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

The Everki Versa - Stuff Your Case

Yeah I have briefcase lust.  After watches briefcases are probably my most obsessive indulgence. Since law school I think I have used at least twenty different briefcases.  They are proper.  They distinguish us lawyers as special, learned professionals.  They give the impression that we carry secret stuff.

My Floto Parma

My sickness goes beyond briefcases, and includes backpacks, fanny packs, sling packs, and messenger bags.  If it is a vessel to store stuff in, and then carry around, I want it! My current satchel is a Floto messenger bag (to the right).  Aah, the smell of leather....

Lawyer briefcases these days have to be more than they have ever been.  Of course they have to carry our files, and our legal pads, and our exhibits, and our business cards. They also have to carry our pens, our highlighters, our post-its, our laptops, our iPads, our ear buds, our power cables, our memory sticks, and on and on.

Everki Versa

I recently ran into a buddy in court who was
sporting a cool new case.  I confessed my kookiness for cases and my friend let me check his out.  It was a Versa from Everki, and it was nice!  Multiple pockets.  Big.  Substantial. Going to the Everki web site I learned more. The Versa is TSA approved to make life easier when getting through the metal detectors at the airport.  It has reinforced corners and lots of innovative design elements.

Here is what I liked about it:

The smooth running, heavy duty zippers. The multiple clamshell design, creating four distinct compartments.  The felt lining for electronic devices.  The multiple interior storage pockets.

I was indifferent to the ballistic nylon shell.  It doesn't look bad and there is some leather trim to spiff it up a bit, but I think leather looks better, particularly in the courtroom.  The $185 street price didn't offend me.

What didn't necessarily work for me was the orange lining.  Too bright.  Just doesn't look professional.  The interior compartments were tight.  Big files and binders are not gonna fit.  It is definitely a fun bag with lots of cool compartments,  I just don't know that it is practical for a trial lawyer.

Gotta bag you love, leave a comment or send me a note.  I am happy to share reports from other satisfied (and unsatisfied) users.

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









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

Binders and Bags

When I started practicing law long, long ago the paper folder was the default case file. I used them, but I was never content. They weren't sturdy. They ripped. The bendable metal prongs got distorted and bent to the point that getting papers in and out became impossible. Contents ripped. The prongs ripped out, and the folders fell apart.

Change comes slow to the legal profession. I stuck with those paper folders for a while, and I still see them in use by the majority of lawyers that I encounter. They work. I just yearned for something better. . .  I found it!

Around 1990 I came across Bindertek.  They had a sampler pack back then, that I invested in. When the binders arrived I immediately fell in love. Sturdy, reliable, reusable. The 2 ring design allows secure document storage, and the ring mechanism is engineering genius. I immediately placed a full order. The 3 inch spine models are the default in our office. We buy them in bulk by the case. The Ocean Blue color is one of my trademarks. In fact, they are so well built that some of those binders from our original orders are still in use. When a case ends, we empty out the binders, send the file to storage, and use the binders with a new case.

Take a look at the paper spine on the photo at left. That is a piece of white paper in a clear plastic sleeve. Bindertek sells replacement paper spines, and has a software program you can use to create personalized labels for your binders.

Not to flatter myself too much, but the first time I saw a Bindertek binder in a courtroom was when I carried it into court. Now they profilerate. I like to consider myself the BindertekFather amongst the family law bar in the San Fran East Bay courthouses.

The legal profession was one of Bindertek's original target markets. They continue to market other innovative products for us lawyers. Their website includes a Products For Your Law Office section. Therein you will find trial notebooks, practice area specific tabbing systems like personal injury, FAMILY LAW, deposition writing pads, and much, much more.

The one challenge to using binders is carrying them around. As files grow, the number of binders needed increases. One binder fits just fine into my leather briefcase. More than one can pose a challenge. Bindertek used to sell a handsome leather satchel that held two binders. I have one, and use it all the time. Unfortunately I don't see it on the website any more. They do have an extensive selection of other carriers and some beautiful leather briefcases.

So impressed am I with Bindertek that we now use their carousel shelf for storage, their dead file

storage supplies, there spine labels, their family law practice tabs, their exhibit tab and indexing systems, their travel cases. We have a few 1 inch spin binders that we load up for quick court appearances, depositions, and settlement meetings. I even have a couple of Bindertek's very impressive, very expensive leather binders that I use for special occasions.

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

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

Evernote & Biz Cards From Your Hand To Your Contact Manager

Business cards are still a great marketing tool.  They are not virtual, they are tangible.  You can touch them, feel them, smell them.  They work to market you and your practice, and they work to expand your networks.  Handing them out is still an essential element of professional practice marketing.  Collecting business cards is still an essential element in developing your business network. 

Whether you use Microsoft’s Outlook, or Salesforce, or Apple Contacts, or AbacusLaw, or Amicus Attorney, or Goldmine, etc., you need to get those biz card buddies, and their biz card information into your computerized contacts directory.  In days gone by that meant typing the information, line by line, into your computer.  Now you can implement better technology to streamline the process of handling those business cards that you are collecting.

If you use Evernote — and you should — you need to be aware of its awesome business card tools.  With the Evernote app on your smartphone you can take a picture of a business card, have it immediately imported into your Evernote account, export it to your contacts on your phone, and then synchronize it with your Outlook directory or any other contact management program that you use.  Fear not, reading these steps is more complicated than doing the real thing.  For some of these client management programs — Salesforce for example — it is even easier because they have a dedicated Evernote interface.

Even if you have to do it the multi-step way without a dedicated interface, it is still incredibly easy.  Keep reading to learn how. . .  Make sure you read all the way to the end for a bonus tip!

Step One:

Install Evernote on your smartphone.

Step Two:

Lay a business card down on a flat surface.

Step Three:

Launch Evernote on your smartphone, click on the Camera icon, then select the Business Card option.

Step Four:

Move your camera over the business card until Evernote detects it and then automatically takes the picture for you. 

Step Five:

Evernote then reads the business card and imports all of the information as a new contact in your Evernote account.  Nothing for you to do but watch. 

Step Six:

Tell Evernote to send the information to the Contacts app on your phone.  Evernote completes the task immediately, and that biz card buddy’s information is now in your system.

Step Seven:

Synchronize you phone contacts with whatever other Contact program(s) you use.  Nothing could be easier.

Step Eight:

Sit back and enjoy your techie awesomeness!

Free Bonus!  Now keep reading for your super awesome bonus tip, that is particularly great for you LinkedIn folks . . .

If you have a LinkedIn account — again you should — Evernote has a one-click feature so that you can connect on LinkedIn with your new business card buddy.

After you have finished importing the business card and saving it in Evernote, Evernote will launch a pop-up window with a one-click LinkedIn button.  If your new biz card buddy has a LinkedIn account Evernote finds that account and then sends a LinkedIn connection request to that person.  How great is that!  This is an example of how software makers are getting away from the old proprietary, keep-em-to-ourselves mentality, and instead they are embracing the benefits of platform sharing.  The Evernote/Salesforce and Evernote/LinkedIn partnerships are examples.  They expand their user base, and we the users expand the  benefits of our accounts.

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

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

Apple's Yosemite OS X available for download

Apple's latest Mac operating system, Yosemite, is now available for free download at the Apple Store.  I am running it.  I do like the new graphics.  Speed does not seem to have changed.

Not sure why my Mac Book Pro also rings when my iPhone rings? Thinking I am going to disable this?

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

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

.lawyer and .attorney domains available

Here's something fun for you internet marketing junkies.  .lawyer and .attorney domains have been released.  I don't have any hard statistics to back this up but I suspect that if you have yourname.lawyer or yourname.attorney it may help with searches and steering traffic your way.  If nothing else it is a way to expand and further personalize your internet empire!

Visit your domain name reseller (Go Daddy, 1&1, etc.) to get yours today.

P.S. johnharding.lawyer is taken!

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

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

Lawyer Has Phone, Will Practice

A smartphone is an essential tool for any lawyer who does any work away from the office.  My Apple love carries through to my phone, an iPhone 5s.  I have that thing so packed with apps my thumb gets tired flipping through the screens.  But that is part of the fun!

AT&T is my carrier because it delivers reliable phone and data service around the world.  TMobile is also quite good, particularly in Europe.  The price is not so much better, so I stick with old reliable AT&T (although I do thank TMobile for making AT&T more competitive and customer focused -- Go Capitalism!).

Wi-fi is everywhere, but when it is not my AT&T iPhone has hotspot capability so that its 4G can get my computer online fast.  This function came in quite handy during a recent road trip to Southern California.  I let my wife do the driving and our teenage daughter was the co-pilot while I turned the backseat of the car into a rolling office.  With the Mac connected to the internet via the iPhone hotspot I had total connectivity! Awesome!  If only I could get my wife to green light the purchase of an RV (not gonna happen) then I would really have a mobile office . . .

Why not an iPhone 6?  Too much time left on my current contract. . . .

A bluetooth headset is also essential.  A headset provides better listening quality than I get from the speaker on the phone, it allows my hands to be free, and provides more privacy.  My current favorite is the ERA from Jawbone.  It is tiny.  The ear bud is super comfortable and does a fantastic job of keeping the headset in my ear.  It has great battery life, that is extended with the separate carrying case, and in a pinch I can also use it to listen to movies and music with it.

I have the Skype app on my phone and I use it all the time to stay in contact with colleagues in the office.  I also have 8x8's iPhone app installed so that I can be connected virtually to our internet phone system at the office.  The added bonus is that I came make free phone around the world provided I have an internet connection.

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

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

Polish Your Chrome

I prefer Google's Chrome as my browser. I like the layout. I like the memory options. I used to like it because it was more secure than Internet Explorer. Unfortunately that changed. Add-ons were clogging the performance of the browser. My screen was getting crowded. Even worse, Google was letting marketers, malware and other unwanted and invasive stuff invade my browser and computer.

Fortunately Google paid attention (I think?). It has released a software removal and reset tool for Chrome.  Yes this is more software, but hopefully it will work to clean up unwanted software. Intriguingly it is only available for Windows. Either that means Apple OS systems are immune (Not!) or Google is still working on an Apple recipe.

You can download the program by clicking here:  www.google.com/chrome/srt/

For more information the How To Geek has a great article.  Check it out by clicking here.

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

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

Your Writing Sucks!

Writing is one of the lawyer's primary stocks in trade.  That is why it is so bewildering to me why so many of us write so badly?  We should be better at writing given that we get paid to do it.

Okay fine, I have yelled about making your writing better.  You, in turn are saying, fine Harding, how do I do that?  I am not going to go back to college to get an English degree.  I hear you.  I do have a suggestion.  I have come across a wonderful software app called WordRake.  It is an add-on for Microsoft Word, that adds an icon driven menu bar to your program.  With a click of a few buttons in Word, WordRake becomes your computerized proof reader.

WordRake filters your document for run-on sentences, redundancy, and other grammatical mistakes, all from the comfort of a visually appealing, user-friendly interface. Because it is a Word add-on it runs within Word.  No cumbersome bouncing in and out of independent programs. You create a document and run WordRake. It then analyzes all of your text, highlights the problem portions, and includes recommended text to fix the problems.  It is very cool.  I wrote to the company and asked for some screenshots to post here.  They weren't very helpful.  I got one picture that did not go a long way in demonstrating what it does.  That being the case, rather than read about it, take a look at the video from the WordRake website, below, to see how it works.

I have used the free trial version of WordRake, and I really like it.  It just plain works.  The problem for me is the price.  It is available on a subscription basis, and goes for $129 per year ($259 for three years).  It really does work great, the price point just leaves me uneasy.  If you need help with your writing this is an exceptional tool!

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

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

You Should Be Flying At The Front Of The Plane

You all know what an avid traveler I am.  Included in that description I would add that I am also a frequent flier mileage geek.  I horde miles like a Siberian squirrel hoards acorns.  I have become pretty good at it, to the point that when I fly internationally it is always in business class or first class.  I am also in the front of the plane on most of my domestic flights (Southwest and JetBlue being the exceptions), even if that means paying the premium price for the ticket.  I do it because it makes economic sense to spend the extra money, and it minimizes the horror of air travel.  At 6'5" I need all the extra room I can afford.

www.guestofaguest.com

Consider as an example the average big city lawyer.  She bills at $500 per hour.  At a minimum flying from San Francisco to New York will require one hour to get to the airport; one hour to clear security and board the plane; five and a half hours hours until touchdown. That is eight and a half hours.  How about another example.  San Francisco to Nashville.  One hour to get to the airport.  One hour to get on the plane.  Four hours flying time to Chicago.  Two hour layover at O'Hare. Two hour connecting flight to Nashville.  Ten hours of travel time. A third example.  San Francisco to Rome. One hour to get to the airport.  Two hours to check in.  Ten hours to Frankfurt.  Three hour layover. One hour flight to Rome.  Seventeen hours! Under any of the examples, you are away from the office for at least a full day.

www.airreview.com

If you pay for an upper class seat that travel time does not have to be a big ding on your bottom line. Here's why. For that extra money you pay to the airline you get priority check-in, and a priority security line.  That saves you at least thirty minutes.  Then you get access to the airline's business class lounge, with quiet, private workspaces.  That gives you another hour of productive time, without dealing with the crowds, noise, and confusion of the main terminal. That lounge also gives you free wi-fi, and access to free computers and printers should you need them. That business class seat on the plane gives you priority loading and off-loading (more time and efficiency).  Plus you get a seat and tray table large enough to work at, with some semblance of privacy.  Take advantage of it by getting some billable time in. Four hours of work on the flight to Frankfurt (yes, I fly Lufthansa) would be no problem With your arrival in Frankfurt you once again get priority clearance through customs and security. You get lounge access during the layover, with more work time should you want it.


If you shop around you can get a round trip business class ticket on the domestic flights for $1500 to $2000. For the round trip to Rome a business class seat will set you back $3000 to $4000.

On our San Francisco to Rome scenario you could easily get 6 and a half hours of billable work done, and have plenty of vacation time.  For our $500 per hour lawyer those 6.5 hours of billable time would work out to $3,250.  You have paid for your business class ticket!  And you have traveled in style.

Then again you could do it my usual way:  Pay for the ticket with a frequent flier credit card to earn double or triple miles.  Forget about work and enjoy a carefree, luxurious trip.  Work a full Saturday when you return to pay for it.

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

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