“Does Every Lawyer Need a Digital Detox?” by Sensei’s Sharon Nelson and John Simek was recently featured as a guest blog post in the Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program’s (Mass LOMAP) blog. Mass LOMAP helps attorneys licensed, or soon to be, in Massachusetts to implement professional office practices and procedures.

Excerpt: There are very few lawyers who seem to have control over their digital devices. To the contrary, the devices themselves seem to be in control, demanding the nearly non-stop attention of lawyers. It might seem odd to hear two geeks talk about digital detoxing, but we recognized the need for it years ago. Perhaps, as geeks, we were on the bleeding edge of this phenomenon.

Author Nelson was not pleased that author Simek could not have dinner in a nice restaurant with his wife without regularly checking his phone. That was the beginning. In time, marital negotiations (and renegotiations) resulted in some rules! Our phones may be in our pockets but they are not invited to participate in nice dinners. Our phones, unless an emergency is in progress, are not checked after dinner. And our phones charge in the family room – they are not permitted in the bedroom. The majority of lawyers do have their phones charging in their bedroom on their bedside tables – or, worse yet, in their beds.

See the entire blog post here.

Recently, Sensei’s John Simek was mentioned in “60 in 60’s top tips covered password security, office shortcuts and a USB drink warmer/chiller” by Jason Tashea with the ABA Journal. The ABA Journal is read by half of the nation’s 1 million lawyers every month. It covers the trends, people and finances of the legal profession from Wall Street to Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.

Excerpt: Per tradition, ABA Techshow ended with a rapid-fire presentation of 60 novel technologies and tips in 60 minutes that touched on cybersecurity, process improvements and kitschy gadgets.

On the security front, concern for password health was ever-present. Password Checkup and PassProtect are Chrome browser plug-ins that will notify you if your password has been comprised. Office 365 has a feature called Secure Score, which will assess your security posture and recommend improvements. For those with a Chromebook, they can use automatic tethering to guarantee your computer connects to their phone’s hot spot instead of seeking and potentially connecting to an insecure network. Brave Browser has security in mind with integrated ad block, anti-malware and security software.

The presentation was made by Techshow co-chairs Lincoln Mead and John Simek and vice-chairs Catherine Sanders-Reach and Heidi Alexander on Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

While usually promoting neat and novel things for lawyers to use in order to increase their productivity or quality of life, the panel also gave out a recommendation to avoid: Simek cautioned the audience not to use “Do Not Track,” an app that claims to stop websites from tracking you online. According to him, the tool actually leads to increased data collection by sites.

Read the entire article here.

The 6th Annual CGG Professional Clothing Drive is underway and Sensei is excited to be contributing a gift card this year!

Cooper Ginsberg Gray PLLC (CGG) is again collecting gently worn business attire. All items received will be donated to one of the Domestic Violence Action Center partners. In the past, donations have been made to Artemis House, the Court Attire Program and Final Salute.

Donations of the following items would be greatly appreciated: Suits, Jackets, Sport Coats, Skirts, Dresses, Dress Shirts, Dress Belts, Dress Shoes, Dress Pants, Ties, Khakis, Blouses, Sweater Sets, Cardigans, related accessories. Or, consider donating a gift card to Walmart or Target, etc.

Donations may be dropped off at the Fairfax Bar Association’s office, 4110 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 216 or at Cooper Ginsberg Gray, PLLC, 9302 Lee Hwy, Suite 1200, Fairfax, VA 22031, now through March 31, 2019. 

If a pick up is needed, please contact Cooper Ginsberg Gray at 703-934-1480 or rworster@cgglawyers.com.

See more here.

Recently, Stephen Embry who publishes TechLaw Crossroads reviewed the 2019 Solo and Small Firm Technology Guide written by Sensei’s Sharon Nelson, John Simek, and Michael Maschke.

Excerpt: In a nutshell, the book is consistent and reasonably well written. It’s divided into topical standalone chapters so if you’re interested in, say, cloud computing products, you can read that chapter and get a good idea of what’s available without having to read other chapters that you might not be interested in.

The book is pretty comprehensive with respect to legal tech needs of lawyers, and includes sections on operating systems, printers and scanners, servers, hardware, security, case management, time and billing software, document management and remote access, among others. It even has suggestions for what a tech savvy lawyer should take on the road and where LegalTech may be going in the future.

See the entire review here.