Futurelawyer

RocketAid - Learn About Remote Working And Help People As Well

RocketAid Conference. One of my favorite people, Larry Port, of RocketMatter one of my favorite cloud law practice management sites, is putting on a two day virtual event for charitable causes to help those harmed by the pandemic. It will be instructive, and provide a way to network virtually with lawyers who are navigating a new normal in their practices. He is sure to attract some competent speakers, and I am looking forward to participating. Two days of good information for a $25 contribution. It's a no brainer.

What's Your Zoom Virtual Background Today?

I am collecting virtual backgrounds for my Zoom conferences, and Michael Wade liked a tweet that contained this one. We all need a library like this one, don't we?

Microsoft User? Zoom Isn't The Only Game In Town

Microsoft Teams. Now that everyone needs to learn how to videoconference on their computers at home, the applications that allow it are becoming very popular. I have written about the leader in the field, Zoom, which is easy to use, free for most applications, and has the most features for most of us. However, if you live in the Microsoft universe, and Office 365 (soon to be Microsoft 365) is best used with Microsoft Teams, the free meeting, chat and video conferencing app from Microsoft. It doesn't yet have virtual backgrounds like Zoom, although the feature has been promised by Microsoft for a year or more. I suspect that Microsoft engineers are rushing that process now that everyone is downloading and using these apps. However, if you have a team or office that uses Microsoft apps, Teams is a no brainer. You can blur the background if your office at home looks like the FutureLawyer's, so nobody knows what a slob you are. In any event, it is a good thing to have options, and I have downloaded Teams, just in case I need it. If you need tech advice, email me at [email protected] Or, in the vernacular of the Nineties, call me maybe?

#WhyIAmASolo - GSuite Is The Best Cloud App For Solo And Small Law Firms

GSuite For Solo And SmallLaw. While I am happy with GMail and Google Calendar to run my law practice, and have used it for years, Google's GSuite is a superior and more secure way to use Google's services for a law firm, and I have spent some of the time over the past week converting to GSuite. I like that all my mobile Android devices are always synced with my notebook Google systems. For only 6 dollars a month, I have a secure, and complete way to manage my solo practice, and, while I still host my websites at Network Solutions, and my blog at Typepad, I have converted my business email to GSuites. So, all you snobs who laughed at my use of the gmail.com address, now can email me at [email protected] Now that I don't have an active litigation practice anymore, I don't need a law practice management system. Those of you who have more than one lawyer, and actively practice in the courts, should look at Clio, MyCase, RocketMatter, or one of the other cloud law practice management systems. I am using ToDoIst ($36 a year), Gmail for GSuites and Google Calendar for GSuites ($36 a year). My documents, created with legacy systems from ProDoc, WordPerfect, and others, are saved and backed up in Google Drive. This article examines the benefits of GSuite for solos and small firms, and discusses the reasons it hasn't been adopted more often in BigLaw. Always remember that you get to decide what systems your firm uses; just remember that you need systems.

Sometimes You Just Want A D*** Cup Of Coffee

Real coffee people make their own coffee. Don't be a coffee snob. Be like Rat.

Grief And Sorrow - Don't Waste The Opportunity

Seneca On Grief. In Seneca's letter to Marcia, who was grieving, he encapsulated the Stoic response to sorrow and grief. He advised her not to wallow in it; but, to do battle with it. He suggested that she could ignore him, and continue to "hug and fondle" her grief. We all know those who do that. But, what good does it do? It turns the opportunity for happiness into a continuous miserable existence. So, in a time of global pandemic, what to do? Why, the same thing we should do when faced with any of life's sorrows and grieving events. Battle it. Fight it. Do the opposite of what is expected. Find something to revel in, to enjoy, to make ourselves better. The easy, lazy, solution is to lay back and surrender to it. So, fellow citizens, how will you react to the possibility that this disease will attack and kill you? How will you react to restrictions on your freedom of movement that cause you to be locked up in your house? Will you give up? Will you wallow in your sadness? Will you allow your fear to control you? Not for me. Don't suppress your emotions. Manage and control them. Seneca:

“What madness this is, to punish one’s self because one is unfortunate, and not to lessen, but to increase one’s ills! … For there is such a thing as self-restraint in grief also.” Isn’t the loss of one’s beloved son punishment enough? Why would someone want more torture, instead of trying to escape the whips of misfortune, why would one plead for more lashes?"

We all have a great opportunity here, to show that life's vicissitudes cannot alter our enjoyment of the moments we have, regardless of the circumstances.

What Would An Innocent Person Say?

It isn't always easy to find out who is telling the truth. 

Cancel Culture Activists - This Product Is Right For You.

Are you a cancel culture activist? Do you hate anyone who disagrees with you? Do you want colleges to create bigger "safe zones" to protect students from uncomfortable ideas? Do you wish that everyone with an opposing viewpoint, or who does something you don't like, would just go away? Well, have I got a product for you. These noise cancelling headphones will protect you from everyone or anything that upsets or disturbs you. Live the rest of your life in peace and harmony. After all, life is too short to listen to other people.

#ParrotSunday - Our Prayers Have Been Answered

A lady goes to her parish priest one day and tells him, "Father, I have a problem. I have two female parrots but they only know how to say one thing." "What do they say?" the priest inquired. "They say, 'Hi, we're prostitutes. Do you want to have some fun?'" the woman said embarrassingly. "That's obscene!" the priest exclaimed, "I can see why you are embarrassed." He thought a minute and then said, "You know, I may have a solution to this problem. I have two male parrots whom I have taught to pray and read the Bible. Bring your two parrots over to my house and we will put them in the cage with Francis and Job. My parrots can teach your parrots to praise and worship. I'm sure your parrots will stop saying that...that phrase in no time." "Thank you," the lady responded, "this may very well be the solution." The next day, she brought her female parrots to the priest's house. As he ushered her in, she saw his two male parrots were inside their cage, holding their rosary beads and praying. Impressed, she walked over and placed her parrots in with them. After just a couple of seconds, the female parrots exclaimed out in unison, "Hi, we're prostitutes. Do you want to have some fun?" There was a stunned silence. Finally, one male parrot looked over at the other male parrot and said, "Put the beads away, Francis, our prayers have been answered!"

Microsoft Surface Book 2 - The Engine That Runs Your Law Practice

microsoft surface book 2. You are resigned to practicing law at home for a few weeks or months. You can't use the office computers because you have been locked out. What to do? As I have been writing for a week now, it is long past time that you started using a notebook computer that you can carry with you everywhere you go. The guiding principle behind road warrior computing is that you can be a lawyer wherever you are. Ultrabook computers now pack more power than the largest computers a couple of decades ago, and more than you will ever need to run a small law practice. Two years ago, I invested $2,000 in a Core I7, 256 Gigabyte, Windows machine, the Microsoft Surface Book 2, and it is still the foundation of my law practice. It is a 2 in 1, meaning I can run Windows 10 in tablet mode if I like, and it is around 3 pounds in weight, which means I can slide it into my briefcase and carry it everywhere. If you want, or need, to be a home warrior, a road warrior, or an office warrior, this computer, or one like it, can do all three without breaking a sweat. Which brings me to the reason we are here. You can't go to the office anymore, so you are relegated to using a notebook computer at home. But, you don't have the same scanner setup at home, or you don't have the same printer setup, or whatever. Now is the time to have a setup at home that gives you a seamless transition from the office, when you finally get to go back. For years, I have labored to have the same setup at home as at the office. The only thing that moves around is the ultralight computer. One of the cool things about the Microsoft line is that you can buy a multi-hub brick with a dedicated cable connector. All the peripherals at both locations, home and office, plug into the brick, which plugs into the wall for power. Unplug the connector cable, throw the notebook into your briefcase, and go. Need help setting it up? Zoom me, or call me, or email me. FutureLawyer is here to help.