Next Wednesday, April 23, 2014, is Administrative Professionals Day – mark your calendars. Yes, you’re busy running your firm, managing a case load and rainmaking – but you need to make time for this day. You’ve been warned. No, you don’t need to spend a ton of cash, it’s the thought that counts (a little), but you probably do need to open up that wallet. Here are a few tips to figure out who to gift, and what to gift....
Users who have automatic updating turned on will not need to take any action because the security patch will be installed for them. Here’s is how to make sure you have automatic updating turned on. Please note that you will need administrator permissions. The updating is scheduled (not immediate), so Internet Explorer will not be safe to use until your system updates itself. How to Set Up Automatic Updating (Windows 7) Click the Start button Click on Control Panel Click on Windows Update Click on Change settings Under “Important updates” choose “Install updates automatically (recommended)” How to Set Up Automatic Updating (Windows 8) Go to Search (swipe from the right edge of your screen and tap Search or move your mouse to the lower-right corner of your screen and click Search) Type Windows Update in the search box Click Setting Click Turn automatic updating on or off In Windows Update, choose on Microsoft has also taken the unusual step of creating a security update for Window XP, even though it officially stopped creating updates for that operating system on April 8....
K&L Gates, a large international law firm, is going where few law firms have gone before: blockchain. The firm is developing its own blockchain for smart contracts and other applications. The technology, a virtual chain of authentication, also underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. “By investing in this technology that is expected to significantly impact the practice of law, K&L Gates is committed to finding practical and timely solutions that benefit both our clients and the firm,” said James Segerdahl, the firm’s global managing partner....
The legal community now has its own platform for sharing anonymous data on cybersecurity threats. The forum, the Legal Services Information Sharing and Analysis Organization, launched this Wednesday and should help the legal industry collaborate on and avoid security threats. As we are fond of reminding our readers, cybersecurity threats are a major issue, threatening everyone from adulterers to government workers to adulterous government lawyers. Law firms are no exception. Eighty out of the 100 largest U....
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is in court this month. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, among others, is hearing the case against Obamacare. But while many people are talking about it, not all understand the exact debate before the courts. The Obamacare issue, at least as presented before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, is much deeper than a right or wrong, blue or red issue. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA, was passed by Congress on March 21, 2001 and signed into law on March 23, 2010....
The Satanic Temple, a nontheistic religious and activist group, has sued Netflix over the use of the Baphomet statue in the “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.” If you don’t know Sabrina, she’s an adolescent who wrestles with her half-witch, half-human nature. So yeah, she’s a teenager. Baphomet is a medieval deity with a human body and a goat’s head; that would be Satan. The lawsuit is about copyright and trademark infringement, which of course means hell....
It’s natural for ambitious people to want to do everything themselves. However, be warned that control freaks will not expand because they will eventually get bogged down in administrative issues. Remember, you’re a lawyer, not an administrator. Fortunately, there are a number of third-person options available to today’s modern lawyer. Consider getting the proper help so you can help yourself get back to the practice of law. Meet the Players In the old days, you had your paralegals, secretaries, and legal assistants....
A new startup, StayTuned Digital, promises to be the “best friend” of video content creators. This is because the company offers this emerging market of small-to-big business creators the ability to publish online videos on multiple platforms at the same time, while also allowing you to track all the relevant metrics in one place. So if your law firm is making YouTubes and Facebook videos, or posting short videos on Twitter, or some other social media video platform, you might want to consider taking a closer look at this new service....
WhyIn a time when internal metrics are becoming a more popular way of measuring performance, an internal client survey is just one of many metrics that drive, and measure, the services the law department is performing. Ultimately, the law is a service profession and in order to do the best job, you need to know what your clients think of the service you are providing.WhoAll of the corporate law department’s internal clients – whether they be sales, finance or IT – should be polled to determine law department performance....
Should you ever turn away a client? What about a paying client? These are questions you have undoubtedly asked yourself before. As attorneys, we’re often told that it is our duty to represent even the most repugnant of people. We’re told that everyone should be entitled to some form of legal representation. This may be fundamentally true, but it’s also a bit unrealistic. In the following five situations, it’s often best for everyone if you decline the representation....
Chief Technological Officer. We don’t know about you, but at least to us, those three words carry no indication of a license to practice law. None whatsoever. But, the Texas Bar ethics committee thinks it does. It’s also banned titles like Chief Executive Officer, or really anything with the word “officer” in it, out of fear that it will confuse the townsfolk into mistaking them for practicing attorneys. It’s all part of the ban on nonlawyer ownership....
The value of a good or a service is a relative measure. That’s why “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” It’s why people troll eBay and Craigslist for used goods. It’s why the IRS reviews the declared value of in-kind donations. So who - other than the IRS - decides whether a thing has value? This week, the answer is the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled on Wednesday that organizing assistance can be a thing of value under the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA)....
We can hear you now: “What the hell is unstructured data?” Basically, it’s any data that’s not in a database. Think email, documents on a shared drive, social media, info on mobile devices – you know, just 90% of the data out in the universe according to IDC. Even scarier, according to IDC, unstructured data is growing at a rate of 50% per year. Yikes. Why should you care? You’re a hot shot attorney....
When it comes to general counsel in these modern times, where, for example, paw-ternity leave is actual a thing, the expectations are changing. For one, the legal industry has changed quite a bit over the last decade (or two) as the internet and email have become part of daily life for nearly everyone. And alongside those amazing time saving innovations, legal technology has flourished too. As such, for General Counsel in the modern era, there are two trends that might be worth embracing....
Mount Moran is one of the spectacular mountains among the Grand Tetons – perhaps the most beautiful peaks in the Western Hemisphere. It is distinctive because it cradles several glaciers and tiny lakes, and some are visible only from lower elevations. So what does Mount Moran have to do with strategic thinking? Well, you don’t have to be at the top of the mountain to have perspective. For in-house counsel, it means taking time to appreciate what you can see from your position....
Now that we’ve had the Consumer Electronics Show and Apple’s unveiling of the Apple Watch, the question becomes what you can or should buy with your tax refund dollars. Not every piece of technology is worth your time. Should you spend hundreds on a watch? Or a “learning” thermostat? Or a wireless light bulb? Probably not. Here are three gadgets that are actually worth buying. If you don’t have the benefit of a copy machine in your office that can also scan-to-email, you’re not really living, are you?...
Americans have a right to know how the federal government is collecting and using their social media information, according to a new lawsuit. In American Civil Liberties Union v. Department of Justice, the ACLU alleges law enforcement agencies are collecting massive amounts of data from social media users. The agencies include the Justice Department, Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It is a known fact that government agents monitor online communications....
You want to be the best boss you can be. Not only do you give your support staff a good wage and decent perks, you remember their birthdays, you promote an open office environment, you try not to make unreasonable demands. Well guess what? It doesn’t matter. According to a recent study, you can bring everyone flowers on their birthday or scream and shout at them instead and it won’t make much of a difference – at least in terms of employee retention....
Remember 2007? When foreclosure was king, and raising the debt ceiling, like going to the dentist, was one of those unpleasant tasks that you grudgingly faced every few years? Those times were followed by a collective realization that everyone would be happier if mortgage servicers could work out payment plans with defaulting borrowers to avoid kicking families out of their homes and into court. Of course, nothing is ever easy when mortgages are involved, and the workout deals ultimately generated loads of litigation for lawyers....
Mr. or Ms. Lawyer: what’s your number one concern for your data, including client files? It’s probably security. Or privacy. You’ll also want reliability, ease of use, and app availability. After all, if you’re going to use this service for professional purposes, it would be nice if your Apple-obsessed paralegal and your Android-obsessed self can access your files in harmony. And of course, you’ll want a reasonable price. Today, we learned about Bitcasa....
