Reserve your spot for an upcoming Time Matters Boot Camp.
Posted on July 17, 2008 by Jaimie Mitchell
Filed Under IPA News, Time Matters | Leave a Comment
Check out IP Associates new website while reserving your spot for an upcoming Time Matters Boot Camp near you. Hope to see you there!
June 2008 GPSolo Gets Back to Basics
Posted on July 16, 2008 by Jeff Krause
Filed Under KPM News, Law Practice Management, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment
The most recent issue of GPSolo magazine (June 2008, The Basics) focused on the essential technology tools that every firm needs to consider when updating the office or opening a new one. The issue featured articles by many of my longtime friends, colleagues and aquaintences including Ross Kodner, Nerino Petro, Andy Simpson, Seth Rowland, Arita Sims and many others.
I contributed a column on the planning and purchasing aspect of technology projects. See From Planning to Purchase. This is the third straight year I have contributed to the June issue of GPSolo, which traditionally focuses on technology.
LexisNexis Practice Management Conference in Chicago
Posted on July 10, 2008 by Jeff Krause
Filed Under Law Practice Management, Tech News | Leave a Comment
As many of you know, LexisNexis is having its first annual user conference in Chicago August 14-16. CICs have an additional day on the 13th. It promises to be a great time with a full slate of conference sessions throughout the day and evening events at the Shedd Aquarium as well as a dinner cruise.
Lexis has posted the conference agenda and I am pleased to be speaking at three sessions, one of them a distinguished panel including Sandy Adams, Tom Rowe, Nerino Petro, Tim Takas and Chris Anderson.
For more information, or to register, visit Practice Management Annual Conference. I am looking forward to seeing many of you there.
AutoText Options in Word 2007
Posted on July 8, 2008 by Jeff Krause
Filed Under Document Assembly, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment
A question came up yesterday at a client that I thought I knew the answer to. It turned out I had to dig for it last night. The question dealt with AutoText in Word 2007. Specifically, a client who had recently migrated from Word 2002 was looking for the ability to AutoComplete (start typing a word and have Word 2007 prompt with possible completions). As it turns out, this feature is no longer part of Word. Many have tried to use AutoCorrect as a workaround. However, the replacement features, Quick Parts and Building Blocks, are probably the best bets.
Quick Parts is the successor to AutoText. You can find the button in the Insert Ribbon. Quick Parts allows you to save words, phrases or even longer pieces of text for later retrieval and insertion into a document. To create a Quick Part, highlight the text that will make up the Quick Part and click the pull down arrow on the Quick Parts button. From the menu of choices that appears, select “Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery.” The next screen allows you to define and categorize your Building Block.
Once created, a Building Block can be inserted in a number of ways. Of course, you can select the Quick Parts and insert them from the list. Alternatively, you can type at least the first four letters and hit the F3 key. This will autocomplete the entire Building Block. Unfortunately, that seems to be the closest you can come to the old method of AutoComplete.
Thanks to Carol’s Corner Office where I found the answer.
Is Online Backup Right for a Law Firm?
Posted on June 6, 2008 by Jeff Krause
Filed Under Security | 4 Comments
During yesterday’s Hanging Out a Shingle CLE in Madison, the topic of backup came ups serveral times. While I certainly recognize the benefits, I have never really been a fan of online backup for my law firm clients. I have always been wary of not only placing but also transmitting confidential client information on the Internet.
Nerino Petro commented that this is really no different than placing critical documents in the hands of a courier or storing paper files at an offsite location. In each case, you are entrusting confidiential information in the hands of another party with the reasonable expetation of security. Both of those statements are true but I would point out that there are millions of really smart technology bad guys all over the world that are always looking for something to hack into. They would never break into your storage warehouse in West Allis, Wisconsin or mug your bicycle courier in downtown Chicago, but they may very well hack into your online backup provider just to say they did it.
Another point brought up by Nerino, that I do agree with, is the fact that most office servers are probably not all that secure. You need to make sure your server is as secure as possible. Check with your technology consultant if you are not sure.
I suppose online backup really comes down to reasonable expectations. This means you should carefully read and understand the security procedures and policies of your online backup provider. If you have a reasonable expectation that your data is secure, a court will probably agree with you if it ever comes to that.
“Hanging Out a Shingle” CLE in Madison Tomorrow
Posted on June 4, 2008 by Jeff Krause
Filed Under KPM News, Law Practice Management | Leave a Comment
I will be presenting as part of a CLE seminar at the Wisconsin State Bar Center in Madison tomorrow. The seminar will feature a number of presenters with presentations on topics to help lawyers avoid common pitfalls of forming a new law firm. My topic will be Client File Management and I will discuss calendaring, docketing, case intake, workflow and disaster planning. Other presenters will focus on everything from choosing an entity type, billing, staff management and technology.
While I have not checked with the Wisconsin State Bar, I am sure seats are still available. If you are in Wisconsin and would like to attend, please visit Hanging Out a Shingle.
Anyone Know a Techwiz?
Posted on June 3, 2008 by Jeff Krause
Filed Under KPM News | Leave a Comment
Sometime doing something that is supposed to be simple can frustrate you to no end. My last post mentioned that I would be upgrading WordPress over the Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately, the upgrade was not successful and I had to restore the previous version. At least I was able to get everything back in order. Being a glutton for punishment, I tried again to upgrade last night and my entire blog went down. From what I have read while researching this, the problem was that the web server where my blog was host did not allow php files above a certain size to run.
HostMySite to the rescue. One email to my web host and they resolved the error AND upgraded my blog for me. I deal with a lot of software, hardware and other technology vendors and have had mixed experience with support over the years. HostMySite has the best support I have ever seen. If you are looking for a place to host your website, I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Now I need to figure out how the new integrated Akismet works. Comment spam is coming in fast and furious.
Update This Weekend
Posted on May 23, 2008 by Jeff Krause
Filed Under KPM News | Leave a Comment
I hope to update the blog software this weekend from WordPress 2.1 to WordPress 2.5. The blog may be down for awhile during the process.
Time Matter Boot Camps
Posted on May 22, 2008 by Jaimie Mitchell
Filed Under IPA News, Time Matters | Leave a Comment
IP Associates has issued special price reductions for the upcoming Boot Camps. Check the scheduled list of Boot Camps. Hope you can join us!
Time Matters 9 Weekly Calendar Display
Posted on May 18, 2008 by Jeff Krause
Filed Under Time Matters, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment
It is interesting how questions run in streaks. This one has come up five or six times in the last two weeks. The question regards the Weekly Calendar View in Time Matters 9 and the new default setting that it display days left to right rather than top to bottom. Apparently, many users have become accustomed to viewing the Weekly Calendar top to bottom and the new default has created an issue.
The good news is that they are not limited to the new default view. To change it, simply open the Weekly View and right click anywhere inside the calendar. Select Display Options. There is a selection near the bottom of this screen that allows each user to select their preferred view.
