Lawyers Gone Ethical

Scheduling software programs help you keep your appointments organized, but they can do so much more for your practice. From helping you set up networking meetings, to booking client calls, collecting payments for consultations, and requesting Google reviews, online scheduling software like Acuity can be a powerful tool for lawyers.

In this episode, I'm joined by Jess Birken, a non-profit attorney in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jess loves all things tech and all things Acuity. She shares her top tips for using online scheduling software in your law practice.

What We Discuss in This Episode:

• How can lawyers get over their intimidation of technology and embrace modern tools?
• Aside from scheduling meetings, what else can Acuity help lawyers do?
• Whether you enjoy networking or not, it's necessary. So how can you use Acuity to schedule networking meetings and simplify the process?
• Blocking off your calendar allows you to control your client meetings while maintaining a personal life
• From an ethics standpoint, communicating consistently with your clients through automation can reduce complaints
• Can a lawyer in any practice area benefit from using online scheduling tools?

Resources Mentioned:

Deep Work by Cal Newport

Jess's winning website – 10 Best Law Firm Websites of 2017

Zapier

Contact Information:

Jess's firm website

www.hackyourpractice.lawyer

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessbirken

Special gift for LGE listeners: www.hackyourpractice.lawyer/gift

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like:

Tom Martin's episode about lawyer chat bots

Jared Correia's episode about law practice auditing

Thank you for listening!

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode, please help me get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play, and be sure to share this podcast with a friend.

Be sure to connect with me and reach out with any questions/concerns:

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Email me at megan[at]zaviehlaw[dot]com

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice specific to your circumstances. If you need help with any legal matters, be sure to consult with an attorney regarding your specific needs.

In this episode, I get a little bit more personal and share my candid thoughts about why the legal profession is ripe for legal ethics reform, and more importantly, why that's not a scary proposition.

There are many forward-thinking legal practitioners and legal tech experts who are in favor of a large scale reform of the ethics rules but naturally, there are many others who are against any such changes. Despite the consensus among the former that change is needed, there is still some contention as to how to approach this change. While some believe that a line-item review of each ethics rule is sufficient, others believe that an entire overhaul of the current rules is what's required.

Listen in to hear where I stand on this issue and my opinion on why reform is needed.

What I Discuss in this Episode:

• What the Data Driven Ethics project is
• Why many of the ethics rules are not based on data, but on perception
• How the ethics rules could not possibly keep up with the speed of social media
• Why tinkering with the individual rules in an attempt to update them will not suffice

Resources Mentioned:

APRL – Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers

Erin Gerstenzang's episode

Data Driven Ethics website

Eric Cooperstein's episode

Thank you for listening!

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode, please help me get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play, and be sure to share this podcast with a friend.

Be sure to connect with me and reach out with any questions/concerns:

Facebook

LinkedIn

Website

Email me at megan[at]zaviehlaw[dot]com

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice specific to your circumstances. If you need help with any legal matters, be sure to consult with an attorney regarding your specific needs.

The better your law practice is managed, the less likely you are to fall short on even basic ethics duties like competence, diligence, and communication. That's why audits of your law firm technology, marketing, and practice management are so important.

In this episode, I'm joined by Jared Correia, Founder and CEO of Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, which offers subscription-based law firm business management consulting and technology services for solo and small law firms.

What We Discuss in This Episode:

• Why workload overwhelm, not intentional misbehavior, is what often causes lawyers to run into ethics trouble
• What you can learn from examples of lawyers who, either through their own actions or not, experienced disasters that affected their abilities to conduct their legal work
• When it comes to technology, marketing, and management practices, what exactly should you be doing?
• How you, as a law firm owner, can get your staff to provide input regarding office operations
• What types of technology should your firm employ in order to avoid ethics traps?
• When it comes to your firm's financials, what software should you use and what systems can you institute to improve performance?
• The ethics of marketing tools and channels

Resources Mentioned:

Massachusetts LOMAP

Productivity tools like email: Microsoft office or even better, Office 365

Accounting software: Quickbooks, Xero

Document cloud storage: Google Drive or One Drive

Scanner: Dropbox built in scanner or Scansnap

Contact Information:

Jared's website: www.redcavelegal.com

[email protected]

(617)398-7181

Thank you for listening!

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode, please help me get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play, and be sure to share this podcast with a friend.

Be sure to connect with me and reach out with any questions/concerns:

Facebook

LinkedIn

Website

Email me at megan[at]zaviehlaw[dot]com

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice specific to your circumstances. If you need help with any legal matters, be sure to consult with an attorney regarding your specific needs.

What are some proper billing practices that can help reduce the potential for bar complaints against you? In this episode, I share several best practices when it comes to billing clients for work performed.

What I Cover In this Episode:

• Make sure what's reflected in your retainer agreement is also reflected in your billing practices
• Bill early and bill often
• Why you should describe the work you're performing even if you're billing on a flat fee basis instead of hourly
• Reconcile your trust account at least once a month
• Should the bills you send out include some sort of update on the case?
• What method of client communication will increase their chances of receiving and opening their bills?
• Keep copies of the bills you send to the clients

Resources Mentioned

Episode 2

Thank you for listening!

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode, please help me get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play, and be sure to share this podcast with a friend.

Be sure to connect with me and reach out with any questions/concerns:

Facebook

LinkedIn

Website

Email me at megan[at]zaviehlaw[dot]com

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice specific to your circumstances. If you need help with any legal matters, be sure to consult with an attorney regarding your specific needs.

Technology is pulling lawyers and law practices into the modern age but how can you, as a lawyer and business owner, use technology to improve you practice management while remaining compliant with the ethics rules? Along with using technology, how can you apply project management concepts to improve your business?

I'm joined by John Grant, Founder of the Agile Attorney network. John works with lawyers and legal teams, acting as an outside COO to help them uncover new ways of practicing law.

What We Discuss in This Episode:

• Why lawyers seek to derive intrinsic value from their practices
• What the correlation is between the first five rules of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and project management?
• What project management is and how it's applied in a law firm setting
• The lean startup methodology, the minimum viable product and how lawyers can apply this concept while writing briefs
• What ethics rules lawyers must be aware of when they're applying project management methodologies
• Can certain project management methods improve client-attorney relationships?
• Can you effectively and competently represent a client when applying lean methodology?
• How value is determined and measured
• How your law practice processes evolve the more you test procedures and listen to your clients
• Should you utilize a quality control checklist when you're drafting motions or conducting research and if so, what should be included on the list?

Resources Mentioned:

** UPDATED MARCH 2019 – John Grant's Agile Productivity for Legal Professionals course is now available at https://agile.legal/p/agile-productivity-for-legal/?product_id=1062770.

Drive by Daniel Pink

ABA Rules of Professional Conduct Rules 1.1-1.5

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value by David Graeber

Billie Tarascio - The Lawyerist Podcast interview

Oregon State Bar PLF (Professional Liability Fund)

Kaizan

John's webinar

Contact Information

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jegrant3

www.agileattorney.com

Thank you for listening!

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode, please help me get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play, and be sure to share this podcast with a friend.

Be sure to connect with me and reach out with any questions/concerns:

Facebook

LinkedIn

Website

Email me at megan[at]zaviehlaw[dot]com

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice specific to your circumstances. If you need help with any legal matters, be sure to consult with an attorney regarding your specific needs.