#legaltech: infrastructure, apps · if your clients think you’re “always” calling them on the...

#LegalTech:Infrastructure,AppsBy Sean J. Martin, Martin Heller Potempa & Sheppard, PLLC

WhenIfirstpitchedthispresentationtoJarod,IsaidIcouldteachattendeesto“competewiththebigboysbyleveragingtechnology.”Imentionedhoweasy,inexpensive,andnecessary#legaltechwastorunaprofitablesolo/smallfirm.IbraggedthatIcouldashowyouhowatech-drivenfirmworks,fromphonetoemailtodocumentandcasemanagement,andhowyoucouldbuildyourowntechinfrastructure.Ipromisedatricktosaveyoufromemailhell,andasolutionformonetizingallthosetextsyougetfromyourclients.AndIsaiditcouldcountforethics. Aprettytallorderforaone-hourpresentation.Andnotknowinghowbesttostart,Ihavedecidedtostartwithatruestory.

Formybirthdaythisyear,mywifeandsonandIwenttoLakeTahoefortheweek.Phishwaskickingofftheirsummertour,andwethoughtitwouldbeafunplacetospendtheweek.

Ihaveapersonalinjurypracticeandfamilylawpractice,andI’dspentweekstryingtogetcaughtupandevenalittlebitahead.Iknowwhatyou’rethinking:

ButIdidit.Ilefttownwithnoworriesaboutmycases.Youknowthatanxietyyougetaboutleavingtheofficeforafewdays?Yeah,thatwasgone.Mycaseswereundercontrol,myclientsknewIwouldbeoutoftown,andallwasinbalance.

Thenofcoursewegotthereandimmediatelybeforetheconcertanumberofmyclients’livessimulatneouslyfellapart.Itriednottocheckmyphone,butitwasbuzzinginmypocket.Missedcalls,textmessages.Onmyvacation,onmybirthday,2,000milesaway.

Butinsteadofpanicking,Isatdown,mysleepingboyonmyshoulder,andgottowork.

WithonlymyphoneIwasabletomanagethecrises,generateacoupleofsignedletters,billmytime,andgetbacktotheshow.Iwasabletodothisbecause,althoughIstillpracticelawinthetraditionalmanner,Ihavereplacedthetraditionalcommunication,documentgeneration,andtimekeepingmethodswiththeirtechnologicalbetters.Inotherwords,IdidmyjobasifIwasinmyoffice;Ijustdiditfromthespotpictured.Andnotoneofmyclientsknewanydifferent. Somemaydisagree,andperhapslabelmecrazyforworkingonmyvacation,butconsumerdemandisturningthisbusinessintoonewherecustomerserviceandreal-timecommunicationsistheexpectation.IMHOyouhavetomeetexpectations,oryourcompetitorswill.

Whichgetsustotheheartofthispresentation,whichseekstoshowyouhowtomeetthoseexpectationsbyleveragingtechnology.Yourlawfirm,beyondneedingyouwithyourlawdegree,needsataminimum:

• AwaytoCommunicatewithclients,theoutsideworld • AwaytocreateandmanageDocuments • ATime,Billing&Trustaccountingsolution • Amethodformanagingcases,a/k/aCaseManagement

Disclaimer.Throughoutthispresentation,Iwillmentiondifferentproducts,services,orapps.ApartfromoneappwhichIdevelopedformyownpractice,TimeMiner,Ihavenopersonalstakeinanyofthem.Theproducts,servicesandappsIrecommendarebaseduponyearsoftrialanderrorandmefindingthebesttoolsformypersonallegaltoolbox. Thispresentationmayalsocontaineastereggsfrompopculture.Iincludethemtoamusemyself,andtokeepyouawake,alertor,dareIdream--interested.

Wait,howdoesthiscountforethicsagain?

Becauseinordertorepresentaclientcompetently—asrequiredbyRule1.1oftheTennesseeRulesofProfessionalConduct—anattorney’sknowledgebasemustincludethe“benefitsandrisksassociatedwithrelevanttechnology.”Comment8clarifiesthisrequirementfurther: “Tomaintaintherequisiteknowledgeandskill,alawyershouldkeepabreastofchangesinthelawanditspractice,includingthebenefitsandrisksassociatedwithrelevanttechnology,engageincontinuingstudyandeducation,andcomplywithallcontinuinglegaleducationrequirementstowhichthelawyerissubject.”

Communication.

Apartfromin-personconversations,thereare6mainmethodsforcommunicatingwitheveryone,includingyourclientsandotherattorneys:

• U.S.Mail • Phone/Fax • VideoConferencing • Email • Texting • SocialMedia

We’reonlygoingtodealwiththefollowing:

• U.S.Mail o TheU.S.MailworksforAmazon,butnotmuchelse.EvenDJTknowsthis.

• Phone/Fax o Thisincludeslandlinesandmobilephones. o Faxisbasicallythesameasemailnowunlessyouhaveoneofthoseawesome

thermalpapermachinesinwhichcaseyouneedtosellthats**tas“vintage”onEtsy.com.

• Texting

o Iknowyoudon’twanttotextwithyourclients,butyourclientswanttotextwithyou.

• VideoConferencing

o Skype,FaceTime,etc. • Email

o Youknowwhatemailis. • SocialMedia

o IpresentaseparateCLEentitled“Ethics,SocialMedia&You”whichmaybeofinteresttoyou.HMUandI’dbehappytoshare.

PHONECommunications

Weallusethephonetotalktoourclients.Manyofushavelegacylandlines,andsomeofushaveupgradedtoVoIPcommunications.Youallknowthelimitations(advantages?)ofyourlandlines:

• Onlycanbereachedduringofficehours • Needtobeatyourdesktocommunicate • Spiralnotebookphonemessages

Whenclientsfeelliketheycannotreachyoubecauseyou’re“always”outofyourofficeand“never”atyourdesk,andthey’veleftyou“tons”ofmessages,that’saproblemwhethertheirfeelingsareaccurateornot.Evenifyouaredealingwithhigherpriorityclients,ifyourotherclientsfeellikethey’rebeingignoredwhentheywanttotalkwithyou,theirlikelihoodofcomplainingtheBoardorelsewhereismuchgreater.

Solution:Takeyourclients’calls,Callyourclientsback!

Thissolutioniscrossedoutbecauseit’snotasolution.It’samaximthatiseasiersaidthandone.

Solution:Useyourcellphone!

Alsonotasolution.Wehaveallgivenourmobilephonenumberstocertainclients.Wehaveallregrettedit.

Therealsolution:VoIP

VoIPstandsforVoiceOverInternetProtocol.Itmeanscallingpeopleovertheinternet,insteadofovertraditionaltelephonelinesorcellphonetowers.

WhenyouswitchtoVoIPoveralegacy/landline,youeliminatetheproblemsidentifiedabove.WithVoIPyoutakeyourofficephonewithyouwhereveryougo.ApartfromhavingaVoIPdeskphonethatconnectstotheinternetwithacable,allmajorVoIPprovidershaveanappforyourphone. PS:You’regoingtohavetomaketheswitchsoonerorlaterbecausetraditionallegacy/landlinesystemsareobsolete,likecassettetapesandgluten.

Beforewegoanyfurther,doyouhaveanyquestionsaboutwhatVoIPisorhowitworks?

IuseRingCentralforVoIP,asdoanumberofotherfirms.It’saffordableandhasgreatfunctionality.Withthisapp,IcanmakeandtakecallsfrommyofficenumberwithmyiPhone.

ByusingtheVoIPapponyourmobilephone:

• You’realwaysintheoffice. o Youcansetyourofficehoursfor24/7ifyouaresoinclined.

• You’realwaysatyourdesk. o Evenifyou’renotatyourdesk.

• You’llnevergetastackofphonemessagesagain. o Thisisagoodthing.

Inotherwords,yourclientscanreachyouandthatwillmakethemhappy.

AnotheradvantageofusingyourVoIPapp:youcanmakecallsfromyouroffice,evenwhenyou’renotinyouroffice.ThisiswhatIdidinTahoe.

Thisfunctionalitygivesyouthefreedomtoworkfromwhereveryouhappentobe.Youcancallclientsfromyourhouse,thebeach,thecourthouse,etc.Fromtheirperspectiveyouarecallingthemfromyouroffice.Thisisimportant.Ifyourclientsthinkyou’re“always”callingthemonthego,theymayfeelthattheyarejustanafterthought.Thiscouldbeaproblembecause,ethicallyspeaking…

Further,ifyouwantamobileofficeoramobilestaff,VoIPisoneoftwotechnologiesthatareindispensable.Theotheriscloud-basedstorageandsoftwaresolutions.Whichwewillgetto.

TELECONFERENCECommunications

TEXTCommunications

Clientsnowexpectcaseupdates,meetingreminders,andtheabilitytomessagetheirlawfirm’steamovertext.Whyisthisimportant?BecauseperthecommentstoRule1.4clientsarepermittedtohaveREASONABLEEXPECTATIONS.Iftheyexpectyoutotext,thenyouneedtotext.

Alsodon’tforget,againpursuanttothecommentstoB.P.R.Rule1.4,Alawyer'sregularcommunicationwithclientswillminimizetheoccasionsonwhichaclientwillneedtorequestinformationconcerningtherepresentation.

Donotconflatetextingwithemailing.Theyareverydifferentmodesofcommunication.Thinkofcommunicatingwithclientsalongthisspectrum:

Talking>Texting>Emailing>LetterWriting

Textingislessformalandmorecloselyrelatedtotalking,asanyoneundertheageof30canattest,whereasemailismoreformalandakintowritingaletter.

Toillustratethedistinction,thinkofhowoftenyoupreciselyspelland/orpunctuateyourtextmessages.

WhiletextingwithclientswillhelpkeepyouincompliancewithBPRRule1.4-Communication,youneedtobemindfulofwhattechnologyyouusetoyoutextwithandwhatyoudowiththosetextmessages.Youstillhaveadutytomaintainclientconfidences,andtheattorney-clientprivilegeobviouslystillapplies.

Groupdiscussion:Pros&Consoftextingwithclients

Youshouldavoidusingyourpersonalmobilenumberfortexting.Therearelotsofreasons,butthemostimportantoneisthatthemessagesmaynotbesecure.

UsingVoIPtotextwithyourclientswilladdalayerofsecuritythatissimilartothesecuritymeasuresusedtoprotectprofessional(notfree)emailandotherelectroniccommunications.

SavingTextMessages. Textmessagesarelikeemailsandshouldbekeptaspartofaclient’sfile.IfyouuseVoIP,themessages(theactualmessages)arestoredonyourprovider’ssecureserver.Thephonecompaniesdonotkeepmessages.Theykeeprecordsofthebackandforth,butnotthecontentofthemessagesthemselves. AnotherpointforVoIP!

BillingforTextMessages

Thebestpartabouttextingwithyourclientsisthatyoucanbillforit.Whilethereisnoconsensusastothebestmethodforbillingfortextmessages,Ibillfortextmessagesingroupsofsix(6).

Everysixmessagescountsforatenthofanhour(.1)andtheyappearonmyinvoicesthisway:

“Textmessagesw/[Client]on:3/2,3/4,3/5,3/12,3/16,3/17,3/18,3/26.”

Mostmonths,Ihavedozensoftextmessageexchangeswithmyclients.ToarriveattheproperamounttobillforthemIdividethenumberoftextsbysixty(60).

84textmessages/60=1.4hours

Forthoseofyouwhoarehesitanttobillfortextmessages,youneedtothinkaboutitthisway:Whenyoutextwithyourclients,youaretextingthemastheirattorney.Youareconveyinginformationtheywillrelyonandyouneedtobillforyourprofessionaltime.Youmayfindthattextingdeliversabettervaluetoyourclientsthantalkingonthephoneorwritingemailsandletters.Textingiswaymoreefficientintermsofyourtimeandtheirmoney.

Attheendoftheday,clientsexpectyoutotextwiththemsoyou’regoingtohavetodososoonerorlater.Byusingasecuremethodfortexting,bysavingtextmessagesandbyaccountingtoyourclientsfortexting,you’rebothprotected.Itdefinitelyprotectsyou.

VIDEOCommunications

Mostofyouarefamiliarwithsomeformofvideochatting,likeSkypeorFaceTime.Takenonestepfurther,videoconferencing,whereyoucannotonlyseetheperson,butshareacomputerscreenorworkonadocumenttogether,isagreatwaytointeractandcommunicatewithclientswhenaphonecallwon’tdoandwhenavisitisnotpractical.

Youcanstart,scheduleorjoinavideoconferencefromyourmobilephone.

I’veusedRingCentralmeetingsalongwithDropboxPaper,whichisadocumentcollaborationtool,toworkwithclientsondiscoveryresponses.

EMAILCommunications Youguyswanttotalkaboutemail?

Ordoyouwanttotalkabout#legaltechapps?

Apps,gotit.Realquickthough: Ifyou’reusingafreeemailprovider,likeGmailorYahoo,etc.foryourclientcommunications,you’reprobablyinviolationoftheRules.Pluralviolations.

Inordertobecomplaintyouneedtoupgrade(pay)foremailserviceswhichincludesecurityfeatures.GSuitefromGoogleandMicrosoftOutlookhavedecentsecurityfeaturesandarereasonablypriced.CheckoutthisarticlebymyfriendNicoleBlackatAbovetheLawregardingsomenewsecurityfeatures:https://abovethelaw.com/2018/04/new-gmail-and-outlook-security-features-will-appeal-to-lawyers/

AlsocheckoutthisarticlefromourfriendsattheABA,whichtellsyoumuchofwhatyouneedtoknowabouttheethicsofemail: https://www.americanbar.org/publications/law_practice_magazine/2013/january-february/ethics.html

MOREAPPS!

Dropbox/DropboxPaper-documentstorageandcollaboration PDFExpert-toolforediting,signing,drawingon.pdfs PDFConverter-convertsdocumentsto.pdfs ScannerPro-turnsyourdeviceintoascanner Office365:Outlook,Word,Excel,PowerPoint-MicrosoftOfficeinthecloud TimeMiner-automaticallybillsforcallsandtexts LiquidText-readingappwhichallowsyoutoexceptsectionsforlateruse(greatforreadingdepositions) Keynote,Pages,Numbers-Apple’sanswertoMicrosoftOffice Evernote-online,searchablenotebook NotesPlus-virtuallegalpad Glip-teammessagingapp Doodle-groupschedulingapp

Dropbox-www.dropbox.com SecureFileSharing,Storage,&Collaboration.

DropboxPaper https://www.dropbox.com/paper DropboxPaperisanewtypeofdocumentdesignedforcreativework.Collaborateinrealtime,assigntasks,maketo-dolistandmore.

ThispresentationwascreatedonDropboxPaper. DropboxpaperisbetterthanEvernoteandGoogleDocs.Fact.

Clio-https://www.clio.com LegalCase&PracticeManagementSoftware.Thisiswhatmyfirmuses.Greatforfirmsofallsizes.

Office365-https://products.office.com/en-us/compare-all-microsoft-office-products?tab=2 WorkAnywhere,AnytimeandAcrossDevices.

PDFExpert-https://pdfexpert.com Fast,robustandbeautifulPDFeditor. https://www.dropbox.com/s/9nm97hhglzxt31k/ScreenRecording_04-22-2018%2013-31-16.MP4?dl=0

TimeMiner-FullDisclosure:Idevelopedthisappformypractice.ItisnowforsaleinGooglePlayStoreandApple’sAppStore. https://www.timeminerapp.com On-demand,AutomaticBillingSoftwareForYourSmartphone.

LiquidText-www.liquidtext.net TheSmartWaytoRead.

NotesPlus-http://www.writeon.cool/notes-plus/ “Handwritingnote-takingiPadappthatwillrevolutionizethewayyoutakenotes.” https://www.dropbox.com/s/l2o2cwuwrxt2xra/ScreenRecording_04-22-2018%2014-05-05.mp4?dl=0

ScannerPro-https://readdle.com/scannerpro TurnsyouriPhoneoriPadintoascanner.

Doodle-https://doodle.com Thesimplewaytodecideondates,places&more.