By Jim Calloway The September 2022 issue of Law Practice Today is a finance-themed issue. Among the seven features are Fundamentals of Accounting for Lawyers, Making it Rain, Eight Ethical Financial Mistakes Lawyers Make and How to Value, Sell & Purchase a Law Practice. The ABA Law Practice Today webzine is available to anyone, whether…

By Jim Calloway Can We Use Slack in our Law Firm? Some of us participate in Slack groups. Slack is a group messaging app that is simple and easy to use. As we know, group texts might work for social occasions, but aren’t great for business situations. (One reason — someone can be added late…

By Jim Calloway Every fall Apple holds a media event to highlight new versions of its offerings. This year the new features of iOS 16 have received a lot of attention. We know that upgrades are sometimes a mixed blessing. They bring needed features but also, they seem to change things unnecessarily. One new feature…

By Jim Calloway Why does your law firm need documented standard operating procedures? Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway interview guest Catherine Sanders Reach, Director of the Center for Practice Management at the North Carolina Bar Association on the August 2022 edition of the Digital Edge Podcast, Your Law Firm Cookbook: How and Why. Catherine outlines…

By Jim Calloway Deep fakes and other fabrications of “synthetic content” (as the FBI labels them) are rapidly improving and present a potential risk to all of us. You have probably seen deep fake videos where the video shows a person speaking but the voice belongs to another. Artificial intelligence tools match the speech with…

By Jim Calloway Computer crimes continue. Lawyers need to be aware of wire fraud schemes and the many types of phone-based fraud that exist. But we also need to be aware of appropriate cyber security measures. You don’t want to be hacked. But you also don’t want clients, coworkers, friends and family to be hacked….

By Jim Calloway Microsoft Teams is a powerful collaboration tool. But it does require a bit of training. Done correctly, instead of searching through your inbox for email discussions that took place over weeks, each subject under Teams can have a different area with all the discussions and files neatly arranged. Microsoft hosts free Microsoft…

By Jim Calloway Chrome is the most popular and most widely used browser. Tessa Davis is an educator who regularly posts technology tips on Twitter. Her most recent offering is “10 simple Chrome Tips that will blow your mind.” Did you know if you have a video or audio file you want to play, you…

By Jim Calloway It has been five years since the Oklahoma Supreme Court adopted Rule 33 of the rules for district courts. This rule was to provide a framework for limited scope representation. The rule is short and simple: Rule 33. Limited Scope Representation A lawyer providing limited scope representation under Rule 1.2 (c) of…

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…