Recently I recorded a presentation for National Business Institute that will be broadcast on June 25, 2015. It is on digitizing your documents and converting to a paperless office. I presented with Aaron Brooks and Dean Dietrich, both of whom are great people and great presenters. I urge you to check the webcast out. A description of the program from NBI appears below.

Maintaining and incorporating digitized documentation into your office’s daily routine needs much attention and can slow your practice down. Let our faculty guide you through some of the most common hurdles that will come across your desk as you continue to sort out the best way to digitize your office. Register today!

  • Determine what to do with those original back-stock of client documents.
  • Find out if the cloud storage system is right for your office.
  • Gain practical organization and filing tips for new paper documents as they enter the office.
  • Adopt best practices for protecting files from unauthorized access or inadvertent changes.
  • Weigh your options carefully: know which insurance coverage will protect your office from data breaches.
  • Learn how to avoid ethical missteps in running your paperless law office.
  • Ensure employee access to shared files without jeopardizing efficiency or client confidentiality.
Date: June 25, 2015
Time: 09:00-16:00 CT
Event: Handling and Digitizing Original Documents
Sponsor: National Business Institute
Registration: Click here to register.

Join Me at ABA Techshow

Next week I am speaking at ABA Techshow. I have the immense pleasure of speaking with Jim Calloway on the subject of Beyond the Scanner: Paperless Workflows that Work. It is real honor to speak with Jim, who is one of the real leaders in this country on issues of law practice management.

TS15_logo_bwAdditionally, we are speaking on a subject that is near and dear to my heart. Our session kicks off  on Thursday morning at 8:30 and we would be thrilled to see you there.

Even if you do not make it to our session, I cannot urge you strongly enough to attend. ABA Techshow is filled with a number of great sessions that touch on just about any topic applicable to the intersection of technology and the practice of law. I have attended several shows and have always found them immensely valuable and educational.

If you are attending, I also urge you to attend a Taste of Techshow dinner. This is your opportunity to have dinner with attorneys from all over the country, as well as one or more Techshow presenters. The deadline to sign up via the internet to a Taste of Techshow dinner is Monday, April 13, 2015. There are still several dinners with available spots, including my dinner that I am co-hosting with Nerino Petro, an amazing and brilliant legal technologist.

Our dinner is Thursday evening at South Water Kitchen.

Even if you don’t attend my dinner, please consider picking another dinner to attend, but you really should attend both Techshow and Taste of Techshow.

I’m Going to Oklahoma!

If you saw my Twitter Feed earlier this week, you probably guessed the news that I was not yet ready to share: I have been invited to speak at the 2014 Oklahoma Solo & Small Firm Conference. Needless to say, I am absolutely thrilled at this opportunity and am looking forward to my first visit to Oklahoma.

OK Solo and Small Firm ConferenceThe conference is June 19-21, 2014 at the Hard Rock Casino Resort in Tulsa.

I will be participating in four sessions.

On June 20, I will be participating in:

  • 60 Tips in 60 Minutes, with Jim Calloway and Jeff Taylor.
  • How I Leverage Technology to Improve My Solo Practice. Plenary Session.

On June 21, I will be participating in:

  • Remote Communications: Practicing from a Coffee Shop or other Remote Location
  • What’s Hot and What’s Not in Management & Technology, with Jeffrey Taylor, Jim Callowayand Jody Nathan.

Gizmos, Gadgets & Widgets

Recently I had the honor of  presenting with Nerino Petro at the ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference. One of the sessions that we did was a Gizmos, Gadets & Widgets session at 8:30 on Saturday morning. I was pleasantly surprised with the number of people who turned out early Saturday morning for the presentation.

KeynoteAs usual, we had great fun with this presentation. At the session, we mentioned that we would make our presentation available on my site. Thus, you can now download a PDF of our presentation Gizmos, Gadgets & Widgets. You can also find this and many other files on my Files page.

If you have any questions on any of the items, feel free to contact either Nerino or myself.

The Legal Practice Landscape

On Friday, June 15 ,2012, I will be part of a panel speaking about The Legal Practice Landscape: Thriving in a Climate of Change.

This is a CLE sponsored by the ISBA at its annual meeting. However, you need not attend the annual meeting if you just want to attend the CLE.

During the program the other panelists and I will share information you need to know about current and future changes affecting the practice of law as well as some tips on how to prepare for and adapt to those changes. We will facilitate discussions among attendees and offer our insights on some of these topics: the shifting paradigm of the practice of law; the information tsunami and how to use it to your benefit; generational preferences and practices; technological changes and positive ways to embrace them; and what it means to you; social media – pluses and minuses; and business trends impacting the legal profession.

You can find further information about the presentation here.

If you need professionalism credit, please note that this presentation has been approved for 3 hours of professionalism credit.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Back from ABA Techshow

I am back from ABA Techshow,  where I had a great time, as usual. This was the first year I have spoken at Techshow and I was fortunate enough to be speaking with Nerino Petro and Chad Burton. Both of these gentlemen were great to work with and I look forward to (hopefully) speaking with them again.

ABA TechshowI also had the pleasure of hosting a Taste of Techshow dinner with Chad and Stephanie Kimbro. We ended up having 13 people at our table (instead of 10), but it all worked out great and we all had a great time. Not only did I enjoy the company of Stephanie and Chad, but everyone else who had dinner with us was a true pleasure to meet and dine with.

The Expo Hall was the largest I have ever seen, with a large number of different vendors. Not only did I get to see some vendors I have know for years (such as Phil Rosenthal from Fastcase and Ken Adams from Koncision Contract Automation), I also finally got to meet Brett Owens from Chrometa in person. He was as great in person as I expected.

I also saw a couple of new products that really interested me. The first is TheFormTool. This is a reasonably priced document assembly program that looks easy to use.

The second is iTimeKeep by Bellefield. The program is designed to allow you to enter time from your iPad and it integrates with your time and billing system, so that you can do remote time entry, even is that is not otherwise available for your time and billing program. I have been looking for a program that does this. So I will definitely be checking this out further.

I have lots more to say about Techshow, including a review of the Techshow app and the keynote from Ben Stein, all of which will be coming later this week.

Reducing Paper in Your Office

I know I have mentioned this before, but I wanted to make sure that I mentioned it again.

On Tuesday, March 20, 2012, at Noon, I will be presenting, with Catherine Sanders Reach, on the topic of Strategies to Reduce Paper in the Office.

Chicago Bar AssociationIf you have thought about learning to reduce the paper in your office, then this presentation is designed for you.

I have seen Catherine present several times and she always does a great job. I am thrilled to be able to present with her on this topic.

This is a topic that is close to my heart. It is my firm belief going paperless is the one single thing that you can do to most improve the efficiency in your office.

Upcoming CLE Presentations

I have several CLE presentations that are occurring in the next couple of months. If you want to get some CLE credits or just learn something, I would recommend each of the following programs (and not just because I am speaking at them).

General Practice Update 2012: Suburban Regional Event, sponsored by the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm section of the ISBA. February 9, 2012.

The title of my presentation is Update on Effective and Ethical Law Office Technology.

Legal Trends for Non-Techies: Topics, Trends, and Tips to Help your Practice, sponsored by the Standing Committee on Legal Technology of the ISBA. March 2, 2012.

I will be speaking on two topics. The first is Can You Really Run a Practice from a Table? It is described as: Whether you’re in the courtroom, in a meeting, or in transit … learn how tablets such as Apple’s iPad and Android tablets can complement your practice, including accessing email and documents, connecting with clients/staff/colleagues, accessing your office systems remotely, and more … no matter where you are!

I will be co-presenting with Deirdre A. Fox and Nerino Petro.

The second session would be 60 Tech Tips in 60 Minutes. It is described as: This fast-paced session offers dozens of practice tips and tricks for getting things done better, faster, and cheaper. Topics include everything from gadgets, to software/hardware, the Web, practice management, and more!

I will be co-presenting with Nerino Petro and Aaron Brooks.

Strategies to Reduce Paper in the Office, sponsored by the Practice Management Department of the Chicago Bar Association. March 20, 2012, 12 PM to 1:30 PM.

This session is described as: Reducing paper in your office is not just about “going green”. Reducing the reliance on paper will increase productivity, improve response times, and assist with business continuity efforts. We will explore the tools and methods you will need to digitize your office, backing up your systems, and discuss when you still might need to keep some things in print. By harnessing software, hardware, and better workflows you can provide enhanced client service and enjoy greater mobility.

I will be presenting with Catherine Sanders Reach.

ABA TechshowABA Techshow, March 29-31, 2012

My presentation will be on March 30, 2012 at 2:15 to 3:15. My presentation is titled Cloud Tools for Solos and Firms: What’s Out There? The description is With so many cloud options to choose from, you’ll need this session to get a realistic overview of the viable tools for your law practice.  The presenters will cover cloud services for every aspect of law practice, whether you are a solo or practice in a larger firm.  Explore cloud-based practice management, time tracking and accounting, document management, and several other law office productivity tools.

I will be co-presenting with Chad Burton and Nerino Petro.

ABA Techshow: Here I Come

ABA Techshow is one of my favorite events. It is a premier legal technology conference that is happens not far from where I live and work. I have attended several times and have always had a great time and learned something useful.

ABA TechshowThis year will be especially special for me, however, as I have been invited to speak at the conference. This thrills me to no end and I am very excited about this.

The show will be March 29-31, 2012, at the Hilton Chicago.

I will be speaking on March 30 from 2:15 to 3:15 on the topic of Cloud Tools for Solos and Firms: What’s Out There?

Speaking with me will be Chad Burton.

I hope you join us for the show. I think it is a great value and a great place to learn about the latest legal technology trends.