Things are changing. It's sort of a ridiculous statement because the world is in a constant state of change. There truly isn't a moment in which you aren't experiencing some kind of change. But there are times when you feel that undercurrent more strongly -- when the rythmic churning of life just going on becomes louder, stronger, and sometimes a little bit frightening. We are living in just such a time. There are essentially three choices one must make when faced with an amplified sense of change: (1) Do nothing. Do your best to drown out any sign or symptom of change and go about your business denying its very existence; (2) Accept it. Embrace it. Make it yours and tell everyone around to heed its existence and make adjustments accordingly; and (3) Observe it. Learn from it. Interalize its message, understand its consequences and, if necessary, take action to stop any negative aspect of the change that is occuring.
In today's world you can find people in the legal profession taking each of these three very different approaches to the changes that are happening in the profession. These changes include the impact of the credit crisis on the economy and, thereby, on the areas of practice most deeply affected by it. When the economy goes sour people tend to divorce less, file more bankruptcies, experience more foreclosures, and seek more legal avenues to redress a variety of grievances from personal injury and workers' compensation claims to employment discrimination and business deals gone wrong. For some, these changes mean more clients and more business coming through the door. For others, the result is just the opposite. Some attorneys are making big changes to the focus of their practice and most are trying to find ways to work more efficiently, to implement better management systems, and to communicate effectively with stressed out clients. At the same time, attorneys are faced with many of these same stresses themselves.
Let's face it, it's tough out there right now. But we can take solace in the fact that we know change is cyclical and that we have a choice in how we respond to change. In my own experience, I find that the "Observe. Learn. Act." approach is often the most effective but it doesn't work all of the time. Sometimes change is happening so fast we have no choice but to accept, embrace it, own it, and spread the word. And it's probably my least favorite approach but sometimes your sanity and survival will require you to do nothing, ignore what's happening, and insulate yourself from change for a while. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of these methods of coping. The key here is to adjust your approach as part of the cycle. To make sure that your approach is appropriate to the nature of the changes you are experiencing.
And while many of the root causes of the rumbling changes we are now undergoing are stark and unpleasant, it is certainly reassuring to know that while we may not have control over their existence, we do have control over their impact on our lives, our work as professionals, and the extent to which our clients' lives are affected by them.
It's often said that lawyers don't like change. I disagree. I think lawyers exist because they believe in the ability to make changes -- to write a wrong, to stand up and advocate for a change in the system, to prosecute crimes that go against the expectations of society, to defend the wrongfully accused -- because in their heart of hearts, all lawyers must believe in change and the ability to guide it toward a more favorable outcome to believe in the justice system they serve.
In the spirit of the season, let's give thanks for the wonderful technology that puts so much free content at our fingertips. Here are a couple more free legal research sites to feast on.
The Federal Judicial Center maintains a website at www.fjc.gov in furtherance of its stated goal to promote continuing education and training for federal judges, court employees, and others. The site provides free articles on a wide range of topics, including antitrust law, civil procedure, expert witnesses, securities law, and many more. The catalog includes articles produced since the FJC's creation in 1967. According to the website's description, "Included are reports of research and analysis done by or for the Center, monographs on substantive legal subjects, manuals, and desk references for judges and court staff." Among this selection are longer treatises, as well, such as the entire Manual For Complex Litigation, Fourth, available as a PDF download. There are also streaming videos available, such as a bankruptcy basics series (hosted at www.uscourts.gov) and a 17-minute introduction to the patent system.
Lawsource.com is the home of "American Law Sources On-Line" (ALSO), a site that collects many free primary and secondary legal resources available on the Web. The design of the site is simplistic and, frankly, unattractive. But it's about the quality of the content, right? ALSO is fairly inclusive, providing links to resources such as the constitution, recent bills, law reviews, and forms. Many of the links available on the site you will be familiar with, but having all these organized in one page according to available content is very helpful. For some content areas, such as county and municipal ordinances, ALSO provides multiple websites where the information is available, so you can avoid broken links and outdated sites.
Don't gorge yourself on these, now. We have plenty more link tips coming.
Our IICLE Press authors are all volunteers. Believe it or not, we are able to find some incredibly talented and professional folks to write for us year after year on a volunteer basis and they've been doing it for over 40 years. Why? Because they want to give something back to the profession and to the clients that the members of the bar serve.
So at IICLE Press we feel obligated to make the writing experience a good one for these dedicated authors and we also feel obligated to make sure that those attorneys who rely on our books as practice resources get quality updates in a timely fashion.
We view an author's participation in a project as a commitment to us, to the profession, and to the expansion of legal knowledge. Our Publishing Agreement simply allows us to make that commitment official, to establish a sense of professionalism and legal standards that outline the extent of that commitment, and to communicate the importance of the work we are about to embark on together.
We are proud of the fact that our authors take their volunteer work with IICLE so seriously that they are willing to literally "sign up" to contribute to our publications.
It's time for two new online legal resources that can be described with everyone's favorite word -- free!
LLRX.com is not only useful as the self-professed "only continuously updated free database of links to court rules, forms and dockets," but it also features monthly original articles, many on the nexus of legal practice and online technologies. For instance, read Nicole L. Black's article, The Legal Profession and Five Responses to Technology, for a technology advocate's take on the legal profession's begrudging response to adopting online resources, a response she compares to Kubler-Ross' five stages of grief.
LLRX.com is independently published by Sabrina I. Pacifici and has an established presence on the Internet since 1996. Check the site frequently for new articles on resources and technology, marketing strategies in the digital age, and key legislative updates, plus the aforementioned aggregation of court rules, dockets, and forms from all jurisdictions. Ms. Pacifici's accompanying blog is at www.beSpacific.com, and you can follow LRRX.com on Twitter @LLRX.
When you are ready for something a little more light-hearted, but still with much educational value, point your browser to www.partyofthefirstpart.com. The Party of the First Part: Adventures in Legalese is author Adam Freedman's website where he provides a word of the week, answers readers' questions regarding the etymologies of legal phrases and words, succinctly answers the question "Can I write plain English?" (hint: his answer is "yes"), and digitally chisels the Legalese Hall of Shame, which you may want to read regularly to avoid receiving such infamous distinction. Mr. Freedman also maintains a blog at thepartyofthefirstpart.blogspot.com, where he provides updates on his podcast (legallad.quickanddirtytips.com) and generally provides comments of interest to those mired in the legalese thicket.
And with that, further affiant sayeth not.
Twitter may be proof that long-distance relationships can work.
Recently, I've made some new friends. Right here at my desk at work. People I wouldn't have met anywhere else. Folks I wouldn't have bumped into at all on the street. That would be impossible because most of these interesting people live hundreds of miles or more away from me.
We've been listening to each other for a long time, without saying too much. We have short, pithy comments for each other from time to time but we don't feel the need to say too much. The fact that we're connected already tells us a lot about what we have in common.
These people have some really interesting things to say about the business of CLE, about social media and legal news, and even about the practice of law in Illinois and about some of our IICLE prdoucts. These are my "tweeps." They follow me on Twitter and I follow them.
One of them (Tim Baran, aka @uMCLE) recently wrote a really gracious blog post about the new IICLE web site and about our use of social media to connect with and educate lawyers and legal professionals. I hope you'll read this post and take some time to read more of his work. He's got a lot of interesting and innovative things to say about how CLE is provided in this new century and he's a true advocate for the use of social media in that regard.
When I first started using Twitter, I set up my account, logged in and stared at the screen. Thoughts raced through the haze in my brain: This feels like an echo chamber. If I talk will anyone listen? And why? If a CLE organization tweets, does anyone care?
Since I wasn't sure how (or why) anyone would tune in and listen to what I had to say, I decided to conduct some intial searches based on keywords of interest to me like: legal marketing, CLE (which I soon found out also happens to be the airport code for Cleveland), continuing education, lawyers, attorneys, etc. Searching is, unfortunately, one of the features that Twitter falls a bit short in. It's not easy to find people with similar interests or even in your general geographic area given the kind of search capability that Twitter now offers. But using this rudimentary search technique got me connected with people like @karasmamedia and others and listening to them and following their tweet trails, led me to discover other Twitter folk. This is how I began using Twitter for its most effective aspect -- listening. Simply listening to the existing conversations taught me a lot about Twitter itself, but also about the advent of social media and its use in the legal profession (and its use by those who serve the legal profession).
Listening to this conversation has been crucial to helping me understand the role that Twitter and other social networks can effectively play in strengthening not only my organization, but also in providing new and innovative ways of strengthening the practice of law as a collaborative effort and in marketing individual practices. The law has always been a profession dependent on networking and these new mediums are simply new (and often more effective) ways of doing the same old thing. It just takes a while to part the fog and realize that being a part of the Twittersphere is a step in the right direction.
This is an important step for a profession with a reputation for being, shall we say, less then tech-savvy (although that is increasingly not the case) . The legal profession also has a certain necessary tendency toward confidentiality and privacy. And this is not to demean or undermine those important aspects of legal practice. They certainly have their place. But in a new century with new technology and perhaps, most importantly, a new economy, the profession must consider ways to become more open not ony with those it serves, but also fellow professionals. The "Twittersphere" allows us the chance to listen to a variety of voices -- other lawyers, legal marketing professionals, paralegals, virtual assistants, non-profits, CLE organizations, and others, and truly understand the changing role of the practice of law in the modern world. All of us who are part of that conversation can benefit from hearing these varied viewpoints, exposing ourselves to new ideas (like virtual practice, for example) and engaging in the discussion when we have something of value to offer.
Speaking first hand, I can tell you that new and interesting opportunities have come about for us at @IICLEPress just by being a part of this conversation. I hope you'll join us. We'd love to hear what you have to say.
After a long morning in court, you check your voicemail on the way to lunch with a new client and find a message from an Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education project manager, advising you that there is an upcoming new edition of a handbook for which you've written in the past and asking if you are interested in updating your chapter. You don't have time to return the call immediately (you're pulling into the restaurant parking lot now), but it gets you thinking. There have been significant statutory changes since the last edition, and the caselaw you cited will have to be reviewed to verify that it reflects the courts' current thinking on the subject. Yes, an updated chapter would be very useful. You set a reminder in your SmartPhone to call IICLE and go in to meet your client. Later that week, after you've sent in your publishing agreement, you jot down some notes on topics the new edition should address and realize you have an hour or so to get started. Pulling up the Word folder that houses the work you did for the prior edition, you are faced with two files: the version you sent to IICLE last time and the version the IICLE publications assistant sent to you after receiving your publishing agreement.
Which do you choose?
The version IICLE sent to you was subjected to our rigorous editing process before publication in the prior edition. It was read (and read again) for clarity, concision, grammar, and language mechanics, ensuring that the material was presented in the most professional, reader-friendly manner possible. All citations were checked for accuracy and subsequent case history. Minor revisions were made throughout for the sake of consistency with all other chapters of the book, including short forms for acts and statutes and the particular spellings or punctuation of common phrases. Choosing to work from the version that has already gone through IICLE's editing process once (or multiple times, if the chapter has appeared in multiple editions) gives you a distinct advantage. Although it's possible that small changes have been made to our style standards in the interim, it's more than likely that the majority of our style decisions have remained the same. Incorporating those style decisions into your new edition, rather than "undoing" all the good work our editors have already done, allows our staff to edit your chapter and get it back to you more quickly, which of course allows us to go to print more quickly. For example, if in the prior edition you provided specific page number citations to a reporter that is not the reporter for which we provide page numbers, the editor who worked on your chapter cross-referenced and corrected the citations accordingly. This may sound like a small matter, but many of our chapters have literally thousands of case citations, and the time it takes to make a small correction a thousand times adds up. Also, when you receive your proofs for the chapter, you will have far fewer changes to review for accuracy if the chapter was substantially in our style to begin with. In addition to quicker turnaround, working with the version that already significantly conforms to our style frees our editors to consider other, sometimes bigger changes from which the chapter might benefit. It isn't unusual for an IICLE editor to notice that a structural choice that made perfect sense in the last edition is no longer appropriate. By working from the version of your chapter that was sent to you, you are helping IICLE's editing staff make your chapter the best it can possibly be, and that benefits both you and IICLE.
Knowing all this, you double-click on the Word file you received from IICLE's publications assistant and begin revising your chapter to reflect the current state of the law.
And remember that your chapter is due in three months.
Wow. We are in such an incredibly interesting time for the legal profession. Downsizing in large firms (and other entities) combined with the exploding use of social media platforms in the practice of law are two important factors directing law schools toward a more collaborative and innovative approach to law practice. Here's an interesting blog chronicling the "extraordinary changes underway in the legal profession". This post concerning the "apprenticeship" model that some law schools are now considering is very intriguing. Isn't that the way Lincoln entered the law? And I seem to remember that people thought pretty highly of him ...
Is it possible that a steep economic downturn could actually revolutionize not only the practice of law, but also legal education in a way that has a positive, "silver lining" effect?
If you've been affected in any way by the ugly underbelly of our suffering economy, this may sound like crazy talk or a breath of fresh air. Either way, it's worth considering what positives may be made out of the situation and turned toward the advantage of your practice.
Take a look at some of the innovative concepts at www.totalattorneys.com, and at www.totalpma.org. This organization is a prime example of how the landscape of the law the "Legalscape" is changing and how technology and innovation are at the forefront of that change. With more and more attorneys taking part in solo and small firm practice, either by choice or by circumstance, it is essential that we consider a holistic approach to the practice of law that empahsizes innovative practice management skills, practice marketing tools, and solid foundations in legal education.
These changes are already happening in the profession and the attorneys who will succeed in the "new economy" will likely be the ones that grasp the silver lining, rise to the occasion, and set new standards. Yes, I know that it's easy to say these things and talk in terms of theory, and not quite so easy to put them into practice, but that's why the new essential practice tools of the legal profession are so exciting. Most of them, like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, are low-cost or no cost and relatively simple to implement. The Internet abounds with free and low-cost solutions to make the coordination of these tools fluid and integrated in your practice.
May I suggest a first step? Get a Twitter account and follow a couple of inspiring essentials such as @stephenfairley and @nikiblack and @rosskodner. These folks understand the technology and understand the challenges you are facing. Start following me too at @IICLEPress (I promise to follow you as well).
And after you've had some time to play around with Twitter, watch for the next post about some additional resources and about how to make the most of your Twitter connections.
The IICLE Press staff of copy editors and project managers verifies the accuracy of every citation in every handbook we publish. That quote from the 1872 version of the Illinois Laws? A copy editor went to the Supreme Court Library and handled the brittle pages to verify it. A reference to the Alabama penal code? We located the legislature's website and conformed the citation to the Bluebook. Was that 1926 case really overturned in 1978? A staff member verified it by tracing its history with a primary legal research service. A journal article out of Michigan printed in the November 1987 issue? Hopefully the microfilm is filed correctly. We'll find it.
In most cases, the citations provided by the authors are accurate, but we may fill in additional information to ensure that our readers can find the source quickly and easily in their own research. Also, the law moves fast in some areas, and secondary sources can be updated, even if the new edition isn't in the firm's library yet. The staff at IICLE Press makes every effort to ensure that all citations in our handbooks are up-to-date and accurate.
In an effort to keep costs down, we supplement our limited subscription to a primary legal research service by exploiting every free resource we can - the biggest now being the World Wide Web. The copy editors and project managers have extensive bookmarks of websites that we trust for accurate and timely information.
In this ongoing blog topic, we will share some of our favorite websites. Many of these might be very well known, but we hope to share some that you aren't familiar with. We also invite our readers to provide links to their favorite free resources in the comments section.
Here are our first two link tips:
Municode.com has a free online library of municipal codes for the entire United States, including over 100 ordinances for Illinois counties and towns. Although many areas have their own websites on which they provide ordinances, Municode.com is a well-organized and easily browsed collection. Our staff has always found the codes listed here accurate and up-to-date.
The Legal Information Institute, www.law.cornell.edu, is an electronic publishing effort by the Cornell University Law School. The site collects a wealth of information, from the U.S. Code and U.S. appellate and supreme court caselaw to international trade law resources. The staff at IICLE Press have used it regularly for the Uniform Commercial Code as drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. But you really should explore the entire site to see all that it offers, including overviews of particular areas of law complete with research tips.