By NICOLE BLACK
When researching today’s featured attorney, I discovered what I think is
now my favorite law firm motto of all on time on his Irvine, California, law firm’s website (which
also happens to be a great example of an effective attorney website): “I bring
outstanding legal service to my business clients without the nonsense.”
As David Sparks explained to me, he accomplishes this admirable goal, in part,
through his use of technology. “In addition to being a lawyer, I’m also a nerd
and am always looking for ways to cut interference from the system,”
he explains. “I use technology to make my practice run faster
and more smoothly. Nothing that I do is impossible for another
lawyer to do and everything I do can be accomplished
using either technology or manpower. Technology doesn’t give me
something no one else has — but because of it my practice is much more
lean, and, among other things, gives me an edge in terms of pricing.”
If you’re already familiar with David’s well known blog, MacSparky, then his
tech-savviness should come as no surprise to you. In addition to being a
successful attorney, David is a familiar face in technology circles, both legal
and otherwise; he writes for MacWorld and other outlets and often
speaks about technology and its use in law offices. So when someone
suggested I reach out to him about his use of automation in his law firm, I
jumped at the opportunity to share his wisdom.
When I asked him why he automated his firm’s systems he replied, “First,
there’s efficiency—it’s
much faster. When you have the computer doing something for you, you
no longer have to type out words or take time to manually file documents on
your computer. Second, it’s more accurate. The computer is doing the task, so
for example, as long as you set up the rules correctly, the computer
is always going to name files properly.”
He uses a number of tools to automate different aspects of his Mac-based
law practice. One of his favorites is Hazel, inexpensive automation software ($29) designed to act as a “personal
housekeeper” for your Mac. “I automate my firm’s documents using
Hazel. So when I scan a document into my computer, the document is
automatically saved in OCT format and then Hazel reads it and can
identify clients, dates, etc., and will name the file and file it away for
me in my system,” he says. “There’s a lot more I can do with it, too. For
example, I have triggers set so that if I get a letter from opposing
counsel it will automatically send a copy to my client. In other
words, it does a lot of the drudge work for me.”
Another tool he relies on is TextExpander for Mac, which is also relatively inexpensive ($44.95). He uses this
software in a number of ways. “With TextExpander, when
I’m drafting discovery documents — for example the list of 5 contention
questions we use in California — I have created text expanders so I can type in
the bits that are different in each case and TextExpander automatically
creates and generates the questions for me. I was going to hire a paralegal to
do this for me, but realized it’d be more efficient and more cost
effective for the client to accomplish this task using automation.”
His use of TextExpander isn’t limited to legal documents. He uses it to
automate other type of writings in his office, too. “In addition to using
TextExpander for discovery, you can use it for email. So when I’m doing
monthly billing and create a new bill, this software fills in the data for
me and allows me to select a few check boxes. These boxes determine if the
email will includes phrases such as ‘if you’d like to pay
by credit card let me know’ or ‘I’ll send you a hard copy of the
bill if you’d like.’ I even use it for some contract clauses like my basic
attorney fee clause that I put into a contract. I always type that phrase the
same way so I simply insert a snippet of text and TextExpander kicks in
and the entire phrase automatically appears in my document.”
Of course, technology isn’t the end all, be all solution — something
that David recognizes. That’s why he tempers his recommendation to lawyers
seeking to use more technology tools in their law firms with
diplomatic pragmatism. “My standard advice to lawyers is don’t be afraid of
technology. It can make you a better lawyer and can save you a lot of money.
But the best way to use technology is to avoid doing everything at once.
Instead, find one part of your practice that can be improved by technology and
focus on that.” He cautions, “You can spend too much time on this stuff and end
up wasting an hour trying to save 10 seconds. I try to be careful
choosing my battles. Text expansion and document automation are two great
ways to streamline your practice, and I guarantee you I save a lot
more time using them than if I didn’t.”
So that’s how one business lawyer uses technology to
automate his practice. As always, if you or an attorney you know is using
technology in a creative or unusual way in your law firm, drop me an email at
niki.black@mycase.com. I’m always looking for new attorneys — or judges — to
feature in this column.
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