Newsletter Unsubscribe Friday

Most people don't really understand the CAN-SPAM Act or spam laws.  As long as the header and other information is not misleading in the email, and you provide for an opt-out, you are likely not in violation of most spam laws.  That's how we all get our emails added to newsletter lists, even though we didn't "opt-in."  

I don't know where all fo the newsletters come from.  But today, I searched through my inbox and unsubscrived to every newsletter that I thought was legitimate, although unwanted. 

Another change we made is to stop copying so many internal attorneys in on the email that goes around for clients.  Now, we only copy the attorneys who are involved in a particular project on particular emails.  This has reduced the amount of total emails to the inbox by approximately 85% in our firm.  While it's great to know everything that's going on in all cases, we easily can access the case management system in order to research a particular file. 

 

 

One Lawyer’s Perspective: Getting organized in the morning

There are so many ways to get organized.  Software technology creates all sorts of lists, tasks, categories, tabs, flags, reminders…and on and on and on.  But sometimes it is easy for a lawyer to get lost in all the various tools which allow for organization.  Picking one tool, adding a process and sticking to it is the key.  I’ve tried lots of different organizational techniques.  With 300+ emails hitting my inbox every day, I am one attorney who sometimes wants to wave my arms in the air and say “give up.”   We use Basecamp as our extranet tool.  For the next couple of weeks, I’m going to recommit to Basecamp and simply load up my global to-do list on all projects, open each project that needs attention today as a new tab, and work through the list.    To the extent I see things in my email or other documents which create task categories or tasks, I am simply going to dictate those into the extranet for handling.  Using Basecamp to store, organize and work the relevant tasks of THE day will be my life for the next week.  I’ll let you know how it goes. 

How do you get organized given a major data overload we all experience? 

Technology Addiction: Are You a Technology Addict?

Here's an interesting article from The New York Times about America's technology addiction:  YOUR BRAIN ON COMPUTERS: Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price by Technology Reporter Matt Richtel

Scientists say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information from e-mail and other interruptions.

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Lawyer Escapes Blackberry While On Vacation.

Here’s an interesting ABA Journal story by Becky Beaupre Gillespie and Hollee Schwartz Temple entitled, “Lawyers Wrestle with the Constant Pull of 24/7 Technology”.
 
“I was just completely relaxed,” says Byrd, an associate at Greenebaum Doll & McDonald who typically carries his BlackBerry on family travels. The Arkansas vacation was a stark contrast to the previous summer, when Byrd spent a family trip to New York City checking for new messages on the hour.

Other Articles:

2009 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report
Virtual Escape

Twittering the Blow by Blow of Courtroom Action Is the Latest Onslaught by Technology on the Court System

A hardy thank you to Robert J. Ambrogi over at Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites for posting the following article on Facebook titled “Judge Shuts Down NewWest.Net Twitter Feed from Yellowstone Club Trial” by Courtney Lowery.  Federal Bankruptcy Judge Ralph B. Kircher shut down the use of Twitter in his courtroom.

The Dark Side of Technology: Internet Addiction

We all know it’s there, the 800 lb. gorilla in the room.  People don’t like to talk about it.  People are afraid that if someone says something, their ability to go online for any and sometimes no reason at all might be affected.

ISO Monday: Are you drowning in email, RSS feeds & Twitter Feeds?

Welcome to this Monday's edition of "Information Super Overload".  Last week, we asked:  "Information Super-Overload: Is information overload killing productivity?"  So when is too much information too much to handle?

Information Super-Overload: Is information overload killing productivity?

Welcome to a new series of Monday posts for the GAL blog called "Information Super-Overload" ("ISO Monday").   Every Monday we will discuss the increased problems of 'too much information" and strategies for dealing with the increased distraction of RSS feeds, twitter updates, Facebook friend requests, blog posts, email and other information tools.  Could it be that technology will put us out of business? Are the techno-detractors correct when they say that information overload is making the work-place less productive? As noted by lifehacker,

Over the few years this site's been in existence, studies have shown that email kills concentration more than smoking pot does, that you've got 11 minutes before the next interruption ... that no one understands the intended tone of your email, that email overload costs the American economy more than $700 billion a year, and that multitasking kills your ability to focus and get things done.