Fasten Your Seat Belt: 60 Law Practice Tips in 60 Minutes VSB Solo and Small-Firm Practitioner Forum July 21, 2008 Sharon D. Nelson, Esq. John W. Simek Sensei Enterprises, Inc. www.senseient.com [email protected] [email protected] 60 TIPS IN 60 MINUTES By Brett Burney, Barron Henley and Sharon Nelson (reprinted by the kind consent of Mr. Burney and Mr. Henley) TABLE OF CONTENTS I. MARKETING................................................................................................................... 1 1. Reduce Print Advertising:........................................................................................1 2. Utilize SEO – Search Engine Optimization:............................................................1 3. Do Not Allow Uncle Vinny or Cousin Charles To Design Your Website: ...................................................................................................................1 4. You Had Me At Hello:.............................................................................................1 5. Update Your Site or Become Invisible:...................................................................1 6. Author! Author! Start Writing Articles: ..................................................................2 7. Become a Lecturer:..................................................................................................2 8. Network Online:.......................................................................................................2 9. Be Wary of Legal Directories:.................................................................................3 10. Tear Down The Banner:...........................................................................................3 11. Pros and Cons of Google Keywords:.......................................................................3 12. TV and Radio Advertising:......................................................................................4 13. Should You Blog?....................................................................................................4 14. Should You Podcast? ...............................................................................................5 15. Digitize Your Elevator Speech: ...............................................................................5 16. Power of the Spoken Word:.....................................................................................5 II. MANAGEMENT .............................................................................................................. 5 1. Training, Training, Training: ...................................................................................5 2. Have A Disaster Recovery Plan In Place:................................................................5 3. Have, And Follow, An Employee Termination Plan:..............................................5 4. Devise, Monitor And Enforce An Internet And E-Mail Usage Policy: ......................................................................................................................6 5. Consider Monitoring Employee Internet Usage: .....................................................6 6. Yet Another Plan You Need – The Incident Response Plan: ..................................6 7. Start Going Green: ...................................................................................................6 8. Think About Employee Retention And Fringe Benefits: ........................................6 9. Stop Waiting for Hardware to Die Before Replacing It! .........................................7 10. Replace All Of Your Computers, All At Once, Every Three Years:.......................7 11. Create a Firm Cookbook:.........................................................................................9 III. ETHICS ............................................................................................................................. 9 1. Use Illegal Software:................................................................................................9 2. Send A Document To A Client To Sign And Don’t PDF And Lock It:..............................................................................................................................9 3. Miss A Court Date Because The E-Mail Notice Was Trapped By Your Spam Filter: ....................................................................................................9 4. Go To A Place On The Internet You Wouldn’t Like Mom (Or The Senior Partner) To Know About:.............................................................................9 5. Use The Auto-Complete Function With Abandon: ...............................................10 6. Use Weak Or Non-Existent Passwords: ................................................................10 7. Write In Anger:......................................................................................................10 8. Hit The “Send” Button Quickly:............................................................................10 9. Leave Your Computers On At Night:....................................................................10 10. Don’t Change The Defaults: ..................................................................................10 11. Put Client Data On An Unencrypted Thumb Drive:..............................................11 12. Put Client Data On An Unencrypted Laptop:........................................................11 13. Send an Email Containing Confidential Text or Attachments Without Encrypting It: ...........................................................................................11 14. Have Client Data On A Cell Phone That Doesn’t Require A Password: ...............................................................................................................11 15. Donate Your Old Computers To Charity (Or Otherwise Dispose Of Them) Without Wiping The Hard Drives:.............................................................11 16. Converse Via E-Mail With Your Client Using The Client’s Work E-Mail: ...................................................................................................................11 IV. FINANCE ........................................................................................................................ 12 1. Measure ROI Fanatically:......................................................................................12 2. Get Audited by Your CPA (Not the IRS):.............................................................12 3. It's Always The Person You Least Expect Who Steals From Your Business: ................................................................................................................12 4. Keep Electronic Discovery Costs Down: ..............................................................13 5. Understand RFPs: ..................................................................................................13 6. Pay Good Money For A Good Marketer: ..............................................................13 7. Save Money - Never Use Inkjet Printers: ..............................................................13 8. Increase Your Bottom Line - Make It Easy For Clients To Pay:...........................14 9. Get a Charitable Deduction for Old Hardware: .....................................................14 10. Consider Leasing Your Computers (and Other Technology):...............................14 11. E-Better-Billing: ....................................................................................................14 V. TECHNOLOGY ............................................................................................................. 15 1. The Ultimate Device Charger:...............................................................................15 2. Windows Vista Tips:..............................................................................................15 3. Your Keyboard and Mouse Is a Petrie Dish of Bacteria:.......................................16 4. Adobe Acrobat Resources for Legal Professionals: ..............................................16 5. Fax Machines Are So Yesterday! ..........................................................................16 6. Free Teleconferences: ............................................................................................16 7. Windows Shortcut Keys: .......................................................................................17 8. Wireless Phone Headsets:......................................................................................17 9. Explain Things to Your Client or the Jury with Pictures:......................................17 10. Visually Spread Out with Multiple Monitors: .......................................................17 11. Jott.com:.................................................................................................................18 12. Use Firefox and Its Top Add-Ons:.........................................................................18 13. Sharing Calendars over the Web: ..........................................................................18 14. How to Search For Old News Stories:...................................................................18 15. Determine If You're Vulnerable to Hackers: .........................................................19 16. Revolutionize the Way You Organize Information with MindManager:........................................................................................................19 17. Microsoft Office