Category Archives: Office Management

Rocket Matter 2.0 Released, Now Featuring Document Assembly

By J. Benjamin Stevens on January 30th, 2012 Posted in Office Management, Online Resources, Product Reviews, Software

The Mac Lawyer has long found Rocket Matter to be the leading practice management program for law firms, including my own. It providers users the ability to quickly and efficiently manage their calendars, tasks, contacts, and time and billing. Within the last few months, it introduced the ability to integrate with Dropbox and Evernote. Last week, Rocket… Continue Reading

Guest Post :: Document Management for the Mac-Using Lawyer with DocMoto

By J. Benjamin Stevens on January 12th, 2012 Posted in Guest Posts, How Do I ... ?, Office Management, Software

Note from The Mac Lawyer: Among the questions that I am asked most often are: “What document management systems are available on the Mac?” and/or “My firm uses Worldox. Is there anything similar for the Mac?” While the Finder may be a suitable solution for some smaller law firms, many others want something more powerful. I recently… Continue Reading

Guest Post :: Equity – The Best Font for Lawyers

By J. Benjamin Stevens on October 30th, 2011 Posted in Guest Posts, Miscellaneous, Office Management

What font do you use? Why? Have you thought about it? Do you care how your documents look and how readable they are? You should. In college, I worked in the public relations department for three years, and I learned a lot about the importance of layout, font choice, text size, etc. Since I began… Continue Reading

The Mac Lawyer Discusses Apple’s Impact on Law Offices

By J. Benjamin Stevens on October 18th, 2011 Posted in Mac vs. PC, Office Management, Technology, This Blog

I was recently interviewed by Colin O’Keefe of the LexBlog Network about the impact of Steve Jobs and Apple on the law and the legal workplace. In this interview, I discuss Why my firm, The Stevens Firm, P.A., made the switch to a completely Mac-only office in 2005. Whether or not Apple’s perception in the legal workplace… Continue Reading

Guest Post :: The Law Firm of Tomorrow, Part Three

By J. Benjamin Stevens on October 12th, 2011 Posted in Guest Posts, Office Management, Technology

I am pleased and honored to publish the following Guest Post, “The Law Firm of Tomorrow, Part Three – Why We Decided to Write This Book and How We Made Publishing History“ by Larry Port: I’m a productivity junkie. I enjoy reading books about how to be more streamlined, more efficient. My idea of a good time… Continue Reading

What Professionals Can Learn About Pricing from Apple’s App Store

By J. Benjamin Stevens on July 19th, 2011 Posted in Office Management

Jay Shepherd has great insight into the concept of pricing for professional services, a topic for which I share his passion. About two years ago, he wrote an outstanding article, "What if Apple Stores Billed by the Hour?", which I highly recommend. Jay has published a new article, "Learn About Pricing in the App Store", that again… Continue Reading

The Law Firm of Tomorrow Is Available Today

By J. Benjamin Stevens on July 12th, 2011 Posted in Office Management, Online Resources, Technology

Now you can have The Law Firm of Tomorrow today. Rocket Matter, the leading web-based legal practice management and time and billing software for small to mid-sized law firms has released the first installment of their serially published e-book, which focuses on social media marketing for law firms and legal technology, with an emphasis on cloud and mobile. Based on over… Continue Reading

Guest Post :: Protect Your Data with Proper Backups

By J. Benjamin Stevens on March 28th, 2011 Posted in Guest Posts, Office Management, Security

We live in the age of computers and information technology. Almost everything these days is done with the help of a computer: writing letters, sharing pictures and documents, doing homework, filing taxes, and so much more. While using computers can certainly speed up our work, it also makes us more prone to data loss and… Continue Reading

Four Ways to Eliminate Procrastination

By J. Benjamin Stevens on October 19th, 2010 Posted in Office Management

My friend, Larry Port, recently published an excellent article that listed the following four techniques to help eliminate procrastination: Understand why you procrastinate. When you dislike certain tasks, you’ll tend to deprioritize them in favor of activities you enjoy. For those habitually flirting with deadlines, it helps to come to terms with why you avoid specific… Continue Reading

Guest Post :: Is it Time for You to Revisit Your Backup System?

By J. Benjamin Stevens on October 7th, 2010 Posted in Guest Posts, Office Management, Security, Software

The following Guest Post from Brooks Duncan contains great advice and helpful reminders to everyone about their backup plan(s): You may have heard the old IT cliche "there are two types of hard drives: those that have failed, and those that will". Fortunately, you, being the responsible Mac lawyer that you are, have protected yourself and… Continue Reading

Free E-Book on Legal Productivity

By J. Benjamin Stevens on October 6th, 2010 Posted in Office Management, Online Resources, Technology

Odds are great that the readers of my blog are interested in learning about legal productivity. I am pleased to let you know that there is now an outstanding free e-book available on this very topic. The guys at Rocket Matter have released a free e-book, Legal Productivity: How Project Management, GTD, and Tomatoes Can Transform… Continue Reading

Guest Post :: Why We Went Mac, and Have Never Looked Back (Part Two)

By J. Benjamin Stevens on June 14th, 2010 Posted in Guest Posts, Mac OS X, Office Management, Switching to Macs

This is Part Two of "Why We Went Mac, and Have Never Looked Back….", a Guest Post by my friend, Randy Juip, which explains why his firm converted to Macs. If you want to read Part One of his Guest Post, which addressed their firm’s hardware considerations, click here. Otherwise, I hope that you enjoy Part Two: Software, Calendar,… Continue Reading

Guest Post :: Why We Went Mac, and Have Never Looked Back (Part One)

By J. Benjamin Stevens on June 10th, 2010 Posted in Guest Posts, Mac vs. PC, Office Management, Switching to Macs

My friend, Randy Juip, has written a two-part Guest Post explaining in depth why his firm converted to Macs. He was also a guest on an upcoming edition of the MILO Weekly podcast discussing this same subject. I am pleased to present Part One of his Guest Post, "Why We Went Mac, and Have Never Looked… Continue Reading

Got Apple Envy? Macs in a PC World (Best of ABA TechShow 2009)

By J. Benjamin Stevens on November 18th, 2009 Posted in Mac vs. PC, Office Management, Presentations, Switching to Macs

The ABA TechShow blog has a series called "The Best of ABA TechShow 2009", which features some of the best presentations given by past speakers to showcase some of the content available to attendees. I am pleased that "Got Apple Envy? Macs in a PC World", the presentation given by David Sparks and me is one of those… Continue Reading

Backup Solutions for Your Mac

By J. Benjamin Stevens on November 4th, 2009 Posted in How Do I ... ?, Office Management, Software

It only takes you one time to experience a data loss without a current backup to make you understand just how important they are. I learned that lesson the hard way several years ago. The following article from Mac Tricks & Tips discusses the backup options for Macs: Backup’s are very important. You should always have more… Continue Reading

The Paperless Law Office

By J. Benjamin Stevens on September 21st, 2009 Posted in How Do I ... ?, Office Management

This month’s Law Practice Today webzine from the ABA Law Practice Management Section focuses on how to implement and utilize paperless strategies in law offices. I had the pleasure of serving as the editor for this issue, and I am very pleased with the result. You can read the following articles at the links provided below, and I hope… Continue Reading

The Legal Mac :: What if Apple Stores Billed by the Hour?

By J. Benjamin Stevens on July 20th, 2009 Posted in Office Management

Apple Stores are known for their knowledgeable personnel and excellent customer service. Not coincidentally, those are also the hallmarks of outstanding law firms. This month, the Law Practice Today’s The Legal Mac features an article from Jay Shepherd which questions what it would be like if these stores were run like law firms — and… Continue Reading

Can Law Firms Be Run Like Apple Stores?

By J. Benjamin Stevens on June 26th, 2009 Posted in Office Management

Apple Stores are known for their knowledgeable personnel and excellent customer service. Not coincidentally, those are also the hallmarks of outstanding lawfirms. Jay Shepherd has written an article which questions what it would be like if these stores were run like law firms – and by extension, why law firms can’t be run more like Apple… Continue Reading

Attorney Billing Timesheet Templates

By J. Benjamin Stevens on June 4th, 2009 Posted in How Do I ... ?, Office Management

Even though there are many fine time and billing programs for the Mac, some attorneys prefer to take an "old school" approach and use timesheets. If you prefer this low-tech option, you should read the article at the Esquire | Mac blog, which provides the following easy to use templates: Numbers Billing Template Excel Billing Template If you decide… Continue Reading

Reminder :: Free Webinar :: Using Macs in Your Law Firm

By J. Benjamin Stevens on May 20th, 2009 Posted in Mac vs. PC, Office Management, Online Resources, Switching to Macs

FREE Webinar! Using Macs in Your Law FirmDate: Thursday, May 21, 2009 Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EDT Space is limited! Reserve your Webinar seat now at:https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/458254538 Description:Until recently, law firms needed PC’s to run their practices. No longer. Scanners, software, printers, are now available to practice law on the Mac, and the iPhone… Continue Reading

Free Webinar :: Using Macs in Your Law Firm

By J. Benjamin Stevens on May 14th, 2009 Posted in Mac vs. PC, Office Management, Online Resources, Switching to Macs, Technology

Larry Port from Rocket Matter and I will be conducting a free webinar next Thursday, May 21, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. entitled Using Macs in Your Law Firm. The webinar description is listed below. I hope that you can attend, and if you are interested, you can register by clicking HERE. Until recently, law firms needed PC’s to… Continue Reading

The Legal Mac :: Marketing and Macs

By J. Benjamin Stevens on February 23rd, 2009 Posted in Office Management, Online Resources

The Legal Mac section of the February 2009 Law Practice Today features the article "Marketing & Macs" by Victor J. Medina: Not just for creative types anymore! A long-time staple of the technology needs of designers, ad agencies, etc., Macs are now worthy opponents of PCs when it comes to the needs of "serious" people. Read more about… Continue Reading

How Lawyers Practice Law and Serve Clients with Macs — Really!

By J. Benjamin Stevens on October 6th, 2008 Posted in How Do I ... ?, Mac vs. PC, Office Management, Product Reviews, Software, Switching to Macs

As my readers are aware, I presented two seminars at the ABA TechShow 2008 this past March in Chicago. One was "How Lawyers Practice Law and Serve Clients with Macs — Really!" which I co=presented with Jeff Richardson. Our written materials from that session were recently republished in the September 2008 Law Practice Today webzine,… Continue Reading

Guest Post :: Lawyer Uses His Mac to Create Online Video To Get New Clients

By J. Benjamin Stevens on October 3rd, 2008 Posted in Guest Posts, How Do I ... ?, Office Management

The following guest post is from Gerry Oginski, a Mac-using medical malpractice & personal injury trial lawyer in Great Neck, New York: As the internet has taken hold and more lawyers have recognized the benefits of marketing online, one marketing tool is defining the standard of advertising on the web. Online videos. It is the… Continue Reading