In today’s fast-paced legal environment, lawyers must be adept at using basic office software, Microsoft 365, browsers, and their operating system. This ability is essential for maintaining competency, efficiency, and productivity, which are critical for effectively serving clients. Lawyers who do not understand and master how to use critical business tools like operating systems, office application suites, and browsers will…
If your firm is paying for the Microsoft 365 subscription product but only using the standard applications like Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint you are missing out! Explore client facing tools that can help you communicate, collaborate, and interact with clients, outside counsel, and others outside of your firm or organization. Your subscription comes with products like Forms, Bookings, Stream, Sway,…
Every week subscribers receive the ICYMI enewsletter from the NCBA Center for Practice Management. The newsletter highlights tips, tools, trends, and techniques to help your law practice. The following are a few popular links from the past issues of the newsletter. My 40 Most-Read Blog Posts This Year Tell a Story of a Legal Industry Consumed with Generative AI (1/5/2024) Generative AI…
You may have heard someone refer to your “tech stack” in your law office or legal department. In software development a tech stack is the set of technologies used to develop an application. However, the phrase has taken on a wider meaning, describing, and defining what technology tools you use in your office. Why document your tech stack? It will…
Lawyers take notes. Lots of notes. Client notes, research notes, brainstorming, checklists, ideas, reminders and the list goes on. Taking notes on paper is comfortable and efficient, but extremely limited. Handwritten notes on paper cannot be searched or repurposed. They are difficult to share or use for collaboration. Paper notebooks begin to proliferate like bunnies. In our multimedia world paper…
Microsoft Word is a powerful word processing application, but it can also frustrate users because of formatting issues and re-keying information. Learning a few tips can save you lots of time. Following are a few secret – and simple – weapons to make dealing with a Word document easier. Magic Eraser In Microsoft Word 2007 and up you can easily…
Every week subscribers receive the ICYMI enewsletter from the NCBA Center for Practice Management. The newsletter highlights tips, tools, trends, and techniques to help your law practice. The following are a few popular links from the past issues of the newsletter. Google Is Rolling Out Passkeys, the Password-Killing Tech, to All Accounts 5/5 The promise of the FIDO standard was the eventual…
When you collect information from your clients you can automatically insert it into a document! You just have to have the right tools and know how. For instance, if you are creating an estate plan you can take information gathered via an intake form for decendants, property addresses, etc. and insert it – without retyping it – into a document….
No matter how often you write there is always room for improvement. Correct word choice, sentence structure, and impeccable grammar are requirements. Structure, flow, meaning, and intent are vital to cognition. Your writing should be clear and unambiguous. There are tips and tools to help you write more effectively. Writing for the Reader A recent MIT study examined why legal…
Lawyers write every day. Yet how you express yourself in writing is as important as what you say. Many clients are under duress and need to “hear” the tone of your words when they read. Remember, when working with consumer clients, the average reading level of the U.S. population is 9th grade. Readability is of utmost importance. Several applications can…