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The 2009 Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers

2009-11-16T17:35:08-05:00

The Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers is back for the fifth year with all new and unique gift ideas for lawyers and law firms. I’ve been gathering ideas from many sources, ripping pages from catalogs and magazines, talking to lawyers, combing through e-mails from PR types, bookmarking websites, and then whittling them down to the best, thoughtful, fun and practical gifts for even the hardest-to-please attorney. I still don’t make a dime nor get free products, but I do get the satisfaction of knowing that I am helping lawyers, their family members and/or business partners find great gifts for Christmas and beyond. Enjoy!

The Beatles RockBand: The greatest band of the baby boom generation meets the gaming craze of the current generation in this fun interactive musical experience for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii game systems. From Hard Day’s Night and Eight Days a Week (songs about lawyers?) to Octopus’s Garden, you’ll have fun playing and singing along with this legendary band. The full system comes with guitar, drum pads and microphone. If you don’t have a XBox/PS3/Wii or can’t steal time on your kids’ system, then go out and buy one! Fun for lawyers of all ages. Even recommended to make your law firm Christmas party really rock this year! Available from electronics retailers nationwide.

The Busy Lawyers Guide to Success had to make my guide this year—and no, not because I co-authored it—because it is the perfect gift for any lawyer! This compact book will help every lawyer—partner, associate, or solo-improve their practice without wading through dozens of web sites, mountains of magazine articles, or pouring through stacks of books to get to the useful essence of the author's wisdom. With over 700 tips and ideas organized into 140 pages, the book is full of practical tips, tricks, and ideas that are sure to make any lawyer even more successful. is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters (in Canada), and the ABA Webstore.

Getting caught with dead battery on your iPhone, Blackberry, Droid or other
smartphone is a huge faux pas today. To avoid that frustration and embarrassment, get a instant battery energizer, such as the
FreeLoader Pro Solar Charger. Just plug it to your exhausted mobile device and draw instant power from this battery energizer which itself is rechargeable either a USB port or from the flip-up solar charging panel; comes with a plethora of adapter plugs for mobile devices including Blackberry and iPhone. $80.00 from ThinkGeek.

Um, ever need to get your client calls while underwater? We’re not sure who does, but isn’t it nice to know you can with the UWCP Underwater Cellular Phone System. The system comes with a special dive mask, a waterproof case for your phone (which must have Bluetooth) and a floating communication unit with a 40 meter cable to connect you while swimming in the ocean or (God forbid) your own backyard pool! From OceanReef for a smidgen under $1,800.

Xperia Pureness is an awesome new SonyEricsson smartphone that sports a transparent screen. Yep, a see thru screen. You have to see it to believe it. This cutting edge smartphone handles e-mail, text messaging, plays MP3 and ACC media files, includes a web browser, and much more. This “unlocked” phone can be used on various mobile cell service providers using GSM/GPRS/EDGE technology. (Yep, best to ask your service provider before you buy the phone.) OK, it doesn’t have the utility of an iPhone, but it just may eclipse it on the coolness meter!

Looking for a new way to show your appreciation to your firm employees? Successories now offers huge 365-carat colored glass “gemstones” with appreciative sayings, such as “You’re a gem” and “You rock”. Comes in a presentation box for about $25.00.

MoGo Presenter Mouse PC™ is a combined wireless presenter and computer mouse that stores and charges inside your laptop’s PC/ PCMIA card slot. The sleek design and size make it ideal for lawyers on the go. It includes the same functionality as conventional optical wireless mice--scroll, right click, left click--without the bulky, oversized design. With the push of a button, the MoGo Presenter Mouse PC™ turns into a wireless presenter, allowing you to control your PowerPoint presentations with 30 feet of freedom.

The Zvox Incredibase may have rewritten the laws of home theater sound. It is a 5-inch high cabinet-top box stuffed with speakers and utilizing a proprietary sound technology to make movie sound come to life. Best of all it just plugs into your TV and power source and it works! Simply super sound in a small package for under $700!

Plug the Green Button into any USB port of your computer, and
then tap it each time you’ll be away from your computer for more than a few minutes. It puts your computer into a low-power state to save energy until you return. Going green--it’s not just for tree-hugger lawyers anymore! Under $20.

Law Comix is an irreverent website for irreverent lawyers created by the irreverent mind of Charles Pugsley Fincher, J.D. The site is full of irreverent cartoons which are available for sale on mugs, steins, calendars or t-shirts from his Law Comix store. Go. Be irreverent. Enjoy.

When I recently found myself extolling the unparalleled taste
and quality of Nueske’s Applewood-smoked bacon to several lawyers, I realized it had to be added to this guide. Nueske’s is a family-run butcher/smokehouse in Wittenberg, Wisconsin that turns out the finest smoked meats (bacon, hot dogs, sausage, etc.) you’ll ever put in contact with a taste bud. Long known to folks in the Upper Midwest, Nueske’s now supplies their products to select restaurants from New York to LA. You can get yours shipped directly to your favorite lawyer from their on-line store.

Don’t just give a gift card, give a gift membership to a local museum, a hobbyist club/organization (wine, cars, travel, hiking, etc.), or other affinity group that champions a worthy cause (environment, health, children, etc.). These groups often provide membership certificates, a periodic newsletter, and special events, among other benefits. As such,they doesn’t take up space on a tie rack or dusty office shelf; best of all it is a gift that keeps on giving all year.

With the advent of checked bag fees on many airlines, traveling lawyers are cramming more per bag, only to get socked with overweight bag fees at check-in. Avoid those costly penalties with a digital luggage scale. A great stocking stuffer for around $20.

Get ready to party down with this gas-powered blender from Kotula's. Some people
ask “why”; others “why not”? If you’re in the latter category, then you are sure to enjoy this novelty at your next firm BBQ. Just fire up the 43cc, 2-stroke gas engine, grab the handlebars and open up the throttle for some truly high-revving blended beverages. Not endorsed by Tim “The Toolman” Taylor, but it should be! Yours for under $400!

LawTunes is the brainchild of litigator Lawrence Savell who cleverly writes, performs and produces humorous songs about the legal profession and the lawyers who inhabit it. Larry’s catalogue of lawyer-focused CDs now includes his fourth holiday album, Season’s Briefings from the LawTunes. His on-line webstore conveniently provides clips of all his songs so you can pick the CD that will tickle the funny bone of your favorite lawyer!

Own a piece of true Yankee history with a pair of seats from the old Yankee Stadium. Each pair will set you back $1,500 but comes with a letter of authenticity. Available from Yankees-Steiner Collectibles. And for you Cowboy fans (and you know who you are), seat pairs from Texas Stadium are now available for $650 from the same collectibles company.

I have to hand it to West for developing the Black’s Law Dictionary App for iPhone. They've put a must-have resource for young lawyers and law students into a new media that many young lawyers are using. The entire searchable dictionary is now at your fingertips wherever and whenever you might need it. It even includes 7,000 audio pronunciations--mostly for those unfamiliar latin words that still permeate our lingo. At $49.99 it is not cheap, but the ease and convenience of using it makes this iPhone app a real winner. Available from the Apple App Store on iTunes.

If you don’t understand the term “Pon Farr” from Star Trek, skip this last gift item. If you do know Pon Farr is the Vulcan mating ritual, then you’ll be "stunned" to learn that it has been bottled into a new perfume for female trekkies to boldly go where no woman has gone before! About $30 from select e-tailers and retailers including Borders. (And, yes, don't we all wish we'd thought of this years ago?!)

So with that, beam me up the chimney, Scotty, it’s time to get out of here! Merry Christmas and happiest of holidays to all.

The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Success Now Available on Amazon

2009-11-15T12:46:00-05:00

I am pleased to announce that The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Success: Essential Tips to Power Your Practice is now available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters (in Canada) and other book e-tailers. Although the book has been available via the ABA Webstore, it is now available for less than the ABA price and qualifies for free shipping from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Dan Pinnington and I wrote The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Success to be a compact and practical idea book to help lawyers efficiently and effectively improve their practices without wading through mountains of magazine articles or pouring through books to get to the useful essence of the author's wisdom. With over 700 tips and ideas organized into 140 pages, the book will more than pay for itself for lawyers who implement just one or two practical tips. For more information and examples, visit our companion blog, LawyerSuccessTips.

The book makes a great gift for partners and associates alike, so the ABA is offering significant discounts on bulk purchases by law firms. Contact the ABA Service Center for more information.

My Fifth Annual Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers is coming this Monday . . .

2009-11-12T08:58:00-05:00

I'm busier than a elf at the North Pole, but come rain, sleet, or snow, the 2009 edition of my holiday gift guide will be out on November 16th so look for it before you go shopping for the lawyers in your life!

Verizon's Droid: Not Ready for Primetime?

2009-11-06T12:31:32-05:00

The Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg tries to love the new Motorola Droid, but his integrity shines through his prose and he is really letting readers know the new phone is not ready to take on the iPhone. But is Walter's review written with an eye to the future of all Android phones? I'm guessing he has also read the Computerworld article about Android OS phones from Google surpassing the Apple iPhone in worldwide sales in 2014. What you say? Yep, according to the article, Gartner is forcasting a surge in sales due in large part to Android phones utilizing the growing plethora of cloud-based apps being brought to market by Google now and over the next few years. So while the new Motorola Droid may get a "fair" rating today, its successors from Motorola and others may really give the iPhone a run for the money over the next few years.

Carolyn Elefant Takes a Final Bow at Legal Blog Watch

2009-09-20T09:40:43-04:00

After 1,680 blog posts at Legal Blog Watch, Carolyn Elefant has decided to take a well-deserved break from the daily grind of blogging. Blogging consistently is not easy, but Carolyn and her blog partner Bob Ambrogi have not only done it consistently, but have achieved consistent excellence in the information they provide to the legal profession. Bob will be continuing the tradition with a new blogging partner, but I want to say "thank you" to Carolyn for being one of the first and one of the best bloggers within the legal profession.

As you can see from Carolyn's farewell post, she is still plenty busy, but just needs to slow the pace a bit. (Boy, can I relate: I've been an absentee blogger of late because of the press of other business.) She is not going to disappear, just spend more time with her kids and her law practice, as well as doing a new edition of her book. Solo by Choice.

The Nightmare Left Behind

2009-08-10T11:59:00-04:00

South Carolina blogger and SC Bar practice advisor, Courtney Kennaday, has posted actual photographs of a deceased lawyer's office recently taken by the lawyer appointed to close down the practice after the solo lawyer died suddenly. This is exactly the type of nightmare that Courtney and I wrote about in our article When You Go to Heaven, Will your Practice Go to Hell? earlier this year.

If your office looks like these photos, there are steps you can take to avoid this nightmare:

Develop a file storage procedure: Define what type of document needs to be kept in the office, what needs to go into archives, and what can be ethically discarded. File storage companies such as Iron Mountain and your state bar practice management advisor have resources to help you with this process.
Set time on your calendar to slowly tackle the mess. Set aside a hour a day or a morning or afternoon a week. Don't overwrite that time with other matters.
Work through each stack of files and boxes following your file storage protocol. As you put documents in new boxes, make sure the boxes are labeled for easy retrieval.
Do not keep client files in your basement, attic, or garage. If you must retain the files and have run out of storage space in your office, use a file storage company to confidentially maintain the boxes and help you keep them organized for later retrieval.

If your office even comes close to looking like the photos, and you cannot find the time or motivation to organize and clean it up (as suggested above) in the next six months, then hire a person who can do this for you. Some lawyers just can't part with documents even when it is ethically permissible to do so. Failure to take action can lead to the embarrassment defined in the pictures.

Recession-Related Ethics: Navigating Tough Times

2009-07-07T08:46:00-04:00

I am pleased to be a faculty member for this ABA-CLE ethics teleconference on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. In these still-difficult times, it is more important than ever to be confident of the ethical boundaries when it comes to client conflicts, fee arrangements, and new marketing ventures.

In this teleconference you will learn:

About billing issues to get your fees paid and what to do when the client does not pay and when you can, and when you must, withdraw;
About marketing in new ways including e-newsletters, blogging, and social networking and the ethical issues each new marketing venue creates;
About steering clear of conflicts, including not taking clients where there is a conflict of interest and avoiding those clients you know would not be a good fit with the firm;
About career changes and the issues that leaving a firm, joining a new firm, or going solo create.

Join Peter Geraghty, Director of the ABA's ETHICSearch, Chicago, IL; Mary Robinson, Ethics and Professional Responsibility Consulting, Downers Grove, IL; Lynda Shely, of The Shely Firm, PC, Scottsdale, AZ; and me for a practical and informative discussion of the ethical issues affecting many lawyers today.

Solos, Please Beware of Scams That Can Cost You!

2009-06-30T22:54:17-04:00

Several bar associations are warning their members to be aware of financially-devastating scams being carried out against lawyers, especially solo practitioners. According to the ABA Journal, at least one small firm found out the hard way to the tune of $400,000. The scam is familiar to those of us who have received e-mail requests from overseas companies seeking help collecting a debt in the U.S. Personally, I have not responded to these e-mails, and I hope the word is now spreading to all lawyers--don't be suckered in even if the response you may receive seems to be genuine. Take time to really check them out: Ask for more details. Confirm identities. Ask for documents. Still, be very leary.
PracticePRO, the claims prevention arm of LawPRO in Ontario, Canada, has issued several fraud alerts including one just yesterday in advance of the Canada Day holiday. With our own July 4th Independence Day three-day weekend, we can learn much from our Canadian colleagues. The business loan scam seems to be the most popular one against solos these days, so beware.

The Fears of Alternative Billing

2009-06-09T22:36:39-04:00

The American Lawyer has a short but valuable article today about the role of fear in negotiating alternative fee arrangements: Clients fear they will get shoddy service for their money, and law firms fear they will lose money on many deals. The article deftly states that an open dialogue, sharing of financial information, and a foundation of trust can overcome these fears so that both the client and law firm can benefit financially.

With business a bit slow for many firms, now is the time to explore alternative fees with one or more clients. For more information on this topic, read Winning Alternatives to the Billable Hour by Mark Robertson and Jim Calloway.

Shake Big Savings from Small Practice Management Ideas

2009-05-20T21:48:03-04:00

That's the title of my latest article published this month in GPSolo magazine, published by the GP Solo Division of the ABA. The theme of the issue is "Small" and covers relevant topics from an interesting perspective. Check it out for some small ideas with a big impact!