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No Tricks, Just Tech<\/h2>\n
This October in Chicago, Jordan Turk<\/a>, Director of Education and Attorney Development at Smokeball, and Legal Tech Advisor Laurence Colletti<\/a> took the stage at Smokeball Spark<\/a> to deliver \u201c60 Tech Tips in 60 Minutes to Boost Your Legal Practice.\u201d Below, we\u2019ve selected five of their best tips to help you protect your practice from things that go bump in the digital dark.<\/p>\n Like pesky, after-hours trick-or-treaters, constant pop-up distractions and notification alerts shatter focus. They increase the risk of making data entry errors, missing calendar deadlines, overwriting master documents, or firing off careless messages to the wrong clients in a rush (see Tip 2).<\/p>\n Set aside a few minutes to take control of your operating system and application notification settings. Turn off non-essential desktop banners and audio pings so you can focus on drafting and reviewing those high-stakes documents without bouncing back to your inbox or messaging app. If you are a multi-tasking-prone Chrome user with a \u201ctoo many open tabs\u201d habit, try switching to Chrome\u2019s new vertical browser tabs, and set up tab groups for different tasks and activities.<\/p>\n Bonus tip: <\/strong>To prevent overwriting a critical template or accidentally deleting an active brief, use a cloud-based document management system (DMS) with automated version tracking. Never rely on a single, locally saved file that lacks automated backups or revision logs. As Turk and Colletti explain, a cloud-based system centralizes your firm\u2019s documents in a secure, searchable, versioned repository. Unlike a shared network drive, a proper DMS provides access controls, audit trails, version history, and remote access from any device. This means your documents are backed up automatically and protected by enterprise-grade security.<\/p>\n When drafting new master documents in Word, be sure to save your master as a Word Template (.dotx) instead of a standard Word document (.docx). This way, when a user double-clicks a .dotx file, Word will automatically open a new, unsaved copy (named \u201cDocument 1\u201d). It is impossible to save over the master without explicitly choosing to overwrite it. You can also restrict editing to protect documents, or set the file to \u201cread-only\u201d at the system level.<\/p>\n Hitting \u201csend\u201d too early, replying to \u201call\u201d by mistake, or attaching confidential case files to the wrong email can trigger a highly embarrassing situation among peers and colleagues \u2014 and a disastrous confidentiality breach.<\/p>\n Turk and Colletti recommend using an outgoing mail buffer in your email client, or scheduling emails instead of hitting send immediately. A 1-to-2-minute hold on outgoing messages gives you a safety net to catch missing attachments, typos, or the wrong recipients.<\/p>\n Outlook\u2019s Delay Delivery option lets you write an email now and schedule it to send at a future date or time \u2014 or delay by minutes. This comes in handy when you want to send emails around a particular event \u2014 or when you\u2019d rather your email arrive first thing in the morning and not at 2 a.m. when you finished writing it. Simply compose your email, then click on Options and Delay Delivery. Set the date and time under \u201cDo not deliver before.\u201d<\/p>\n You can also schedule and undo emails<\/a> in Gmail. <\/p>\n Note that in classic desktop Outlook, you can still use the delayed send rule to apply the two-minute rule globally to all emails. <\/p>\n We\u2019ve been preaching password paranoia since the original \u201cHalloween\u201d movie (and a young Jamie Lee Curtis) achieved cult status, but let\u2019s repeat: The weak passwords you\u2019ve been using since the \u201cShaun of the Dead\u201d will not protect you from the armies of undead cybercriminals and AI bots that want to steal your client data, confidential case files and financial credentials. If they get it because you choose to stick with Password123!? It\u2019s not just your client data and funds at risk; it\u2019s your professional standing. \u201cTechnical competency\u201d is a big deal to the bar.<\/p>\n Colletti and Turk say switching to an enterprise-grade password manager such as 1Password, OnePassword, Bitwarden, or LastPass is table stakes. So is using multi-factor authentication (MFA). They want you to use it everywhere: email, practice management system, cloud document storage, bank and financial accounts, domain registrar, and social media and marketing accounts.<\/p>\n Since phishing emails remain one of the biggest cyber risks, firms should also be training lawyers and staff to recognize red flags like mismatched sender addresses, suspicious links, and requests for payments, wire transfers or credentials. (KnowBe4 and Proofpoint will send simulated phishing emails to staff and track who clicks.)<\/p>\n Read \u201cCybersecurity for Law Firms That Don\u2019t Want to Be in the Headlines\u201d<\/a> for tips from Sharon Nelson and Mike Mashke.<\/em><\/p>\n Ah, the closed or dormant case that never officially dies because the lawyer forgot to send a formal disengagement or closing letter. These \u201czombie matters\u201d wander the legal landscape indefinitely, blurring the statute of limitations for malpractice liability and haunting your active file lists.<\/p>\n Treat every concluded representation with absolute finality. Turk suggests using your case management platform\u2019s automated workflows or task templates to trigger a definitive closing letter the moment a matter wraps up, putting a hard stop on the relationship and burying potential liability for good.<\/p>\n1. No Hocus, Just Focus: Tame the Notification Gremlins<\/h2>\n
The Fix: Tweak Your Settings to Eliminate Pop-Ups and Clutter<\/h3>\n
2. Banish All Email Horror Stories<\/h2>\n
The Fix: Use Email Buffers and Scheduled Delivery to Prevent Accidental Sends<\/h3>\n
3. Breached! Practice Impeccable Password and Credential Hygiene<\/h2>\n
The Fix: Upgrade to Password Managers, MFA, and Phishing Awareness<\/h3>\n
4. Exorcise the Undead: The \u201cZombie Client Matter\u201d<\/h2>\n
The Fix: Automate Closing Letters and Disengagement Workflows<\/h3>\n