Law Firm Automation – in 1972

By Doug Hafford – VP Consulting Services, Afinety, Inc.

In 1972 I was a sophomore at Grossmont High in La Mesa, California.  Most of my interests at that time had little do to with the legal industry and more to do with sun, surf, sand and my basketball career.  I was only able to grow to 5’10” and the NBA was standoffish so I eventually found my way to IT consulting.  Looking back, it is hard to imagine how a staff person in a law firm in 1972 could see into the future but the seeds were indeed there.  So let’s look back and see what exciting technology was available.

The IBM Typewriter

When I formally started in the business, a lot of what we did was to replace IBM typewriters with Personal Computers.  The IBM "Selectric" II Typewriter introduced in 1971 (ten years after the original Selectric), featured a number of additions to typing technology. Its unique "dual-pitch" mechanism enabled the typists to switch from ten-pitch (ten characters per inch), commonly used for routine correspondence, to twelve pitch (twelve characters per inch), for use in typing business forms.  By merely switching a lever, a change in pitch can be made in a matter of seconds, and all on the same typewriter!

Another feature of the IBM "Selectric" II Typewriter was the IBM Tech III Ribbon. Enclosed in a snap-in/snap-out cartridge, the mylar ribbon only had to be changed five times yearly as compared to the 64 changes necessary with the previously used carbon ribbon.  Revolutionary! 

Outstanding Client of the Quarter: Madory, Zell, Pleiss & McGrath APC

Fall 2012

Every quarter, Afinety selects a firm to name as the “Outstanding Client of the Quarter.”  This quarter we would like to recognize Madory, Zell, Pleiss & McGrath APC.  The firm will receive a catered lunch delivered to their Tustin office, along with our thanks and admiration. 

All of our clients are special to us and the relationships we form with them are very much a partnership.  The Outstanding Client of the Quarter is selected for their professionalism as well as the benefits they receive from Afinety’s unique standardization and planned refresh approach.  A professional firm like Madory, Zell, Pleiss & McGrath APC requires a professional computer system and this becomes part of their own clients’ perception of the firm. 

We caught up with firm’s legal administrator, Marilyn Hodges, who started with the firm in 1962, as well as attorney / network administrator, Patricia Scidmore, who has been with the firm since 1992.

Leasing for the 21st Century Law Firm

by Christina Lord, First American Legal Finance and Kendra Edson, City National Bank

Technology can be a strategic asset – or a drain on resources.

Traditionally, law firms treat technology as a capital asset, similar to office furniture and office space.  Purchases are analyzed each year against the merits of other capital expenditure requests. 
Lately, there has been a shift to treating “technology as a utility,” as it can be a far more efficient approach. Firms that treat technology as a utility choose not to directly own the technology.  Instead, a third party owns the technology and the firm adopts a “pay-as-you-go” approach, much as it does for electricity, or any other utility.

Here today. Gone tomorrow.

The core philosophy of the technology as a utility approach is that technology is not like traditional capital assets.  Unlike office furniture, technology changes overnight; the equipment you purchase today may be obsolete by tomorrow. 

The critical nature of IT infrastructure demands that law firms view it as an ongoing operational commitment (an operating expense) and not a sunken capital expense (capital expenditure).  It is important for firms to assess the financial and formal implications of adopting a lease-based technology program – including, but not limited to creating a smooth, predictable budget and diversifying their funding sources.

Summer Recipe 2012: Cream Cheese, Pecan & Grape Salad

by Patrick Cabral, System Engineer, Afinety

Below is a yummy summertime recipe from Patrick Cabral, system engineer for Afinety.  We’re guessing you can substitute plain yogurt instead of sour cream for lighter version.

Serves: 15

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs green seedless grapes
• 2 lbs red seedless grapes
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, to taste

Topping Ingredients (Optional):

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed, to taste
• 1 cup crushed pecans, to taste

Directions:

1. Wash and stem grapes.
2. Set aside.
3. Mix sour cream, cream cheese, white sugar and vanilla by hand until blended.
4. Stir grapes into mixture, and pour in large serving bowl.
5. (Optional) For topping: Combine brown sugar, and crushed pecans.
6. Sprinkle over top of grapes to cover completely.
7. Chill overnight

Workflow and Paper Reduction

By Douglas G. Hafford – VP Consulting Services, Afinety, Inc.
One of the things most clients are looking for in today’s legal world is reduction of paper.  Paper not only takes up space needlessly, but also adds to the challenges of disaster recovery.  Simply put, if the building is damaged.  the paper is gone.  This alone has motivated many clients towards the Less-Paper office (note that I did not say Paper-less). but there are many more benefits to a less paper office than simply eliminating storage.  Firms should also keep in mind that reducing paper means increasing data storage in the firm’s computer system, which has a cost and can have other effects on speed and performance of the systems in the office.

The good news is that reducing paper also leads to other goals in a law firm such as improving workflow, mobility and reducing movement within the office.  Let’s look at how this can work:

Improving Workflow

Firms that handle paper in traditional ways generally take some permutation of the following steps.  First the incoming mail is opened.  Copies might be made of important documents to be sent to the file room and then the originals (or copies) are delivered to the responsible parties in the firm.  A staff member is usually put in charge of the distribution of documents which takes time and expense as well.  Eventually, the document makes its way to both a physical file and the inbox of one or more attorneys or staff.  This is obviously a cumbersome process.

Summer 2012 Outstanding Client of the Quarter: Clark & Trevithick

Every quarter, Afinety selects a firm to name as the “Outstanding Client of the Quarter.”  This quarter we would like to recognize Clark & Trevithick, a Professional Law Corporation.  The firm will receive a catered lunch delivered to its Los Angeles office, along with our thanks and admiration. 

All of our clients are special to us and the relationships we form with them are very much a partnership.  The Outstanding Client of the Quarter is selected for its professionalism as well as the benefits it receives from Afinety’s unique standardization and planned refresh approach.  A law firm like Clark & Trevithick requires a professional-grade computer system and this becomes part of its clients’ perception of the firm.

We had the pleasure of speaking with the firm’s Senior Tax Partner and a California Bar Certified Tax Law Specialist, Dean Friedman, who has been with the firm since 1988.

The firm was seeking ways in which to manage IT costs.  “We were at a precipice and needed to get into a position to have a reliable network, as well as a reliable number for our on-going IT budget,” Dean said. “Afinety’s standardized strategy made sense. At the end of a cycle, we will know exactly where we will be in terms of our budget.”

Leveraging Email for Effective Business Use

for Afinety by our valued business partner, Autonomy

The Email Challenge

Every firm struggles with the volume of email that flows through the organization on a daily basis. Managing correspondence related to business activities has become an increasing challenge. Professionals do not have the time or the luxury to file emails diligently, yet the failure to do so leaves the firm at risk of lost information, regulatory noncompliance, and e-discovery challenges. To manage both email and risk effectively, firms need a quick and easy way to capture communications when they occur. To ensure full user adoption by busy professionals, the system must be intelligent enough to adapt and learn from their email filing habits so they are not burdened with repeated operations.

Harnessing the Business Value of Email

To manage information and risk while optimizing productivity, organizations need a single system that unifies all critical business content and email correspondence into easily searchable engagement or client specific workspaces or folders, while still working within the familiar framework of already existing business applications. Using Autonomy WorkSite, organizations can manage all business documents and email in a digital file, making them accessible from any access point, including desktops and laptops, the internet, and mobile devices. Rather than relying on email to store, share, and iterate versions of documents, Autonomy provides a common location for documents and email that mitigates the risks associated with sending an out-of-date or incorrect version of a document. 

Email Archiving – What is it and why do I want it?

by Doug Hafford, Afinety+ Zine, Spring 2012

In the legal industry, there is a lot of confusion about what Email archiving really is, why a firm might want or need it, and how it works.  In this article, I will distinguish between the different types of archives and provide the information needed to make educated decisions on the options available in a law firm network.  We will start with some background on how things were handled in the past.
For years, users who have large mailboxes have resorted to the older standard .PST file to reduce the size of their mailbox with mixed levels of success.  This is a cumbersome process and can actually slow Outlook if the .PST files are being opened automatically.  Often users would do this on their own, which meant that these important archives were stored on the users’ local “C:” drive.  Thus, if the PC had an issue with its hard disk, the archive was irretrievably lost.  Some firms chose to move these archive files to a backed up location on a server, but this could cause even lower performance.  In short, this was a poor solution to a user who had reasons to keep significant amounts of email.
Many users have simply given up because the amount of mail they want access to is dauntingly large.  These are generally attorneys and they simply cannot give up the billable hours they generate by spending the time to organize, groom and generally maintain the massive amount of email.  Simply put, it continues to grow, along with their frustration since their Outlook performance is degrading day by day. 

In corporate America the concept of Email Bankruptcy has started to take root.  A person will send an email to all contacts declaring email bankruptcy.  The message says that if anyone is waiting for an answer, ask again because they have deleted all of their email and are starting over!

Offsite Backup and Disaster Recovery Systems: Sending Data to the Cloud!

by Doug Hafford, Afinety+ 25th Anniversary Edition, Fall 2011

In the last year, and especially in recent months, there have been a host of new offerings for both offsite backup and disaster recovery systems.  When considering these highly desirable options, it is extremely valuable to truly understand what you are getting.  Many offerings appear to be similar, yet have wildly different cost structures, so a bit of education on what questions to ask and how to evaluate can help you make a wise recommendation for your firm.

Is Your Data Safe in the Cloud?

Without getting too deeply into terms like SAS70 and the various security certifications, the answer is generally a whole hearted yes!  Assuming you are considering a major name brand supplier, the data centers which store your data are far more secure than your own internal network is, can be or ever will be.  These companies spend vast amounts of money on hardware, software and security engineering to achieve the proper certifications they need to allow them to service highly demanding corporate clients.  Far more than you will ever spend, or need to spend on your local Sonicwall or other firewall.  Often we find smaller firms with only rudimentary firewall capabilities enabled on their Internet router so this should not be a major concern for you – again if you are using a trusted name brand.  In addition, your data is encrypted by these suppliers before it ever leaves your site so that even during transmission to the offsite facility, the data is safe and secure.  In fact, many of these suppliers -- while they can verify backups and ensure the integrity of your backup--cannot actually see the data itself. 

Your Next Network: What you can expect with a network upgrade

by Doug Hafford: Afinety+ Zine, Spring 2011

Over that last five years, dramatic changes have taken place in the IT industry.  While often slow on adopting new technologies, law firms will see more positive changes in their next network upgrade than ever before.  At no time in the past has so much improvement in law firm technology taken place in such a short time span.  So what is new for you? 

Windows 7

This is the most obvious and one of the best upgrades you can expect for your firm.  Windows 7 is fast, reliable and can run just about any software you may have – assuming it is a current version.  Most firms are still running Windows XP Pro which is now over 11 years old!  In this amount of time, the sheer amount of patches and security updates is simply overwhelming.  There are so many updates that our analysis tool used to examine clients’ desktops produces a list of updates 5 pages long!  Imagine a PC with hundreds of applications running all at once and you will get some idea of the freight train that is Windows XP.  So your firm will benefit from the streamlined operating system but there is more.  Windows 7 also offers new features such as search, pinning, snap and shake which might save only a mouse click or two per instance but, by the end of the day, you will save about 30 minutes of time!  Perhaps the best feature is that Windows 7 can see as much memory as you want (up to 32GB) on your desktop (compared to only 3GB with Windows XP).  Thus the operating system is far smaller and the available memory much larger – leaving you with plenty of room to run even the most robust applications smoothly and at full speed.

Handheld Explosion

by Doug Hafford, Afinety+ Zine, Fall 2010

The most rapidly changing portion of the IT world is the handheld.  These include the venerable Blackberry, elegant iPhone, upstart Android, and now the eye-catching Apple iPad. Law firms are faced with the prospect of supporting these devices (or not) and the challenges they present to the firm’s IT solution.  We are often asked if a client can reasonably support these devices and what other firms are doing.  The answer is that they are easy to support and that choices vary from one firm to another.

There are really only two categories of handhelds: Blackberry or Not Blackberry.  Research In Motion (RIM), the manufacturer of the Blackberry device was the first to market with a fully functional handheld that allowed the user to combine a phone, with email and contact information.  The original devices were bulky and had only basic features, but they did work.  From the beginning, this is what sets Blackberry apart.  If you want a rugged, works all the time device then it is hard to beat the Blackberry in its various forms.  When they were the only game in town, their market share was enormous and they captured both commercial and government business to an extent that it is still a challenge today for other devices in these sectors.

LinkedIn – The Online Resume’

by Doug Hafford, Afinety+ Zine Spring 2010

My recent article on Social Networking covered a lot of ground with respect to the new ways you can put yourself or your firm out there on the web.  In this article we will focus on the professional side of Social Networking sites; LinkedIn. 

LinkedIn was founded in 2002 and launched in May of 2003 as a professional networking site.  As of today, Linkedin has more than 60 million users in over 200 countries worldwide.  Looking at those statistics alone tells you how valuable the service is if you want to get noticed, or connect with other professionals.

You start by setting up your own LinkedIn page.  The process is very simple and free of charge.  As you are entering your business information and even a picture or two, you quickly see that you are building a resume’.  You can fill in as much or as little of your professional life as you wish including things like current position, past positions, education, your connections and other information.  One of the very nice features of LinkedIn is that you can then publish some or all of your information to people outside LinkedIn by using their “public profile” feature.  When a web search is done on your name, this will generally be one of the first things that come up.  Thus you can have control over the initial impression people have of you when they want to find out more about you.