparation seems like a bit of role reversal given that generally, Republicans seem less hospitable to lawyers than Democrats. John Edwards' opponents routinely denigrate him as a slick trial lawyer beholden to the interests of other trial lawyers, while Hillary Clinton is often critiqued for sounding too lawyerly.
In addition to inquiring about their legal teams, Bazelon also asked candidates about their LSATs. Here, Republican and Democrat candidates all took the same position: no comment.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Legal Blog Watch, 26 November 2007
Posted by Sabrina Pacifici: “WSJ free feature, Clinging to the Rolodex: "More than 20 years after the digital revolution that forecasted the paperless office, the "rotary card file" -- best known by the market-leading brand name, Rolodex -- continues to turn. As millions of social-network users display their connectedness on their Facebook pages, a surprisingly robust group of people maintain their networks on small white cards. Most of these devotees also rely on BlackBerrys and other computer-based address books."
The active link is available at the source site listed below.
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici. 25 November 2007. Copyright ©2002-2007 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved. Subscribe <http://www.bespacific.com/mt/subscribe.html>.
Posted by Ron Miller: “I read an interesting wire service article in the Maryland Daily Record today on Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyers College. Given Gerry Spence's trial record and the verdicts he has obtained, it is hard not to be interested in copying the tactics and strategies he employs. The question is whether his approach can be successfully adopted by other lawyers.
The goal of Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyers College is to teach trial lawyers how to be more successful in the courtroom and to win big verdicts for their clients. One of the fundamental principles of Gerry Spence that has filtered down to the Trial Lawyers College is the idea that personal injury lawyers need to learn how to become good storytellers. Obviously, trying a case well requires lawyers to convincingly convey their client's story to the jury. The methods the Trial College uses range from the unusual to the bizarre. The first step in "How to Be a Storyteller" is having the lawyers reconnect with their emotional selves, and the summer camp atmosphere is supposed to enable this process. The Trial Lawyers College has the attorneys share meals, chores, and talks around the campfire in hopes that they will "rediscover their own humanness."
This may be the most normal aspect of the Trial Lawyers College. During their sessions, lawyers role-play scenes from their own lives while complete strangers play the role of loved ones. They are supposed to use this opportunity to embrace personal pain and hardship and to learn to love themselves. Part career workshop, part therapy session, the College's classes use this psychodrama role-play to enable the attorneys to reconnect with their humanity. Once the participants connect with themselves (or have themselves voluntarily committed), the Trial Lawyers College teaches them to translate this into a connection with their client. The role-play switches from scenes from the lawyers' pasts to scenes from their clients' own lives. The ultimate goal is to enable the attorneys to create opening or closing statements that truly capture the personal impact on the client.
Last night, the 23 point underdog Philadelphia Eagles played a surprisingly close game against the obscenely dominant New England Patriots. The talk after the game was how the rest of the league will now copy Philadelphia's defense schemes against the Patriots. With obvious limitations, this can work in football. But when it comes to connecting with a jury authentically, the copycat game plan can lead you astray.
I wrote a post a while back for the Trial Lawyers Resource Center, commenting on one writer's view that trial lawyers should not wear bowties at trial. My response was essentially that you should wear bowties if you are a bowtie guy because to connect with people, you have to be yourself. Usually I steer clear of such trite advice. But in this case, it really is true. You have to be yourself or at least an authentic ambassador of yourself to connect with skeptical juries whose initial suspicions are mistrust.
There are a lot of successful personal injury lawyers who do not have the same connection to their inner selves and try a very effective personal injury case and can connect with a jury. I believe wholeheartedly in the idea that you need to tell a quality story to the jury. There are about 1000 things everyone can learn about trying a case from Gerry Spence which is why I have read all of his books and why if I had the opportunity and did not have three small kids, I would love to go to the Trial Lawyers College. But if you try to copy his touchy-feely emoting style at trial, you better have the personality to back it up or you are going to fall on your face in front of the jury.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Trial Lawyer Resource Center, 26 November 2007
From the site: “How is healthcare in the U.S. being affected by recent legislated limits in the area of medical malpractice litigation and settlements? Join Ringler Radio host, Larry Cohen and co-host, Kenneth R. Klapacz, Esq., Ringler settlement annuity specialist from Chicago, for the discussion with Attorney Jeffrey Goldberg, founder of Jeffrey M. Goldberg Law Offices located in Chicago. They will also discuss the latest in tort reform and medmal caps and Attorney Goldberg’s specific cases.
>>Play in Windows Media Player
>>Download the MP3”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Legal Talk Network, 26 November 2007
Posted by Sabrina Pacifici: "Word Spy is devoted to lexpionage, the sleuthing of new words and phrases. These aren't "stunt words" or "sniglets," but new terms that have appeared multiple times in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites, and other recorded sources."
[If you really don’t know what “bling” means, find out here!]
The active link is available at the source site listed below.
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici. 25 November 2007. Copyright ©2002-2007 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved. Subscribe <http://www.bespacific.com/mt/subscribe.html>.
In the news: “Data is more mobile than ever -- and thanks to corporate inaction, or the wrong action, it's also more vulnerable than ever. Alan Cohen identifies important but simple steps that law departments and IT staff can take to prevent the loss of crucial data, or at least keep it secure when it goes AWOL.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 27 November 2007. Copyright 2007. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
Posted by Tom Mighell: “Do you ever find something on the Internet that [you] just know your friends or colleagues would appreciate? Sure, you can email them a link to the page you find, but there are better, more interesting ways to this, and Google can help. With their Shared Stuff widget you can easily share what you find on the Internet in a number of ways.
To start, just drag the button on the Shared Stuff page to your bookmark toolbar. Then, whenever you see something you want to share, just click Email/Share, and a box will pop up. You have three options: you can email it to someone, post it to your very own dedicated Shared Stuff page, or post it to Facebook or one of several social bookmarking sites. This is a great and really easy way to share the things you find with others.”
The active link is available at the source site listed below.
Source: Inter Alia, 27 November 2007
Posted by Sabrina Pacifici:
• “Medicare Prescription Drug Plans - 2008 Plan Data
• Medicare Health Plans - 2008 Plan Data
• Medicare & You (120 pages, PDF) "contains important information about what's new, health plans, prescription drug plans, and rights and protections to help people with Medicare review their coverage options and prepare to enroll in a new plan if they choose. It is available in both English and Spanish. Each fall, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services mails a geographic-specific version to all households of people with Medicare. In 2008, there are 59 geographic-specific versions with drug and health plan comparison charts for particular states or regions."
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici. 26 November 2007. Copyright ©2002-2007 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved. Subscribe <http://www.bespacific.com/mt/subscribe.html>.
Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi: “Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, because no doubt you'll wake up early Friday morning to get a head start on shopping for all the lawyers on your holiday gift list. But what to get your favored members of the bar? Two legal bloggers have some suggestions for you.
First off is Reid Trautz of Reid My Blog!, whose third annual gift guide is beginning to become a holiday tradition. He does it, Trautz says, as "a public service for my learned professional colleagues and their time-sensitive, gift idea-starved family, friends, partners, associates and, dare I say, appreciative clients?" (Are you listening, appreciative clients?) His recommendations range from the predictable -- yes, yes, we all want an iPhone -- to items we never knew about but definitely need. In the latter category: the sonic alarm grenade for waking sleeping teenagers, the animatronic singing Elvis and the Buddha Board for the type-A lawyers on your list. Others are more practical but equally desired: the Garmin GPS, which can not only guide you to the courthouse but, as Trautz notes, save your marriage; and WildCharge, the first wireless charging system for hand-held devices. And then there's the gift I just can't reach a verdict on: Dough-Nu-Matic, the counter-top mini-donut maker sure to blow every lawyer's New Year's resolution.
If the lawyer on your gift list happens to practice in the field of patent law, then consider the holiday gift guide for patent attorneys compiled by Dennis Crouch at his blog Patently-O. As a patent lawyer, Crouch can't help but favor his inner geek in drawing up his list. Thus, his top recommendation is the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. "Even a patent attorney can handle this vacuum," he explains. Crouch concurs with Trautz in recommending a Garmin GPS, and like Trautz he sees a marriage-saving role for the hand-held Garmin Nuvi 260 -- he's getting one for his mother-in-law. (Let's hope she doesn't read his blog). Crouch favors an iPod Nano over an iPhone, and even offers some geeky attire: the reverse engineer T-shirt and a blue Oxford shirt (wrinkle-free and stain resistant, of course). But the most priceless item on his wish list: "New management at the PTO, more technically-trained federal judges, and a Congress that is not for sale." Good luck with that last one.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Legal Blog Watch, 21 November 2007
Posted by Tom Collins: “I stumbled across an excellent article by Ward Bower of Altman Weil, Inc. The article, “Pricing Legal Services”, appeared in the January 2006 issue of Law Practice Today, but you can also find the original 2004 version on Altman Weil’s web site under the same title, Pricing Legal Services.
Bower provides an analytical approach for evaluating your current pricing in light of your income objectives. Bower even quantifies some of the influences on a firm’s ability to set price relative to other law firms. For example, to illustrate the relative power of various attributes on a firm’s pricing ability, Altman Weil computed the percent of spread between median rates of the highest and lowest group for each of the categories below.
The spread is almost 100 percent for Specialty. All other things being equal, the rate for a specialist can still be twice as much or more than that of an attorney without a specialty. Here are the spreads as reported by Bower:
Specialty 96%
Experience 76%
Firm Size 58%
Position (partner, associate 47%
Community Population 40%
Geographic Region 40%
While Bower’s article includes a formula approach for calculating the minimum rate necessary for the firm to achieve it objectives, Bower points out that this is only the start of the evaluation process. The remaining step is a big one. “The remaining step is to position lawyer hourly rates in the external marketplace.”
The formula gives you an economic test of your prices, but the final price must be determined in light of the firm's position in its market, the strategic aims of the firm, client price sensitivity, and the competitive strategy for the firm.
Most midrange firms are underpriced, especially compared to Big Law and large regional firms. They are underpriced simply because they initially set prices too low and have never caught up. There is ample room to achieve higher effective rates without loss of the competitive price advantage enjoyed by midrange law firms.
For more on price management, see the prior posts Pricing's Role in the Law Practice Business Model and Price Management for the Law Firm
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Source: morepartnerincome.com, 26 November 2007
In the news: “No lawyer today can afford to ignore e-discovery. No matter the case, digital data are apt to be implicated, making it imperative that lawyers understand, and keep up with, developments in the EDD field. To that end, attorney Robert Ambrogi surveys some blogs and vendor sites dealing with EDD.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 26 November 2007. Copyright 2007. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.
From the e-newsletter: “(Trey Ryder) - Most clients don't know how to judge the depth of your knowledge, skill, judgment or experience. After all, they didn't go to law school and you did, so they couldn't possibly appreciate what you know. But they can measure what they see and feel.”
Read more...
Source: FindLaw’s Practice Paper. 21 November 2007. Copyright © 2007 FindLaw, a Thomson Business. Subscribe <http://newsletters.findlaw.com/>.
From the e-newsletter: "Google recently announced a couple of changes to their maps. There's now a "Via" function that allows you to set your route by creating a series of way points.
While this does work for local routes, it also works if you're going cross-country. So you want to go from, say, Durham to Beverly Hills, you can go via Detroit, Houston, Montana, and Portland.
If you haven't used Google Maps in a while, you might want to also consider the checkbox that allows you to avoid highways, and the reverse directions feature. Of course, if you want directions to get somewhere by foot, and not by car, I think Ask Maps is your best bet...
Source: ResearchBuzz #414. 22 November 2007. Copyright 2007 Tara Calishain. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission of ResearchBuzz (http:// www.researchbuzz.com). Subscribe. <http://www.researchbuzz.com/>.
Posted by Tom Mighell: “My friend Jim Calloway is a big fan of shortcuts -- in the many tips programs we have presented together in the past few years, he always has some great tips about shortcuts for different programs, and how shortcuts can help you be more efficient when navigating throughout these programs.
If you too have a thing for shortcuts, then you have to make sure KeyXL Keyboard Shortcuts is one of your bookmarks. They have thousands of shortcuts, for all kinds of programs on different platforms -- Windows, Mac, Linux, and even Web apps. The breadth of shortcuts here is nothing short of amazing.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Inter Alia, 26 November 2007
From the e-newsletter: “Merriam-Webster has leaded up with QA International to launch a new online visual dictionary, which contains information on over 20,000 terms and more than 6,000 illustrations. Visual Dictionary Online is available at http://www.visualdictionaryonline.com.
You can browse the dictionary by topic (from astronomy to sports & games) or you can do a keyword search of the index, which will suggest words. Doing a search for giraffe, for example, brought up an illustration called "EXAMPLES OF UNGULATE MAMMALS" and included a giraffe, hippo, elephant, etc. Beneath that were brief captions about each type of mammal and a link to an audio pronunciation.
I believe I would like these illustrations more if they were not accompanied by a GIANT DISTRACTING WATERMARK. I understand the need for the watermark, but perhaps a little smaller and a little more transparent. Other than that I liked the scope of what is here -- I wasn't expecting an illustration for delicatessen (see the difference between American and Canadian bacon at a glance!) or a whole set of illustrations related to optics (cross-section of an electron microscope.)
In addition to the definitions there's also a game of the week (match the definitions to the illustrations; this week's was pretty easy but the archived game for the castle looks tough) and a place you can buy the software version of the visual dictionary. There's a place for tools -- blog, Web, and school lessons -- but nothing's there yet.”
Source: ResearchBuzz #414. 22 November 2007. Copyright 2007 Tara Calishain. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission of ResearchBuzz (http:// www.researchbuzz.com). Subscribe. <http://www.researchbuzz.com/>.
From the e-newsletter: “(FindLaw for the Public) With helpful articles, state-specific resources, and more, FindLaw for the Public’s Family Law Center provides information on several family law topics, including Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support, Parenting, Guardianship, and much more.”
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Source: FindLaw’s Public Advisor. 21 November 2007. Copyright © 2007 FindLaw, a Thomson Business. Subscribe <http://newsletters.findlaw.com/>.
Posted By Tom Kane: "With the holidays fast approaching, don’t miss out on the opportunity to building on your client relationships. Bob Weiss has an article entitled “Keep Your Top Clients in 2008” that appears in this month’s Law Practice Today.
Not sure that by just sending a holiday card and a gift (to your top clients) will guarantee that you won’t lose a client in 2008, since there needs to be a whole lot more involved with your client relationships. But, remembering clients on special occasions can’t hurt; and, in fact, can help cement and even enhance an existing relationship. And don’t forget your referral sources.
Bob’s suggestions are quite simple:
• First, create a list of your top clients, top potential clients and key referral sources,
• Then, send each a holiday card:
• Sign the card – and not an “auto-pen” version either, (see my post of last December entitled “Sign the Damn Holiday Card!”)
• Include a note relevant to the relationship – as least say something like “Jane – Hope you have a great holiday season – Joe”
As to gifts, it depends on your budget, of course, but you should certainly remember your top sources of your livelihood (clients and referral sources) in some manner.
You don’t have to be told that this all takes time. It could take a day, or even more to extend the appropriate holiday greetings for your various contacts. So what? As Bob mentions in his post, the Journal of Consumer Research concludes that what you do must “reflect the recipient’s perceived value of (the) relationship.”
Accordingly, if you value the relationships that produce your revenues, you shouldn’t give it a second thought as to whether you will make your remembrance of the holidays both personal and meaningful, as opposed to just going through the motions.”
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: The Legal Marketing Blog.com, 20 November 2007
Posted by Chuck Kallendorf: “Ohio Senate Bill 249 and associate House Bill 392 are seeking to create a database at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles whereby persons could have the names and phone numbers of friends or relatives, or next of kin, on file in the event of serious or fatal accidents.
Participation in the program would be voluntary and free, registration being made at the time a person applies for his/her license plates, a driver’s license, or personal identification card; and the information accessible only to Bureau employees and law enforcement agencies.
In the construction of the database rules would be adopted so that the person could change information in his/her entry, and how it will be accessed (i.e., information included on driver’s license or via a second ID card). Provision is also included in the bill where in the event of an accident or other emergency in which a participant is killed, seriously injured, or rendered unconscious, law enforcement officials “shall make a good faith effort to notify the victim’s contact person, but neither the officer nor his agency shall incur any liability if that contact person cannot be reached.”
Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Illinois currently all have some sort of format whereby drivers may provide emergency contact information to law or public safety officials, Senator Keith Faber’s office, who sponsored the bill, reported. These aren’t singularly state-run projects, however. Florida & Pennsylvania, for example, provide links off of their state’s main page to the Next of Kin Registry, a non-profit, international, organization established in 2004. NOKR claims to be listed on more than 90% of all state websites as a resource for public & emergency agencies. ( More on Next-of-Kin Registry here )”
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Source: Cincinnati Law Library Blog, 20 November 2007
In the news: “Once your company becomes a defendant in a high-stakes commercial litigation matter, it is exposed to a double-headed monster: substantial liability risks and open-ended litigation costs. The two need not go hand in hand, says attorney Stewart Weltman. In-house counsel could greatly benefit -- lowering litigation costs and improving results -- by requiring their outside counsel to adopt some of the approaches that plaintiffs attorneys employ, Weltman asserts, and he offers some tips for doing so.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 21 November 2007. Copyright 2007. ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.