"doing great things on the cheap"
TRANSCRIPT
“Building a Better Business on a Balanced Budget” (a/k/a “Doing Great
Things on the Cheap”
Jared Correia
Massachusetts LOMAP
Alan Klevan
Law Offices of Alan J. Klevan, Newton, MA
What we won’t be talking about:
1. Choice of space – Office v. Home v. Shared2. Insurance – Malpractice/property/health3. Financial – Bank Fees4. Advertising budgets5. Bar Association Memberships/referral service fees6. Periodical subscriptions7. Office supplies8. Phone/internet/utilities charges
Your turbocharged office should NOT be solely turbocharged with technology
Within reason, your
turbocharged office should have,
at a minimum, these components….
However, your most important piece
of hardware, your head,
should be the driving force
behind your law practice.
THOU SHALL
TRACK
TIME
EVEN CONTINGENT and FLAT FEES
The Most essential, and most overlooked, element of your office is your computer!
Desktop vs. Notebook vs. Tablet
Should I buy Out of the box?
Do I need remote access?
Use What You’ve Got –Just Make it Better
Your Desktop on Steroids
SPEED – 2.5 GHZ or Higher Pentium Core 2 Duo (they have Quad Core!) or iCoreprocessors
RAM – At least 4 GB, preferably more
HARD DRIVE – A minimum of 250 GB SATA, and at least 7200 rpm hard drive
SOUND – Get your own speakers, but make certain you have enough slots for USB use
OS – Stay with Windows 7 as long as you can. Skip 8, wait for 10!
NETWORK CARD – WiFi 802.11n and, of course, a wired ethernet option
BRAND – All are similarly priced. I prefer name brand with good customer service
PRICE - $700 - $1,500, fully loaded
Your Laptop on Steroids
SPEED – Any Intel Core i3 or i5 (or AMD equivalent) is more than enough
RAM – At least 4 GB, preferably more, which assists in multitasking.
HARD DRIVE – Minimum of 250 GB (500 recommended), and at least 7200 rpm hard drive
OS – Stay with Windows 7 as long as you can. Skip 8, wait for 10!
DISPLAY – “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!”
NETWORK CARD – 10/100/1000 and 802.11g wireless
BRAND – Stick with the names with good reputations. Toshiba, Lenovo, Dell, etc….
Read the reviews!
PRICE - $900 - $2,500, fully loaded
Multifunction versus Multiple Machines
Does It OCR?
Desktop versus Portable
Bundle Packages: Scanner plus PDF Converter
o Fujitsu ScanSnap with Adobe Acrobato Kodak ScanMate with Nuance PDF PaperPort & OmniPage
Scanning Process + Naming Conventions
oCreate Workflow for Scanning ProcessesoCreate Coherent and Consistent Naming Conventions
Scanning on the go!
PDF = “Portable Document Format”
o Image Scan (Non-OCR) versus Text Scan (OCR)o *Only OCR’d Documents May Be Manipulated*
Converter Program Options
o Adobe Acrobat 10 (“X”) (the “Gold” Standard)o Nuance PDF Converter 7 (the “Silver” Standard)o Cheap or Free Options (the “Bronze” Standards)
o PDFForge/CutePDF, e.g.
Advantages of PDF:o Looks the Same on Every Computero Bates Stampingo Forms CreationoMetadata Removalo Encryption and Password Protection
Key Considerations:
Print Quality Printing SpeedMultiple Trays vs Switching Trays Networkability
o Brother HL-2240 Laser Printer ($120), 24 ppm
o Lexmark E260dn Ink Printer ($180), 35 ppm
o HP Laser Jet M1522nf ($325), 24 ppm + multifunction
o Canon imageClass MF8050Cn ($500), 8-12 ppm + multifunction
Save Money – Never Use Inkjet Printers
• Example: HP Ink Cartridge for many DeskJet printers– Part #C6656AN - $19.99 for 19 ml– 3,786.4118 ml = 1 gallon– Ink cost = $3,983.70/gallon
• Study by TÜV Rheinland across all brands found:– Printers report ink empty when 20% to 64%
ink remaining (Kodak EasyShare 5300 was worst)
– Single ink cartridges report empty when average of 20% of the ink is left
BKH
BKH
MONITORS: Make it BIG or buy TWO
“
“People who switch from a single 18-inch monitor to two 20-inch monitors were up to 44 percent more productive at text-editing operations. The study also found significant increases in efficiency when you use a single screen which is at least 24-inches. “
If you don’t believe us, read the study right here: http://www.necdisplay.com/gowide/NEC_Productivity_Study_0208.pdf
Your Good Stuff Free
Buy Your Tech Tools and Toys from Discount Websites:o ShopzillaoNewEggoCTI StoreoTiger Directo Buy.comoGeeks.com
Coupon Sites:oGroupon.como RetailMeNot.comoDealCoupon.com
Just the eFax, Ma’am
Issues of Traditional Faxo JammingoOut of PaperoOut of InkoOverwriting
eFax is the Answer
Compare Services at: www.faxcompare.com
o Microsoft Office 2010
o Google Docs
o WordPerfect Office X5
o Open Office 3.3To-Do:
Draft Documents
Create Spreadsheets
Build Presentations
Email + Calendar? (Sync?)Key Considerations: FeaturesCostConversionCollaborationUpgrades
Common Features:
o Master Case List
o Holistic View of Practice/Chronological View of Cases
o Contact Management + Conflict Checking
o Calendaring + Tasks
o Email Archive
o Document Management
o Time + Billing
Product Choices:
o Traditional Software Download
-AbacusLaw, Amicus Attorney
o SaaS
-Clio, Firm Manager, RocketMatter
o Hybrid: Traditional/SaaS
-Needles + eCase
o Email Add-On
-Credenza
o Excel
o Quicken vs Quickbooks
o RTG Bills
o Tabs3
o Built-Ins
o Chrometa
o Smart Time
o Trust Accounting
o Hire Accountant?
The Lay of the Land: Client File Retention and Disposition
o Valuable Property Should Be Delivered to the Client or Stored Indefinitely.o Client Fund Records May Be Destroyed Six Years After Termination of Representation.o Other Client Files Should Be Retained for An “Appropriate Time” After Termination
of Representation.o Reasonable Notice Period w/ Opportunity to Objecto After Reasonable Time Period Passes, Files May Be Destroyedo Files Must Be Destroyed in a Way That Maintains Confidentiality
Fee Agreement Provisiono Provide Noticeo Get Sign-Off on Process
Records Management Policy
Think Marketingo How Do You Transmit Closed Files to Clients?
o Papero Branded Folder
o Electronico Branded Thumbdrive
State RulesoMassachusetts Data Privacy Laws + Regulations
-MGL c. 93H + 93I-201 CMR 17.00
o SJC Interim Guidelines for the Protection of Personal Identifying Data
Compliance Options for Encryptiono by Documento by Emailo by Device
o WISP
o Security Safeguards
-Paper
-Electronic Systems
Data Backup
o Daily (to Device)
o Weekly (to Device)
-rotate 2-3 harddrives, take off-site
o Online (Continuing)
Surge protectors will protect both your work and your
electronics in case of an electrical failure
Logo – you choose the bid price
Pro Prompter App - $ 9.99
Zoom Q4 Video Camcorder - $300.00Sony HDR-FX1 Mini DV HD Pro Camcorder - $900.00Oklahoma Wireless Microphone - $100.00Camcorder Tripod - $ 50.00 - $150.00
Make Your Offsite Backup RedundantBuy 2!
(Or you can keep paying $100/month at your offsite file storage facility!!!)
Thank you! This presentation will be on Alan’s Linked In page later today.
Where else can you find us on the web?
Alan J. Klevan, Esquire99 Needham Street, Suite 1424Newton, MA 02461Tel - 617-564-3299Fax – 617-399-6666www.klevanlawfirm.com
[email protected]/in/alanklevanwww.twitter.com/AlanKlevan