New Solo

Guest Peggy Gruenke is an expert in the accounting management tools tailored to small law firms. Gruenke is the founder and co-owner of CPN Legal, helping small and solo firm lawyers manage and grow their business through legal software solutions and outsourced financial management and bookkeeping services.

Let’s talk about your firm’s finances and profitability: how are you keeping track of your business? Hear what’s new in automated accounting packages – but don’t give up on Quickbooks, and don’t cut ties with your bookkeeper.

Online accounting services are great. But they are not meant to replace a professional, especially as your firm grows. You’re not a bookkeeper, you’re a lawyer. But these tools do help with the basics of money management. The challenge is mixing and matching. 

Operational efficiencies and financial planning are part of running a successful firm. Don’t shortchange the importance of bookkeeping and managing your income, marketing ROI, expenses, and taxes. It’s vital you keep your finger on the pulse of your business, and there are tools and people who can help you. As Gruenke says, “Treat your business with respect.” 

Questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected]  

Topics:

Mentioned in This Episode:

Clio Cloud Conference 2025

Mycase

Clio Accounting

Clio Draft

Lawcus

Quickbooks

Previously on New Solo, “New From Clio: Legal Practice Management Including Legal Accounting”

Previously on New Solo, “Money Management 101 for Solo and Small Firm Professionals”

Previously on New Solo, “Oh, The Messes We See”

Clio Legal Trends Report

Chase Business credit cards

Capital One Business credit cards

ABA Techshow

Get the most out of today’s tech products that are specifically created to save you time on the mundane stuff so you can focus on getting results for your clients. Guest Ernie “The Attorney” Svenson’s biz tech consulting firm helps small and solo firms apply tech solutions without being overwhelmed and learn the “80/20 Rule,” getting more output with less input.  

When it comes to efficiencies, automation plays a big role. In a solo or small firm, resources come at a premium. Learn to reduce wasted input through standardized, repeatable operating procedures and automation. (There are even tech products that help you create written standard processes learning from and organizing the work you’re already doing). 

Imagine speaking into an app as you “brain dump” and having those thoughts come out organized and notated for later use. Imagine dictating legal work into an app and having AI organize your dictation, even correct it. You don’t need to type everything in today’s tech world. Maximize downtime.   

It’s all about training yourself to think “automation first.” Even when a virtual assistant (VA) located in another country can fill gaps in your practice, learn your preferences, match your brand, and help you be your most efficient you without hiring a full-tie employee. Today’s most successful law firms are high-tech hubs. Don’t let fear of the unknown hold you back. 

Questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected]  

Topics:

Mentioned in This Episode:

ABA Techshow

Loom

Zoom Clips

Otter.ai

Fireflies.ai

Letterly

Cleft 

Windows dictation

Text Expander 

“8 Great TextExpander Alternatives” 

FancyHands 

Lawclerk legal assistants

Perplexity.ai

Clio, the longtime, long-trusted software tech provider for lawyers, has plunged into the accounting game. Time and case management, billing, payments, and simply keeping track of your bottom line all take up time when you could be doing something else, like, you know, serving your clients’ needs. 

Now Clio has baked that accounting service directly into its practice management software package. 

Frankly, attorneys – especially new solo practitioners – may have been taught very little about running a business. Being a good lawyer is only part of the game. Lawyers also need to know how to manage money and accounting. That’s where software and money management programs can help, including tax prep, accounting for ongoing work in anticipation of payment, capital distributions, and handling funds your clients have entrusted you with.  

Hear why legal-specific accounting is so important (hint, legal accounting is not like any other accounting, and mistakes can truly hurt your practice). Plus, the top five features that must be part of any legal accounting platform. 

Questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected]  

Topics:

Mentioned in This Episode:

Clio 

Clio Accounting and Demo

2024 Legal Trends for Solo and Small Law Firms

New Solo, “Oh, The Messes We See” 

New Solo, “Money Management 101 for Solo and Small Firm Professionals” 

New Solo, “Winning The Battle: When It’s Time To ‘Modernize’ But There’s One Holdout” 

cpnLEGAL

Affinity Consulting

Joshua’s Previous Appearances on Legal Talk Network:

Guest Debbie Foster is the CEO at Affinity Consulting, delivering custom business strategies for legal teams. With her years of experience helping law firms modernize, she explains how to overcome internal roadblocks to modernizing. How do you recognize, and overcome, bottlenecks?

It comes down to how people, often unintentionally, keep firms from using the best available new tech. It can be anyone from top leadership to support staff. But by understanding the reluctance, you can win them over.  

The world of legal tech offers myriad solutions. True they cost money, but that should never hold a firm back if there’s ROI on the other side. Modernizing a firm’s tech can advance a firm, create efficiencies, and push the firm ahead. But fear of the unknown, and not understanding an investment’s potential, even if that’s coming from a single person, can hold everyone else back. 

Hear how “absolute clarity” and a laser focus on what your firm needs can clear those roadblocks by helping you explain exactly what solutions you need and how new tech will meet them. Fear and uncertainty are the enemy. Start with defining a problem, then educate everyone on how a solution will solve it and how you will support the adoption process.

Questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected]  

Topics:

Fear of the unknown is real. Fear of looking “dumb” in the face of a tech upgrade is real. Fear of overspending is real. Empathize. Educate. Elevate. Help those resisters feel empowered and excited. 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Ben Schorr, LinkedIn

Microsoft Designer

Microsoft Bookings

“Legal 3.Oh!” podcast archives

Affinity Consulting

“Pardon the Interruption: 2023 Edition,” Kennedy-Mighell Report

“Prioritizing Progress: Building a Roadmap for 2024, with Debbie Foster,” Lawyerist Podcast

Two friends of the podcast return for this episode of New Solo to talk all things legal tech and the latest in AI services for lawyers. Guests Renee Thompson and Liz McCausland are both accomplished mediators and solo practitioners who depend on tech to boost productivity and keep up with their busy lives.

AI is an emerging technology that is finding its way to more and more law offices. McCausland and Thompson served on a Florida Bar committee to draft an advisory opinion laying out ethical guidelines for the use of AI in legal practice.

With ethical guardrails published, what’s next? A best practices guide and clear definitions and examples of AI for legal services. Client consent, the impact on fees and confidentiality, and even how judges view the use of AI and informing the court that AI played a role in your presentation are all pieces of the puzzle.

It’s a brave new world. Where can attorneys new to AI find mentoring, what will clients and courts expect, and what about billing?

Plus, hear about the Florida Bar’s Solo & Small Firms Section and how other solo and small firms are incorporating legal technologies. It’s natural to feel overwhelmed, but if you take in all these new tools step-by-step, you’ll quickly find yourself up to speed and exploring new frontiers.

Questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected]   

Topics:

Mentioned in This Episode:

Florida Bar Ethics Opinion 24-1, Jan. 19, 2024

“Lawyer Cites Fake Cases Generated by ChatGPT in Legal Brief,” Legal Dive

Damien Riehl on LinkedIn

Jerry Bui on LinkedIn

InfoTrack

San Diego County Bar Association Member Benefits

Clio legal software

Smokeball AI

Noodle AI Assistant

vLex AI

Fastcase

Westlaw

LexisNexis AI

Miami Dade Public Defender Carlos J. Martinez

A new survey finds that clients care deeply about their attorney’s tech tools and tech skills. The numbers don’t lie: Legal tech matters. An efficient, integrated system is no longer “nice to have.” It’s table stakes, from case management to client communications to online filing and billing. 

As a lawyer, guest Dan Lear found himself gravitating to the field of legal tech, including stints at Microsoft and Avvo and now as vice president of partnerships at InfoTrack, helping software developers provide the tech today’s lawyers, and their clients, want. 

If you’re running your own firm, hear what clients say about their attorney’s tech skills and their expectations and how you can explore and implement the latest tools. 

And if you’re a law school graduate who has found you aren’t truly attracted to traditional legal work, hear about the fascinating opportunities for lawyers in the field of legal tech development and consulting.

Questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected]  

Topics:

Mentioned in This Episode:

InfoTrack Attorney Competence and the Client Experience

Previous episodes featuring guest Dan Lear, On the Road, “Legalweek 2024: The Future State of the Industry”

You’ve opened your firm, hung out the shingle, and taken the leap. Now that you’ve made it a year or two, what’s next? There’s no step-by-step guide for small and solo practitioners, but you can learn from those who established a solo practice and made it through the first few years and how they’re moving forward. Hear guest Joanne Martin’s story, how she learned to hire, add relevant tech, and build on her success. 

Martin is the founder, managing director, lawyer, and accredited mediator at Align Family Law, a boutique law practice based in Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Hear how she joined professional organizations, expanded her marketing, and drove her practice to the next step. 

As you grow, you can build a network of like-minded professionals, ask clients for a Google review, manage and improve your branding and website, and hire a pro when you need technical help (and even personal coaching). You’ll learn as you go, but you can also learn from others.

Once you get your feet under you, it can be tempting to be overly cautious with your emerging practice, but growth is essential. Spend the money when you need to, hire when the practice demands. Get better and bigger. 

Questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected]  

Topics:

Mentioned in This Episode:

Collaborative Family Separation Professionals

Legends Legal Marketing

AlignFamilyLaw.ca

Clio (Grow, Manage, Documents, and Payments)

Microsoft 365

DivorceMate

Adobe

Melissa Shanahan, Velocity Work coaching

Previous appearance, “A Second Career: Building a Solo Law Practice Later in Life” 

Previous episode, “Productivity Boost: Real Uses of AI in the Software You Already Have” 

Previous episode, “Google, Maps, And Business? This is YOUR Episode” 

Previous episode, “A Better AI, Built For Lawyers: Results You Can Finally Trust?”

In our previous episode, we talked about getting the most from the software you already pay for and use, especially those Microsoft tools. Now, we’re going deeper into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and how these tools help you be more productive and profitable. Don’t be scared, be ready. 

AI enhancements and tools are already incorporated into the latest versions of your current office software. Remember when some were wary of early word processors, later hard drives, and eventually cloud services and document sharing? We learned to overcome those fears and master the advances. AI is no different.

Look at your paid versions of Adobe Acrobat. If you have an online subscription, or the latest desktop version, you may already have an AI assistant. Learn to use it for contract and document review, document summaries, information consolidation for quick email distribution, and even reformatting. 

Zoom offers AI “note taking” and post-meeting summaries (even a takeaway “to do” list for each participant). So does Microsoft Teams. How about turning a Microsoft Word document into a PowerPoint? Hear how we learned to stop worrying and love the AI.

Questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected]  

Topics:

Resources:

Adobe Acrobat AI

Microsoft Copilot, “Announcing Microsoft Copilot, Your Everyday AI Companion”

Copilot for Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 AI Tools And Applications

Microsoft OneDrive

Zoom AI

PC Guide, “What Is ChatGPT And What Is It Used For?”  

Previously on New Solo, Adam Alexander, “AI And The Evolving Security Threats (And Protections)”

Is it time to review the tech tools you use every day? Are you getting the most out of your online services (or are you using the right ones?) 

A lot has changed in the way Microsoft tools interact with the world of legal tech in the past year or so. So, we’ve got a special episode on tech. A back-to-school session where host Adriana Linares offers some no nonsense tutoring to help you get the most out of your Microsoft subscriptions and tech and be more productive. 

Start with understanding your Microsoft account and the types of available add-ons and subscriptions. Take a deep dive into the types of Microsoft accounts: personal/family, work, and third-party accounts. Dig into available AI and how they apply to your business. And learn about security options, and why they are so important.

Got questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected]  

Topics:

Mentioned in this Episode

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 Pricing

Microsoft Office.com

Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft Defender

Microsoft Loop

Microsoft Copilot, “Announcing Microsoft Copilot, Your Everyday AI Companion”

Copilot for Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Copilot

Create a Gmail account

Create an Outlook email account

Google Workspace

Godaddy.com

Previously on New Solo, Adam Alexander, “AI And The Evolving Security Threats (And Protections)”

AI, artificial intelligence, is super cool. But it’s not perfect, and it can get you into trouble. Start by reading the terms of service. Understand if you’re getting something for free, you get what you pay for. And finally, be careful.

ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and all the new, exciting versions of artificial intelligence, AI, are exciting. But have you read the “terms of service?” Guest Daniel Whitehouse is a lawyer who practices in the areas of IT and digital security. He says even lawyers forget to read (really read) the terms. And that’s a mistake.

Do you know who owns the data you input? Is it being absorbed into the AI’s own machine learning and shared with the public? Broadcasting your information into the world, for everyone to see, can be as easy as a checkbox you clicked on.

Not to make you paranoid, but … be a bit paranoid. Even if you’re using Microsoft 365 and OneDrive, do you know if you’re using the professional or personal version (hint: there is a difference).

Got questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected] 

Topics:

Mentioned in this Episode:

Previous appearance on New Solo: “Did You Really Read Those Terms of Service?” 

Previous appearance on New Solo: “Data Security and Florida Breach Notification Law”

Bob Ambrogi, LawNext.Com

Damien Riehl, LinkedIn 

Carolyn Elefant, My Shingle 

Microsoft 365

Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft Copilot, “Announcing Microsoft Copilot, Your Everyday AI Companion”

Copilot for Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Copilot

Windows Security Center

Microsoft Defender XDR