Reid My Blog!

Top Techshow Tech Tips, Part III

Day 3 of Techshow is underway with the always-popular Gadgets & Gizmos program.  Actually, I prefer to call them tools—that way they are tax-deductible! Here are just a few of the best “tools” from this fun session:

■Use your iPod as a laptop backup device:  I have been looking for a good reason to buy an iPod ever since purchasing my Bose Quietcomfort 2 headsets, but I didn’t have a business use.  However, the iPod connects to almost any laptop and becomes a portable external hard drive.  The iPod has plenty of gigs to store both backup data and music.  Problem solved!

■I read a number of magazines each month, but they either get misplaced or become a crumpled mess in the bottom of my computer bag.  Enter the Zinio magazine reader.  This software, when coupled with digital subscriptions to your favorite magazine (available through Zinio), allows you to read them on the comfort of your computer.  Not only does the software show the pages turning (just plain cool), but digital mags are filled with hyperlinks, making it far more user-friendly than the glossy paper version.

■ Bow Lingual is maybe the silliest thing I’ve seen in a long time.  It is a small device that hangs from a dog’s collar and claims to translate dog barks into English!  ‘nuf said, just go see it for yourself.

Wells Anderson and Ross Kodner--The Gadget Boys--had more great stuff, but time precludes more today!

Top Techshow Tech Tips Part II

Day 2 of Techshow 2005 is coming to a close, and the great tech tips just keep coming.  I had the pleasure of being a panelist for 60 Tech Tips in 60 Minutes this morning, and I am now attending the 2005 edition of 60 Web Sites in 60 Minutes.  Here, IMHO, are the best tips, tricks and sites from today:

Phonescoop.com: Helps consumers review and compare the plethora of cell phones and service plans available in the marketplace. Few lawyers I know are happy with their cell phone service, so this is a useful site to help lawyers and law firms make better decisions when purchasing new phone service.

Pretrieve.com:  A public records search engine aggragator that searches across a number of search engines to find public records about individuals.  Simple and free to use.

MySkillsProfile.com:  I have not had a chance to review this site in depth, but I can see where the services offered could be very helpful to lawyers and firms, even those without a HR director.  The company provides a range of on-line assessment tools to help you learn more about your personality, leadership style, management skills, emotional intelligence, and relationship skills, among others.  The tests are under $10 each and includes a comprehensive feedback report in real time. 

ReadPlease Plus 2003 is an affordable text-to-speech software program that can help lawyers proof read documents. When installed and enabled with sound, it will read any text in a computer document.  A great tool for any busy lawyer!

30-Second Bunny Theatre: Animated reinterpretations of classic movies starring, well, bunnies.  Hilarious, but nothing to do with law!

Desktop Search Engines: These free or low-cost tools install in seconds, than search and index all files across your entire computer.  Whenever you need to find that WordPerfect document or e-mail, but can't remember which folder it's in, then launch a desktop search to find it.  Popular choices include X-1, Copernic Desktop Search, and Google Desktop Search.

There's more, but it's will have to wait until tomorrow!

Success in Your Fee Agreements

I believe that a lawyer unpaid is justice denied. Too often, I hear of lawyers not being paid for the great work they do, or having to write-off some or all of a client bill. Part of what I do is to work with lawyers and law firms to maximize the money they earn.  But when I read stories, like the one that follows, I just shake my head and wonder "What the hell were they thinking?!

Our society and economy allows lawyers to earn a very healthy living, limited only by the often-ignored "reasonableness" factors listed in Model Rule 1.5. However, when a lawyer's fee agreement, drafted by the lawyer, also imposes limits, then we must live by those limits or face the righteous wrath of clients.  That's the lesson of this story in the Connecticut Law Tribune. 

According to the story, a Connecticut divorce lawyer included a success fee provision in the fee agreement that stated "In addition to the hourly charges described, we may request an additional reasonable charge for matters of extraordinary difficulty, or which require special expertise or the giving of special priority treatment...This additional charge is subject to your approval after discussion with you. It cannot be imposed unless you agree to it."

So far so good. As a former divorce lawyer, I like what I've read so far.

Apparently in the midst of an intense 5-day mediation effort to resolve the divorce, the attorney insisted on a $300,000 success payment pursuant to the fee agreement.  The client balked, but finally paid the bonus after his attorney became "angry and abusive" according to the testimony at trial. 

Not surprisingly, the Connecticut jury found that the client did did not agree to the bonus and the court ordered his lawyer to return the money.  Now the lawyer is seeking to overturn the verdict and get a new trial. 

Excuse me?  He's what?

Lawyers, like everyone else, must live with the benefit of their bargain. We must carefully draft our fee agreements and be prepared to live with them. (Just like we expect our clients to honor them too.) Sure, we can attempt to renegotiate the deal if we don't like it, but we can't unilaterally make that change and expect the client to accept it. 

Isn't that a basic prinicple we all learned in law school?

Great Blogger Story in Washington Lawyer

The April 2005 issue of Washington Lawyer, published by the District of Columbia Bar is now on-line, and features an in-depth story of legal blogging written by veteran reporter, Sara Kellogg.  She does a nice job of introducing legal readers to the world of blogging with help from such pioneers as Dennis Kennedy, Amy Howe, Ernie Svenson, among others.  The article also highlights the potential benefits and ethical pitfalls of blogging, so be sure to check it out!