According to the American Bar Association (ABA), “Rare is the law firm that fully leverages its paralegal team.” While law schools may provide attorneys with a solid legal education, many successful lawyers don’t have the faintest idea how to best utilize their support staff. When attorneys don’t consider their staff […]
Read MoreYour law firm has a comprehensive website with its own domain name and a solid online presence. But if you’re still relying on third-party email services instead of starting a professional email account, you aren’t making the most of your brand presentation. While email accounts provided by your Internet service […]
Read MoreWe may think of ‘networking’ as a very modern concept, but according to a Harvard Business Review article, networking has existed for the past 2000 years and is essential to our survival. But for many people, including legal professionals, networking doesn’t come easy and trying to connect with others in […]
Read MoreFor legal professionals, part of the job is to keep up with changes in the industry, and education doesn’t stop after you get your first job. Continuing legal education (CLE) — which could cover anything from regulatory mandates, legal technology, practice management, and the law itself — will help you […]
Read MoreIn this age of computers, smartphones, digital voice recorders, and so on is note taking even a necessary skill for legal professionals anymore? Legal professionals attend numerous meetings and rarely show up in the conference room without a notebook (a paper or electronic one), but do they actually take notes, […]
Read MoreAccording to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, the employment of paralegals is expected to grow about eight percent from 2014 to 2024. That means competition for jobs is expected to be strong, with experienced, formally trained paralegals having the best prospects for employment. To stand out in […]
Read MoreReceiving notification that your court filing has been rejected by the clerks can be seriously frustrating. In terms of time, cost, and risk to your professional reputation we’re sure it’s an annoyance you could do without. It happens, though. And, as the courts in more and more states move to […]
Read MoreIt’s generally accepted that good legal writing is concise writing. It’s not always easy, though. It’s especially difficult in the legal field, where simplicity can get lost in an ocean of impenetrable jargon, superfluous triplicate phrases, and never-ending sentences. The result is often writing that’s hard work to read or […]
Read MoreWith more and more courts requiring that court documents to be filed electronically, most papers are being created, delivered, and read as PDFs. In order to aid the management and readability of electronic documents, the courts have put in place several rules and requirements for the formatting and structure of […]
Read MoreIt’s a near certainty that, no matter how hard you strive for your office to be paperless, you will find that you need to scan items such as incoming correspondence, signatures pages, and exhibits. As the items that often have the most detail, it’s important to learn the best practices […]
Read MoreThe fact is that eFiling is rapidly becoming a reality in state courts through the US, including California’s superior courts. Right now in California, eFiling is available in 15 courts but during 2017 it’s very likely that more than half of all of the state’s county-level courts, including massive cities […]
Read MoreWhen it comes to learning about cyber security, the first thing you notice is that there are a lot of threats out there. Sometimes the tools you use will be to blame. Other times (some might even say most times) it is down to human error. In other words, it’s […]
Read MoreOriginally published July 5, 2016. Updated October 25, 2016. The days of filing paper documents at courthouses in California are numbered. That’s because electronic court filing, the uploading, and submission of documents to a court in electronic form, is rapidly becoming the new standard. That’s because courts across California are clambering […]
Read MoreLaw firms have a clear duty of care with respect to the sensitive information they hold about their clients and the matters they’re working on. Last week, as part of our contribution to Cyber Security Awareness Month, we wrote about the seriousness of the cybercrime threat facing law firms. In […]
Read MoreState courts are increasingly following the example of the federal courts and moving to require electronic filing. Just look at the changes underway in the nation’s two largest states, Texas and California. In Texas, it will soon be mandatory to eFile in every local court in the state while, in […]
Read MoreOriginally published August 28, 2015. Updated October 4, 2016. This time last year we published a list of the top 25 legal professionals to follow on Twitter. The post got a great response from people out there looking for experts and insiders to help them navigate the web and to […]
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