My upcoming Louisiana CLE seminars (Baton Rouge & New Orleans)

I'll be doing three live, all-day CLE programs in late December: one in Baton Rouge and two in New Orleans. Each program is 6 hours of CLE credit, with 1 hour of Ethics and 1 hour of Professionalism. If you want to sign up use the promo code ERNIEATTORNEY to save 10% off the price of the program.

Here's a brief summary of the programs.

Digital Lawyering & Tech Tips (Baton Rouge) - Click to Sign-Up

When: Friday (Dec 21st) - 6 hours total CLE (1 hr Ethics; 1 hr Professionalism; 4 hrs LPM)

Executive summary: All lawyers will learn how to use technology to work more productively while out of the office, and to more efficiently handle email in and out of the office. Litigators will learn how to gather information (including social media information), and to better organize that information. All lawyers will learn to avoid ethical problems and how to present a more professional online appearance to potential clients and others. We'll also cover the latest law-related tech tools, and tell you which ones are truly useful and reliable, and easiest to use.

Digital Lawyering & Tech Tips (New Orleans) - Click to Sign-Up

When: Thus (Dec 27st) - 6 hours total CLE (1 hr Ethics; 1 hr Professionalism; 4 hrs LPM)

Executive summary: All lawyers will learn how to use technology to work more productively while out of the office, and how to more efficiently handle email in and out of the office. Litigators will learn how to gather information (including social media information), and to better organize that information. All lawyers will learn to avoid ethical problems and how to present a more professional online appearance to potential clients and others. We'll also cover the latest law-related tech tools, and tell you which ones are truly useful and reliable, and easiest to use.

Paperless Lawyering & Tech Tips (New Orleans) - Click to Sign-Up

When Friday (Dec 28st) - 6 hours total CLE (1 hr Ethics; 1 hr Professionalism; 4 hrs LPM)

Executive summary: All lawyers will learn how to lessen the reliance on paper, and to set up systems that allow them to work with documents more efficiently while out of the office. We'll explain how to create complex documents more easily, ways that allow those documents to be reused later as forms. Litigators will learn to be more effective in advocacy by using tools that help them create compelling visual presentations. We'll finish with a rapid-review of interesting tech tools, focusing on the ones that actually help you get more done in less time, with less stress. 

I've been quiet here; but elsewhere busy with a new book, and legal seminar stuff

Sorry I've been a little quiet on the blog here lately, but I've been busy with some good stuff. First, I just submitted the first draft of my book "Blogging in One Hour for Lawyers" to the good folks at the ABA Law Practice Management section. It'll be released in late November if all goes right, and I'll keep you posted when that happens.

I've also been busy ramping up the legal seminar business that Dane Ciolino and I started. Megan Hargroder came on board as a partner last year and has been busy working on a redesign of our blog, and a general branding makeover. We've changed the name of the website DigitalWorkflowCLE.com.

The new website name is PaperlessChase.com, and our new banner logo is awesome. We will be making some more small design tweaks in the coming days. The main thing about the change is that it's easier to market our seminars to lawyers if they have a memorable idea of what we do. The new name is easier to remember, even if it sounds like we are more limited in the scope of what we teach.

Sure, we teach lawyers about how to use lots of different kinds of technology, but a core message is: lawyers who become paperless (or at least move towards a paperless law practice) have an edge. They can be more efficient, work on the go more easily, and save time and money for themselves and their clients. Lawyers who are mostly paperless find it easier to incorporate other types of technology; their tech skills are constantly being honed by the things that they routinely do in their paperless practice.

Tomorrow, Dane and I are doing one of our three hour introductory seminars on becoming paperless for lawyers in Baton Rouge. If you're interested you can learn more about it, and sign up here. It's almost booked up completely so you should definitely sign up in advance. If people wan to sign up at the door we'll obviously try to accommodate them, but it's more disruptive (so we charge a little more), and there are no guarantees for admission if we get too many folks.

There's lots more stuff to announce, but for now that'll give you a sense of what kinds of acorns I've been gathering. Be sure to follow PaperlessChase on Twitter! And sign up for our email newsletter so you get the scoop on future seminars. We've got a 3 hour seminar on iPads for Lawyers set in mid-September in New Orleans that will be awesome!

To go paperless with a Mac or iPad get this book

If you use a Mac you probably have an iPad. And probably, like many people with iPads, you’re thinking it’d be nice to be paperless. If so, then you need to order a copy of David Sparks new book (Paperless: The MacSparky Field Guide) right now. It’s available in the iBook Store for $9.99.

The book is a deep dive on paperless workflows for the Mac, iPad, and iPhone. The book includes screenshots, interactive images, and short movies. Not only does this book tell you how to go paperless, it also shows you. Trust me, you can do a lot with this book. I can’t believe it only costs $10.

(Oh, and it’s a large file so don’t panic if it takes a little longer than usual to download).

Our paperless lawyering seminar coming to Baton Rouge in early July

Do you want to learn to take your law practice to a new level of efficiency? Becoming paperless is the path you want to take, and it's not as hard as you'd imagine. Dane Ciolino and I are going to do a 3 hour live CLE seminar in Lafayette, Louisiana this Thursday from 1 – 4 pm (April 19th). So, if you're able to attend, please click here for more details on the topics we'll cover, and to sign up.

If you're not able to attend, then you can still watch our free online videos (which include Ethics and Professionalism CLE). If you're a Louisiana attorney and want CLE credit then you can pay us and we'll get you credit for watching the videos. We have many more free videos on advanced paperless processes over here.

Information is power, but knowing how to process digital information is like having "superpowers." We teach people how to acquire these superpowers (and lawyers get CLE credit). Wouldn't you like to learn how to become paperless and take your practice to an amazing new level of efficiency?

Paperless lawyering seminar this Thursday in Lafayette, Louisiana

Do you want to learn to take your law practice to a new level of efficiency? Becoming paperless is the path you want to take, and it’s not as hard as you’d imagine. Dane Ciolino and I are going to do a 3 hour live CLE seminar in Lafayette, Louisiana this Thursday from 1 – 4 pm (April 19th). So, if you’re able to attend, please click here for more details on the topics we’ll cover, and to sign up.

If you’re not able to attend, then you can still watch our free online videos. If you’re a Louisiana attorney and want CLE credit then you can pay us and we’ll get you credit for watching the videos, two of which supply Ethics credit. We have many more free videos on advanced paperless processes over here.

Information is power, but knowing how to process digital information is like having “superpowers.” We teach people how to acquire these superpowers (and lawyers get CLE credit). Wouldn’t you like to learn how to become paperless and take your practice to an amazing new level of efficiency?

Backing away (slightly) from being paperless

Handwritten stuff is helpful (and I say this despite being a “paperless fanatic”

I’ve been completely paperless for a really long time? How long? Since roughly 11110101001 or since about 1984 if you don’t speak digital. My life is almost completely devoid of paper. I reached a point where the only paper that came into my life was mail delivered through a door slot (where my terrier Buddy would then promptly shred it with his teeth).

Recently, however, I’ve taken to purchasing paper and writing on paper notebooks. I embarked on this process somewhat tentatively, mostly experimenting to see if it was helpful or detrimental. Short answer: it helps greatly in certain kinds of thinking and task management.

I first became curious about revisiting paper when I noticed that several serious techies that I read (follow or otherwise pay attention to) were talking about their Moleskines or their Field Notes. It was hard to get used to the idea of using paper for important ideas, but eventually it clicked. Once I “got it” things started to tumble into place.

I found that incubating ideas was easier, and more productive, when I used paper. Reviewing those ideas (at least the embryonic ones) seemed easier by using paper. There just seems to be something about putting pen to paper that lets ideas come out more readily. Is it because that’s our brains work? Or is it because that’s how the brains of people like me work (e.g. those who learned to write in cursive and have done so for many years)?

This article sheds some light I suppose, but the main proof for me is that using paper seems to enable a certain kind of expressiveness. True, I quickly get nervous if I accumulate too much paper. But I know how to deal with that problem easily, so I am keenly aware of when to shift things over to the digital realm.

One thing that I’ve found works best with paper is planning my day, and keeping track of things. I use Omnifocus to organize my to-dos, and other tools to capture general information (e.g. Notational Velocity and Evernote). Omnifocus is my “can’t live without it” resource for managing my tasks, and it syncs to all my devices. But I’ve learned to shift away from it in the daily planning.

I use Omnifocus to quickly review my list, but when it comes to planning my day I use a plain old to-do list. At first I used a simple notebook, but I recently discovered these tools and they’re even better. Bottom line: for me, writing things down and then keeping track of my daily list is more satisfying when done with paper.

I wonder if that’s true for other digirati who have managed to become largely paperless?

Heading off to TechShow - Hope to see you there!

I'm headed off to Chicago today to speak at the ABA TechShow, which is always exciting. I'll meet old friends, and make a bunch of new ones. Most of all, I'll relish hanging with lawyers who appreciate technology, and crave new information about how to make practical use of it in their law practice.

This year is special because both of my co-speakers are people that I've long admired, but never had the chance to present with: David Sparks and Antigone Peyton. On Thursday, Antigone and I will cover "Social Media for Litigators," which is a hot topic and ever-changing. On Friday, David and I will talk about how to be paperless using Mac computers. Both of these talks are going to be really special.

TechShow is an amazing event, and frankly it's impossible to convey how useful, entertaining and enjoyable it is. If you are a lawyer who owns a smartphone and a computer connected to the Internet then you should be here. If you own an iPad then for sure you should be here. The fastest way to learn how to use technology in your law practice is to come to TechShow. And it's the most fun too.

Paperless lawyering is worth learning, and not as hard as you'd think

Do you want to learn to take your law practice to a new level of efficiency? Becoming paperless is the key, and it's not as hard as you'd imagine. If you want to learn more about this, Dane Ciolino and I are going to do a 3 hour live CLE seminar in Lafayette, Louisiana on April 19th from 1 – 4 pm. So, if you're able to attend, please click here for more details on the topics we'll cover, and to sign up.

If you're not able to attend, then you can still watch our free online videos. If you're a Louisiana attorney and want CLE credit then you can pay us and we'll get you credit for watching the videos, two of which supply Ethics credit. We have many more free videos on advanced paperless processes over here.

Information is power, but knowing how to process digital information is like having “superpowers.” We teach people how to acquire these superpowers (and lawyers get CLE credit to boot). Wouldn’t you like to learn how to become paperless and take your practice to an amazing new level of efficiency?

Speaking at ABA TechShow next March - great topics & co-presenters!

I’m pleased to be invited back to speak at the American Bar Association’s TechShow next year (March 29–31, 2012). But I’m especially excited about my topics and co-presenters.

On Thursday, March 29th I’ll present “Social Media for Litigators” with Antigone Peyton. I saw Antigone present on a Social Media topic last year at TechShow and she was awesome! We ran into her afterwards in the speaker’s prep room had a great time chatting with her. She’s a super-smart lawyer who left her large firm to her own firm (about a year ago). She’s adept with technology, and she loves Mac computers. All of that will make it easier to develop a great presentation.

On Friday afternoon I’ll present “Paperless Productivity on a Mac” with David Sparks. I can’t say enough about how much I admire David, and how much I appreciate the opportunity to do a presentation with him. I discovered David’s Mac PowerUsers podcast a couple of years ago, and I’ve been listening to it regularly since then. David also has a great weblog, and he’s written two very useful books for us Mac lovers: Mac at Work, and iPad at Work, both of which I highly recommend. David is an amazing presenter as well, and so I can’t wait to do our session.

Hopefully, some of you lawyer blog-readers will be there too! Early bird pricing for TechShow ends in mid-February. I’d sign up now, and also see if you can guess the Keynote speaker (you have until tomorrow I think) so you can qualify for another discount.

The reasons to go to TechShow are many: (1) you’ll learn a lot about technology from lawyers who use it in their practices; (2) the speakers are excellent, and know how to explain technology; (3) the Expo is the best place to find new technology and sort through the stuff that is most relevant to your law practice; and (4) there are many opportunities to meet the speakers and other attendees, and thereby increase the circle of “tech-savvy lawyers” that you can later call upon to help you when you have questions about technology.

If you’re a lawyer who uses a computer and you want to learn how to use it better in your practice you should go to TechShow. I guess another way to put it is, “if you want to do a better job in your law practice and you own a computer and/or a smartphone you should go to TechShow.” Or if you can’t go send someone from your office.

What scanner should you get?

I've said before that there is only one scanner if you're serious about being paperless. People always ask me about the Neat Receipts scanner that they see in the airport. I always tell them to avoid that one and just get the Fujitsu. My friend Sam Glover over at The Lawyerist weblog reviewed the Neat Receipts scanner and gives it thumbs down; he agrees about the Fujuitsu.

So, I'll say it again: just get the Fujitsu (PC version available at Amazon; Mac version also available)