Category: Legal
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Jeffrey
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Cheap and Worthy to Keep
This article appears in full in the Illinois Bar Journal. Lawyers are pitched expensive software every day; artificial intelligence (AI) tools are just the latest and priciest. Yet some of the highest-return software purchases I make each year cost less than a monthly streaming subscription. Each of the 13 products listed below costs me less…
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Jeffrey
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Supporting the Little(er) Guy
This article appears in full in the Illinois Bar Journal. In last month’s column, I wrote about how legal tech recently has shifted from a farmer’s market to a grocery store chain—fewer vendors, bigger platforms, and increasingly integrated ecosystems. (See, “The Whole Kit and Caboodle” in the June 2026 Illinois Bar Journal. But not everyone…
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Jeffrey
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Subduing Your Subscriptions
This article appears in full in the New Hampshire Bar News. Somewhere in your firm’s finances, a charge appears monthly for software you forgot you purchased. Maybe it is a second e-signature service. Maybe it is a project management tool someone set up during a “let’s get organized” moment two years ago. Maybe it is a…
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Jeffrey
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Beyond Good Lawyering: How to Strategically Adapt Your Small or Mid-Tier Law Firm to Protect Your Bottom Line
This article appears in full in the MoBarNews. The world needs lawyers. People have disputes, contracts, estates, and regulatory puzzles that require the legal knowledge and services lawyers offer. But being needed does not necessarily mean being profitable. Even as the legal market posts solid gains, many firms, especially mid-tier and smaller firms, are feeling…
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Jeffrey
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The Whole Kit and Caboodle
This article appears in full in the Illinois Bar Journal. Legal tech used to look like a local farmer’s market—specialized vendors, each selling one very good thing. You picked your favorites, stirred them together, and hoped they paired nicely for the meal. That is less true in legal tech today. Very little software is purely…
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Jeffrey
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From Planning to Progress
This article appears in full in the Illinois Bar Journal. In the first two articles in this series, we defined what a strategic plan is and how to build one that fits a small law firm. Now comes the part where most plans quietly fail. Not because the strategy was wrong or the goals were…
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Jeffrey
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Direction Beats Drift
This article appears in full in the Illinois Bar Journal. As we approach spring, the season of rebirth, I challenge you to think about something you may have neglected since January: planning your future and that of your firm. If you set goals in January—New Year’s resolutions for your business—and you’re on track, that’s wonderful…
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Jeffrey
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Scanning on the Go
This article appears in full in the Illinois Bar Journal. Despite years (decades?) of talk about paperless law offices, paper persists. We should applaud reduced paper (e.g., electronic court filings, PDF handouts of continuing legal education materials, and document storage and syncing services available across devices). But we also must acknowledge that people still exchange…
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Jeffrey
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Holiday Gift Guide 2025
This article appears in full in the Illinois Bar Journal. Gift-giving season is upon us, which means it’s time for your Pointers From Practice HQ columnists to recommend our favorite gadgets, productivity stocking stuffers, and other useful (and sometimes fun) gift ideas for the attorney and like-minded friends, colleagues, and family in your life. Learn…
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Jeffrey
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Practical AI Uses that Don’t Cost a Princely Sum
This article appears in full in the New Hampshire Bar News. Rather than go gaga over the latest pricey artificial intelligence wonder-product, let’s focus on some real-world uses for low-cost AI tools that provide an efficiency boost. Combine Copilot for Microsoft 365 ($30) with a free ChatGPT account, and you’ll possess a pair of affordable tools…