By Jim Calloway Many lawyers use Gmail and Google Docs. I always suggest that if lawyers are going to use Gmail for client matters, they upgrade to the paid business version of the service for account controls and improved security. That business class service is Google Workplace (formerly GSuite, Google for Business, et al.) But…

By Jim Calloway One of the more important tasks for lawyers is proofreading. It also can be among the most tedious. We endeavor to produce perfect legal documents. Reading a complex document for the third or fourth time can be tiring. We have all also learned that when proofreading a document you authored, there are…

By Jim Calloway Google is a technology powerhouse. But it all began with Google Search. It is a widely held view among technology experts that Google Search is not what it used to be—unless you are measuring corporate profitability. But that has become more apparent to many ordinary and occasional users.  Even though Google officials…

By Jim Calloway Lawyers planning for retirement is often complicated by the fact that many lawyers love their careers, and their self-image is grounded in being a lawyer. On the other hand, there are also lawyers counting the days until they close their practices. A year or so ago, I attended an online program put…

By Jim Calloway, Director OBA Management Assistance Program Have you ever created a PDF from a Word or PowerPoint file that didn’t behave as you expected? Maybe links didn’t work or bookmarks within the document were lost during the conversion process. “How you choose to make a PDF file from Microsoft Office can make quite…

By Jim Calloway Many lawyers have determined that their path for success is through narrowly focused law practices. The May 2022 issue of Law Practice Today has a niche practices theme. Several lawyers share how their niche practice works. Types of law practices profiled include equine law, esports law, cannabis law, mediation, rock and roll…

By Jim Calloway Marketing and sales is not typically taught in law school, except in the negative. There is significant attention paid to the possible ethical violations associated with inappropriate solicitation or other problematic approaches. But there is little attention paid to how to appropriately market. Many standard sales techniques are not appropriate for legal…

By Jim Calloway Elon Musk may have put Twitter in the headlines.  But our data at the OBA suggests LinkedIn is now a very important social media tool for lawyers that is gaining popularity with professionals and business owners. The community of LinkedIn helps the admins explain the culture of the platform. There are plenty…

By Jim Calloway “Smartphones and other mobile devices may be the driving force behind attorneys’ inability to disconnect from work once they leave the office or shut their laptops for the day, according to results from a Bloomberg Law survey.” That is the opening for a Bloomberg Law feature with some tips and suggestions for…

By Jim Calloway Our smart phones today have so many features that it seems impossible to learn them all. Some of the less-than-obvious features can be very useful. One such feature is silencing unknown callers. So when someone calls you and the phone rings, you know it is someone in your Contacts. But if the…

By Jim Calloway Google has announced a process to allow people to request removal of their personal data from Google search results. Removal is not guaranteed but the stated exceptions are rare. You will want to Google yourself in advance and screenshot any problematic content you find. But this is still an improvement over litigating…

By Jim Calloway 40 Wellness Tips to Help Lawyers Cope with Job Pressure was a recent feature in the American Bar Association Journal. Oklahoma lawyers will note that one of the tipsters is Laura Mahr, who taught several seminars on wellness for us in 2020. This is an interesting collection from a diverse group, ranging…

By Jim Calloway Most law firms now store a significant amount of data in the cloud. But that doesn’t mean data backup is not still important. Catherine Reach, director of the North Carolina Bar Association Center for Practice Management, notes: “Securing and protecting your firm’s data are essential. Client files, important communications, and valuable work…

By Jim Calloway Zoom is very popular because it is easy to use and provides a free version. Most of us now have a fair amount of experience with Zoom and can use it well. But Tessa Davis, whose interests include online learning for the medical profession, published “7 Zoom “hacks” you may not know”…

By Jim Calloway Lawyers today carry around much client data on their mobile devices. So mobile device security is extremely important. Some of the greater flexibility of Android devices also exposes them to different types of risks. New threats continue to emerge.  John W. Simek, Vice President of Sensei Enterprises shares how to Improve Android…

By Jim Calloway There are two areas related to geotagging photos that lawyers need to appreciate. One is related to privacy and security concerns of both lawyers and their clients. Another relates to the sometimes-hidden evidentiary value of geotagged photos. As Brian X. Chen, consumer technology columnist for The New York Times, noted in a…

By Jim Calloway Dropdown menus are great ways to navigate through software for things you do infrequently. For operations you do several times a day, keyboard shortcuts are faster, and you don’t have to remove a hand from the keyboard. Some of these we know by heart, like Esc to close a window, Ctrl+C to…

By Jim Calloway We all agree that email is a pain and sometimes managing email seems like a separate job by itself. But Outlook users have one great tool for processing email that is already built-in. It is called Outlook Quick Steps. Being able to accomplish several email actions with one click is a significant…

Fastcase, the legal research service provided by the OBA to Oklahoma lawyers, has added some federal court data analytics to its standard service. This new feature is the first to be released incorporating features from Fastcase’s 2020 acquisition of Judicata, a California-based legal research platform. Your attention is directed to the post In Major Platform…

By Jim Calloway We have discussed before in this space about the importance of using long, complex passwords, which will likely require a password manager to organize.  Protecting your information and your client’s information is very important for those of us in the legal profession. The Dark Web is awash with stolen passwords and login…