Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for Friday, May 30, 2014

Florida Law Practice Updates Friday, May 30, 2014

Florida Law Practice Updates Friday, May 30, 2014Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week related to law practice management, law technology, and legal marketing. Enjoy!

Legal Tech Tips: Android Guide: Extending your Android Device’s Battery Life
One of the biggest gripes among device users is battery life. Devices and batteries are not created equal and the status quo for battery life seems to be about a day, from the time that someone wakes up in the morning and unplug their phone from the charger, to the point where they plug it in at night before they go to bed.
This all assumes that you don’t have one of those days where you’re talking to people all day or you get into a heated texting discussion with a friend, or you just can’t get off of Facebook. Read more here: http://www.howtogeek.com/school/basic-android-guide/lesson3/

Legal Tech Tips: 5 Ways to Run Windows Software on a Mac
Macs have a thriving ecosystem of software, but some programs still only support Windows. Whether you want to use business software or play Windows PC games, there are many ways to run Windows programs on your Mac.
Some of these methods are similar to the ways you can install Windows software on Linux or run Windows programs on a Chromebook. Virtual machines, dual-booting, the Wine compatibility layer, and remote desktop solutions are all included here. Read more here: http://www.howtogeek.com/187359/5-ways-to-run-windows-software-on-a-mac/

Legal Marketing Tips: Top Words To Use In Your Law Firm Blog Post Headlines
You know that strong headlines that attract attention to your blog post, articles, ezines, emails (and more) are very important. How would you like to know which words you can use that will do exactly this – attract the attention of your readers? Imagine a stronger interest in your law firm blog posts, simply with a few tweaks to your headlines?
Read more here: http://lawmarketing.com/top-words-to-use-in-your-law-firm-blog-post-headlines/

Law Practice Management Tips: Do You Tell People You’re “Affordable”?
You’re “affordable.” I know that you’re affordable because I read it on your website. It’s in bold. “Affordable” means cheap, right? You’re cheap? Yep, you’re underpricing. Why are you underpricing?

1. You think that if it’s cheap you’re less likely to be rejected,
2. You think you’re less likely to disappoint, and
3. You won’t feel badly when you sell it.

Those are good ways for avoiding emotional pain. Those aren’t good reasons for underpricing.  The only reason you should be cheap is because you’ve figured out a way to offer your service for less than the competition. And even then, you should carefully craft your pricing strategy in light of the market.  Low prices are the last refuge of the marketer who’s not particularly good at his job. Is that you?  Read more here: https://www.divorcediscourse.com/people-youre-affordable/

Litigation Tips: Ten ideas for better depositions
I recently became involved in a case where all the depositions had already been taken. The opposing lawyers were partners in a very large, very well-known law firm. And my predecessors on the case came from a firm with a recognizable name. The case was pending in Federal Court, so the depositions were all limited to 7 hours. While reviewing the depositions for use at trial, I marveled at the amount of time spent on things that were of no interest to the trial as well as some other quirks that struck me as pointless. So I started keeping a list, which I shared with my partner, Mark Sayre. Mark added a few of his own pet peeves, and together we created this list of 10 “Don’t Do These Things At Depositions.”
Read more here: http://www.patrickjlamb.com/2014/04/27/ten-ideas-for-better-depositions/

Legal Practice Tips: Beware of the Tricks Used to Encourage a Witness to Volunteer
Most witnesses do not understand the purpose of a deposition and believe their job is to teach the questioning attorney everything they know; indeed, many believe if they did any less, they “wouldn’t be telling the truth.” But a witness who talks too much, either in deposition or trial, can be a liability because volunteering information can potentially highlight vulnerabilities for the other side. Witnesses need to be educated about the purpose of a deposition – i.e., it is a fact-finding opportunity for opposing counsel, not an interview or a casual chat. Given this purpose, it is the opposing attorney’s burden (and job) to ask the right question, not a witness’ job to help and offer more than was asked. The first step in the process of getting a witness to stop volunteering too much information is educating the witness about the strategies opposing counsel might use to goad new (and sometimes even experienced) witnesses into talking a bit too much, thereby opening up potential and unexpected vulnerabilities for the case.
Read more here: http://www.thejuryexpert.com/2014/05/beware-of-the-tricks-used-to-encourage-a-witness-to-volunteer/

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Law Practice Tips!

Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for Friday, April 4, 2014

Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for April 4, 2014

Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for April 4, 2014Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week related to law practice management, law technology, and legal marketing. Enjoy!

How to Increase Focus and Productivity with Mindfulness

So, what exactly is mindfulness and why should lawyers care? The simple answer is that practicing mindfulness will help you be a happier human being and a better lawyer. Read more here… ow.ly/uwTHl

Finding Happiness As A Lawyer: Three Pillars And A Box Of Crayons

Ever wonder what the secret to happiness is? Landing a Biglaw job? Making partner? Saving your innocent cousin from wrongful conviction for a convenience store robbery in the small town south? Whether you’re a currently-miserable attorney who’s pinning her hopes for happiness on eventual career success, or a veteran attorney who could stand to be a bit more happy, I have both bad and good news for you. The bad news: you may have to look beyond the bounds of your career for the additional keys to lasting happiness. The good news: doing so is easy! But how could this be, you ask? Read more here… ow.ly/uwSIT

Why Less Effort Is Far Better for Your Career
This may sound odd at first, but I’d like to suggest you manage your career in such a manner that you avoid wasting a single drop of energy. To be clear, I’m not suggesting you use less energy, only that you stop wasting energy. Read more here…http://ow.ly/v0vhR

Why not disaster-proof your law firm today?
According the American Bar Association’s 2013 Legal Technology Survey results, 58 percent of lawyers surveyed cited security concerns as the top reason that prevented them from using cloud computing in their law practices.
The problem is, the current file storage arrangement and IT set up of most law firms is anything but secure. Case in point — a Pennsylvania law office that literally went up in smoke last month, when the building in which their firm was located was destroyed in a fire. Read more here.. http://ow.ly/v0tyY

Are New Domains an Opportunity for Law Firms?
With so many new gTLDs (“generic Top Level Domains”) coming online this year, I thought it might be worth exploring their value and potential use in law firm marketing. Read more here… http://ow.ly/v0snB

How smart trial lawyers start and finish their presentations with bookends and why you should too!
At the end of the presentation of my evidence (sometimes several weeks later) I make sure the bookend I finish up with, the one on the right, is the person who I feel will make the greatest emotional impact with the jury.

The formula to persuading 12 complete strangers is multi-layered and complicated. But at the top of my success list is making sure I always start and finish with the correct left and right bookends.Read more here.. http://ow.ly/v0rjX

Persuasive Litigator: Know How to Address a “Cold Bench”
If a “hot bench” is one that involves a judge actively participating in oral argument with questions and responses, then a “cold bench” must be one in which the judge just sits silently and watches. By that standard, there is no better exemplar of the cold bench than U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Read more here…http://ow.ly/v0qmk

MyCase Enhances Mobile Offering with Launch of Android App
MyCase, Web-based legal practice management software, today introduces a new application for Android mobile devices. MyCase became the first legal practice management software to offer a mobile solution in April 2013, with the launch of its IOS app. This latest release on Android further enhances MyCase’s solution set, offering more attorneys access to all aspects of the software’s comprehensive services at their fingertips. Read more here… http://ow.ly/vmuHI

Thanks for reading and sharing. Stay tuned for next week’s review for Law Practice Tips!

Photo credit: http://abovethelaw.com/

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