What to do with Gmail’s “Star”…
I have long wondered what people actually do with the “star” feature in Gmail. Unless you just like to have things waiting on the back-burner to bite you in the butt, I think it’s always a bad idea to simply flag an email to do later and leave it in your inbox.
Personally, I use Outlook for my emails needs (but I use Gmail when I’m away from home). My emails only have two statuses: read or unread. If an email is read, it is completely done and filed away, only to be needed again for some later …
New Law Firm Recruiting Tactic: Podcasts
As any person who has looked for jobs at major law firms can attest, the recruiters are always looking for new ways to make their firm stand out. On paper, Firm X looks virtually identical to Firm Y. Likewise, firm websites provide basically the same content, just in a different design.
Recently, LexBlog discovered, the Boston firm of Goulston & Storrs has become what seems to be the first firm to provide information to recruits via downloadable podcasts. A quick look at their listing …
Online Conferencing & Collaboration for Small Firms
I just ran across an interesting online service that allows people to collaborate and conference online. It is called Central Desktop, and it looks like a good option for small law firms or other teams that need to plan projects over distances. From the Web Worker Daily article I read, here is a short synopsis:
Creating wikis or microsites is as easy as selecting a template. Calendars, task lists and other team management tools are just a tab away from your dashboard, where you can manage multiple workspaces, communicate with others and schedule …
Assess Your Legal Backup Solution
It continually amazes me how many computer users, especially in the legal community, do not take the appropriate efforts to backup their data. It seems that almost every week at the law school someone’s hard drive crashes, and–lo and behold–they did not backup their data (or their latest backup is two months old).
To be fair, I also used to be in this camp. I burned my files to CD every few months, thinking that I was safeguarding my valuable information. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This article will outline the key steps in having a reliable backup system. By its end, you should have the tools and knowledge necessary to protect your valuable data, whether that is class notes or client information.
What Do You Need?
The primary components of a backup system are simple. Moreover, you can obtain everything for FREE. Here is what you need:
Data to backup
Location to store backup
Backup software
Good Lifehack for Law Students and Lawyers: Mega Mini Challenge
Comments Off on Good Lifehack for Law Students and Lawyers: Mega Mini Challenge As a law student, one of the things that can be terribly hard to do is motivate yourself to do things, especially reading for class (and especially when you are a third year!). It is just quite simply difficult to push yourself to get things done when there is no real deadline or the deadline is weeks away (like a looming final exam).
I’m sure everyone else (especially lawyers) faces this similar challenge. That is why I really like the “Mega Mini Challenge” idea from Lifehack.org‘s interview with Andy Mitchell:
I am …
Improvements to the Blog
I really should apologize for my infrequent posting over the summer. It was a crazy few months, but that’s all behind us now.
I have taken the past few days to make some minor improvements to the blog here. I hope they make the site more user-friendly and help you more quickly access the content you want. Of note, I have now standardized the sidebars, providing recent comments & posts, as well as the most popular posts on the left side. Also, you will notice a new page entitled “Scripts and Bits” where …
Ways to Stay Focused at Work / School
I just found a great post on Dave Cheong’s blog entitled “18 Ways to Stay Focused at Work.” Not to be let down, the post definitely delivers on its promise. Here are two of my favorite tips that Dave offers:
Write out a daily task list and plan your day. There’s nothing like a task list sitting next to you to keep you focused. When you have a list of the things you need to accomplish in a day, having that close to you constantly reminding you of …
Note Taking in Word: A Tale of Two Methods
As classes get into full swing, I thought it would be a good time to look at two different methods of taking notes in Microsoft Word. The classic problem is how to take reading notes as well as class notes, keeping both sets of notes organized and accessible.
Side by Side
The first method involves using two separate Word files, one for each set of notes (reading v. lecture). Simply take notes in a Word document while reading, and then use another Word document for taking notes during class. You can label each set of notes with the date for the assignments, and in this way you can keep your reading notes aligned with your class notes.
Bypass Westlaw’s Annoying Mini-Window
Anyone who has used Westlaw for online research has experienced the annoying mini-window that pops up when you click a link from within a case or statute. As Westlaw itself terms it, it is the “Link Viewer.” More aptly, the window is the “Research Annoyance.” Here is a quick and simple method of bypassing this window completely, allowing you to open links within cases in a regular new browser window (or tab).
Before you can use this easy trick, you must have two pieces of software installed on your computer: Firefox and the Greasemonkey extension. These tools form the basis for this quick fix. If you have never used Firefox, you definitely should check it out. It is much more secure and customizable than any other browser out there. Greasemonkey is an add-on for Firefox that lets you run user-written scripts, like the one I’m about to give you. 🙂
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About Andrew Flusche
Lawyer, bicyclist, husband.
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