In no particular order and without even an attempt at a rhyme scheme, here are the 12 things every lawyer should have at their fingertips.
- The number of the Lawyers Concerned For Lawyers branch for their state. Hey, lawyering is stressful at the best of times – these folks can help in the worst of times.
- The number for their professional responsibility board. If in doubt get an opinion before hand; it’s way cheaper than an ethics complaint afterwards.
- Some type of document assembly software. It makes you and your staff way more productive while reducing errors in documents.
- Some type of document management software. I’m sure your secretary knows where every document you’ve create lies on your hard disk, but do you? Document management software not only helps you locate documents, it can track changes, manage access and help eliminate those “#$%! I saved over the original” moments.
- A merchant account. Having the ability to take credit cards makes getting paid much easier.
- A good automated backup system because that hard disk is not going to last forever and one day you will erase that really important document.
- Bookmarks for:
- The United States Government Manual (usgovernmentmanual.gov)
- The CIA library (www.cia.gov/library/)
- The Public Library of Law (plol.org)
- Justia (justia.com)
- American Law Sources (lawsource.com)
- United States Code (www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionUScode.action?collectionCode=USCODE)
- Thomas (congress.gov)
- A link to the Courts, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Revisor for your state. These agencies web pages often offer useful resources beyond information on court cases, corporations, policy, and statutes.
- The email addresses of a few trusted colleague you can go to for those “am I over-thinking this” and “WTF should I do now” questions. A good colleague is someone who’s willing not only to give you advice, but will administer the occasional dope-slap when you need one (Solosez provides access to a group of good colleagues).
- A comfortable place to take a nap. It may seem like goofing off, but a nap a good way to reboot your brain. In fact there’s a growing body of research that shows napping boosts intelligence, learning capacity, creativity, performance, and lifespan. If you’re not sure how to nap effectively, check here and here.
- Encryption software. First, encryption helps keep your client files safe in the event your server (where ever it may be) is hacked (and don’t think for a moment that this is a matter of “if” – it’s a matter of “when”). Second, if medical information ever crosses your desk, thanks to HIPAA, you’ll need to be able to encrypt it (while HIPAA doesn’t specifically require encryption, if a file containing medical information is ever compromised, the only way to avoid a HIPAA breach is to encrypt the file).
- The name and contact information for a good virtual legal assistant. Even if you have staff, there are times when work load exceeds capacity. Being able to offload some things to a virtual assistant can make the difference between hitting and missing deadlines (or even better between eating almost warm takeout and eating dinner with your family).
