John K. Zaid of John K. Zaid & Associates has used a paperless system since the start of his law firm over 17 years ago. In today's video, Micheal J. Swanson interviews Attorney Zaid about his experience with going paperless. Check it out for some helpful tips.

Attorneys Bob and Brad Simon of The Simon Law Group in Hermosa Beach, California, share with Author and Educator Michael J. Swanson what to do to go paperless at your law firm and how it can help you get better results for your clients.

Well, as it turns out, there is a lot Microsoft Excel can do when it comes to helping you manage your firm. Sure, it’s great for keeping track of numbers, simplifying the use of formulas, etc. Fun stuff, we know.

However, there are more ways you can use Excel. Jeff Bennion, contributor to AboveTheLaw.com, recently covered some the basic ways it can be used.

• Calendaring Court Dates
• Analyzing Voluminous Privilege Logs
• Deeper Analysis With Pivot Tables

Mr. Bennion gives a detailed guide on setting up Excel so that can be used for the three uses listed above. Once you’ve set up a spreadsheet for the three uses (or one, depending on your current needs) managing the aspects of your firm will become less time consuming. And hopefully paperless!

Click the link below to view the full article.

Why Excel Is The Most Underappreciated Program In Your Law Office

Photo Credit: harunatsukobo

By Tina Burns

Smartphones have revolutionized the business world and the ability to work on the go. From social media to content storage, it can feel overwhelming when trying to remember to backup files, add events to your calendar or even check the weather…until now.

In a recent article from Attorney Christopher B. Hopkins of Akerman, LLP, we discover the new app IFTTT (If This Then That) that “allows you to get value from your mobile device and social media without “checking in” constantly — thus reducing your internet-induced stress.” This user-friendly app requires no coding or advanced technical knowledge. You simply create ‘Recipes’ to tell the app what to do after a certain action occurs. Here are some example recipes that Mr. Hopkins mentioned:

• Facebook & Twitter: Eliminate opening both account and set IFTTT so that anything you write on Twitter with the tag “#FB” will be posted on Facebook (or vice versa).
• Save Email Attachments to Google Drive: Set IFTTT to download all email attachments to a folder in Google Drive — or set the trigger so that IFTTT will save PDF attachments in a folder if you put “#receipts” in title of an email you send to yourself.
• Weather: If it is going to rain tomorrow in [location], it will send you a text or have IFTTT send you the weather report each morning.
• Congress or Presidential Updates: Set IFTTT to email you when the President signs a new law or Congress schedules a vote on a bill.

(Read the full article “If This Then That (IFTTT) For Lawyers”)

This is just one of the many free productivity apps available for professions to help organize your life and your business.

Download and try IFTTT today!

(Original post found here)