October’s Best of the Best Blog Posts

• Recovering from an Error in an App Update (Microsoft Word, Excel) from iPhone J.D.
• Set an Out-of-Office Reply for Better Client Communication from the Chicago Bar Association
• Create a Digital Signature Stamp to Easily and Conveniently E-sign PDFs from PaperlessChase.com
• For more tips, check out Reba’s Tips of the Week

• Keeping The Note 4 — Popular Choice from Future Lawyer
• ModioLegal: Now With Audio from LawSites
• Android App Review: Dictadroid from the Droid Lawyer
• Verizon Ellipsis — 4G LTE On A Budget from Future Lawyer
• Cloud-Based Practice Management: A Comparative Review from the Droid Lawyer
• Adobe Acrobat DC Adds Dropbox Integration from LawSites

podcast with Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell, Legal Talk Network
The 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey and the 2015 ABA Legal Technology Survey results are in! These surveys highlight the interest of IT professionals and lawyers in current technology. Listeners can use these results to analyze where they stand when it comes to technological proficiency and what competitors might be focusing on. Paying attention to trends in mobile, security, records and document management, social media, and the cloud could benefit solo and biglaw lawyers alike. Read more.

Nerino Petro, Compujurist
One of the easiest ways to start automating document creation is to use the tools already included in the programs or platform we use daily. Read more.

podcast with Adriana Linares and Andrew Legrand, Legal Talk Network
Automation is a wonderful tool created by technology to make the lives of lawyers (particularly solos) easier. Many are intimidated to approach this potentially massive change in their practice, but it’s actually quite easy and inexpensive when you start small, and you will begin to save time immediately. How, you ask? Read more.

podcast with Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell, Legal Talk Network
The 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey and the 2015 ABA Legal Technology Survey results are in! These surveys highlight the interest of IT professionals and lawyers in current technology. Listeners can use these results to analyze where they stand when it comes to technological proficiency and what competitors might be focusing on. Paying attention to trends in mobile, security, records and document management, social media, and the cloud could benefit solo and biglaw lawyers alike. Read more.

Gyi Tsakalakis, Attorney Sync
What is integrated legal marketing? Most lawyers know that referrals are among the best sources of new business. On the other hand, most don’t recognize the interplay between referrals, social media and search. Read more.

Jonathan R. Tung, FindLaw
Like it or not, businesses live and die by Google’s search engine algorithms. If you don’t show up online, you’re dead. Google’s recent Pigeon update is, ostensibly, an attempt to give local businesses a boost. Here are tips on how to make the most of Google’s latest algorithms. Read more.

Melanie Fischer, Solo in Colo
If you are a new solo attorney, or if you are thinking about hanging your shingle, you might be concerned about how and where you will find your initial clients. Just about every new solo attorney thinks about this issue. Building a book of legal clients from scratch is not always an easy task. Read more.

Lee Rosen, Divorce Discourse
The lawyer wrote to me complaining about the “no-shows” for initial consultations. Not only do these people fail to show up, but they also don’t even call to cancel. It’s annoying to get your desk cleared off and ready for a consult and have the prospective client fail to show up. It’s worse than annoying. And it’s worse than just cleaning up his desk. Read more.

podcast with Christopher Anderson and Michael Carroll, Legal Talk Network
Many lawyers see legal malpractice insurance as a necessary cost incurred being a member of bar associations. But insurance is very important in the business of solos and small firms as it can greatly affect what happens after a catastrophic event. Every business owner can benefit from knowing how to custom create insurance plans for themselves, rather than accepting a cookie-cutter solution. Like with anything you buy, there are tips and tricks to getting a better overall deal. Read more.

Melanie Fischer, Solo in Colo
If you are thinking about opening a solo law firm, you probably have some preconceived ideas about how the process is going to work. When it comes to starting your own law practice, there are absolutely certain tasks that you must accomplish before you can open your door to clients. But starting a solo law firm is not necessarily a cookie-cutter undertaking. You will undoubtedly go through trials and errors before you determine what works and what doesn’t. Read more.

Wes Walker, MassLOMAP
The traditional law office has been with us at least since Berytus began cranking out scholars of Roman law circa 250 AD. For nearly two thousand years, the choice was relatively simple for newly-minted attorneys, who didn’t join an existing law firm: locate a traditional, physical lease. Since at least the early 1990s, as enabled by tremendous technological advances, the number and variety of office choices for attorneys has exploded. Some of the more common types of office arrangements are as follows… Read more.