LPMT eNews

Social media is changing how legal professionals recruit, job hunt, locate and investigate witnesses, manage their careers, connect with industry influencers, and interact with prospects as well as clients. However, many legal professionals aren’t sure exactly how they should pursue this new way of practice law. Read more

By Deborah Tennen—Zapier This editor has a rule to spend no more than five minutes on an email. Here’s how she makes it work. We’re all drowning in email. And if you’re spending 15 minutes on every reply, no productivity system is ever going to save you. Not inbox zero, not batching, not turning off notifications—nothing. Your only hope is retirement. My rule: I never spend more than five minutes writing a work email. And when I manage other people,… Read more

Technology has seen remarkable advances in recent years. In a short time, we have gone from dictation, typewriters, and fax machines to the ability to research and draft entire legal pleadings on a device that can be held in your hand. Read more

The California Lawyers Association (CLA) Annual Meeting is rapidly approaching, and I hope you will join the LPMT section — and hundreds of other California lawyers — in Monterey on October 10-13. In the run-up to the annual meeting, our section’s executive committee typically reflects back on what we accomplished over the past year and begins to plan for the coming year. Read more

In today’s workforce, the ability to work remotely is a popular benefit offered to promote employee satisfaction and wellbeing. Employees are increasingly demanding the flexibility of working remotely, on either an ad hoc or weekly basis, for a variety of reasons. Whether it is to accommodate family needs, to reduce time spent in traffic, or to promote mental health, the idea of remote work has permeated throughout most industries. The legal industry is no stranger to this trend, especially in California. The prevalence of affordable video & audio equipment and the ease of using video conference technologies like Zoom make it all the more appealing. Read more

Whoop whoop! Insane Clown Posse fans may have stumbled into a way to combat public surveillance Read more

The public and attorneys have an opportunity to submit written comments about policy issues before the Board of Trustees. These issues include formal opinions regarding ancillary business, witness perjury and advising a cannabis business; rules of procedure regarding vexatious complainants; and regulatory reforms to promote access to justice. Comments may be directed to the address listed on each proposal. Read more

Not to brag, but I’m pretty good at procrastination. I put off writing this article for three whole weeks after pitching it, even though I told my manager and all my coworkers it would be done in a couple of days—and then I proceeded to claim it would be done by week’s end for three straight weeks. And that’s not an anomaly: I put off long-term projects, seemingly indefinitely, all the time. Read more

It's a fact: escalating anger causes disruption in the attorney client relationship. Your client is very often upset with the opposing party ( and his/her attorney), and when things are not going well, or if he/she receives a big billing statement- you too! Anger is contagious, so it’s critical to learn how not to catch it! Read more

Because having the right tools can make a huge difference when you're on the go. Read more