Law practice management and technology blog posts from the Practice Management Advisers of North America:

• [Avoid a Claim] practicePRO Resource: checklist for engagement/retainer letter
  Once you have decided that you are prepared to represent a client in a particular matter, you are ready to begin building a relationship with that client. Even if you already have a relationship with the client, but are taking on a new case, it is essential that you communicate with him or her to […]
• [Avoid a Claim] Commercial debt collection scam by Takagi Yumiko
  An Ontario lawyer has notified us that he received an email from the purported Takagi Yumiko with regards to a commercial debt collection scam. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud Fact Sheet. Here is […]
• [Avoid a Claim] Separation agreement scam by Seina Bloomberg
  Lawyers in D.C and Connecticut have notified us that they’ve been contacted by the purported Seina Bloomberg with regards to a to a collaborative family law agreement dispute. This is a fraud we have seen before under several other names and similar scenarios. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see […]
• [Avoid a Claim] Commercial debt collection scam by Adriana Altosinno of Olivetti S.P.A
  A lawyer in California has notified us that he received an email from the purported Adriana Altosinno of Olivetti S.P.A with regards to a commercial debt collection scam. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud […]
• [Avoid a Claim] Ten SPECIFIC strategies for avoiding communication-based claims
  Problems with lawyer-client communication are the number-one cause of claims reported to LAWPRO. The way to prevent these claims sounds simple enough: Remind lawyers to communicate better with their clients. However, appeals to “communicate better” can seem vague − or even a little “touchy-feely”. Need specifics? Consider the following list of practical stra […]
• [Thoughtful Legal Management] Be a Doer not a Procrastinator!
  ♫ You can count on me I’m gonna get it done, get it done…♫ Lyrics, music and recorded by Sandwich. Over on Small Firm Innovation, Gwynne Monahan has posed the following challenge: Write a post that  describes what quick, uncomplicated, untechnological habits or practices make all the difference to your practice, in 100 words or less. OK…nothing […]
• [Thoughtful Legal Management] Digital Architecture of Law
  ♫ There’s a Law, there’s an Arm, there’s a Hand There’s a Law, there’s an Arm, there’s a Hand… ♫ Words, music and lyrics by Leonard Cohen. Lawrence Lessig wrote a very famous book called Code is Law (now in version 2 simply called Code v2).  In these books, Lawrence (and here I am guilty […]
• [Law Practice Tips Blog] Future-Proofing Your Law Firm
  I am pleased to announce that I have a new column in Law Practice Magazine, starting with its May-June 2013 "Professionalism" issue. The column is Practice Management Advice and the first offering is Future-Proofing Your Law Firm. There has been... […]
• [Thoughtful Legal Management] Don’t Be a Definite Maybe
  ♫ Be prepared for indecision It might make me disappear But then again, my addiction To indecision keeps me here…♫ Lyrics  and music by: Stephen Duffy and Steven Page, recorded by Stephen Page.       This is another guest post from Beth Flynn of the  Ohio State University Leadership Center. To be a successful leader-manager, you have to be […]
• [Law Practice Tips Blog] Saving Emails as PDF Files
  Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Outlook work together in many nice ways. A great tip for archiving Outlook folders is to right click on them and select "Convert [Folder Name] to Adobe PDF." Then you can have all of those emails... […]

Materials and links on these pages are intended to provide only guidance and are not legal authority. Some information is from jurisdictions other than Illinois and references the law in other jurisdictions. Lawyers using these materials must conform their practices to the law of the appropriate jurisdiction. The opinions of the authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the Chicago Bar Association.