{"id":736,"date":"2019-12-13T20:42:27","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T20:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/successful-lawyer.com\/?p=736"},"modified":"2020-04-23T21:13:48","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T21:13:48","slug":"then-and-now-information-management-for-busy-lawyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/successful-lawyer.com\/then-and-now-information-management-for-busy-lawyers\/","title":{"rendered":"Then and Now: Information Management for Busy Lawyers"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Enter the way back machine<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

My practice looked like this in 1985:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

After I returned to the office from court, I dictated a letter advising my client of the results, next actions and other necessary follow up.  I used a handheld recorder with miniature cassette tapes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Throughout the day (and sometimes the week) I used that same tape to dictate letters, pleadings, memos and other random dictation. When the tape was full, I gave it to my secretary to type.  We always prayed the tape didn\u2019t get eaten by the recording machine before it was transcribed. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The secretary would type the tape in sequence, starting with the first recording. She used a typewriter with carbon paper (look it up kids). No prioritization was available. For emergencies, we would use a different tape. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Eventually, the secretary got to the letter informing the client about the court date. It might be the same day or several days later. After she typed the contents of the tape, she would return all of the typed dictation for me to edit and clean up. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Depending upon how busy I was, I would give her back the marked-up documents within a day or two. She would then finalize the letters and gather copies of the court orders to send along with the letter.  The final letters would be typed on our letterhead and given to me to sign. Carbon copies were filed in the paper client file.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The letter was then mailed (remember snail mail?) and the client was advised of the results of court about seven days after the event. If the client had a question at that point, they would pick up the phone and call.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Fast forward...<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

35 years later...after court I grab a conference room at the courthouse and using a scanning app on my phone, scan the court order and attach it to an email advising the client of the results. I do this before I leave the courthouse. They may reply with questions, which I typically answer immediately. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Lightspeed is now the standard<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Legal consumers no longer accept week-long lags receiving information--even mundane information.  If they can order some obscure book and have it delivered by Amazon the next day, they expect instantaneous attention from us as well. And to compete, we must give people what they want.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We all know lawyers who pride themselves on client management, \u201cI tell them upfront, I am busy and that they shouldn\u2019t expect any immediate response.\u201d Or those that refuse to use or check email. I suppose there were lawyers that still wanted to use horses when cars were invented and prided themselves on that as well. But ignoring this reality is not sustainable. Eckhart Tolle observed that stress is caused by being \u201chere\u201d but wanting to be \u201cthere.\u201d Pretending that the urgent demands of the marketplace don\u2019 t exist means that a lawyer and his or her practice also won\u2019t exist much longer either.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

People in crisis (or perceived crisis) expect instantaneous information. They derive comfort in real-time knowledge. Most don\u2019t tolerate waiting an hour much less a week before getting updates about their case. The new norm places burdens on professionals to keep up with the firehose of information sprayed on them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Information Management<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

How do we as lawyers systematically keep up? How do we manage all of the continuous information that comes across our desk and screen each day? <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

First, we need to identify what information that must be managed:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n