Category: Technology
I came from an immigrant family as many people in my generation did, and still do. Growing up, my parents were involved in the labor movement and unemployment insurance was a big deal. In today’s context, unemployment insurance s hardly significant. But, don’t tell that to the many who are seeking this benefit and can’t crash through the long lines and busy telephone lines.
NPR did a piece today on what unemployment insurance is today and what it means.
Here are some statistics that I find fascinating, and which I did not previously appreciate. There are about 10 million unemployed workers, about half of them being in only eight states including California, Florida, Michigan and New York. There are millions more who don’t even qualify because they were self-employed or have been out of work too long … they sort of get lost in the system.
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When technology companies need to hire a business development person, they’re really off the chart in success or they are scrambling to survive. Twitter says it’s doing very well and has many partnering offers to evaluate … and they need some to do that. They’ve hired a "business development" wiz … someone who has been using their service for almost a year.
Go Twitter. I have yet to follow, but hope to be there soon.
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LawBiz® facilitated a webinar about social networking and the benefits of this new technology for lawyers. David Nour, an expert on Relationship Economics, joined me in what the audience described as an outstanding learning experience. As the saying goes, it was like "drinking from a fire hose."
Substantially more than 100 people signed up and others contacted me with calendar conflicts. By popular demand, we will do our program again; we also will produce a DVD of this week’s program; and my teleseminar with West LegalEdcenter on December 9th at 11 a.m. PT will bring David and me together again for another edition of social networking.
Stay tuned. Subcribe to LawBiz® Tips for current information as it is posted.
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LMA LA presented a program today on social networking. It was well attended and the speakers were all outstanding. Those in attendance, like me I’m sure, felt like someone had just turned on the firehose and spewed forth a whole lot of knowledge. Now our trick is to implement the ideas expressed.
What does “social media” mean? How does it differ from “social networking”? I’m not sure I understand the difference, but Sally Falkow, president and senior strategist of Expansioin InternetmarketingPR, had as broad a definition as any. If I am paraphrasing her correctly, it’s using the internet to communicate with clients and prospective clients. It’s not relevant which technique or application you use, just that you use the internet. I like this broad definition. It goes along with my definition of “marketing.” Marketing is every technique you use to communicate your ideas to another. Looked at it from this perspective, lawyers even market in their presentations before a judge and a jury, though I know few would agree with me.
Jonathan L. Handel, an attorney with Troy Gould, told how he used social networking to expand his base, starting from just 14 months ago. There is just too much to say about Jonathan in this short space. So, I will suggest, instead, that you go to Google and search on his name. You will be surprised at how many times his name will appear. Suffice to say, Jonathan is a regular contributor to many of the major newspapers in the nation as well as blog sites pertinent to his field. Congratulations must be given to Jonathan.
Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog was the moderator who, as usual, did an outstanding job of explaining the technology and asking the right questions of the panelists. Kevin has taken his business from the beginning stages of entrepreneurship to a spiked growth rate. I’ve know Kevin since the time he was practicing law in Wisconsin. In fact, he was one of the first subcribers to our audio series, Law Practice Management Review: The Audio Magazine for Busy Attorneys. That series has now morphed into our podcasting that can be heard both here and at our web site.
An outstanding program and its coordinator, Cheryl Bame, is to be congratulated. “This baby has legs” and just may go on the road to other LMA chapters.
This topic is now so exciting that LawBiz will be hosting David Nour, an expert in the field who just had his new book, Relationship Economics, published by John Wiley & Sons.
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As noted in an earlier post, we offered a brand new Fujitsu portable scanner, model ScanSnap S300. Our drawing has now closed. I’m pleased to say we had a large number of participants … Shows the interest in Fujitsu, and well it should. I use the scanner myself. I’m impressed not only with the speed of its operation, but its very small footprint. It sits inconspicuously on my desk, ready for immediate use.
Our lucky winner is Jon Lewis of the law firm of Lewis, Feldman, Lehane & McAtee, LLC, of Birmingham, AL … Congratulations, Jon!
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A new, ABA Formal Opinion 8-451 (August 5th), states the obvious: A lawyer may, but is responsible for, outsource work to lawyers and non-lawyers support appropriate to represent the interests of his/her client.
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Does more information become competitive intelligence … or just more information? Read Ann Lee Gibson at her new blog only if you want to learn more, i.e., become more intelligent! Congratulations to Ann for a great start.
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Is the Virtual World real? It apparently has more “life” than I knew. Even the IRS is involved, recently ruling that independent, virtual contractors were, in reality, part-time employees for whom taxes needed to be withheld. What impact will this have on other “virtual businesses?” What impact will this ruling have on “virtual assistants?” Are they independent contractors, our assumption in the past, or employees, though at a distance?
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Nick Abrahams, chair of the Sydney, Australia office of Deacons, which has branches throughout Asia, discussed his firm’s survey on technology.
The survey, among other things, that "If you’re over 35, you’re the loneliest person on Facebook because only 1 percent of workers in that age group are using it." But a quarter of the survey respondents between 25 and 34 are on Facebook, he said, and for workers under 25, the rate of Facebook users increases to a third of those surveyed.
It is still early to discern how the new social networking sites will impact a law firm’s marketing efforts; but, it is clear that these sites will not disappear in the new future … and lawyers will need to pay attention to whether these sites can benefit them in the market places in which they operate.
I don’t think we’ve yet got to the "tipping point" in this phenomenon, though we seem to be getting closer and closer with ever greater speed.
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Checks and balances is a key element of American democracy … and our economic success. Apparently, San Francisco forgot the lesson … and has paid dearly. This is a lesson that all law firms must learn … and practice … or possibly be guilty of multiple counts of malpractice and violation of Rules of Professional Conduct! It is a basic rule of the Business of Law. (more…)
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