Tech Tips from the Tech Show

I have never had the good fortune of attending the ABA's Tech Show. I hear it is awesome. The calendaring of the event just never seems to synch with my schedule -- although I will keep trying to make it happen...

attorneyatwork.com

Over at attorneyatwork.com there is a great post featuring tips and takeaways from this year's Tech Show. Sharon Nelson, John Simek, Jim Calloway, Deborah Savadra, Natalie Kelly, Darla Jackson, Tom Lambotte, Reid Traut, and Nora Regis share their favorite tips gleaned from the program. Apps, tricks, shortcuts, and program reviews are all mentioned.

Please click here for this very informative read.

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

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New WordPress Book

If you have been to my hardinglaw.com website or my California Divorce Blawg you have seen what we do with the WordPress software.  I did not build these sites, my friend Rodney Warner at Connective Web Design did.  However, I do tinker around within the sites, and I have come to appreciate and love all that WordPress has to offer.  It is very powerful software.

If you aspire to be your on WordSmith master, the ABA's In One Hour for Lawyers library has a new offering for you.  Written by attorney Jennifer Ellis, WordPress in One Hour for Lawyers will explain how to get create your firm s website quickly and easily with WordPress software. In just one hour, you will learn to:

• Choose a web host


• Select and set up a domain name


• Install and customize WordPress software


• Create a look for your website


• Add content, functionality, and images to your website


• Improve your website with Search Engine Optimization techniques


• Understand the ethics issues of legal websites


• And much more!

Click here for more information.

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

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

Family Law Trial Evidence Handbook

Chicago family law lawyer Steve Peskind has a new book out.  The Family Law Trial Evidence Handbook: Rules and Procedures for Effective Advocacy is published by the American Bar Association.  Unfortunately I don't rate high enough to get a courtesy copy to review but I can assure you of this, if it is written by Steve and published by the family law section of the ABA, it is a top notch book.

As Steve explains:

I wrote this book as a true trial handbook: a quick counsel table reference for matrimonial trial lawyers. The goal of the book is "how to get it in and how to keep it out." While the book relies mainly on the Federal Rules of Evidence, many states (including Illinois) follow them closely if not exactly. 

The topics I cover in the book include:
Chapter 1    Trial Process and Procedure
Chapter 2    The Fundamentals of Evidence
Chapter 3    Relevance
Chapter 4    Evidence of Character and Habit
Chapter 5    Other Miscellaneous Relevancy Issues
Chapter 6    Hearsay
Chapter 7    Hearsay Exceptions
Chapter 8    Judicial Notice and Presumptions
Chapter 9    Authentication of Writings and Other Tangible Evidence
Chapter 10  Original Writing Rule and Rule of Completeness
Chapter 11  Competency of Witnesses
Chapter 12  Evidentiary Privileges
Chapter 13  Expert Witnesses
Chapter 14  Examination of Witnesses
Chapter 15  Tendering Exhibits, Objections, and Offers of Proof
Chapter 16  Procedures for Streamlining Admission of Evidence
Helpful information includes the procedure to admit social media, such as Facebook pages, websites and other digital evidence.

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

iPad For Litigators

Family law lawyers are litigators.  Think about it...  After prosecutors and public defenders, who is in court more than family law lawyers? No one.  For today's post that means we get to talk about a book written for litigators.

The ABA  has released the latest in its popular One Hour series:  iPad In One Hour For Litigators. 

Written by iPad superstar Tom Mighell,  this book will walk technology novices through:

• A New Case – Managing Details and Deadlines
• Discovery – Documents and Depositions
• Preparing for Trial with the Right Accessories
• Legal Research on your iPad
• Picking a Jury, iPad Style
• Evidence Presentation
• Tips for Using the iPad in Court – advice from lawyers who are using the iPad in the courtroom every day

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

ABA TechShow Videos

Lexconference.com has a great series of video interviews recorded during the recent ABA Techshow. Check out vids of Ed Poll, Rex Gradeless, David Bilinsky, Richard Susskind, Nerino Petro, and others. Good stuff! Click here for a visit.

Please be sure to visit www.hardinglaw.com, the website for the law firm of Harding & Associates, for more information on California family law.

What To Look For In A Professional, Trade, or Service Organization

From the ABA's Law Practice Management Section, Bob Weiss gives his thoughts on joining profession, trade, or service groups as a method of practice development.

After attending a meeting, if you can’t answer “yes” to at least eight of these questions, the group is not a good investment of your time.

1. Frequency – Does the group meet at least monthly?
2. Philosophy – Is your networking philosophy compatible with both the members and the organization’s?
3. Size – Is the group large enough, or sufficiently segmented, to offer a diverse base of contacts?
4. Prominence – Are the members prominent, can they influence others and become key contacts for you?
5. Redundancy – Is the group diverse enough so that the members lead you to different resources and other groups of contacts?
6. Dimension – Are the interests of the membership diversified? Can they offer information or access to resources you cannot otherwise obtain?
7. Accessibility – Are the members accessible outside of regular meetings once a relationship is built?
8. Reciprocity – Does the group understand the concept of interpersonal debt?
9. Compatibility – Do you and the members have a high degree of similarity, especially age, occupational prestige, socio-economic status?
10. Continuity – You will be investing your time over time to build key relationships. Is membership turnover low?
11. Structure – What types of leadership opportunities are available for you to build prominence within the group, such as serving on the board, on a working committee?

Please click here to view the entire article.

Please be sure to visit www.hardinglaw.com, the website for the law firm of Harding & Associates, for more information on California family law.

Getting Clients To Pay Their Bills

Most would hope that their law practices are for-profit businesses. The tool by which we get paid is the bill that we send to our clients. Here is how Ed Poll sees it in an article that he has written for the ABA's Law Practice Management Section. Ed observes:

You've sent your bill to the client. It's been several weeks and they haven't paid yet but there's no reason to be concerned. After all, if there were a problem, wouldn't they tell you so by now?

The answer, regrettably and often inevitably, is "no." If you defined your payment terms up front in your letter of engagement with the client, and the client has not lived up to those terms, it's symptomatic of a deeper communications problem. My book, Collecting Your Fee: Getting Paid from Intake to Invoice, notes that there are five reasons why clients fail to pay their bills:

• They didn't get your bill/statement
• They didn't understand your billing and/or what you did for them and/or the value to them of what you did for them
• They didn't ask you to do what you billed them for
• Their cash flow is temporarily interrupted, despite the best of their intentions to pay you quickly
• Their business has gone "south" and they can't afford to pay you.

Always Communicate

In times of recession, the last two of these reasons are to some extent beyond a lawyer's control. Even so, if there is a problem with a client's ability to pay, good communication can uncover it by learning about and being more sensitive to the needs and conditions of clients. None of this requires constant calls or elaborate questionnaires. Simply meet clients over coffee and ask, "How are you doing? Did you understand my bill? Is there an issue that concerns you? Is there something I can help you with?" Given this opportunity clients will provide you with honest answers. And if there's a problem, it's better to know sooner and come up with a solution than to keep haggling over an unpaid bill.

The first three reasons for unpaid bills also involve communication issues, but of a different kind. They reflect the fact that, although the main purpose of a bill is to secure the client's payment, there is a secondary purpose that lawyers often miss: to leave the client with a favorable impression of the services he or she received. In other words, the bill is another tool for client communication. An effective bill is one that speaks clearly and directly to clients about how you as a lawyer have improved their lives.

This is a vital article for an issue that is vital to the success of our practices. Click here to take a look at everything Ed has to say.

Please be sure to visit www.hardinglaw.com, the website for the law firm of Harding & Associates, for more information on California family law.

A Great Family Law Firm Book!

While the ABA is hot on my mind, I wanted to mention one of the best books that I have ever read concerning the creation and operation of a family law firm. How to Build and Manage a Family Law Practice is written by Mississippi family law lawyer Mark Chinn, and published by the ABA (Family Law Section). I have read this book cover to cover more than once. It is a jewel! You can get more information by following this link to the ABA store. I endorse it whole heartedly.

Please be sure to visit www.hardinglaw.com, the website for the law firm of Harding & Associates, for more information on California family law.

ABA Law Practice Management Section

The American Bar Association is a wealth of family law, practice management, and technology resources. I have found it's Law Practice Management Section to be a real find. The section's Law Practice magazine is on my list of invaluable reads. The section sponsors the ABA's highly touted Techshow. The section's website is a harvest of information on practice management and technology. Consider some of the topics on the web site right now: Clearing Up Software Myths for Attorneys, Capturing More Time ... And Keeping Your Clients Happy While Doing It, Effective Law Firm Administrations Depends Upon Connecting With Others . . . . It goes on and on.

I will admit that everything about the ABA is expensive (membership for lawyers in practice 10 years or more is $399 per year) ! Then again, everything marketed to lawyers is over priced. Relatively speaking, the investment in the ABA's LPM section is about as good a value as you are going to find, with annual dues at . Annual section dues are $50. Right now the ABA has a $40 section membership discount promotion going on.

Please be sure to visit www.hardinglaw.com, the website for the law firm of Harding & Associates, for more information on California family law.