Are you looking for way to increase efficiency in your law firm by improving your use of technology? Who isn’t, right? Tom Lambotte of GlobalMacIT is presenting a free webinar this Thursday on “The Four Most Dangerous Technology Trends Facing Growing Mac-Based Law Firms”.
Do you know what these four problems are – or how to address them? Attend this webinar and learn five tips to implement a proactive technology management approach, solutions to reduce efficiency killers in your office, and an eight step process to leverage technology to your benefit to keep you ahead of the pack. My law firm uses GlobalMacIT, so I can tell you first-hand that Tom knows his stuff – and this is a webinar that you shouldn’t miss.
If you’re a Mac user sitting, waiting for Apple to maybe release a real workhorse computer so you can actually do your work, stop what you’re doing and take another look at Windows.
You can learn more or register at this link:. My friend and business colleague Tom Lambotte, CEO of has recently developed a true breakthrough in managing Apple technology for growing law firms to help them increase efficiency and allow them to scale their firms fearlessly. If your law firm is using Macs and you’ve ever wished there was a better way to manage them, this is something you most definitely need to know about. As the co-author of, Tom knows what he’s talking about. Tom is going to introduce this revolutionary new process in a free webinar for Managing Partners and Office Managers on Thursday, April 26 th at 1pm EST (10am PST). This free webinar is sponsored by Rocket Matter, and you can get the full details (and save your spot) by clicking. From Thomson Reuters recently interviewed me for an article titled “” which was published yesterday at.
It was a pleasure to assist with his article, because this is a topic I’m passionate about and I’ve spoken about it all across North America. I think Ed did a great job covering this topic (and it was kind of him to refer to me as “a prominent family law attorney in Spartanburg, South Carolina”). This article also interviewed my friend, Mac-using lawyer and past Chair of ABA Techshow,.
My take on this subject is highlighted in the following quotes I provided:. “Macs are a smarter investment in the long run. When you factor in the lifespan of Macs, which is typically much longer than those of PCs, and the software-related cost savings the numbers tilt heavily in favor of buying Macs instead of PCs.”. “iPhones (and later iPads) were the gateway drugs to entice attorneys to switch to Macs. The following Guest Post is from technology guru, from: Managed Services is the opposite of the reactive, hourly model. The biggest benefit is being able to budget IT costs and shifting the support approach from reactive to proactive. The majority of Managed Service offerings are offered in a tiered model, such as Bronze, Silver or Gold.
Bronze, for example, provides only phone support, with Silver providing slightly more, etc. My company ceased providing hourly support when I realized the business model I built the company on (hourly support) was a break/fix model with many flaws. I would set up my clients or resolve their issues and then say, “call me when you need me.” I prided myself on my ability to resolve issues promptly and enjoyed working with my clients. However, there was always a subconscious voice in my head telling me I could prevent many of the reactive issues coming I dealt with. There had to be a better way. When I discovered the Managed Services model, I embraced it fully and we haven’t looked back. Law firms using Managed Services benefit from fewer problems, less downtime and far less unexpected issues.
This pro-active approach takes the role of managing IT out of the firm and puts it into the hands of experts. At least that is the promise of Managed Service providers. Like any business, whether they deliver is another story. You must do your due diligence in choosing an IT company. (Access our whitepaper “What Every Attorney Must Know About Hiring An Honest, Competent, Responsive And Fairly Priced Apple Consultant” at ) Managed Services provide a dramatic improvement over the options of DIY and hourly support. However, as our experience grew working with Managed Services, we saw some shortcomings with the tiered model of Managed Services. These insights led to the evolution of our current services.
The tiered model means some things are included and others are not. Items such as Project work, training, after hours or emergency support, setting up new staff members, office moves, on-site support, for example, are rarely included, and therefore billed hourly. I found this tiered model often made clients feel they were being nickel and dimed. The overall impact of this model ends up hurting your firm in several ways. First, one of the big benefits of Managed Services is being able to budget your IT costs. But if project work is not included, how can you budget accurately?
The biggest problem this leads to is the delay of important projects that would be beneficial to the firm. Because the cost is not in the budget, projects that are important but not urgent are often pushed off and delayed. This impacts the firm’s profits, assuming the new solution would have addressed a bottleneck in the firm or boosted productivity in some way. For example, we have seen many firms fail when trying to roll out technical solutions on their own.
The data is often neither migrated not configured properly, and they don’t provide proper training. Ultimately, the staff does not buy into the solution and it fails after the firm spent a LOT of money trying to get it off the ground.
Not knowing the level of support will cover an issue may deter your staff from calling the IT company, because they don’t want to rack up additional bills for the firm. This leads to small issues developing into bigger issues. A word of caution: Windows-based Managed Services Companies. Managed Services in the Apple world is a fairly new model, with less than 100 all-Mac Managed Service Providers in the nation. This means many Mac-based law firms looking for a proactive support option often only come across Windows-based Managed Service Providers who claim they can support Macs. The number ONE issue with most Windows-centric Managed Service Providers supporting Macs is that it is financially impossible for a Windows-shop to provide the same level of support to Macs as they do to PCs.
They cannot justify spending the same amount of resources on training, tools and support for the 5-10% of their computers that are Macs. Because of this you will not receive the same caliber of support provided to their PC users.
In the majority of cases, when they say they can support Macs, they have one person who’s the “Mac expert.” When that person is out of the office, Mac-using clients are out of luck. Simply becoming Apple Certified does NOT make one an expert. It is a step in the right direction, however, there is still a long way to becoming proficient at supporting Macs.
I have heard many stories where the client ended up knowing more about Macs than the support person they are speaking with! Talk about a horrible experience. If you are an all-Mac law firm, you need to do extra diligence if you are considering hiring on a Windows-centric IT company to support your firm. Not everyone out there is negligent in this area, but sadly I can say from experience that the majority are not able to fully support Macs. A Managed Services has some flaws, it is a huge step forward in becoming proactive in managing your technology. Next month’s article will discuss the 4 th and final option, the unique offering version of Managed Services of my company, GlobalMac IT and how it is specialized for Mac-Based Law Firms. Provided as an educational service by, President of GlobalMac IT was founded by Tom Lambotte – renowned nationwide as an author, speaker, trusted IT advisor, and cutting edge, successful provider of the #1 complete end-to-end IT solution for Mac-Based Law Firms in the world.
Private firms from throughout North America – and as far reaching as American Samoa – running with a staff of 5-50 – have relied on his expertise to help them put their IT headaches behind once and for all. Using his real world experience, where results rule and dollars can’t be wasted on negligent computer consultants, he wanted to help managing partners and office managers of Mac-based law firms to put an end to wasting their time and money on IT support that does not work and rescue them from the frustration. Our unique “TotalCare” approach integrates classic IT support with proven proactive support that truly converts IT from something to be dealt with, into a tool that truly increases law firm profits, increases staff productivity, and provides piece of mind that firm and client data is secure and that their security is never at risk. You can reach GlobalMac IT at (440) 941-1622 to request more information. On July 27, 2016, 1-2:30 PM ET, CEO of (our firm’s I.T. Company) is participating along with in the American Bar Association webinar, “” The session qualifies for 1.50 General CLE Credit Hours., so I thought this would be of interest to my readers.
Have iPhones or iPads peaked your interest to practicing on a Mac computer? Tune in to hear how Apple has moved into the legal industry making it easier than ever to practice law on a Mac! This program will cover:.
the steps Apple has taken to move in to the legal profession. the best Apple hardware and software options for practicing law.
how to share files with your clients or colleagues who use Windows. As a member of the faculty Tom has been able to extend a 10% off your registration rate when you enter this discount code CE15CPDWEBVIP at check-out. To learn more about and register for this program,. This webinar is part of the Law Practice Institute: Essential Skills for Lawyers designed for young lawyers, law students, and solo/small firm attorneys to provide them with the essential skills to make their practices efficient, ethical, and profitable. To learn more about and register for the series,.Unfortunately, the ABA will not seek credit for this program in Virginia, Texas, Indiana, or North Carolina due to rules and procedures in these states restricting credit for the topics covered in this program, so you’re out of luck in terms of the CLE credits here. In this Guest Post, my friend and technology guru from discusses the second most common option for IT support when Running a Mac-Based Law Firm: an hourly consultant. The smaller the firm, the more likely they are to use the which we discussed in the first part of this series in last month’s newsletter.
But, inevitably the DIYers run into something that’s beyond their scope, which is where the hourly IT consultant comes in. Based on my experience having worked as an hourly consultant for five years, approximately two-thirds of my clients operated with the DIY approach and only called when things were dire. I’ll discuss the most common pitfalls and give strategies on how to get the most value when working with an hourly consultant. Common pitfalls of using an hourly IT consultant:.
The consultant has no incentive to fix other issues they discover. They often give an estimated time to address the problem they are called in to fix, so they do their best to stay within that estimate. Discovering issues while working on addressing the issue at hand can put the consultant in a difficult position. Do they address the issues as they come across them and go over their estimated time or just focus on completing the task at hand?.
They bill hourly, so to maximize their income, they need to line up their day with appointments. Their primary focus is resolving the problem in the time they have allotted, whether that is the right amount of time or not. This time pressure can often lead to duct-tape fixes, leading to issues needing to be addressed more than once. The overwhelming majority of Apple Consultants are one-person shops, meaning they are not always available when you need them. I remember the challenge this posed. If I was with a client and had an emergency with another client, I’d be in a pickle.
If you’re the one in a pickle and your consultant is busy, you won’t know when they will be able to respond. Very few consultants have chosen an area of expertise to develop. The overwhelming majority of Apple Consultants work with anyone with a Mac. This makes it unlikely that they will be familiar with the specific tools, techniques, structures, systems or new ways of thinking and problem solving specific to the legal industry. Their clientele has as much variety as a magazine rack at Target. Their purpose is to fix the issue you asked them to fix. Not to find ways to boost productivity for your staff, streamline your processes, look for security risks in your setup, or implement solutions that will benefit the firm.
There’s a strong belief out there that: “I switched to Macs so I didn’t need IT support.” However, your system is more often than not riddled with bottlenecks and security holes and plagued by issues and productivity losses. Without fail, I would quickly create a list of issues that my clients had never been aware of. There is far more that falls under the IT umbrella than just installing updates.
It is all the things You Don’t Know You Don’t Know that a specialist can help you address. Best practices when using an hourly consultant. Make sure they are Certified. The IT industry is NOT regulated and hiring someone who is learning on your dime can be costly. Don’t hire someone from Craigslist or your friend’s son who really likes Macs. Search for a in your area. Then, just like you do on Amazon, read the reviews and do some research before picking one.
You can also call your local Apple Store’s Business Team and ask for recommendations. Test them out. It’s better to have a consultant and not need one than to need one and not have one. Don’t wait for an emergency to find a consultant to work with. Make a small list of things you’d like addressed or configured and use them for a couple hours. Make sure you work well together, that they are competent and that you’d feel comfortable hiring them again in the future.
Trust your gut, if there’s doubt, try another. Don’t wait for dire emergencies. Neil Tyra, attorney and producer of asks solos if they would pay an IT person $250 an hour.
If not, why would they take an hour of your time, as an attorney trying to troubleshoot an issue? Get in the habit of using your hourly consultant on a proactive basis and reduce the amount of time you spent dealing with IT. Start by making a list of your concerns, the things that keep you up at night. Then hire a consultant to implement solutions to address these concerns. Plan regular visits and add to your budget. This will vary based on your size, but have them perform regular maintenance, monthly for most people, more often if you are larger and at a minimum, a quarterly visit.
Build the cost into your budget. To wrap up, I urge you to stop playing the IT person in your firm and focus on serving your clients and building your practice. If you are currently using an hourly consultant, move out of the two-thirds who only call in emergencies and move into the third that are proactive. And if you are going to work with an hourly consultant, here is your homework: Pick the top three strategies that struck a chord with you from the “what NOT to do” or from the Best Practices section. Then outline three actions you will take to shift the approach towards IT from reactive to proactive. In next month’s article, we’ll discuss Managed Services, which takes being proactive to a whole other level.
Provided as an educational service by, President of GlobalMac IT was founded by Tom Lambotte – renowned nationwide as an author, speaker, trusted IT advisor, and cutting edge, successful provider of the #1 complete end-to-end IT solution for Mac-Based Law Firms in the world. Private firms from throughout North America – and as far reaching as American Samoa – running with a staff of 5-50 – have relied on his expertise to help them put their IT headaches behind once and for all. Using his real world experience, where results rule and dollars can’t be wasted on negligent computer consultants, he wanted to help managing partners and office managers of Mac-based law firms to put an end to wasting their time and money on IT support that does not work and rescue them from the frustration. Our unique “TotalCare” approach integrates classic IT support with proven proactive support that truly converts IT from something to be dealt with, into a tool that truly increases law firm profits, increases staff productivity, and provides piece of mind that firm and client data is secure and that their security is never at risk. You can reach GlobalMac IT at (440) 941-1622 to request more information. As my readers know, my firm has used since its launch in early 2008, and we absolutely love it. 2016 has already been a busy year for them, as they introduced QuickBooks Online integration and Rocket Matter Payments in February, followed in March byMatter Templates and Rocket Matter Atlas, a complete, modern redesign of the its user interface.
Never ones to rest on their laurels, Rocket Matter released their Atlas 1.1 update a few days ago, which includes numerous new additions to help make law firms be even more productive and increase their revenue. These new features include new tax functionality, multiple timers, an improved onboarding experience with gamification, and customizable dashboards. Larry Port, Rocket Matter’s CEO and founder says: “Let’s be honest: Taxes are not enjoyable to talk about in any way, and they’re even less fun to tally up on an invoice. Rocket Matter now takes care of this task for you. For most busy professionals, there are two things that we must have with us the majority of the time: our smartphones and our wallets. What if those two items could be combined in an ultralight, secure, yet minimalist way?
From Cubi is an ultra-slim holder that quickly and easily attaches to the back of your iPhone (or anything else). This enables you to keep up to 8 cards (driver’s license, credit card, business card, key cards, cash, etc.) with you so they will be accessible when and where you need them. You’ve probably received a rubber or silicone case like this before as swag at a conference, but what makes CardNinja the ultimate iPhone wallet is that it is made from a spandex blend, which makes it noticeably lighter and thinner than those, yet it still attaches to the back of your device with a secure 3M adhesive that can be removed without leaving any residue on your phone. The CardNinja comes in 15 colors and designs, with pricing ranging from $9.95 to $11.95. It has been praised by the likes of David Pogue, Cult of Mac, The Wall Street Journal, and MacWorld (and now The Mac Lawyer). It’s now attached to my iPhone, and I absolutely love it. You can check it out, learn more, or order one for yourself. My readers probably know a good bit about the “tech side” of my life, but they might not know much about my “real job”.
I am the Senior Partner in a boutique law firm in Spartanburg, SC that exclusively handles family law cases. My practice areas include high asset divorces, contested child custody cases, and other complex family law issues. As I like to describe it, I solve puzzles for a living.
If you’re curious how I ended up doing this and what led me to this point in my career, you may want to listen to Neil Tyra’s interview with me. As you may recall, I blogged a few weeks ago about Neil’s podcast, and he was kind enough to have me as the featured guest on this week’s episode,. I enjoyed being a guest on his podcast, and Neil does a great job interviewing his guests while making them feel comfortable during the process. This podcast has become one of my favorites, and I hope that you’ll consider checking it out and subscribing to it. Many thanks to Neil for having me on, and I look forward to talking with him more in the future.
To find out more about The Law Entrepreneur click, or to subscribe via iTunes click.