Administrator's Advantage
The Technology Issue
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September 12, 2019 | Volume 4
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Is Your Website Working For You?
By: Kelly Tetterton
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Your website, by default, is one of your most public and powerful marketing vehicles. It’s available 24x7, and it’s likely one of the first ways that you’re making your brand known to visitors, colleagues, and potential clients. So is it really doing its job? Because if it’s not doing its job, then your firm is wasting an ongoing valuable opportunity to make an impression where it matters most.
What does your website do? What does it
say about you?
There is sometimes a disconnect between what you
think
your website says about you and what it actually
does
say about you. There’s a very cheap and easy way to close that gap: put your website’s home page in front of someone who isn’t associated with your firm and ask that person to spend two minutes telling you what they notice first. This person doesn’t have to be a professional of any sort -- he or she just needs to be a person not already invested in what the site should be doing. You can guide people with questions:
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How do the colors and pictures (if there are any) make you feel?
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What’s the first thing you want to click on (if anything)? Why?
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What seems odd or doesn’t fit? Why?
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How would you find information? (you might want to be more specific here and ask them how they might find a specific attorney or practice area)
There are certainly more questions you could ask, but I’m sure you get the idea: ask relatively neutral questions to get reactions...
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President's Message
By: Laura Sears
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Like it or not, the modern law firm couldn’t exist without technology. And in this issue of
Administrator’s Advantage
, we focus on the essential role that technology plays in our own work lives, not to mention our lawyers and clients. It usually makes the difference in how well we provide client service, and it’s vital to our achieving greater efficiency (and profits).
As law firm leaders, we need to be at the forefront of understanding how the various types of hardware and software available in the marketplace can enhance processes and workflow – and how they can hinder it. Finally, we need to be mindful that even with the continuous onslaught of new technology options and features (and opportunities), there comes change. Managing that change and how it affects our most important resources – our people – can be one of the biggest challenges we face. This month’s newsletter, with an abundance of information from experts in our field, will inform and help guide you as you navigate and negotiate your way through buying, replacing, upgrading and using the technology needed to help your firm thrive.
Our chapter has an abundance of Business Partner sponsors available to discuss the seemingly endless choices of technology available. Sometimes we face conflicting demands: Do our attorneys and staff know how to use the technology we have? Should we spend the money on the latest and greatest that “everyone” is using? Do we ask ourselves what problem are we trying to solve before investing in new technologies? Our Business Partners stand ready to offer advice and guidance and likely some well-earned wisdom based on their experience working with law firms. Cultivating your connections with our BP’s will definitely pay dividends.
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Security and Your Data
By: Eli Nussbaum
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There are many policies and procedures that go into securing the modern law firm IT environment. Regularly checking to make sure that all of yours are up to date is critical. While IT environments vary from firm to firm, here are a few things that all law firms should be reviewing to ensure that they are set up for success.
Administrative Accounts
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Make sure that your administrative accounts are active and only necessary accounts are enabled. Also be sure that only active users and employees have access to your systems. An HR review of user accounts can easily identify valid and active employees, which is useful because IT departments are not always informed of personnel changes.
Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware Measures
: Many firms rely on software to keep out intruders and stop malicious attacks. Review the various anti-virus solutions, firewall systems and host intrusion prevention systems that you have in place to make sure they are not just up to date but performing the tasks you need to meet your security objectives. Best practices with each of these constantly evolve – reviewing the vendors’ current best practices documents will ensure you aren’t missing out on valuable protection.
Backup Systems:
Adequately backing up your data is crucial to security. You may have backup systems or disaster recovery plans in place, but when is the last time you checked to see if they actually work? The best time to test a business continuity and disaster recovery plan in place is before you actually need it – and before your clients ask to see it.
Equipment Review:
Just like your software, you want your hardware to be up to date. Do a review of your physical equipment to create a current inventory. Once you have that, you can discard equipment that is old or unused. This will also allow you to make better decisions about your ongoing infrastructure needs...
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Chapter Leadership Institute | Chicago Takes on Louisville!
By: Kat Denk
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Several Chicago Chapter board members had the opportunity to attend the Chapter Leadership Institute conference the weekend of July 25 in Louisville, Kentucky. This conference is less about getting to know people from other chapters, but more about how we can get to know the people in our own Chapter better - how to make sure that our Chapter is thriving and making the most of our educational opportunities and our membership. There were sessions designed for each board position - Business Partner Director, Membership, Finance, and more (the session on running an effective meeting was more impactful than I expected). Eight of us attended and we had a blast! It was so energizing to be surrounded with people who want nothing more than to make their ALA Chapter be the best it can be.
Representatives from 91 Chapters were there -- around 250 people! We discussed ways to engage members and to ensure that business partners are getting the most out of their investment; and we learned how the ALA itself is charting its path for the future. This is a fantastic organization being run by people who want nothing more than to see legal administrators succeed. And it couldn’t have been more obvious just how much everyone truly appreciates the ALA and what it has done for them and their career.
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The Danger of Keeping End of Life Technology Running in Your Law Firm (and a Strategy to Upgrade)
By Manuel Calderon
Microsoft announced End of Life for several of their cornerstone products most law firms use today, including Windows 7 Operating System, Windows 2008 Server Operating System, SQL Server 2008 and Exchange 2010. Time is running out for the proper replacement and migration of these products during the second half of 2019 and beginning of 2020.
Let’s face it… at the end of a hectic work day, the last thing you want to do is dive into the migration logistics of End of Life software. With everything else on your plate – from battling security vulnerabilities to meeting digital transformation goals – does it really matter if software is running beyond its End of Life?
The answer is a resounding, “YES!” Let’s start by considering the consequences of not upgrading or migrating these end of life products at your firm:
- Support: Software that is at its End of Life stage means that you will no longer receive support. The last position a firm wants to be in is to have software that Microsoft (or any provider, for that matter) will no longer support. Consider a software product that is heavily used by managing partners, attorneys or paralegals, specifically those products used in billing or to generate revenue for your firm. In the case of software failure of an End of Life product, the risk to the firm is too great.
- Security exposure: No support for your software also means no security improvements or bug resolution. In order to protect your infrastructure, you must have proper security patches for possible vulnerabilities and exposure. These security risks will only increase over time as your software becomes more outdated and weaker to threats from cyber criminals or hackers. Running outdated software is just a bad idea, especially considering (according to research from IBM) the average cost of a data breach in 2019 is around $3.86 million.
- Incompatible software: New applications come out daily, which are meant to work with recent operating systems. And if you’re running End of Life software (such as Windows 2008 or SQL Server 2008), you’ll miss out on the latest features and your systems will struggle to communicate with each other.
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Windows 10 cheat sheet: Handy gestures and shortcuts
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Windows 10 supports a variety of keyboard shortcuts as well as gestures for touch-based devices. Try them out a few times, and before long they'll become second nature.
First, let's look at touchpad gestures. Touchpads are standard equipment on laptops these days, and for everyday computing a modern touchpad can do everything a mouse can, and more...
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Legal Levity:
Back to School Supply List
By: Kat Denk
It’s back to school time! If you’re like me and you have two kids in middle school who insist on picking out what color notebook they want and please, please, please can they have a new lunchbox this year and maybe you’re starting to feel guilty about the highlighters you’ve taken from your office in the past...it’s time to go school shopping!! See below for my handy list of school supplies that you may have already bought, but if not, the sales should be in full swing at a Target near you!
- 1 box of blue/black erasable pens
- 3 bottles Elmer’s glue
- 2 rolls of paper towels
- 4 boxes of Kleenex tissues
- 1 box of put that down it’s not on the list you don’t need it pouting won’t help you
- 2 packages of Post-it notes
- 1 glass of wine
- 24 sharpened pencils (save one to poke yourself in the eye when you see the outfit your kid has come up with for the first day of school)
- 1 12-inch ruler
- 1 TI-WTF75 calculator that your kid will use for two weeks that costs $60 but is also a free app on her phone but noooooo you gotta buy the calculator
- 2 packages of 3x5 index cards
- 1 box of colored pencils
- 1 box of crayons (really? They still use crayons?)
- 1 second glass of wine
- 1 kid telling you the night before school that her shoes don’t fit
- 1 package of college-ruled loose-leaf paper but not that kind, the other kind
- 1 very specific color blue binder
- 4 composition notebooks
- 1 third and fourth glass of wine
- 7 packages of dry-erase markers
- 1 bag of goldfish (to soak up the wine)
- 1 box of where the hell did I put the list? Did you take it? Why are there throw pillows in my cart?!
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Test Your Knowledge
CLM Study Guide
By: Rita Nielsen, CLM
The CLM study group is more than half way through its current study schedule. The group consists of 60+ ALA members from Chicago and all around the country. The study schedule is robust with speakers in the areas of finance, human resources, legal industry, legal ethics, technology and office operations. Even if you are not sitting for the exam, please consider attending one of our study sessions. The speakers are terrific. Below are some sample quiz questions. Test your knowledge!
1. A “Right to Sue” letter issued by the EEOC indicates that:
a. The investigation is continuing but the individual may begin the process of filing suit.
b. There appears to be reasonable cause to believe that illegal discrimination has occurred.
c. The investigation is complete and there may or may not be reasonable cause to believe that illegal discrimination has occurred, but the EEOC has determined not to pursue litigation.
d. The investigation is complete, there is reasonable cause to believe that illegal discrimination has occurred, and the EEOC is planning to sue the employer in court.
2. The Older Workers Benefits Protections Act (“OWBPA”) requires that an individual employee age 40 or older who is given a severance package/release and asked to waive his/her rights under the Act must be given how long to consider whether to sign it?
a. 7 days to consider the agreement before signing it.
b. 21 days to consider the agreement before signing it.
c. 45 Days to consider the agreement before signing it.
d. 60 days to consider the agreement before signing it.
3. According to the ABA Code of Professional Responsibility, how long must an attorney maintain trust accounting records after the termination of representation?
a. 3 years
b. 5 years
c. 7 years
d. 10 years
Answers: 1 (c); 2 (b); 3 (b)
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Puzzled by the Puzzle Pieces
By: Paul Purdue
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“
It’s an elbow.”
“No, it’s a necktie.”
“What about this? Is this a leg?”
“No, it is the edge of a table."
These are the types of arguments you have when putting together a puzzle with your wife. Well, these are the types of arguments I have when putting together a puzzle with my wife. It is easy to think you know what you’re looking at when you are staring carefully at an individual puzzle piece -- it is just as easy to be completely wrong.
How do you react when you’re completely wrong about something?
First, let’s agree that when we are putting a puzzle together, we can see both the big picture and we can see all of the individual pieces. The trick lies in how well you can quickly, methodically, and calmly get all of the little pieces assembled so they create the bigger picture.
We have likely all put a puzzle together, so we can also agree that the best way to bring the bigger picture into focus is to first assemble the pieces that obviously go together. While people may use different strategies, each one involves starting with something that is known and gradually allowing the puzzle to form the picture. Inevitably, we also know we will get stuck at some point along the way.
How do you react when you get stuck?
Frustration is the number one reaction I see when someone learns they are wrong when they were convinced they were right. Frustration is also the most common reaction I see when someone gets stuck at a particular part of the puzzle. I also see people blame the puzzle, blame themselves, or even blame somebody else when they get hung up on these unpleasantries.
We use the same “puzzle process” in our lives and in the workplace. Our goals, plans and projects are the big pictures we are trying to piece together. The same frustration occurs when we encounter unpleasant obstacles. Our reactions, however, are more important than we realize.
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Open Call for Newsletter Committee Volunteers!
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Have you ever been interested in lending your creativity and time to benefit ALA Chicago?
The Newsletter Committee is the perfect place to share your skills!
We would love to have you join us to help solicit articles, author your own submissions, and generate theme and spotlight ideas.
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2nd Annual Chicago Chapter Law Office Walking Tour
Our 2nd Annual Law Office Walking Tour was a great success. It was held the afternoon of Tuesday, July 16, with 28 participants. Jon Milonas and Andria Winters of our Business Partner CBRE did a great job organizing the logistics. We toured the offices of Gould & Ratner, Sidley, Axiom, and Banner & Witcoff. Marty Festenstein, Andrea Brandt and Nate Porter of our business partner Nelson generously sponsored a cocktail reception afterward.
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Small/Midsize Educational Committee hosts
Business Partner Fair
On Wednesday, August 7th, the Small/Midsize Educational Committee hosted an intimate Business Partner Fair over the lunch hour at the 180 North LaSalle Conference Center. About 50 members attended this lively, expo-style lunch hour event. Members enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with our Business Partners and learn about the beneficial solutions they offer. We also appreciated the chance to thank our BPs for making our educational programs throughout the year possible.
We look forward to our next BP Fair in March of 2020!
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Thank You to our Bronze Level Sponsors
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ABA Retirement Funds Program
Affinity Consulting Group
ALL-STATE LEGAL
Avanti Staffing, Inc.
Beacon Hill Legal
Canon Business Process Services
CBRE, Inc.
CIBC Bank USA
Clarity Partners
Coffee Unlimited
Compass Group: Canteen
Coyote Analytics
EMPIST
entara
FlexManage
Floor Innovations
Forrest Solutions
Gregg Communication Systems
Gunlocke
Humanscale
ICG - Interior Construction Group, Inc.
Impact Networking LLC
InterVision
IS Consulting
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iSolved HCM
IST Management Services
Leading Lawyers
Leonard Branding & Design
LexisNexis
Mayflower Technologies
Micron Systems, Inc.
NELSON
Northwestern Mutual
PerfectLaw Software
Porcaro Stolarek Mete Partners, LLC
Proven IT
R-4 Services, LLC
Rippe & Kingston
Risk Strategies Company
Robert Half Legal
Savills
The Brumbaugh Group
The Horton Group
Thompson Flanagan
Tuttle Printing & Engraving
U.S. Messenger & Logistics, Inc.
Unispace
Werner Printing & Engraving
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ALA Chicago
www.alachicago.org
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