The Fringe Benefits of Being a Family Law Lawyer

Family law is an intriguing practice area. As a family law lawyer you must be an expert in multiple areas of substantive law: family, civil procedure, evidence (yes, evidence, if you are good family lawyer!), tax, probate, even criminal. You need to be adept at negotiation. And, you must be a skilled trial lawyer. Poo-poo on those in the legal profession who say family lawyers don't need skills...

Depending on how you craft your practice, you can do a lot of traveling for work, or very little. I have friends around the country who maintain statewide practices. By choice, those folks live out of suitcases. Alternatively there are people like me, who limit their practices to one or two counties, thus avoiding the work-hotel life (though for me, practicing in the commuter hell of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties does present its challenges).

On the plus side, when I do travel for work, it is usually fun travel. As a Fellow in the AAML and the IAFL, there are a plethora of conferences available. Throw in the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association, and you can really travel for work and pleasure. And why not?
If your budget allows, work/CLE conferences expand your professional skills, expand your business network, and expand your personal horizons. They are a wonderful distraction from the day to day rigor of practicing law.

Recent work travels have provided a rewarding life balance for me. London, Bahamas, Lisbon, Chicago, Savannah, Tokyo, Stuttgart. That's about 50,000 airplane miles, and three, four weeks of time. But it is professional time mixed with personal time. That is a great combination.

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.

As family law lawyers we all work very hard. We need to reward ourselves, and maintain a degree of separation from the emotion of our clients' worlds. Take a breath, step away. Find a conference. State bar associations put on great programs. The ABA puts on great programs. State Chapters of the AAML put on great programs, and you don't have to be an AAML Fellow to attend. In States that have them, certified specialist organizations put on great programs in great locations. Treat yourself!

Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law 

#Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers

Law Practice Management Webinar

MyCase  is presenting Top 10 Law Practice Management Tips for 2016. Featuring lawyer and law practice management advisor Heidi Alexander, the program is scheduled for Wednesday, February 24th at 11am PT / 12pm MT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET.

Register Here

Per the program brochure:

Gone are the days when you can hang a shingle outside your brick and mortar law practice and expect clients to walk through the door. Times have changed and so has the practice of law. In this webinar, Heidi will discuss her top tips for managing a modern law practice. 

You'll learn:

• How to keep pace with growing client demands
• How to be competitive in an increasingly saturated market
• How to make your practice more efficient
• How and what technologies to implement
• How to take your practice on the go

Register Now

Hope you can make it!

Karen O. Gray, Esq

K.Gray@mycase.com

800-571-8062

www.MyCase.com

PS- We know life gets busy. If you can't make it to the live session, register today to receive the webinar recording.

PPS- MyCase was recognized as Marketing Department of the Year for providing outstanding educational content & webinars for legal professionals by the 2015 American Business Awards.

Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law 

#Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers

New CLE Available

Attorney Dawn Gray is a dear friend of mine. She is also the finest family law legal writer you will ever find. I read her books religiously and I have had the privilege of working with Dawn on many cases. Her assistance has always proven indispensable.

Now Dawn is branching out and offering online CLE classes. Everything Dawn does is first rate, and these classes are no exception. The classes include the fundamentals of temporary spousal support, the fundamentals of interspousal fiduciary duties, the fundamentals of family law tracing, the fundamentals of family code disclosures, the fundamentals of Moore-Marsden apportionment, the fundamentals of transmutations, the fundamentals of Pereira/Van Camp apportionment, and of course the list will grow.

Dawn Gray, J.D. - New! BLS and MCLE-Approved Continuing Education Classes for Family Lawyers.

Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law 

#dawngray #cle #Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers

Tips For Going PaperLess

Ernie Svenson is a New Orleans lawyer whom I have been internet stalking for years.  Ernie was one of the pioneer lawyers when it came to implementing internet technologies in the practice of law.  He has generously shared his wisdom on social media, technology, software (particularly Adobe Acrobat), and practice management process.

His most recent foray is in the area of going paperless.  Along with countless seminars, internet articles, and interviews he has spread the gospel on teching out your practice while saving trees. Along with Andrew Legrand, Adriana Linares, and Megan Hargroder he has even turned it into a business.

PaperlessChase.com is Ernie's (and friends) mother ship for learning how to make your law office 100% mobile –no more papers, no more filing cabinets, no more faxes, no more printing out stuff just to sign it (use your iPad or Acrobat and email it). It, and they, will help you do everything faster. There are hardware reviews, tips and tricks, newsletters and mail lists.

Here is an example of what they do. Visit the website. Look at it. It's beautiful. It's clean. It's hypnotic. It cost $500 to create! How? By hiring a virtual assistant to do the work. That's great information, and I got it for free by visiting PaperlessChase.com. The site also offers CLE classes, a free white paper on going paperless, and much more.

This blog, Family Lawyer Tech & Practice, is all about practicing law better and more efficiently. PaperLessChase is right there with us. Treat yourself to a visit!

Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law 

#Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers

How About An Online Legal Technology Convention

Ok, this is fun!  How do you like the idea of going to a legal tech convention without actually having to travel to the convention?  Virtual LegalTech make it possible.

Virtual LegalTech offers all the powerful educational and networking opportunities of LegalTech, the premier conference and trade show for technology in the legal community. VLT is a showcase for the latest hardware, software, tools and services that are moving the practice of law ahead through innovative solutions. It's also an invaluable chance to talk with colleagues, share best practices and make connections with professionals from law firms and corporate legal departments from all over the world.

VLT's fully interactive virtual environment enables you to do all the things you'd do at a live event: attend presentations and panel discussions, talk with vendors, see product demonstrations, collect information, network with colleagues and get the latest news from the ever-evolving arena of legal technology. The show is open all year around, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Click here for a visit.
Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law 

#virtuallegaltech #Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers