We are now in a digital law practice era where there are rapid technological advances which can be overwhelming for many. There are new products that are released everyday, on top of the information that follows. Whether you stay up on the latest news sources or testing new products, you may think you are never going to cover it all.

You will not.

No one can.

And let us start by reassuring you. It is alright.

It is so easy to become lost in the vast world of information and products that we often forget what is truly best for us and our team. Once we see or hear something new that worked for someone else, we want to run with it. We want it to work immediately, and easily.

Often, we launch this new idea with no forethought. There is no time for discussion, second opinions, or taking a moment to consider if it is right for the practice. Of course, there is nothing wrong with getting recommendations from others. There is nothing wrong with “throwing something up” but, you know as well as we do, this strategy can be fraught with challenges. Just because the process or software or shiny new distraction was a success story for one firm, does not mean it will be a success story for all.

We can learn from others while also taking into consideration that it is going to most likely be a different journey. Keep an open mind about differing opinions, whether they are from referrals, colleagues, or clients. You will find as you listen that many will think one product or service may be significantly better than another. Take the time to think about the key question that drives our law practices:

What do you need and what do you not need from a product or service you are considering?

This will then allow you to narrow down exactly what you are looking for in a new digital law practice era where almost anything is attainable.

Here at Practice42, we can help you find the bottlenecks in your practice areas, find processes that are right for you, and attain goals you thought were not possible. So, while there are many considerations to think about, you do not have to do it alone! Let us help! Call us at 850-933-5072 or fill out our contact us form to schedule a complimentary Strategy Session.

Do you know your ABCs? Not the ones you learned in grade school, but the ones surrounding cybersecurity that can protect your practice. Ready to relearn them? Let’s begin!

Always read, learn, and understand what is required of you in your cybersecurity insurance policy. Many lawyers today still do not read the fine print when it comes to the legal insurance policies. Do not forget to read the fine print of your cybersecurity insurance policy to learn what you need to do to ensure it works.

Bar rules related to cybersecurity and cyber ethics matter. Know your bar rules.

Cybersecurity defined: “Cybersecurity is the measures taken to protect a computer or computer system (as on the Internet) against unauthorized access or attack.” (Merriam-Webster)

Data ethics and your firm. Train your team to understand data ethics. The information you hold is a person, and how would they want their mother treated? Further, data collection policies should reflect the data you actually need, not what you don’t. Consider all data you collect subject to vulnerability and at risk of being stolen. Do you still want it?

Email is always a risk. Create team trainings to help your team understand what the risks are and teach them how to protect the firm. If you need help, hire a professional for the trainings.

Fire drills can help! Do not wait for a problem to know your setup works. Act as if there has been an attack on your practice and bring in your team and your IT professional to learn where the vulnerabilities are.

Get the help you need. We are lawyers. This is not easy. Hire a paid professional, learn what you need to protect yourself, and stay vigilant.

Hire the help you need. Whether it is an employee, a contractor, or a company you want to outsource to, identify and hire who you need in your practice. Do not wait for a crisis to happen.

Install back up and redundant servers and file protections. Test them. Make sure they work.

Just do it. This is an overused phrase, I know. But many of us need that additional push out the door to make a difference in our practices, consider this yours.

Keep an eye out for weird things. Slow computers, zombie computers, misspelled words, unusual file extensions, talking computers…if you start to see this, call your IT professional.

Logins, passwords, and access codes are vulnerabilities. Protect them the best you can. Follow industry best practices, such as sentence structure or a password company, to best protect your access to important information.

Maintain a strong relationship with a local IT professional. Period.

Never leave devices unattended or unsupervised or password unprotected. Threats and breaches occur even in the safest ecosystem. Do not open the door to potentially dangerous activity. Have a cleaning staff in your building? Lock down your devices at night. Meeting with clients in a conference room? Lock down your devices before you leave the room.  

Opening attachments should always be an action of LAST RESORT. Find a different way to share data. Train your employees and yourself to never open attachments. That is one of the easiest ways for a cybercriminal to attack you.

Partner with your clients. Cybersecurity breaches are not a matter of IF, they are a matter of WHEN. Tell your clients of the risk. Explain it to them. Ask them to acknowledge it and agree to it. The ones who want to work with you will work with you regardless. 

Quietness is not a virtue when it comes to cybercrimes. If you see something, say something. If you even barely suspect something, speak up and get help.

Read, read, read. Read, learn, and understand what is required of you in your cybersecurity insurance policy. Many lawyers today still do not read the fine print when it comes to legal insurance policies. Do not forget to read the fine print of your cybersecurity insurance policy to learn what you need to do to ensure it works.

Safeguard protected and private data. Take measures to protect the data you use in your law firm. You have some of the most vital data for each of your clients. Be careful to protect it thoroughly.

Train your team. As with every area of your practice, your team will not know how to best protect you and cannot be its most productive if you do not train them. Make the commitment.

Up to date software is a MUST HAVE. Only get your updates from trusted sources.

VPNs are your best friend. You need a VPN on all your devices. It is an easy layer of security to add. This is especially important if you work on a device that may not be in your ecosystem such as unsecure hotel Wi-Fi at conferences. Wi-Fi networks should never be unsecured. It may be “just general lobby Wi-Fi” but there is no such thing. Access to your Wi-Fi is access to your Wi-Fi, no matter what label you put on it.

Xenolalia may seem farther away than it actually is. The more you train yourself on the tech you need the more natural it will become for you, and you will find yourself speaking the foreign language of technology before you know it.

You. This all starts with you. You could make the commitment to do whatever you need to do to succeed in this area, or not. It is up to you. It is your practice.

Zero regrets. When you are the victim of a cyber attack, that is where you want to be. Do not waste time. Get started. Learn what you need to do. Get help. Choose to make smart answers to tough questions. After all, it is your practice, protect it.

We understand that you may have questions, serious questions, when it comes to cyber security, employment practices related to cyber security, and how to best protect yourself, your practice, and your clients. We are here to help. We build successful law practices nationwide. Do not wait to schedule a free 30 minute strategy session so we can discuss how to best support you in your practice.

Have you considered starting your own practice? The pull towards being your own boss, making the decisions on how the firm is run, and being able to decide which cases you take on can be strong and can, some days more than others, be extremely appealing. It is, however, an endeavor that you should thoughtfully consider. 

Are you ready to take the plunge and open your own practice? We help so many attorneys who are in your exact same boat, let us help. In our blog here we want to review some questions to ask yourself first.

1. What are your goals? Having a clear vision of your goals will serve you well in this undertaking. These will act as guideposts for all of the major and minor decisions you will make as you establish your practice. Why are you starting your own practice? How will your firm be different from others? Set your sights on your business mission and development. Do you have a specific vision for it? This can be essential to setting up your firm for success.

2. Are you financially ready? Dreaming is free, but opening a firm costs money. Before you can make those dreams of having your own firm come true, you need to make sure you have your finances in order. 

First, how are you going to fund the startup costs associated with setting up your practice? Lay out the expenses you are going to need to cover up front. This may include insurances, fees, office space, office furniture, support staff, marketing costs, and more. Get a clear idea of what it is going to cost you to open up your firm, how much you will need as a cushion prior to your firm generating revenue, and how you are going to cover these costs.

Second, what do you need to live on and support yourself. We see too many attorneys, new and established, forget to pay themselves. We do not want you to be one of those attorneys. Even if your salary goals are small to start, such as just covering your mortgage payment, it is important to create the healthy habit of paying yourself in your monthly overhead.

3. Do you have the support you need? A supportive team can be critical in establishing your own firm, but not always tied to those physically in your firm. Although you may want to hire first, you may need a guide first. Especially when you are a DIY-er. 

Surround yourself with those that are going to coach you, support you, and guide you through the exciting, but overwhelming process of opening your own practice. Do you have a mentor? Do you have a strategic performance coach? Having someone who has gone through establishing a law practice, as well as someone you can bounce ideas off of as you go through the process yourself, can provide you with guidance and an overall feeling of confidence as you make important decisions. 

You do not and should not go this alone. Get the support you need to make your practice the success you want it to be.

At Practice42, we help set law firms up for success. From working with you to get a clear vision of your goals to providing support and mentorship, we can help guide you through the process of not just setting up your own firm, but setting it up to thrive. We encourage you to schedule a free Strategy Session with our team to find out more about what we can do for you.

When the entrepreneurial spirit is high, you may find yourself bursting at the seams to open your own law practice. It is an exciting time, but not the time to move forward without taking care of many important tasks first. Trust us, we know. We build successful law practices, and while we know the journey is different for every attorney, there are steps we can take to ensure long-term success.

As you move closer and closer to opening your business, be mindful of these 7 tips you should make sure that you address first:

1. Do your research. Before opening your law practice, know the industry first. This means knowing your market. Being aware of your competitors and what will set you apart from them. Be thorough in your demographic study as a part of this investigation to know what playing field you are getting into.

2. Know your audience. Do you have a clear picture of your target demographic? Can you describe your Client Avatar for your Practice Areas? Who will be needing your services? How will you help? Having answers to these questions can be essential to many aspects of your business, marketing efforts included. Defining your market means that you can better zero in on who you need to reach and retain for your client or customer base.

3. Set your mission and make it strong. Have you developed a mission statement for your law practice? You may have thought about it, but putting it down into writing, into something concrete can be beneficial to helping ensure you have your guiding principles in order. Your mission statement will be your guidepost. It will be the touchstone you can always go back to whenever you are faced with an important decision, and you will be faced with many.

4. Detail your finances. How clear are you on your financial situation? The more detailed you are about your finances, the better. Be scrupulous in your outline of startup costs, as well as how you plan to cover them. Nothing can tank a new firm like failure to plan for costs, both expected and unexpected.

5. Make a business plan. Much like your mission, you may have thought about how your law practice will be structured, managed, and run. Now is the time to put it all in writing. Outline the steps you will need to take to get your business off the ground. How will you foster consistent and sustainable growth? Include your mission statement and what services your firm will provide in your business plan, as well as the industry and market research you have conducted. Your plan should also detail your financials and your financial goals.

6. Get a mentor. When questions and concerns arise, do you have someone you can turn to for advice or just someone to act as a sounding board? Find a mentor, a professional coach, and ideally, one who is a lawyer and knows the challenges you are facing. This person can provide you with more support than you may initially anticipate.

Especially as your success grows, it can be lonely at the top and when you own your own law practice. Shifting into a focused training path with a performance coach can be a real game changer to know that you have someone to turn to for advice when you need it.

7. Assemble your team and support staff. Who is going to help your law practice run successfully? Determine the support and management roles you need in your firm and find the individuals who will uphold their respective responsibilities accordingly. Granted, this may be easier said than done, but it is nonetheless an important part of starting a business out on the right foot.

We know this can be overwhelming. We encourage you to schedule a free 30 Minute Strategy session with the team at Practice42 about how we can help you succeed in your business endeavors. Our comprehensive approach to building law practices that last, includes professional coaching and so much more.

Time and again you have put your best foot forward.

You have tried to make things work.

But, despite your best efforts, your senior partner continues to plague your professional life in an unrelenting and inescapable way.

We know you may feel hopeless. You may feel desperate. We want to tell you that you are not alone. We work with so many attorneys who have been in similar situations to what you are facing right now.

The truth is there is an exit strategy to take and, let’s be honest, it can be developed over the span of your lunch hour. Open your own practice! Think about the flexibility that can come with being your own boss. Appealing, right?

Let’s dive into how you can use your lunch hour (or late tonight if your senior partner does not give you lunch) to take your career to the next level as you set forth how you are going to open your own firm. Let’s discuss a few things you will need to consider:

• Why? What is motivating you to do this? Why do you want to leave? Your “why” is going to tether you to this move. Especially when things get hard.
• Choose your practice area. Will you be practicing in an area you currently practice in or have done so in the past? Will your firm focus in on a niche area of the law or be broader in scope?
• Name your practice. Finding a name for your firm is so much more than what will appear on your business cards. It requires a decision on big business choices such as what your business structure will be. Are you going to set out as a solo? Set up shop as a professional corporation? Finding your name will involve these kinds of decisions as well.
• Set out your business plan. Think about what you want your firm to accomplish and the areas in which you will provide services. What will be different about your firm? This is also a good place to outline your financials. What financial resources are available to you or will you seek out? What startup costs will you incur? How will you generate revenue and how will you bill your clients?

As you lament your senior partner woes and dream of opening your own firm, we encourage you to schedule a free 30 minute Strategy Session with the team at Practice42. We help build successful law practices. Talk to us about how we can help you on your journey to a brighter future in the law!

Research tells us the average person spends over four hours on the phone every day. When it comes to using a smartphone, many of our clients let us know that they have serious concerns about security. Therefore, we would ask, how long do you spend on your phone? More importantly, if you are spending most of your time on your iPhone, how secure is it?

Do you have the new iPhone X? Have you installed the iOS 11 update? We encourage you to consider making security a priority. You may want to take a few minutes today to clean through your security settings to ensure your device is as safe as you can make it.

Ready to learn more about security on this device? Check out our seven tips to maximize the privacy on your iPhone today!

1. Update your apps. Many of us have a tendency to ignore the number that overlays the top right of our App Store app. This is a notification to let you know it is time to update your phone! Take a minute to actually update all of your apps that have alerts. These updates can fix any bugs within the apps, as well as, update any Security settings.

2. Take advantage of the privacy feature. Whether you have an iPhone X or only the iOS 11 update, you can now have access to a privacy tab that shows you what permission you have given to each one of the apps on your phone. As you search through your Privacy settings, be sure to ask yourself which apps should have access to what. Considerations can include access to things such as your Location, Photos, Microphone, and more.

Further, look for the Analytics and Advertising tab located at the bottom of your privacy settings screen. Within the Analytics tab you can decide if you would like to allow Apple to gather your data. Turning off this feature means you may no longer receive targeted ads that follow your interests.

3. Unlock your phone the hard way. While using facial ID and thumbprint can make unlocking your iPhone a lot easier, it is not your safest option. Your safest option may be to have a passcode on your phone and only use the passcode to unlock your device. You may disable your fingerprint and Face ID in your Settings app.

4. Take advantage of your emergency lock. If you find yourself in a situation where you do not want someone to have access to your phone or someone attempts to take it, tap your power button to lock your phone. Your phone should be locked until you enter in your password.

5. Turn on your emergency SOS features. Go into your Settings app and select Emergency SOS. You can add in emergency contacts that can be contacted upon an emergency. You may also turn on the “auto call” feature which will dial 911 upon using the SOS feature.

To use the SOS feature, press the Sleep button five times rapidly. This can trigger the Emergency SOS feature which sends a message and reaches out to your Emergency contacts, as well as 911, if you have auto call turned on.

6. Turn off your messaging previews. You may go into your notification settings and turn off your iMessage preview to ensure that your messages are kept private. You may also set an expiration on when you would like your messages to be deleted rather than saving all of your messages in your phone forever, unless you want to.

7. Take advantage of Safari’s safety features. The browser Safari gives you different options to help boost your privacy on your phone. Go into Safari in your Settings app and access these settings which include blocking cookies, fraudulent website warnings, and more! Next time you are in your Safari app, take a second to clear your website data and history.

Through investing a few minutes into organizing your data and privacy on your iPhone, you can improve your safety within your device. Consider making these changes sooner rather than later. Does this article raise more questions than it answers? Do not wait to ask us your questions!

Are you one of the many people who want to learn how to use Adobe in their law practice management, but just don’t know how? The numerous features that Adobe has makes it very appealing to the customer, but it also makes it a complicated tool to learn quickly. Teaching yourself and your law practice Adobe without any assistance can be a daunting (see multi-hour) task. The good news? There are a great quantity of resources, support and community forums out there for you to get the most out of Adobe, even from the company itself on the Adobe Support website.

Looking for law practice management enhancements to add? Adobe offers multiple products; InDesign for design work, PhotoShop for your photos, and Document Cloud (DC) for your workflow, just to name a few. You can license one or multiple products in your office. Specifically in this article, we are discussing getting started and the use of Adobe DC.

Here are our 9 Law Practice Management Best Practice Tips to help you gain a better understanding of how to use Adobe and its most versatile tools.

1. Take time to learn. Accept the fact that learning how to effortlessly use Adobe will not happen overnight!  Any new skill takes practice, and the same is true for using Adobe. It will take several times to learn each tool and master it correctly. Be prepared that the product may update as well, requiring a realignment on your end when that happens.

2. Break the learning into pieces. All of the Adobe products have feature after feature after feature, all layered on top of each other. This is excellent news for your office efficiency and productivity but can be a hard learning curve initially. Instead of tackling the whole software at one time, create miniature goals for yourself. Make a list of the key features that drew you to the program and decide which one you want to add each week. Set aside an hour or two each week to work with the software until you are comfortable using it every day.

3. Learn the integration from Microsoft Word to Adobe Pro. For professional offices, being able to save a word processing document into a PDF is essential. It is also important to be able to take a document out of PDF format and into a word processing format. Keep in mind, word processing isn’t the only Adobe exporting feature. You can also export to picture files, Excel and other file types you need in your office. To start, make sure both software programs on your computer recognize each other and then try the functionality out.

4. Don’t forget security.  You may not want to send or use an unsecure PDF. Adobe DC has security functions that allow you to set password, control user access and lock the original PDF. Using the Publishing Sensitive Information feature is a tool you want to become familiar with and then decide how you and your team will use it in your office.

5. Learn to create a document ready for e-signature. One of the best features of Adobe DC is the ability to create a document that is ready to sign. After you have exported your document from your word processor into Adobe, you can use Adobe Sign to prepare it for signature. Adobe intuitively fills in the signature boxes for you within the tool.

6. Master the Pen Tool. The Pen Tool allows you to create many different designs and graphics but for attorneys you can also use it to write, comment and highlight important parts of an Adobe document. This multi-purpose tool is a good one to learn from the start.

7. You can edit PDFs in Adobe as well. (This is a different part of Adobe, it is called Acrobat DC) Through Adobe you can add text boxes, remove language you do not want and edit text within your PDF. This can make your PDFs more useful and comprehensive in your practice. Learn more by clicking this link.

8. Learn to save your documents. One of the most fundamental parts of using Adobe is knowing how to save your documents. After all, you don’t want to spend hours of time just to find out it saved to your computer incorrectly and is unable to be viewed. When saving your document, you need to make sure you save it as the correct file type. For example, you do not want to save a .doc as a .pdf. Make sure you pay attention to these details and train your team.

9. Use it anywhere! Gone are the days when you or your employees need to be tethered to a desk. Adobe DC can be used across multiple-devices including tablets and smartphones. Decide how this feature can best support your practice and train your team. When using a tool like this, don’t forget to address device security in your technology procedures manual.

There are so many resources and tutorials out there for beginners using Adobe. If you don’t master something within the first week, keep trying and push yourself, and you will succeed. Remember, at the end of the day, you hold the keys to your own success! Need helping getting started? Give us a call at 850-933-5072 or email us at yourpractice@practice42.com.

Building strong business communication in your professional relationships may seem daunting.  Once you start thinking about the time investment on your part, you may find yourself caught in engagement paralysis instead of finding motivation to take action. Here are 4 quick steps to take for better communication practices.

1. Maintain current contact information

Contact information routinely changes.  Your contacts may change jobs, get a new position, change to a new office space, or acquire a new telephone number.  You need to be actively seeking this information because the business professional you want to work with may not have had the time to notify you yet.  Checking in once a quarter to make sure all your contact information is current is key in maintaining good relationships. Simultaneously, it is essential to send a quick note when you discover any new contact information.

2. Schedule event based communication

Event based communication is one of the easiest ways to communicate in your professional relationships.  Birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays are easy ways to connect.  You can also make a more personal connection by learning more about your connections and interacting during events that matter to them, such as Veterans Day or Grandparent’s Day.

3. Talk to other attorneys in your community

You may not want to spend time interacting at professional meetings, but the reason for making these connections is clear.  You get business from other lawyers.  There are two types of lawyers you’re interacting with at these functions – the ones who don’t do what you do and the ones who do.  You need to be meeting and stay top of mind with the attorneys who need you as a go-to referral when they’re contacted by someone who needs your services.  Don’t disregard the fact that attorneys in your practice area need you too.  They will have times when they can’t or don’t want to take a case and need someone they trust to refer the case to.

4. Plan to mass engage (and add a personal touch)

Not every communication you make has to be one-on-one.  You can still make an impact when you’re meeting multiple business professionals at an event.  The key here is to make contact at the event and to follow up after.  A quick note post-meeting is a great way to let the person know you enjoyed seeing them and to make a large scale environment personal.

What steps do you take in your business?  What do you find are the best ways to motivate yourself to action and stay up-to-date?  No matter what you do, get and stay involved with your business network.  Use these 4 quick steps to enhance your communication practices and continue to grow your reach this year.