Illinois Bar Journal

Naperville lawyer, ISBA member, tech expert, and Solo and Small Firm Conference presenter Bryan Sims (aka The Connected Lawyer) says there are four must-have tools for sole practitioners: a smart phone, a laptop, a scanner, and a good backup system. “Unless you’re going to be tied to your office, you should have some sort of smart phone,” such as an iPhone, a BlackBerry, or a PalmPre, Sims told Helen Gunnarsson in an interview for the yet-to-be-released September Illinois Bar Journal. “You need something that will allow you to get your e-mail, look at documents, and otherwise get some work done when you’re out of the office.” As for laptops, Simms recommends buying a business class model directly from the manufacturer instead of the cheapest thing available. “If you’re using your computer for your law practice, you can’t afford to have it out of operation for a week,” he says. A scanner will help you create a paperless and a portable office. “I recommend that you keep all of your documents in .pdf format. If you want to keep the hard copy too, fine, but scan everything,” Sims says. Scanned documents are easy to manage and disseminate. Finally, you need a good backup system.

[caption id="attachment_2915" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Mark Mathewson, ISBA Director of Publications, is congratulated by outgoing NABE President Rod Wegener"][/caption] Mark Mathewson, ISBA Director of Publications, received the 2009 National Association of Bar Executives Peer Excellence Award on Thursday at the association's Annual Meeting. This award recognizes those members who have made a significant contribution to NABE. Mathewson, also the editor of the Illinois Bar Journal and a frequent contributor to Illinois Lawyer Now, was described as "a principled bar executive" who is "knowledgeable and well-respected." Mathewson recently received his Certified Association Executive designation, the highest professional credential in the association world.

Helen Gunnarsson reports in the July Illinois Bar Journal about SB 0189, which amends the Open Meetings Act, the Freedom of Information Act, and the Attorney General Act. "Though its supporters hail the bill as transparency legislation that will make it easier for citizens to gain access to records that are supposed to be public, critics wonder whether the new system will have its own shortcomings," she writes. Read the article.

As Helen Gunnarsson will report in more detail in the August Illinois Bar Journal, a fresh burden for lawyers is on the horizon, and the ABA, ISBA, and other bar associations are objecting on their members’ behalf. Effective August 1, a new FTC rule will oblige most lawyers to develop written protocols to detect and address the “red flags” of identity theft. As the ABA says in its statement about the rule, applying it to lawyers “would impose an undue burden on law firms, especially solo practitioners, and would accomplish very little.” Rockford lawyer J. Joseph McCoy summarizes the rule and its implications for lawyers nicely in his article “FACTA’s ‘Red Flags’ Rule May Apply To Law Firms,” which appears in the June 2009 issue of the ABA’s GP/Solo Technology eReport. The general FTC site has a helpful page consolidating its Red Flags Rule resources.