Category Archives: Technology

Last Call: Practical Time Management CLE

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Learn how to take control of your workload, manage your busy schedule, focus on your priorities, and make your workday more productive by attending Practical Time Management tomorrow!

To Register

Select this link, click on the image above, or visit the Upcoming CLE page. Secure payment processing powered by Eventbrite. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express accepted. Program materials included in the $25 registration price.

Date – Time – Location

Wednesday, March 13, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time. This is a live, online webinar.

Program topics will include

Employing strategies to better manage time
Respecting the 80/20 rule, creating a daily plan, allowing buffer time, protecting your productivity, becoming a better estimator of billable work, staying on course with countdowns and weekly reviews, and more.

Coping with an overwhelming workload
Pausing new clients, scheduling a “catch up” day, letting go of non-critical projects, renegotiating deadlines, firing difficult clients, delegating, and outsourcing.

Overcoming procrastination
Selecting where and how to start, getting motivated, experimenting with Pomodoro and the Power of 3, clearing the clutter, managing big projects, and overcoming distractions.

Deploying organizational solutions
Implementing client policies, automating forms and workflows, creating checklists, investing in practice management software, optimizing email and text messaging, and considering apps designed to boost focus and rescue billable time.

Who should attend?

Lawyers, office administrators, legal staff – anyone interested in improving organizational and time management skills.

Group Discounts

Discounts are available to firms who wish to register 5 or more attendees. Contact beverly@oregonlawpracticemanagement.org prior to registering.

Questions & Live Polling

Questions are welcome during the live event. Attendees are also encouraged to participate in live, anonymous polling.

Can’t Attend?

Video and audio recordings will be available to download along with the program materials shortly after the live program event.  Price: $25. Contact me or visit my online CLE store to place an order.

Register now!

All Rights Reserved 2019 Beverly Michaelis

 

2019 ABA TECHSHOW – 60 Tips

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It could be anything!

If you’re referring to the annual “60 in 60” tips session at the ABA TECHSHOW you are absolutely right! From useful websites to new apps, gadgets, or tools for lawyers – the content is always unpredictable.

For all the details from TECHSHOW 2019, see my full story on Wakelet. Meanwhile, here are a few of the highlights:

  • Checkli.com – free checklist maker.
  • Flow-e – email client that turns your messages into a visual (Kanban style) task board.
  • Instant tethering – use your Android phone to connect more than 45 Chrome/Android devices.
  • MileIQ – free mileage tracking that integrates with Office 365.
  • PassProtect – realtime check for potentially unsafe passwords.
  • Poll Everywhere – polling software that integrates with connected presentations, updating slides in real time as answers are texted in.
  • Rocket Book – a pen and paper notebook that saves what you write to the cloud. Erase your notes using your microwave oven when you use Pilot FriXion pens.
  • Tweet Delete – automatically delete old tweets from your Twitter account.
  • Windows 10 GodMode – If you’re sick of switching between Settings and the Control Panel or searching for your lost settings in Windows, use GodMode.

There’s so much more … like where to find a wireless “endoscope” smartphone camera to explore hard-to-reach locations.

Hopefully I’ve tempted you. Check out the complete list from 60 in 60! Where else will you learn how to enable private browsing, design better slide decks, create shortcuts for your iOS devices, find the best Chrome extensions, or access a legal keyboard with over 35 legal symbols and functions in one keystroke?

All Rights Reserved 2019 Beverly Michaelis

 

AI and Law Firms

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We’ve been hearing a lot about AI (artificial intelligence) in broader society and our profession.  What is it exactly and how can law firms leverage it?

Artificial intelligence mimics certain operations of the human mind and is the term used when machines are able to complete tasks that typically require human intelligence. The term machine learning is when computers use rules (algorithms) to analyze data and learn patterns and glean insights from the data. Artificial intelligence is a large factor shifting the way legal work is done.

Experts tell us that AI has the potential of taking over these tasks:

And in some cases, it already has.

Should we be afraid? Absolutely not! Consider these words from the head of a knowledge management (AI) team at the Reed Smith law firm in London:

(AI) is looking to be a massive time-saver for firms, and bringing true value on the more repetitive tasks – lawyers spend less time trawling through endless files. Instead, computer programs can read documents, interpret them, and identify the case-relevant results – all in a matter of minutes. And how might lawyers use this newly freed time of theirs? Dillon says now “legal work is much more interesting as computers can do the donkey work, and the lawyers are able to do more analysis,” adding further value for the client. AI can even take advisory roles, although not extensively. It can’t provide specific advice to a client on a specific matter, but can answer simple and common legal questions.

Computers doing the donkey work? I can get behind that.

All Rights Reserved 2019 Beverly Michaelis

Practical Time Management

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Learn how to take control of your workload, manage your busy schedule, focus on your priorities, and make your workday more productive by attending Practical Time Management on March 13, 2019.

To Register

Click here, click on the image above, or visit the Upcoming CLE page. Secure payment processing powered by Eventbrite. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express accepted. Program materials included in the $25 registration price.

Date – Time – Location

Wednesday, March 13, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time. This is a live, online webinar.

Who should attend?

Lawyers, office administrators, legal staff – anyone interested in improving organizational and time management skills.

Group Discounts

Discounts are available to firms who wish to register 5 or more attendees. Contact beverly@oregonlawpracticemanagement.org prior to registering.

Questions & Live Polling

Questions are welcome during the live event. Attendees are also encouraged to participate in live, anonymous polling.

Can’t Attend?

Video and audio recordings will be available to download along with the program materials shortly after the live program event.  Price: $25. Contact me or visit my online CLE store to place an order.

Program topics will include

Employing strategies to better manage time
Respecting the 80/20 rule, creating a daily plan, allowing buffer time, protecting your productivity, becoming a better estimator of billable work, staying on course with countdowns and weekly reviews, and more.

Coping with an overwhelming workload
Pausing new clients, scheduling a “catch up” day, letting go of non-critical projects, renegotiating deadlines, firing difficult clients, delegating, and outsourcing.

Overcoming procrastination
Selecting where and how to start, getting motivated, experimenting with Pomodoro and the Power of 3, clearing the clutter, managing big projects, and overcoming distractions.

Deploying organizational solutions
Implementing client policies, automating forms and workflows, creating checklists, investing in practice management software, optimizing email and text messaging, and considering apps designed to boost focus and rescue billable time.

Register now!

All Rights Reserved 2019 Beverly Michaelis

 

Virtual Mailbox Services

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Virtual mailboxes are useful for those who travel frequently or work from home and lack a business address. For others, online mail access is a question of convenience.

No matter which camp you fall into, or if you’re just now learning about virtual mailboxes, it pays to do your research. For example, some services only scan the exterior of your mail while others will open it, scan the contents, and store it in the cloud. Either way, you receive the results by email. To better understand the process, services, and fees involved, see this post.

As with any cloud-based service, always ensure that client information remains secure and confidential.

If you’re interested in the consumer equivalent of a virtual mailbox, check out USPS Informed Delivery. This free service allows users to digitally preview mail and manage packages from an online dashboard or app. Leave delivery instructions, reschedule deliveries, or set up text notifications.

All Rights Reserved 2019 Beverly Michaelis