We are encouraging all of our members to offer a few hours of their time to helping those who would otherwise not have access to legal services.  For those attorneys or non-profit in need of some extra help with their pro-bono activities, we encourage you to check out our online forum and create a volunteer virtual legal team to help pick up the slack.

The Law Clerk Connection member who provides the most hours of volunteer legal services through Law Clerk Connection between April 18, 2010 and May 18, 2010 will receive a special gift to be announced in May.

Recent tech-blogs have been debating the issue of privilege and confidentiality due to  the terms of service that Google imposes on the users of the free version of Gmail.  Because Google “reads” the content of each email in order to deliver targeted advertising to the readers, this could constitute the dissemination of attorney-client privileged (“ACP”) material, thus waiving the attorney-client privilege.  Furthermore, such dissemination could be a violation of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct.[1] Numerous issues regarding privacy and privilege are therefore implicated and worthy of discussion.

BACKGROUND

Google uses programs that allow it to “read” the content of a Gmail user’s email in order to send targeted advertisements to the reader.  This is stated in Google’s Terms:

The Gmail service includes relevant advertising and related links based on the IP address, content of messages and other information related to your use of Gmail.

In section 8.1 of the Gmail Terms of Service, Google defines “Content.”

8.1 You understand that all information (such as data files, written text, computer software, music, audio files or other sounds, photographs, videos or other images) which you may have access to as part of, or through your use of, the Services are the sole responsibility of the person from which such content originated. All such information is referred to below as the “Content”.

However, Google assures its readers that the content of each email is not read by humans.

I have targeted ads on Gmail – is someone actually looking at what I write to match the ads with my emails?

Like most email services, Gmail uses software to scan emails for viruses and to filter out spam. Google uses this same kind of software to scan for keywords in users’ emails which we can then use to match ads. When a user opens an email message, computers scan the text and then instantaneously display relevant information that is matched to the text of the message. Once the message is closed, ads are no longer displayed. The whole process is automated and involves no humans.

In section 11, Google maintains that it has perpetual, free license to post or display the content that a user submits.

11. Content license from you

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

11.2 You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this license shall permit Google to take these actions.

11.4 You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above license.

However, in the Privacy Policy pertaining specifically to Gmail, Google states:

Google does not share or reveal email content or personal information with third parties. Email messages remain strictly between the sender and intended recipients, even when only one of the parties is a Gmail user.

No email content or other personally identifiable information is ever shared with advertisers.

Furthermore, Google insists that the scanning that occurs on each email is commonplace and does not amount to an invasion of privacy.

All email services scan your email. They do this routinely to provide such popular features as spam filtering, virus detection, search, spellchecking, forwarding, auto-responding, flagging urgent mess ages, converting incoming email into cell phone text messages, automatic saving and sorting into folders, converting text URLs to clickable links, and reading messages to the blind. These features are widely accepted, trusted, and used by hundreds of millions of people every day.

Google scans the text of Gmail messages in order to filter spam and detect viruses, just as all major webmail services do. Google also uses this scanning technology to deliver targeted text ads and other related information. This is completely automated and involves no humans.

When a user opens an email message, computers scan the text and then instantaneously display relevant information that is matched to the text of the message. Once the message is closed, ads are no longer displayed. It is important to note that the ads generated by this matching process are dynamically generated each time a message is opened by the user–in other words, Google does not attach particular ads to individual messages or to users’ accounts.

When email messages are fully protected from unwanted disclosure, the automatic scanning of email does not amount to a violation of privacy. Neither email content nor any personal information is ever shared with other parties as a result of our ad-targeting process.

DISCUSSION

Google’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy seem to be contradictory.  We have emailed Google’s legal department to clarify that the Terms of Service definition of Content does not include the content of email transmissions.  Common sense would dictate that the definition of content does not include the content of emails, but it is better to be specific and safe, than general and sorry.

That said, it is important to ascertain whether the bar associations and the courts believe that hosting email on a server other than an in-house server constitutes the dissemination of attorney-client privileged information.  Furthermore, it is necessary to determine whether the “scanning” of email content by a software program constitutes dissemination of attorney-client privileged information.

1.  Hosting on an Outside Server Does Not Necessarily Waive Privilege

I could not find a single case or ethics opinion directly addressing whether or not hosting email accounts on an outside server with an outside client violates privilege.  However, there are a number of closely related rulings that I think, collectively, demonstrate that the privilege is safe.

The key case is City of Reno v. Reno Police Protective Ass’n, (2002) 59 P.3d 1212, modified, 2003 Nev. LEXIS 25 (Nev. May 14, 2003), which states that privileged information sent via unencrypted email does not destroy the privilege.  There, the Nevada Supreme Court held that a privileged attorney-client communication retained its privileged status despite claims by the opposing side claiming that the privilege had been waived by the fact that the message had been e-mailed. The court relied, in part, on ABA Formal Opinion 99-413 (1999), which held that sending unencrypted internet email does not violate a lawyer’s duty of confidentiality (not an opinion on privilege, as such). The court also noted that both federal and California statutes say that unlawfully intercepted electronic communications do not lose their privileged status. In this vein, I would think that a website storing privileged information, subject to a nondisclosure privacy policy, is even more secure and should be fine from a privilege standpoint.  Additionally, under ABA Formal Op. 398, when a lawyer has client files stored by a third party warehouse, the lawyer needs to obtain reasonable assurances that the warehouse will protect confidentiality.  Similarly, an email host, with a privacy policy protecting the email content from prying eyes, would also seem to clear this “reasonable assurances” hurdle.

Thus, because Google explicitly states in its Privacy Policy that email content will not be disclosed to outside parties, one can clear the “reasonable assurances hurdle and be safe in the knowledge that they are not disseminating confidential, privileged information.

Other opinions given in legal symposia state that attorneys should analyze whether he will receive notice of third party requests for data stored on outside systems known as Alternative Service Providers (ASPs). For example, if a subpoena is issued to the ASP that requires the ASP to allow access to third-party litigants or law enforcement officials, will the lawyer be notified prior to the disclosure occurring? Further, in some circumstances law enforcement officials have seized entire computer systems containing the sought-after information as well as that belonging to third-parties. In the appropriate case, lawyers may consider asking the ASP to store the lawyer’s data on separate storage devices to avoid the lawyer’s data being sequestered away solely because it shared the same device as other data.

Because it is likely that Google hosts your data along with other parties data on the same server, there is a likelihood that, in the event of a subpoena, your information may be seized by law enforcement, even if the subpoena is not issued for your information.  Google provides no indication as to whether you will be notified prior to the disclosure of this information.

2.  Scanning of Email Content Probably Does Not Waive Privilege

The New York State Bar Association concluded that lawyers could use Gmail and comply with the duty of confidentiality despite the fact that email is ’scanned’ by Google to place contextual ads. The committee warned that this sort of unthinking, automated review was proper, but not human review. N.Y. St. B. Ass’n. Comm. Prof. Eth. Op. 820 (Feb. 8, 2008).  They reasoned that they would reach the opposite conclusion if the e-mails were reviewed by human beings or if the service provider reserved the right to disclose the e-mails or the substance of the communications to third parties without the sender’s permission (or a lawful judicial order).  However, merely scanning the content of e-mails by computer to generate computer advertising, however, does not pose a threat to client confidentiality, because the practice does not increase the risk of others obtaining knowledge of the e-mails or access to the e-mails’ content.  I have found no analogous opinions or cases in California.  I have found no definitive opinion from the American Bar Association.

FINAL VERDICT

Based on the authorities cited above, a law firm may use the free Gmail service without fear of waiving the attorney-client privilege or violating the Rules of Professional Conduct.  However, because these are emerging issues in the law, it may be prudent to consider alternatives to the free Gmail service or other free email service in the event that legal opinions on the issue change.

• Jeffrey Hughes – Legal Grinder
• Patrick Lamb – A Betting Man
• David Van Zandt – Purple Praise
• Denise Annunciata – Paralegal Power
• Richard Granat – Internet Obsessive
• Rick Palmore – Demanding Diversity

All of these Legal Rebels should be congratulated for taking a stand and working towards a change for the better.

Anthony decided to become a lawyer so that he could fully understand the law and entrepreneurial decisions intersect while enhancing his analytic and business skills.

He was able to put those skills to good use as a Legal Intern for Assembly-member Mike Eng, 49th California State Assembly District.

Ultimately, Anthony would like to specialize in business franchise and class action law. But for now, he is content with hitting the slopes on his snowboard and annihilating his best mates on the paintball field.

Good luck Anthony!

Law Clerk Connection is launching its First Annual Video Resume Competition for all Law Clerk Connection Members.  The Top 3 Winners will be featured in the Law Clerk Connection Marketplace and in promotional materials sent to attorneys nationwide.

Details:

• Video Resumes must not exceed 3 minutes in length.
• Video Resumes must be uploaded to your Law Clerk Connection Profile and a link emailed to vrc@lawclerkconnection.com.
• Videos must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on September 1, 2009.
  Due to multiple requests, videos can be submitted by November 30, 2009.
• All video resumes will be judged by a panel of 5 judges, composed of lawyers, recruiters and other business professionals.
• Judging Factors:

1. Professionalism
2. Conciseness
3. Ability to communicate relevant skills
4. Uniqueness/Innovative Approach

What is a Video Resume?

A video resume is a short video created by a candidate for employment that describes the individual’s skills and qualifications and is typically used to supplement a traditional resume.

Tips to Help You Prepare a Professional Video Resume:

• Dress professionally in business attire, just as if you were going to an in-person interview.
• Look at the camera not at the desk or table below you.
• Don’t speak too fast.
• Make sure there isn’t any background noise and that the wall behind you isn’t too busy.
• Practice what you’re going to say ahead of time.
• Focus on your professional endeavors, not your personal ones.
• Discuss why you would be a good freelance Law Clerk and what you can do for the lawyer that hires you.
• Thank the lawyer for considering you for their legal project.

Remember – You must sign up for a YouTube account to upload your video & provide a link to your YouTube Video in your Law Clerk Connection Selling Profile.

You’ve taken all the classes, criminal law, constitutional law, contract law and property law, walked the stage with honors, interned, clerked, passed the bar and got the new brief case.  The condo, boat and Porsche haven’t appeared yet, but soon.  That shingle looks great and your business cards are on the way.

What’s missing? CLIENTS!!  How do you get clients?  Aren’t they lined up waiting for your wisdom and sympathy (with their checkbook open)? Don’t they KNOW who you are?  No, frankly they don’t.   For all the great education you have received, they probably didn’t teach you the BUSINESS of practicing law.  Don’t worry, you’re not alone.  This isn’t even an industry specific obstacle.  Take the medical field for instance, doctors are notoriously absent of business skills and have to learn quickly, often the hard way.

Not every law student or graduate has a position lined up immediately after graduation or will stay with that position for a great length of time.  Many new grads are planning on or are left with no alternative but going into solo or small group practice.  In any event, large group, small group or solo, client development is crucial.

So, how do you become a rainmaker?  Oh, wait a minute, you’re only a 1L or 2L??  It’s all you can do to keep up with your classes let alone plan for the day after you graduate?  Great!  You can benefit more by having more time to consider your options, plan accordingly and take proactive steps.  Ready to graduate or have the degree and the job fell through with the cutbacks?  Downsized before you even started?  Read on.

Rainmaking is an ongoing process.  Please understand this.  All business is basically relationship driven.  You need to utilize the relationships you already have and drive the relationships you want to develop for your success.  Try to select your internships and clerking jobs to correlate with your area of interest instead of just something to generate a paycheck or fulfill a requirement.  Your time is precious and you need to have a forward focus on all your activities.

First and foremost -  figure out your niche.

You must clearly determine your target practice market. What kind of law do you want to practice and where.  Don’t look at the type of law before you determine who you are.  Look inside yourself and identify your strongest abilities and inclinations.  Are you a jock type?  How about sports law?  A geek or nerd type, try intellectual property.  Business or medicine your forte…look that way.  You get the picture.  Don’t try to force yourself into a mold because it seems to be a big moneymaker or it’s expected that you follow a certain path.  If you don’t practice your passion, it is almost impossible to have the life balance, satisfaction and success you desire.

What type of clients do you want to handle?

Identify what pulls you to a type of client.  Do you feel strongly about being an ombudsman or defender of families (typically women and children) or equality in divorce proceedings?  Family law sounds right for you.  Want to defend the “little guy” against big business or defend big business against the “frivolous” lawsuits of John Q. Public.  Love the land…real estate law, public domain.  Perry Mason in the courtroom defending the accused?  Whatever the client, identify the issues they might have and if you want to handle them.  What type of client DO you want?  What type of client do you NOT want to represent?  What kind of referrals could they bring?  The more you can define these items, the closer to success you will be.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you will or must do it all and take every bit of business that comes your way in order to get started.  Pick out one or two areas you wish to target.  They should have commonalities to enhance each area rather than compete for your time and direction.  Concentrate your focus on these areas rather than trying to do it all then figure out what seems to work the most for you.  You’ve heard the adage – Jack of all trades, Master of none?

It is never too early (or late) to start your investigations.  Learn all you can. This will help develop the road map you will be following.

What resources can you bring from the “outside”?

What is your extended background?  Who do you know?  What relationships are already established?  Can you tap into resources from family and friends for referrals or a direction to proceed?  Do they fit into your niche or are you “nicheing” to fit them?

Ok, now you have your direction in line, so where are the clients?  As we said before, business is relationships.  How do you develop relationships and get your name (brand) out there?

A big mistake many attorneys make is to focus on making every contact a client.  This becomes a frantic and frenetic lifestyle.  And some attorneys are not “sales” oriented.  They don’t have the extroverted personality type that makes it easier to maintain a “sell” attitude.  What you want to do is focus on relationship building in areas or peripheral areas that generate referrals.

It used to be that attorneys (and other professionals, doctors, CPAs, etc) had to be very circumspect in their advertising: no blatant ads, television advertising, or billboards; business cards and stationary were done in Copperplate font, black on a nice white linen and yellow pages ads were at most a bold one line entry versus standard type.  While there are still ethical limits that attorneys must follow, it is still possible to create your brand and stand out to potential clients.

Today the sky is the limit and we have the internet. Creating a professional webpage is essential to exposing your brand and announcing your presence to the world.  Depending on your focus it may be a fluid, informative, interactive site or a basic large ad type that remains fairly static but gets your message across. Make it easy for someone to find you. Check out the Martindale-Hubbell® Lawyer Web Site for quick and easy ways to create a professional website in minutes.  Also, consider bartering some services with a computer wiz for your website design.

Now you have the basis to getting your name out there. What can you do to develop new relationships and get your brand out there?

Hopefully you will have had the foresight to have developed some contacts and networks in law school.  Not just friends but prospective business contacts that can further your agenda.  Network with other attorneys and refer clients to them for issues you don’t want to handle. They return the favor.

Another easy, inexpensive and surprisingly effective way of getting your name out there is by using Google Adwords (or similar service).  By choosing specific keywords to identify your specific area(s) of practice and by limiting the advertising area geographically, you can reach thousands of potential clients without really trying.

Ever heard of the elevator speech?

Develop your own 15-30 second synopsis of what you do.  Imagine you are asked what you do as you are taking a short ride in an elevator.  The obvious answer is NOT “I am an attorney.”

The answer to the question is (fill in the blanks):  “I solve this problem_____ for these client types_____ by providing this solution or service____.”)  Refine and practice this until it becomes second nature to you.

This can even be done with your clerking or internship position or your charitable Board of Directors position or your volunteer position.  Everyone needs a problem solver at sometime in their lives!

Make your face public.

Utilize casual and formal networking. Don’t limit your scope to just legal networks.  Get to the Chamber meetings, city council meetings, community and/or charity organizations.  Join the board of directors of a charitable organization (along with other community and business leaders!).  These can be huge because you will be developing RELATIONSHIPS rather than fishing for clients.  You will establish yourself as a person of character, the person with the answers, the solution to a problem.  Strike up conversations everywhere you can by asking open-ended questions.  Word of mouth advertising is the best way to build a business.

Does your area of expertise lend itself to free seminars to educate and inform the public regarding issues such as wills, trusts, senior issues, children’s issues, tax, business or real estate, patents etc.?

Sponsor a sports team.  Attend a game once in awhile.

Make trade show or niche show appearances either as a vendor or speaker.

Utilize community business expo events.  Champion a local cause.

The Press

There are a lot of ways to get reasonable or even free press.  Most communities have a new business section to their local newspapers or business journals. Send a press release, article or editorial.  Use the web for press releases and articles.   Try to attend meetings within your scope and be sure to have a question for the speaker for the question and answer period.  Identify yourself and ask the question.  Often this will result in your name spreading like a virus through the internet.

Follow-Up

Tremendously important, and hopefully a trait you have developed by now, is follow-up and follow-through.  Not acknowledging someone for the time and trouble they have extended on your behalf is rude and suicidal.  Dropping the ball negates your efforts and can permanently damage your hard earned reputation

Delegating

Another often-overlooked aspect to rainmaking is delegating.  Ask yourself if the task you are facing can be delegated to someone else to free your time for more cost effective, revenue producing activities (i.e., relationship building).  For more information on this topic, refer to our  whitepapers on delegating.

Obviously, this article doesn’t cover every detail you need to be a successful rainmaker but we hope that it stirs your mind and sets you on the road to developing a cohesive, proactive plan to professional success in a trying market.  Get your name out there, build relationships and ask for referrals.

LCC: What does document management actually entail?

Toby: All true document management systems should include at least the following functions:

Metadata storage -  which comprises the date the document was stored and the identity of the user storing it.  This can also include keywords possibly extracted by some of the more advanced document management systems.

Integration with applications/services – So that users may retrieve existing documents directly from the document management  repository, make changes, and save the changed document back to the repository as a new version, all without leaving the application.  You may have seen some similar functions already built into Microsoft Office products if you find yourself using Adobe Acrobat as well – think of the “Convert to PDF” buttons commonly seen when using both products.

Imaging/Capture – This is done typically by desktop or network scanners. OCR usually occurs here also. OCR or Optical Character Recognition converts the images into searchable text.

Index(ing) – Indexing can be thought of as keeping track of the documents.  This makes searching easier because, not only are the filenames indexed, but in some cases, even the text of the document is indexed and searchable. If the DMS you use doesn’t include the text of the documents – you may consider using a desktop search product such as Google Desktop or Microsoft Windows Search 4.0, but we’ll leave that to a future discussion!

Storage - Storage of the documents often includes management of those same documents, where they are stored, for how long, migration of the documents from one storage media to another and eventual document destruction.

Retrieval -  The retrieval for this kind of query may be supported by previously-built indexes, or may perform more time-consuming searches through the documents’ contents to return a list of the potentially relevant documents.

Distribution – A published document for distribution has to be in a format that can not be easily altered.  As a common practice in law regulated industries, an original master copy of the document is usually never used for distribution other than in hard-copy form.  If a document is to be distributed electronically in a regulatory environment, then the equipment tasking the job has to be quality endorsed AND validated. Think about that statement for a second. When you go to select a document management system for your own, using the criteria listed in this article as bullets, the BOLD sentence is where most fall short. Many of the cloud-type DMS systems will not be endorsed or validated, making them insufficient in the legal realm.  For this reason I strongly encourage you to keep the DMS on your own server if you can at all accommodate such a setup.  You can use quality tested and validated products – even some of the open-source products out there will accommodate this.

Security – Document security is vital in many document management applications. Compliance requirements for certain documents can be quite complex, depending on the type of documents. For instance, HIPAA requirements dictate that medical documents have certain security requirements.  And of course, attorneys must always be on guard to protect the confidentiality of their clients’ data.  To aid in that challenge, some document management systems have a rights management module that allows an administrator to give access to documents based on type only to certain people or groups of people.

Versioning – Versioning is a process by which documents are checked in or out of the document management system, allowing users to retrieve previous versions and to continue work from a selected point.  Versioning is useful for documents that change over time and require updating, but it may be necessary to go back to a previous copy.

One of the key things to consider when choosing a document management solution is where to house the data. Now provided you don’t have legal requirements then it’s more of a personal/budget related preference. You could if you had the money or the hardware spring for your own server and setup some open-source document management software and run it in-house.  Or, you could delegate your document management needs into the proverbial “cloud.”

LCC: Wow – that’s a great deal to take in!  Do you have any recommendations or favorite DMS?

Toby: Well, Wikipedia.org has compiled most of the current known, relevant DMS software out there, most of which will cover the features we just discussed, albeit to varying degrees.

The best thing to do is to figure out a budget and then decide between the most critical aspects for your needs.  First, you should determine whether you have the resources to figure out how to maintain your system on your hardware, either by administrating it yourself, or hiring someone to maintain it for you.

LCC: So what do you think is better – hosting in-house or in the cloud?

Toby: Well, before you jump to an online solution in the cloud – consider the recurring monthly costs, which at first seem minimal – perhaps $50 a month.  That is nearly $600 a year – not including the headaches you may incur if you can’t access those documents when the cloud isn’t working or your internet connection fails, or, you find yourself without an internet connection at all.  More than likely, you won’t have a local copy to pull from if you place your faith in the cloud.  The outage may be minimal – a few minutes, or it could be more extreme – 24 hours or more.

Can you afford to put your practice on hold for 24 hours because your document management system failed?  How long before you see those documents again?  These are all things you have to consider when choosing between hosting yourself or in the cloud.

An additional consideration is bandwidth.  How fast is your internet connection?  Business DSL you say?  Well that is fine and dandy for office browsing and VPN remote traffic, but as far as uploading documents – think of those gigantic PDF’s you made when scanning the last 20 bankers boxes of hodgepodge documents that are now housed on several CD’s worth of storage space.  That DSL line is going to be uploading all night, and you better hope it doesn’t time out while in the middle of the transfer so you don’t have to start it again.

Finally, to host your DMS in the cloud, you are most likely looking at a cost of $2000 per year, depending on the amount of storage space that you require.

On the other hand, you could self-host on your own hardware by buying the necessary software.  If you are considering this route, then you probably already have a small network in place and more than likely, a dedicated server.  If you go down the open-source route (OpenKM or Alfresco, for example), then your costs are minimal – you could afford a support contract with one of the above companies and not have to hire an IT person unless things get really bad.  The costs you would have here are increased storage capacity –  I recently purchased a 7.5 Terabyte Network Attached Storage device for about $1500.  This gives me much more storage than any online service will ever give me – and I already have the network and server in place for other duties.  This allows me to create my own backups and administer my own security policies.

LCC: Well, you have certainly given us some important points to ponder when choosing a document management system.  We’ll talk again next week about the systems best suited for law firms.  Thanks Toby!

Toby: Anytime.  I hope this helped enlighten your readers on how to choose a document management system.

Free Tools for Time Tracking

This is not the first time we’ve talked about time tracking applications, but this time we will highlight FREE time tracking applications.  Tracking time is so critical to the revenue that lawyers make, that it might seem funny to talk about free products.  But the software world remains unique in that free products are often as good, if not even better, than products you pay for.

The time tracking products that we’ll talk about here have many of the features of the commercial products that we discussed in the article Tools for Trouble-Free Time Tracking.  The commercial products like Rocket Matter, Bill4time, TimeSolv Legal and 14Dayz have two key features that these free products are missing:  centralized reporting and billing rate tracking.  The commercial products allow users to work on their own computers – but the data is shared centrally on a web site that the administrator can monitor.  The billing rate features, while cool, are less important, because it’s really not that difficult to multiply the total number of hours by your billing rate.

So, if you are rolling out a team that you want to monitor, the commercial tools are still your best option.  However, if the central monitoring is not critical, then you should check out these time-tracking tools.  They are all relatively easy to use, you just need to locate which tool best matches your style.

All of these tools will require you to download and install the software onto your PC (and several also support the Mac).  They all do the basics of time tracking, so we’ll focus on what makes each product stand out from the others.

Rachota Timetracker
Rachota allows you to define your working hours per day and can give you a notification when your working hours are not reached or are exceeded.  This is great when you have projects that are very time sensitive.  Also, you can define regular tasks, with an assigned priority, so that you can access to them easily on the front page of Rachota.

While working on your projects, there may even be times when you take a coffee break.  Rochata has a relax button (I love hitting a button with that name) where you can use to pause the timer.  Once you are done with your break, simply click the work button (boo, hiss) to start the timer.  Check out this tutorial to really see what Rachota can do for you on your PC or Mac.  And if you are wondering what Rachota stands for it is a Czech word and basically means manual work or labor. In slang, it implies something you will have to do after the weekend but you do not look forward to.

Baralga
Baralga is a simple applications that allows you to track the time you have spent on projects.  Unlike a number of the other paid and free tools, there is an option for you to manually enter time for those instances where you forget to turn the timer on.  It’s great when you take a phone call away from your computer – you can still log the time in later.  Baralga allows you to export your data to Microsoft Excel.

Klok
Klok is still in beta testing, but it is a surprisingly useful and comprehensive time tracking application.  For each project, you can further split it into smaller sub projects and manage it like any other project.  The killer feature in Klok is a calendar-like display.  While most of the applications show time in a list mode, Klok allows you to see how your time is spent in a visual calendar mode similar to a Microsoft Outlook Calendar display.  If you are a visual learner you will like Klok!  You will have to install Adobe Air, an add-on program to your browser, in order to use Klok.

Timetracker
Don’t be dismayed by the lack of a cute product name, what TimeTracker lacks in naming it makes up for in the user-interface.  It allows you to see everything in one glance.  The projects, tasks and links to reports/charts are located on the left side of the screen and you can switch between projects easily and quickly.  The main panel that tracks time is in a spreadsheet format, so it to is very easy to use.  The reports section comes with three different type of visual report: text, chart and grid.  Timetracker also reminds you when it is idle to help ensure you are accounting for all billable time.

actiTIME
ActiTIME bridges the free and commercial world.  You can use their free version and, if ever needed, upgrade to a paid version for more functionality.  Once installed, you can run ActiTime from within your Internet browser.  It has more features than the other free products with the ability to set up customers record and project details, enter the time spent for each projects, allocate your work schedule and best of all, generate an invoice for the time you have spent on the projects.  With that functionality you lose a bit of the ease of use, but I’m talking about 30 minute learning curve instead of a 15 minute learning curve with the other products we’ve listed here.

ActiTime is the only free product to include features for multiple users and integration with Intuit Quickbooks.  However,  to take full advantage of the multiple users you will probably find yourself upgrading to the paid version.

The Bottom Line

We’ve said it before, nobody loves tracking time but we all like getting paid, so it is something that has to be done!  These tools can make it easier than relying on memory and scribbled notes.  Even if they don’t make you love tracking time, hopefully you will hate it less!

Tips for Lawyer “Buyers”

Many of you have registered as Lawyers with the intent to post legal projects.  If you are like other lawyers we have spoken with, you may be trying to figure out the best way to integrate Law Clerk Connection into your practice.  Since every practice is different, we have provided a few examples on how you can use Law Clerk Connection to make your practice more efficient. 

Research. Let’s imagine that you have just taken on a new client, and are considering drafting a demand letter to the opposing side, as your initial strategy.  The first thing you want to do is dazzle them with your knowledge of the law and the strength of your client’s facts.  The last thing you want to do is to miss some obscure or new case that may be damaging to your client’s position.

You decide that you need two Law Clerks – one to research cases and law that support your client’s position, and one to research cases and law that oppose your client’s position.  Your next step is to post two projects describing the facts, what you wish to accomplish, and what specifically you want each Law Clerk to do.

You would ask Law Clerk 1 to find all cases & statutory law supporting your client’s position.  Next, you ask Law Clerk 1 to brief each case and compile an issue chart.  Finally, you ask Law Clerk 1 to draft a research memorandum that applies your client’s facts to the relevant law.  You might specify that the final products that Law Clerk 1 would need to turn over to you are:

1. The Chart,
2. Each Law & Case with the brief attached, and
3. The final memorandum.

You would ask Law Clerk 2 to do the exact same thing, only for the opposing position, so that you would know in advance what the other side might use to argue.

During the time that your two virtual Law Clerks are working, you could be attending hearings, meeting with new clients, or negotiating a settlement in another case.

Once you receive your final products, you can then assess the strength of your client’s position and either draft the demand letter yourself, or choose one of your virtual Law Clerks to do it for you.

Document Review. Now let’s imagine that your client’s case has not settled as quickly as you thought it would.  You now find yourself overwhelmed with 20 boxes of documents, courtesy of opposing counsel in response to your discovery requests.  Before you cancel dinner with your spouse and miss your child’s little-league games for the next month, think about the nationwide network of Law Clerk’s at your disposal with Law Clerk Connection.

First things first – start scanning each box of documents so that you can upload them through the MediaShare system, or through another document sharing system of your choosing.  (Don’t forget to make a copy of each pdf file and OCR them!)  While those are scanning, you can hop onto Law Clerk Connection and start drafting your next legal project post and searching for qualified Law Clerks.  While your going through this process, you decide that you want this done as quickly as possible, so you ask for 6 Law Clerks to do the job.  Once you have posted your project, you can either invite select Law Clerks to bid, or just take your chances and see who is interested.

You may want to give each Law Clerk a list of issues, keywords or documents that they are to look for.  Then, each Law Clerk can either perform a keyword search, or read each document in order to be sure not to miss something.  They can then extract pages that pertain to each issue and place them in a folder based on keyword or issue.  Those can be created in the “Shared Folder” of the MediaShare system, or in another document sharing system of your choosing.

The possibilities for end-products are virtually endless, depending on the level of involvement you wish each Law Clerk to have.   For example, you could have the project result only in documents separated into folders, or you could have a more advanced Law Clerk provide an analysis of the results depending on what you want to do next strategically.

Of course, there are many ways to use Law Clerk Connection in your practice. If you would like a personal consultation on how you can use Law Clerk Connection in your practice, please contact us and we will be delighted to discuss the process with you.  Additionally, you can get an overview the process here.

Your Selling Profile

This is where you tell people all about your amazing skills and expertise.  To do this, be sure to be as specific as possible.  This means, letting people know where you went to school, what degree(s) you have, where you have worked and the specific projects that you have worked on.

For just a couple of dollars, you can also list your certifications, licenses and awards that you have received in the past 5 years and have them verified through Law Clerk Connection.  Lawyers will be more likely to invite a person to bid who has been checked out before-hand.

A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words. Add a personal touch to your Profile by uploading a professional picture of yourself.  Or, go the extra mile and produce a Video Resume for yourself.  You can publish your video on YouTube and upload a link to your video on your profile.  You never know where this could lead, so if you’re going to do a video, be sure to think about it, outline it and publish it only when you know you’ve got a winning Video Resume!

Update Regularly. It is important to keep your profile updated with your previous and current positions and the firms or lawyers that you have worked on, both through Law Clerk Connection and outside.  This gives Lawyers the ability to see, at a glance, whether you might create a conflict if hired.

Remember, you can post your Selling Profile on 5 legal categories in which you hold particular experience, including the non-profit/pro-bono section.

Your Portfolios

At Law Clerk Connection, you can post your best writing samples in the marketplace for others to view.  Having one or more Portfolios in different categories dramatically increases your exposure and the likelihood of being invited to bid on projects.  For a small fee, you can also get “Featured Status” which puts you at the top of any search through the Portfolio Gallery.

So, if you earned the highest grade in your legal writing or advocacy classes, or if you wrote the brief that prompted a great settlement for your client, put it in the Portfolio Gallery.  You can upload Word Documents, PDFs and Image Files, but be careful to clean out your metadata!

One last thing, proofread your writing sample carefully before posting it.  I’ve found two methods helpful in catching those tricky grammar and spelling issues:  (1) have someone else read it, or (2) read it backwards yourself.  You will be surprised what you find when you read your work in reverse!