These days, video and audio calls are the new standard. Consider incorporating audioconferencing into your practice if you haven’t already done so. 

If you want to improve your meeting management skills, take your inspiration from the conductor.

Law firms have always been plagued by the “knowledge drain” that happens when experienced employees retire or leave the company, taking their acquired information and established relationships when they leave. Firms must find a way to capture and retain institutional knowledge and make critical knowledge accessible if they want to ensure business continuity, provide quality legal services, and maintain a competitive edge.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a one-minute video equals 1.8 million words. This article will discuss three ways to use video to run a better practice, reduce potential malpractice, and improve your bottom line. It will conclude with a step-by-step tutorial on how to make videos for your staff in Microsoft Teams (included free in the Microsoft Office 365 Suite).

Meeting with a potential client may sometimes feel like walking a tightrope. It can be difficult to end the intake without any misunderstandings or unintended promises. When someone believes an attorney-client relationship has formed but you do not, a real danger exists. As the attorney, it is your role and responsibility to clearly communicate when an attorney-client relationship is established and when it is not, no matter the marketing medium.

To prevent mishaps and errors, you may need to evaluate how cases proceed through your office. Having a smooth process can avoid inaccuracies and save time. You can be more efficient if you have a well-defined and planned workflow for you and your staff.

End the Friday feeling well with emotional well-being

Let's connect this Thursday with Social Well-Being!

Let's engage this Wednesday with Career and Intellectual Well-Being!

Let's align this Tuesday with Spiritual Well-Being!

How Physical Well-Being fits into the role of a lawyer

The OAAP is excited to bring you blog posts and resources to enhance your well-being. Each day’s blog post will focus on a different aspect of well-being and will include suggestions to “watch this,” “read this,” and “do this.” You can choose from a veritable buffet of well-being activities all week.

Many malpractice claims arise from a client’s or third party’s allegation about what occurred, or didn’t occur, during the representation. While it may not seem necessary to document things that did not occur, or in situations involving third parties rather than just your client, proper documentation of these events can help protect you from certain malpractice traps.

Regardless of the practice area, many attorneys are now facing the dilemma of losing track of their clients. The pandemic, and most recently wildfires on the West Coast, has upended many people’s lives. Clients may have moved or changed their phone number, or even become homeless with limited or no access to phone or internet, making it difficult if not impossible to track them down.

As we move forward and adjust to the changing infrastructure due to the pandemic, it is a good time to think about what type of phone system works best for your law firm. Phone calls remain a very popular form of communication, despite other methods such as email, video conferencing, and client portals, and may be the preferred method depending on the circumstances.

Client portals allow lawyers to interact with clients in a secure environment to accomplish tasks such as gathering information, sharing documents, and making payments for services. They can be a valuable tool for lawyers, so consider implementing them into your practice if you haven't already.

“We sent a letter to our client regarding settlement and it was returned with no forwarding address.” “I am trying to close my trust account and I still have $500 belonging to a client I can’t find.” “I have a court hearing in ten days and my client’s cell phone has no voice mail box set up.” “My client no longer works for the employer he gave us.” "My client was deported." “Help! I don’t know how to find my client!”

Unhappy clients are not the clients you want to have. They complain to you, to your staff, to their neighbors, to their friends, and they complain to the Oregon State Bar. One thing that makes clients unhappy is being ignored. Their emails go unanswered. There is no callback. If a receptionist is answering the phone, the receptionist becomes less sympathetic to the complaining client out of embarrassment or frustration.

When it comes to scams, never let your guard down. Even though you may feel like you can recognize the red flags, the scammers are constantly evolving and creating more sophisticated scams as we catch on to their more obvious ploys.

If your billing rate isn't matched by your collection rate, you may have a problem with your billing. Here are five tips that can help you send out bills that get paid promptly in full.

Text messaging with your clients is a practice that requires thoughtful consideration. If you find yourself in a situation in which you want or need to save text messages, you have many options available, but there is no "one size fits all" solution.

The legal world is changing quickly on many fronts, most notably technology. The way we communicate is greatly impacted as a result. Unfortunately, it has also highlighted a divergence among different generations of attorneys, particularly regarding the most appropriate form of communication in different contexts.

Have you ever wanted to text an appointment reminder or a quick message to your clients without having to use your cell phone? There is an easy and free way to do this. It’s called Email-to-SMS Gateway.