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Vacation travel — Route 66

After a very busy September … and a very exciting month, indeed … we’re (me, my wife and Bandit) on vacation, traveling in the Airstream en route to the Balloon Festival in NM …  Today, we’re in Williams, AZ. Last night, here, we stopped in to Twisters.  This is a throwback diner to the 50’s … on Route 66.

The pricing on the menu ends in 66 as in $5.66.  And an old Ford Fairlane sits in front. This place is a hoot, creating all kinds of memories for me.

But, the best is their chocolate malted milk shakes … make with chocolate ice cream and served in a tall glass … and with the stainless steal canister in which it’s made. This means 2 1/2 glasses of a great tasting malt. A friend told us of this place and it’s one of the best recommendations I’ve received. It was so good that I intend to return for one more …. Of course, that will mean the need for a longer bike ride to burn off the calories … Hey, you only go around once, right?

 


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Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Poll

This month has been chock-filled with activity, capped off today with an incredible honor.

First, I was the keynote presenter at the Lexis-Nexis customer conference; second, I chaired the West LegalEdcenter Midwest Law Firm Management Conference. And, today, I was surprised and very honored to received the first Lifetime Achievement Award from The California Bar’s Law Practice Management & Technology Section! Wow, what an honor to have this new award named after me, and given to me as the first honoree.


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Cloud Based Applications Interview with Nerino Petro

Nerino Petro is the Practice Management Advisor for the State Bar of Wisconsin. In that position, Nerino helps attorneys throughout the State of Wisconsin to deal with process questions like: “What technology should I be using in my practice?”, “How can I improve my collections?”, “My client did X, what should my response be?” and a host of other issues which confront a bar practice management adviser on a daily basis. Our discussion today will focus on the issue of cloud based applications. What are they? How do they differ from traditional applications? And are they ready for the big time? Join Ed and Norino for this interesting discussion.

27 minutes, 29 seconds
6.3MB


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Creating a wow experience

What are you doing to create a wow experience for your clients? And I don’t mean winning the case. Have you ever had the experience of walking out of the court room only to hear your client say something like, "Why didn’t we get xxxx?" Of course, you respond by saying you/we got everything we asked for .. everything that the law permits?  You didn’t educate you client along the road from the beginning of the engagement to the point of conclusion.

What can you do to create a wow experience of dealing with you?

I am now in Las Vegas to give their customer law practice management conference keynote presentation. The conference is being held in the Aria Hotel.  The hotel is new (December 2009) in their City Center. Wow! What a facility. Green. Electronics all over the place. Large, bigger than life. This is not just Las Vegas. This is Las Vegas on steroids. And, tomorrow evening, we’ll go to the Cirque show, Elvis, that is playing here. I’ve been to Las Vegas before. But, I’ve never been so impressed … This is not just big, it is beautiful and much more.

Time for me to go .. I get to take my wife to dinner at one of the fine restaurants in LV.


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Your Brain Is Next

A lawsuit was filed against the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Immigration authorities for searching and even confiscating electronic devices such as laptops, cameras, media storage devices and related items. The suit, according to an LA Times article this week, was filed by the ACLU, New York Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers on behalf of the National Press Photographers Association, criminal defense lawyers and a student.

According to the article, the lawsuit “… says policies adopted by U.S. government agencies permit the search of all electronic devices that ‘contain information,’ including laptops, cameras, mobile phones and data storage devices.”

How is it that American citizens, despite the tragedy of 9/11, are willing to sacrifice their civil liberties so hard won over the last centuries? How is it that the government has the right to peek into our thoughts, contrasted to our actions? Thinking of yelling “fire” in a crowded theater is not illegal, only doing it is.

Seen Matrix? When will the first brain dump be required by the government? If they can see and review our personal thoughts contained in our electronic journal (our laptop, etc.), how much further before they decipher the brain inside our head?  What’s the difference? And if we have been thinking naughty thoughts, having fantasies or otherwise thinking outside the norm, will we be “confiscated?” That’s what the government is doing now.

Lest you think this is happening to foreigners traveling on our soil, the article points out that more than 6,500 people have had their electronic devices searched since October 2008 as they cross the Canadian-U.S. border, nearly half of them are American citizens!

Where are you, Tom Paine, when we need you?


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Conference You Must Attend – Or Fall Behind

The Business of Lawâ is continuously changing— from fee structures, to marketing strategies, to client preferences. In today’s economic climate, law firms have no way to catch up once they fall behind.

The good news is that the success or failure of your firm is completely in your hands. If you learn the newest practices, develop your business plan, and understand the economic situation you’re operating in, you can achieve financial performances you’ve only dreamed of.

So what’s the fastest, easiest and most innovative way to update traditional methods and boost business to the next level? 

Introducing the 2nd Annual Midwestern Law Firm Management Conference- The New Norm: Understanding How To Thrive in the New Economy.

 

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