Reducing the amount of paper in your law practice is a dream that most (if not all) attorneys have had at one time or another. There are a number of commercial tools that are available that can assist with this process, but their cost can vary from moderate to expensive. For lawyers, you may already have the tools that you need or at least have a good start on what you need. There seem to be as many ways and preferences for reducing paper in your office as there are lawyers and consultants do it.  Here are a few links to articles, presentations and websites that provide some different thoughts and insights that may be useful:

The Paper LESS Office: Taming the Paper Monster in Your Practice(PDF)

A Simple Inexpensive Way to Create a Paperless Law OfficeDevelop a paperless workflow – How to do it

Develop a paperless workflow – Part 2

Develop a paperless workflow – Part 3 

PDF for Lawyers

While most solo and small firm attorneys shy away from organizations such as the America Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) and their state chapters such as the Wisconsin Association of Legal Administrators (WALA), it doesn’t mean that you can’t take advantage of their offerings.

ALA provides the Legal Management Resource Center (LMRC ) which contains terrific articles and other materials many of which are free and don’t require an ALA Membership. One such article is Put on a Happy Face (and Mean It). Ponder these Points to Make Your Firm a More Pleasant Place to Work (click here to download this article in PDF).

The article’s author, Kriss Will, tried to convey the concept that office managers need to stop looking at attorneys as the “enemy” and stop the habit of bashing the attorneys. According to the author:

We all know this to be true, but it is so easy to forget – if all you are going to do is complain, no one wants to work with you.

This article is a  quick read at only 5 pages, but contains some great thoughts and advice about making the office a better place to work. One that your staff will look forward to coming into each day. Here are a few of the points made and although they may seem a little campy, they are still sound:

Identify your GOOB factor: your “Get Out Of Bed” factor. What is it that makes you want to go to work? Think of ways to work with your team to increase the interesting, exciting and challenging parts of your work. Ask your team for ideas on how to make the less exciting factors at least more fun.Maybe you could institute a “silly hat day” in the accounts department at month end. This might lighten things up a little.

A de-stress tool that I often recommend when training managers and lawyers is to “walk the block before you do your block.” Just getting out of the office and clearing your head can greatly assist when dealing with challenging situations. It is amazing what a breath of fresh air does for the mind. And if you are up to it, try to see the funny side of the situation. There usually is one.

Do not become a slave to work. While I think work should be fun, it should not be the only fun in your life. Work/life balance is a juggle but not one that we managers should shy away from. It will be hard to have fun at work if you are constantly begrudging the amount of time you need to spend there.

While some of these may seem to be apparent to you, it’s always good to see them in writing and to also serve to point out what is often overlooked. I recommend that you take some time and peruse the ALA and WALA websites for other useful information that may benefit your practice.

The ISBA Mutual Insurance Company recently posted an article on their website titled 'Debt Be Not Proud' providing an introduction to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. As a former collections attorney, I saw how easy it can be for attorneys to be guilty of a technical violataion and to have a defendant's attorney file suit in federal court for such a violation. Suddenly, the hunter becomes the hunted and the collection attonrey is having to defend themselves in a non-sympathetic forum. Even minor tehcnical violataions can rapidly result in a judgment of several thousand dollars without any actual harm being done.

Even if you only do one or two collection cases a year (maybe especially if you only do a few) you need to review this article and to further self-educate yourself about the requirements of the FDCPA.