The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

A lot of attorneys are still sending & receiving faxes; but, this is not one of th o se stories about how lawyers are behind the times on technology .  Really, it’s everybody else .  Because, lots of times, attorneys are working with vendors, who will require the lawyers to send or receive information, via fax.   But, if you’re in that situation – and, you don’t want to continue to pay for, or retain , a traditional fax machine, any longer: you can opt for an efax solution , instead .  With an efax system, faxes effectively become email attachments .  You can send faxes by attaching files to your outgoing emails; and, you will receive faxes as email attachments, which you can download and save as PDF documents.     This website features a regularly-update d apples-to-apples comparison of standalone efax vendors.   But, note that there are also a number VoIP providers that offer efax features, as part of their service offerings.     . . .     You can still step up

Perhaps the most common method for communicating in a business context is via video conferencing .  But, whether you’re web conferencing at the office, or at home – there’s always the potential for unwanted sounds, to distract you, or others .  The good news is that there’s a lot you can do, to reduce those disturbances, so that your web conferencing environment is nearly soundproof .   One thing you can do is to acquire a good microphone, which will suppress sound outside of a small perimeter .  The Shure M58 may be the gold standard for silence; but, Blue also makes the Yeti or Snowball , which are both excellent microphone options.     Krisp is an application that limits sound on your side of the conversation, as well as on the side of whomever you’re talking to – so that nobody can hear the other’s dog barking!     And, there’s nothing better for locking the outside world out, than getting yourself a great pair of noise-cancelling, wireless headphones – like this

Lawyers generally work really hard for their clients, to turn around work product .  And then, they wait . . . and, wait . . . and, wait: to get paid.  That’s largely because, while attorneys have been able to build out most of the payment process, the last part – you know, the part where the law firm actually gets paid – is still most ly entirely dependent on the client.   So, the lawyer sends a bill, and waits . . . and, waits . . . and, waits.   But, there’s a way to eliminate the waiting, and to unstick your cashflow .  Most case management software and epayment tools now offer payments plans, which can also be set up for subscription; so, that means that if you have a recurring payment model, you can automate the payments (so that they are debited from your clients’ credit card, debit card or bank account – just like with the ir electric bill), in a pretty straightforward way.  If that’s how you’re billing your clients, it’s time to take advantage of these tools, if