For Clients: How Available Should Attorneys Be (and how so)?

Available 24/7 or on the clock 9-5? While it may come as no surprise that Dan Hull (who authors What About Clients) has a different perspective than Allison Shields (writing Lawyer Meltdown and the Legal Ease blog), most of us can find merit in each point of view and find ourselves torn. Think of the last half dozen times you mentioned your availability to clients: was it to provide your cell number and mention “any time” or was it “e-mail or voice-mail me, and I’ll get back to you tomorrow.”

#1 Have you found a nice balance of these? Comment and share if you have a tip for how you found the right blend of availability and down time.

As of late, I’ve put some effort into not only being available, but being available by a variety of methods — both very common (office phone, e-mail and cellular) and somewhat less common (jaxtr: internet link which connects caller’s cell phone directly to my voicemail and emails me the voicemail; meebo: instant messaging (IM/chat client) aggregator which not only consolidates my various IM/chat/ICQ identities, but also indicates my online availability and allows either interactive chat or quick method to leave me a brief message; and gmail-google talk which integrates a blend of online availability indication, chat, e-mail and voice-mail to e-mail functions.

So #2 While I’ve put all of these options out there for receiving client communications, my clients (and this is not a complaint) end up — guess — yes, calling my office during office hours, e-mailing when it’s a bit late, and dialing my cell only on rare occasions. Do they not believe me; is there a reluctance to sample the newer technology; has anyone experienced their clients adopting additional communication methods? What works for you (I notice HomeOfficeLawyer Grant Griffiths shows his online availability via Skype on his sidebar), or should I stop worrying on the theory that contacts from clients (regardless the medium) are contacts from clients … and that’s a good thing.

Drop me a quick comment.

FHSU on Itunes U

While I’m at Fort Hays, how cool is FHSU on Itunes U ! Check it out:

FHSU on iTunes U is a storehouse of up-to-date
content for students, faculty, alumni, and the community. Audio
and video files can be played, downloaded, and subscribed to for
convenient access.

I remember in 1987, Dr. Hammond spoke of making FHSU a “high-tech, high-touch university.” If you’ve been paying attention since then, his success in this realm is tough to debate.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Nola Ochs, at age 95, graduates Fort Hays State

I was proud to attend the FHSU Commencement today to see my nephew graduate, but it had to warm everyone’s hearts to watch Nola Ochs stride across the stage (without assistance I might add) under a mortar board to become the world’s oldest person to earn a bachelor’s degree from an accredited 4-year university. Dr. Larry Gould shared some very nice comments and congratulations as Ms. Ochs waited to get her diploma from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Dr. Edward H. Hammond. The press came and went, but the inspiration from Nola Ochs (and her graduation with her granddaughter, Alexandra) is sure to last.

Chocolate Pizza in Baldwin City, Kansas

All work and no play … anyway, I just can’t help sharing that we have a chocolate pizza seller in Baldwin City, Kansas. Check out a great article in perhaps the best online presentation of a newspaper in the country. Annette Cook and Chris Cook own and operate the Amoré Chocolate Pizza Company serving up caramel chocolate spoons and M&M chocolate pretzels. Have you tried it? Speak up. If you haven’t, I’ll bet you’ll be glad when you do. Waiting until you can get it on QVC? Maybe later this month.

Find People in Greensburg, Kansas: Red Cross Safe and Well List

Search for a loved one in Greensburg or add your name to the Red Cross Safe and Well List. This is  a registration service provided by the Red Cross and its service partners.  Know someone who needs to find people or learn about their well-being in Greensburg, but has no internet access, share this number: they may telephone 1 (866) GET-INFO which is 1-866-438-4636, also provided the Red Cross. And again, contributions may be made to the Red Cross securely, online.

Help the Red Cross Help Greensburg, Kansas

The news of the catastrophic tornado in Greensburg has caused us all to stop and take a breath, to pray for all of those families in a terrible time, and to wonder just what we could do to help. Well, if it has not already crossed your mind, consider contacting the Red Cross and doing what you can. The following is an excerpt from their website. Read it, then do what you can. I do not know who coined the phrase, but “give until it feels good.” You will be glad you did, and you know it will help.

WASHINGTON, Saturday, May 05, 2007 — A deadly tornado struck southwestern Kansas Friday night, destroying most of the town of Greensburg. As local officials continue search and rescue efforts in Greensburg, KS, the American Red Cross is preparing safe shelter, food and relief services for those affected by the tornado.
Red Cross staff, volunteers, emergency response vehicles (ERVs) and mobile feeding units are mobilizing from Red Cross Chapters across Kansas to help their neighbors in need. Red Cross workers have set up emergency shelters in the affected Kansas counties, providing food, water and other services.

Due to widespread power and telecommunication outages, family and friends may not be able to reach each other. If you have been affected by the tornado, please visit www.redcross.org and click on Safe and Well to inform your loved ones of your well-being. This secure website provides a way for you to identify yourself as “safe and well.” From a list of standard messages, you can select those you want to communicate to your family members - who may be worried about your safety. If you hear from a loved one in the affected area, you can input their information so other family members will also know their well-being.

As with any other Red Cross service or product, Safe and Well safeguards the privacy of disaster victims and protects their information according to privacy law standards. Messages – but not locations – will be viewable by friends and family. The Red Cross recommends that people affected should determine how best to communicate their contact information and whereabouts to family members. During the initial hours of this disaster it is important to stay connected with loved ones. Take action now by visiting www.redcross.org.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

You may have heard local attorney Charles Herd on CNN by now. Lawyers, reach out to your fellow attorneys (and families) in Greensburg: Charles H. Herd, Candace R. Lattin & Eric W. Marshall. You know what they say about a friend, in need.

Business Lawyer: are there only a few good Business Law blogs?

Now, don’t get me wrong … I do know some great ones. If you haven’t had the pleasure, check into:

• New York Small Business Law: read Imke - very practical
• Joplin, Missouri Business Blog: get Penny’s review of latest in Missouri
• Massachusetts Law Notes: practical client info from Stephen A. Evans
• BizzBangBuzz: by strategic business lawyer Anthony Cerminaro
• Inhouse Blog: Geoffrey G. Gussis shares news and jobs for Inhouse Counsel
• Andrew Ewalt’s Law Blog: understated and excellent
• Business Law Prof Blog: provided by Dale Oesterle, Ohio State University

After that, what else is there? Honestly. No more secrets … do you know any good ones?

E-Discovery Roundtable Podcast/Transcript Covers Important Territory

[Originally posted by Dennis Kennedy on DennisKennedy.Blog]

If you’d like to get a good survey of the big picture and trends in electronic discovery from a variety of perspectives, let me recommend that you check out a new podcast (and downloadable transcript) that Xerox has posted on the Big I, little t Blog. It’s a fascinating discussion that I was invited to participate in, but, unfortunately, unfortunately was not able to attend.

Here’s a representative sample from the transcript:

Mike Maziarka: It seems to me that something that we haven’t touched on is that there’s also employee training that’s necessary here. That, you know, I think part of this is we’ve become reliant on tools such as email as a conduit for communication rather than a truly what it is, a document creator. And that I think training needs to happen in organizations to say realize that when you use email and when you use some of these tools, you are creating a document that, you know, if you don’t want that to be read at some point in the future should never be created to begin with. And it’s not just true of email, but also IM is another area that we really haven’t touched on today that as you start to use these tools, you’re creating a record of something that has happened. And I think that that’s something that organizations are also going to have to address is we’ve become very reliant on these tools and maybe we need to back-off a little bit to the degree to which we use them.

Xerox’s Craig Freeman certainly asks some excellent questions that the rest of us should be look for answers to. There need to be many more of these kinds of conversations. The blog offers a place for continuing the discussion through comments. Highly recommended for both the content on this topic and an example of how companies can use blogs effectively.

My only quibble is that I wish that the podcast was available as a downloadable mp3 file, but providing the transcript is an excellent idea. [UPDATE: Thank you Xerox for making the mp3 download link available at the podcast link.]

Speaking of roundtables, it’s always interesting to go back to the granddaddy of all electronic discovery roundtable articles, A Gold Mine of Electronic Discovery Expertise: A Conversation Among Veterans of Electronic Discovery Battles, and see how it has stood the test of time as it approaches its third birthday. Quite well, I think. I’ve been toying with the idea of revisiting that article and doing a roundtable with the same people and adding even more experts. Let me know if you might be interested in reading a new version of that article or becoming one of the participants.

“Does Your Firm Show Appreciation for Business Development Efforts?”

[Source: Tom Kane on May 2, 2007, at The Legal Marketing Blog.com] “Not all efforts for developing business result in success. And no one should expect they should. As lawyers we were trained to not make mistakes, that failure isn’t an option. Business development, if it is undertaken at all, will not always get perfect results. Too many lawyers have a problem with that. As a result they don’t try.

Others realize that legal marketing is not a perfect art. So, they try and sometimes succeed. Other times not. Notwithstanding the outcome, appreciation is a great motivator. It can keep us at the wheel trying our best. These thoughts came as a result of a post entitled “Appreciating Talent” on Tom Peters’ blog. As is equally true for law firms, he reminds us:

“We hear all the time, ‘talent is important,’ ‘our people are important,’ or ‘our greatest assets are our people.’ We know that talent is the center of organizations. Without talented people, an organization will not be successful, can’t grow, won’t have great ideas, and will not be able to execute its strategy.”

Okay, but do firms show their appreciation to these talented people. Peters goes on to tell us that in a report of a poll of its members in a recent newsletter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, “24% said praise isn’t often awarded” at their workplaces.

What a shame. Not only should successful marketing be praised and rewarded, but business development efforts by people (attorneys and staff) in every firm should be as well.”

RSS: Use the Internet [Payback for all the Years the Internet Used You]

So, you’re happy grazing the internet. If you are not yet an RSS/feed user, you will be pleased to learn that “the latest” on each of the pages and blogs that you typically graze can be aggregated with ease to a single location. In a word (or so), you readily see whether your favorites have anything of note to interest you today.
Grant Griffiths (if you don’t know the name you have not yet read a good Kansas lawyer blog) has turned me on to this demonstration of RSS by Common Craft, “There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don’t. This video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don’t know where to start.”

Click To Play

Personally, I have enjoyed two somewhat different ways to view RSS: Google Reader and Netvibes (there are dozens more). Try one … save time … pass on the savings.