Category «Communication Skills»

2020 in review: Legal software for working remotely

Attorney and legal technology expert Nicole L. Black has written throughout 2020 about cloud-based legal technology tools and their relevance to legal practices. Whether your law firm has already begun the shift to a cloud-based law practice or is planning to do so in the new year, you’ll undoubtedly find some or all of the software Black has covered over the past year to be useful. This article is a timely and actionable roundup of all of her articles on this topic from 2020.

Subjects: AI, Case Management, Communication Skills, Communications, Email Security, Legal Marketing, Legal Technology, Presentation Skills, Technology Trends

Looking on the Bright Side: Four Ways Zoom Makes Legal Research Instruction Better

As many of you have surely experienced this semester, teaching legal research virtually poses a number of challenges, but Matthew Flyntz found that it also provides a few benefits over traditional in-person instruction. In a world of negativity, Flyntz looks on the bright side and focus on those positives in this article.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Continuing Legal Education, KM, Legal Research, Legal Research Training, Libraries & Librarians, Reference Services, Technology Trends, Telecommuting

Blogger-gamer-techie Chris Meadows mixed brains and kindness: “How can I make your day better?”

David Rothman, TeleRead Founder and Editor-Publisher has written as about his friend and colleague, Chris Meadows, who passed away from injuries sustained in a hit and run accident on October 8, while riding his electric bike. Rothman writes that “several people died later in the hospital – The blogger. The gamer. The documentation writer. And the ultimate tech support guy. Chris won a National Merit Scholarship in high school and read two books a day when in the mood, and he typed more than 120 words per minute. On deadline for the TeleRead blog on ebooks and related topics, he might race along at that speed or close to it. As “Robotech_Master,” Chris was internationally known to thousands in the games world. He wrote The Geek’s Guide to Indianapolis: A Tour Guide for Con Gamers and Other Visitors and hosted strangers who found themselves without another place to stay in Indy. But ten words from his life stand out most of all: “This is Chris. How can I make your day better?”…”

Subjects: Communication Skills, Digital Archives, E-Books, Gadgets/Gizmos, KM

Virtual Legal Conferences: A Formula For Success

Along with most conferences in all sectors, the largest legal technology conferences, ILTACON, will be held virtually this year. Nicole L. Black proposes using avatars to make such conferences more interesting and impactful.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Conferencing Software, Continuing Legal Education, Distance Learning, Legal Profession, Presentation Skills, Technology Trends

Re-Opening Your Law Firm: There’s a Bar Association Guide for That!

After months of business closures, many states are beginning to slowly allow more essential businesses to open their doors. In most states, law firms will be among the first wave of businesses that are permitted to resume providing services to the public. This is a welcome development for lawyers, but one that comes hand in hand with uncertainty. After all, resuming business in the midst of a pandemic is uncharted territory, and opening your firm doesn’t mean you’ll be returning to business as usual. Attorney Nicole L. Black identifies the host of issues that must be considered when re-opening, not the least of which is to ensure that the health of both law firm employees and clients is protected.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Health, Law Firm Marketing, Legal Marketing, Management, Meetings, Technology Trends, Telecommuting

Staying Together While Working Apart

There is a great deal that newly remote teams can learn from teams that have worked remotely for several years. Nancy Dixon’s recommendations on how to stay connected is a resource for managers, staff and teams, and focuses on social and professional aspects of maintaining effective and positive work product now and into the future.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, KM, Meetings

7 Tips for Using Zoom on an iPad or iPhone

You will want to widely share Brett Burney’s quick guide to using Zoom on your iPhone or iPad. In the past month most if not all of us have been on Zoom meetings that include a lot of background noise that results in one or more people chiming in with the mantra – “mute your phone please!” Brett also points us to the important Safe Driving Mode.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, Conferencing Software, Legal Marketing, Legal Technology

Securely Collaborate and Communicate Remotely: A How-To for Lawyers

Attorney and Legal Technology Evangelist Nicole L. Black delves into how collaborating effectively and confidentially has always been an important part of practicing law. The COIVD-19 pandemic has significantly increased the focus on identifying and implementing tools and techniques that enable secure communications and remote collaboration with team members and clients alike. Black recommends online portals as the perfect solution to this challenge.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Law Firm Security, Legal Ethics, Legal Marketing, Legal Technology, Privacy, Technology Trends

2020 KM + Innovation Survey Results

Ron Friedman’s extensively documented article reports on the survey to support the 2020 Strategic Knowledge + Innovation Legal Leaders’ Summit, which took place in early February 2020. The Summit is a meeting of about 65 senior knowledge management professionals from large US, UK, and Canadian law firms. The depth and breath of actionable information and data shared in this article makes it a critical read for law firm and corporate KM and Innovation professionals.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Case Management, Communication Skills, Communications, Contact Management, Data Mining, Digital Archives, Information Architecture, Information Mapping, KM, Leadership, Legal Marketing, Legal Technology, Management, Presentation Skills, Team Building

The 14 Reasons Six Sigma & Lean Don’t Work in Most Companies

David Dibble, an expert in systems-based sustainable organizational performance improvement, contrasts contributors to under-performing or failed Six Sigma and Lean programs with the Systems-Based Transformational Leadership Model (STL).

Subjects: Communication Skills, KM, Leadership, Management, Team Building