Message from the Chair

By Tangela Terry, Esq.
Law Office of Tangela D. Terry

Welcome to the December issue of the e-TBL. For those of you like me who fall within the 2014 compliance period, you will be happy to know that this issue is an all MCLE credit issue! This issue runs the gamut of topics from ethical issues relating to fee agreements, to what you should consider when you are preparing for retirement and would like to bring on a practice successor. Not ready to retire but are you thinking about the future of legal services? Lee Kanon Alpert’s article, “Shouldn’t We be Helping to Lead the Way to the Future of Legal Services,” is a thought provoking article on business changes that futurists are predicting now.

As we all know, many people now use the internet to look for and research lawyers. Jay Bettinger gives very good practice tips on how to protect your on-line reputation, what to do if something negative is written about you and how to improve your on-line reputation. He also reminds us that speech on the internet is protected by the First Amendment, so be mindful of this before you send the writer a takedown request. Need help with staying on top of emails? Read Scott Spiro’s article, “6 Email Tips For Busy Lawyers.” Scott states that in a recent study by McKinsey, the average person spends 28% of their work time reading and responding to emails! Scott gives us practical tips on how to process email more efficiently so that we can spend more time working on projects.

Thank you to the contributing authors and the e-TBL committee. I would like to wish all of you a very happy, safe and joyous holiday season. Finally, I would like to encourage you to get more involved, we are always looking for articles for our two publications, The Bottom Line and the E-News. Interested in serving in a leadership capacity? Consider applying for a position on the Executive Committee, the application deadline is February 3, 2014 (click here to read more about the appointments process http://cc.calbar.ca.gov/).