The Practice

2007 Holiday Gift Guide

So you want a gift to give to your mentor, mentee, friend, coworker, boss, or other lawyer you know? Try my friend Lisa Solomon at The Billable Hour. Here is what Lisa has for 2007:

Our Music Department, carries the world's most comprehensive line of humorous CDs by and for lawyers. Where else can you find music by The Bar & Grill Singers and Bob Noone & the Well Hung Jury, as well as CDs like The Billable Hour Blues (by Dan Klau) and Soulless, Bloodsucking Lawyers: A Brief Musical (the soundtrack to an original play by the same name written by Minnesota lawyer, speaker, comedian and playwright Toni Halleen) in one place? And, of course, we carry a full line of CDs by legal music veteran Lawrence Savell, including his brand new album, The Lawtunes: Live at Blackacre.

Our Original Pocket Briefcase and Soft Sided Leather Pocket Briefcase make perfect stocking-stuffers.

We also have a growing Games and Books Department, and, in our continuing quest to help lawyers achieve work/life balance, we have added Helios Pens—which appear to float in the air as they balance over their gracefully curved bases—to our TBH Office Department.

In fact, we've been adding so many fun products to our website that we know it must be getting hard for our website visitors to choose just one item for that special lawyer, law student or legal professional in their lives. So we've carefully sifted through our inventory of products and assembled Survival Kits for Judges, Partners, Associates, Law Students, Paralegals, and one especially for anyone preparing for—or awaiting the results of—the Bar Exam.

Each kit contains one of our signature timepieces, plus a selection of items from our Music, Games and TBH Office departments. The items are artfully arranged in a first aid-themed gift box (the Partner Survival Kit comes in a photorealistic golf cart gift bag) and topped by a huge 4" red bow.

Over at The Billable Hour Card Store, we've added over 100 new humorous legal greeting cards, bringing our selection of humorous legal cards to over 200. You can't find these cards anywhere else on the web: they are exclusive to The Billable Hour Card Store. Stu's Views (our largest collection) is by Stu Rees, a cartoonist who—when he's not drawing—represents other cartoonists in their legal matters. The Lawtoons line is from Suzan Charlton, a professional cartoonist who is rumored to practice insurance coverage law as a hobby for a major Washington D.C. law firm. Her cartoons cover a wide range of law-related topics, from law school grades to law firm romance. The Cartoons by Dan line is by Dan Rosandich (who, while not a lawyer, has a better grasp of many legal concepts than opposing counsel on some of cases). All of our cards can be used as holiday cards, since the inside message is completely customizable. 

We also carry a wide selection of more "traditional" holiday cards featuring nonlegal themes (such as snowflakes, ornaments, Christmas trees and menorahs).

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And now a word from me: I get asked to review all kinds of products. Very few do I recommend. You know the list by now. Lisa and The Billable Hour have the most creative gifts I have found. If only she would get some Lawyers Breath hot sauce, made right here in the Sacramento Valley, she would have it all. Even without the hot sauce, Lisa has more lawyer gifts in her online store than you can find in all of the Central Valley. Give it a peek!

Great new advertising firm

I came across a great new advertising firm in California. Well, new to me. But, the founder has over 25 years of experience. From his website:

Hipnotic Inc is a full service advertising, design and marketing firm located in Santa Monica, CA. We provide integrated solutions for web, print, multi-media and broadcast. With 25 years of award-winning work and experience we have the knowledge and ability to create outstanding ideas and execute them across all mediums.

His list of past and current clients is impressive. And you will see from his other projects how he can help you build a message.

Put Gary Alpern's design expertise in conjunction with Ben Glass' marketing program and you have a sure fire way to make sure you stand out in your field and get the clients you want!

New source for holiday cards

Want some custom holiday cards to send out this year? Check out Redbean Design. Melissa over there is custom designing holiday cards for law firms. And the best part? 15% discount if you mention my name.

Here is a bit about Redbean:

Redbean Design is an award-winning San Francisco based design firm with aspirations of delighting correspondence connoisseurs worldwide.

Driven by the notion that good design spans all mediums, our work includes print, web, surface, packaging, product, identity and textile design.

We published our first holiday cards three years ago, with the goal of offering a fresh perspective and stylish, premium quality alternative to card buyers, at an affordable price. We sold out within just a few weeks, and decided to make the holiday cards an annual project.

Make sure to put my name (Jonathan Stein) in the notes field to get your discount.

My top 25

No, I am not going to give you my top 25 college football teams this year. (Although, I do think USC should still be #1 and LSU #2, but I also don't think they should release a preseason top 25 since no one knows how good anyone will be until they play a game. But, that is for another post.)

I just got back from Anaheim and the California State Bar annual meeting. I gave a CLE program on technology and the law firm. In doing so, I prepared a list of 25 programs you should have for your firm. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Audacity
2. Mirra Personal Server
3. Adobe Acrobat Pro 8.0
4. Webex
5. ProDoc
6. Basecamp
7. Verizon EVDO
8. Paperport Pro
9. Logmein.com or Gotomypc.com or gotomeeting.com
10. Dragon 9.0
11. Skype
12. DepoSmart
13. Scanner
14. Dual monitors
15. Listserves
16. Etran manager from RealLegal
17. Snagit
18. Copernic Desktop
19. Google earth, Myspace, Friendster, Google, Zillow
20. Cybersecretary (www.speakwrite.com)
21. Accurint
22. TimeMap and TextMap
23. Stamps.com
24. Ureach/efax
25. Activewords

Let me know what you think is missing. But, this list is what I think you need, after spending quite a bit of time last week researching this.

Great New Book: The Party of the First Part

I just finished reading this new book from Adam Freedman. He is the "Legal Lingo" columnist for the New York Law Journal Magazine and author of the website by the same name as the book.

This is a great, quick read. The book provides a history of legal terms that you use everyday in your law practice. He then provides a plain English meaning of these words. What a relief! I wish I had this when I was in law school.

Interestingly, I think the book will also help you be a better writer. I know I try to avoid legalese at all costs in my writing. But, I know some gets left in. After reading this book, I am going to redouble my efforts to get all of that nonsense out of there whenever possible.

Go out there and give the book a read. And post a review here.

Law Firm Funding

Face it - sometimes it is expensive to run a law firm. It costs money, especially if you are going to take on plaintiff's cases. And traditional banks don't want to lend us money. But there are other people out there who will help.

I just met Beth Robbins. She has money she is looking to lend to law firms - and a lot of money. Here is her information. If you call her, tell her Jonathan Stein said hi.

Beth Robbins

Nationwide Litigation Funding

578 Washington Blvd Ste 249

Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
Tel: (310) 306-1001
Fax: (310) 388-0576
Email: Beth@nlfunding.com
Website: http://www.litfundingusa.com

Credit Cards: The Debate Continues

Okay, so you either take credit cards or you do not. Simple enough proposition. Either you think it helps your practice or you think it is more trouble than it is worth.

Well, the fine folks (and I mean that) at the State Bar of California have come out with an ethics opinion, 2007-172, about credit cards. Read it, digest it, and if you are in California, read this month's California Bar Journal where it is discussed in an MCLE segment.

Now, decide for yourself. (Oh, and for the record, I have no official opinion, but wanted to provide this information.)

Malpractice Insurance

I read an article today comparing malpractice carriers. There was a ton of information. However, one of the most important things was just glanced over: AM Best rating.

DO NOT SHOP INSURANCE ON PRICE ALONE!

Wheh, I hope that made a point. When you buy insurance, you are buying their promise to pay. If they are not there to pay, you have wasted your premium. You MUST buy malpractice coverage from an A rated carrier. Anything else will be a waste of your time.

Small Business Resources From Shippers

Yes, those friendly shippers, UPS, DHL and FedEx have services for you. Well, not for you the attorney, but you the small business. I bet you didn't know that they were so helpful. We all know about The UPS Store and FedEx Kinkos, but you can also find more:

• DHL provides links to the company's small business magazine, resources and calculators;
• FedEx has information on shipping, printing, articles and resources, along with deals for those of you looking at their information;
• UPS has cost saving tips, tools, and resources when you click on "Business Solutions."

These are three great resources to help you stay cost competitive. After all, despite being a lawyer, you are still running a small business.

-------Jonathan

Saving money versus being cheap

Some people confuse cheap with saving money. They are two different concepts.  Completely different. So different that, well, maybe an example will help.

Saving money: I don't have a postage meter. I use  stamps. I buy my stamps at Costco for less than face value. I mail a letter and put a stamp on it. If I have a bigger package to ship, I go to my mail drop and ship it and pay them the postage. It is a substantial savings over using a postage meter.

Cheap: I received a check from another attorney yesterday. Let's say the attorneys name is Susan. (It is not, but let's pretend.) The check, instead of saying "Law Office of Susan Jones," actually says "Law Office of Suzanne Jones." They crossed out Suzanne and wrote Susan. That, my friends, is just being cheap.

With your practice, save money, but do not be cheap. Being cheap just looks bad.

-------Jonathan