Ubuntu 9.10

Ubuntu 9.10 is out. I'm running it on three machines. On the two that had 9.04 previously running on them, the upgrade was essentially the push of a button. That was awesome. On the machine that had been running 8.04, I went with a CD burned copy. It did fine as well.

I've seen some negative comments from the Linux community about 9.10, but for me, it's works and looks great. It seems funny to me how some times the Linux community wants to turn on Ubuntu for its success and market share. It just goes to show that you simply can't please everybody.

All in all, I think Ubuntu has made some good strides in the "user friendliness" of Linux. Unfortunately, many of the "uber geeks" in the Linux community still haven't figured out that that aspect of Linux has long been lacking.

So, if you are looking to deploy Linux in your law office or other small business, now is a good time to give it a try.

A one Window law office.

I had to break down and set up a Windows PC. I know, I know, the purists are now furious. Here's why. The Linux endeavor has to do with many things, affordability (ie: free) is one of them. The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts distributes a free application that calculates child support. I handle a few Juvenile cases (ok, it's 40% of my pending files). So, every now and then I need the calculator. (There were some other programs too, like Lexis CD's included in some books that I purchased that just did not want to play nicely with Linux.) I tried to virtualize XP, but I had printing and memory issues. So, since I had a spare copy of XP and something of a spare PC, I loaded XP again.

I hated doing that to the PC. It was pretty happy with Ubuntu 9.04. It was amazing to me how much easier Linux is to load on a machine, once you get the hang of it. Interestingly, much of what I use on my Linux machines, I can use on the XP machine too. XP misses some things though, like the ease of turning ANY document into a .pdf and DVD codecs.

The nice thing is that I am not OS dependant (I would be happy to use a Mac in my practice too, but someone else will have to buy it. They're still just too expensive.) Linux is still my main, foundational OS, but unfortunately, its not enough to cover all my bases. Interestingly, neither is XP or Mac. Each has its place and I believe that if businesses, including law practices, want to survive in this economy, they will use the strengths of each platform in concert.

Surviving as a solo.

Today, I'm once again thinking of all the changes in the legal profession over the past few years. A lot of attorneys have been fired or laid off from prestigious firms. Others have graduated from law school and passed the bar, just to find out that there's no job market to accept them. I believe this has really begun to change the mindset of the majority of the legal community. Since I have survived the past 15 months of practice as a new attorney with 3 kids in a single income household, I think I may have some insight for those that have been out placed or have found themselves to be an "unintentional solo". Some may even wish to consider this as their business plan for the next 12 months as they figure out what they are going to do now.

GET LEAN - "Big Law" is really an existence based on perception. Perception is often expensive. Now, you have to fight for every dime. Don't go out and sign up for expensive research or case management applications. Don't believe the lie that the phone book folks tell you and sign up for their expensive ads. Get your finances in order. If you have to cancel the cable TV bundle for a while, do it. If you have to trade the BMW in on a used Taurus, do it. Do what it takes to be able to live within your means. Also, don't buy a lot of expense equipment or enter into an office lease. Search sources like craigslist for free or used hardware. Find a network of local coffee shops or restaurants to meet clients. Use as much free and open source software as you can find. Maybe Linux isn't for you, but you can certainly use OpenOffice instead of paying for Microsoft Office.

FIND ALTERNATIVES - Sure, you may be used to WestLaw and Lexis, but they are expensive. Find the local law library, law school or even a community college with a paralegal program. Often those have free resources that you can use. Also, some bar associations offer other research programs, such as Fastcase or Versus with their memberships. If its case management you are looking for, consider using file organization, spreadsheets and a PIM like Thunderbird (or even Outlook, if you must) instead. Also, just because books are published every year, it doesn't mean they have to be bought. My procedure books from 2007 are still functioning just fine.

FIND A MATCH BETWEEN THE NEEDS OF THE LOCAL MARKET AND YOUR SKILLS / DESIRES - Let's face it, there are not enough personal injury cases, contract cases or inside counsel positions to go around for every attorney that wants that sort of practice. But there is still a lot of law to be practiced. Go to the county or counties you want to work in and find out what kind of cases they are appointing attorneys on. These cases will give you experience, exposure and may even keep the lights on. They don't pay much, but the beat digging ditches. You might also find that sometimes its easier to have a client who is appointed, because they are not usually as demanding as the "full rate" client. By going after the practice areas that are available, instead of just going after the areas that you want, you may find out what law and cases are out there to keep your practice afloat.

LEARN TO TRY A CASE - Fewer and fewer cases are tried these days. Find out in what areas cases are actually being tried and go get some experience. Clients expect attorneys to be able to try cases, but many attorneys are not comfortable trying cases. For example, my current book of open cases is 40% juvenile cases. Some of those involve the termination of parental rights. Often those cases are fought harder than any other type of case because someone ,usually the state, is looking to terminate someone else's CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to being a parent. Often, trial is the only way to work that sort of case out.

ADJUST YOUR WARDROBE - There is a common misconception that the best dressed lawyer is the best lawyer. Often times, cuff links and sharp matching suits are there to disguise inability and inexperience. Once you figure out where you are going to be practicing, look around you at what the other attorneys are wearing. MAYBE they are all wearing matched two piece suits and / or dresses with matching ties and handkerchiefs. However, since over 90% of the US is still rural, I suspect that you will find the normal attire to be sport jackets and khakis. In some courts it may even be sports jacket and jeans or a nice shirt, tie and khakis, with the jacket hanging somewhere in a closet gathering dust.

GET A JOB - Being a lawyer is about serving other's needs. Their cases are their problems, not yours. So, its THEIR NEEDS you are dealing with. Similarly, if you have to take a job as a waiter to survive as you build your practice, guess what, you are still serving someone else's needs. Too many attorneys believe the they cannot "stoop" down to take a part time job. They had rather file personal bankruptcy, than take a part time job that is hiring. Also, consider who is hiring within the legal profession. Maybe you need to work for the Public Defender's office or the Department of Children's Services office for a while, because that is where the need is. You may even find that you like it.

KEEP RECORDS - At some point, you need to be able to look back on a period of time and figure out where your core business is coming from. It may surprise you. I currently do A LOT of court appointed work, but the majority of my income since January has still come from private fees. Also, I never intended on doing a lot of juvenile law, but as I previously stated, I was surprised to find out that 40% of my cases are juvenile cases. So, you need to be able to quantify your business and income so that you can eventually hone down your practice in a way that fits you and your lifestyle.

FIND A CAUSE - One of the groups that I am a part of is Alliance Defense Fund. It champions issues that I believe in. It has provided me training in those areas. From time to time, I have a pro bono case that comes from them. Why is this important? It gives me experience, greater exposure and allows me to litigate issues that I find important. It make my practice more than an income generator.

BE ACCESSIBLE - I believe that communication is key to keeping clients happy, or at least, not mad. Let clients know what is the best way to reach you, whether that be by phone, email or other means. Call people bank and respond to inquiries. I don't believe the general public likes to talk to attorney's staff all the time. Clients want to talk to their attorney, so let them.

This sums up my thoughts for today for those that find themselves as new solos. Feel free to comment if I've left something out.

Keeping it simple.

Recently, I saw some posts regarding practice management software. After practicing for a little over a year and piecing together my own practice management applications, I've come to realize that I just don't need prepackaged practice management software. Everything I use has been laid out in this blog, including my ongoing use of Linux. So, let me set the record straight... You can practice law without all the costly practice management software (and pricey online research.)

Blogging, Linux & Law

I work an area of 4 - 6 counties and on some days have court in 2 of them. So, I've not been as much of a "desk lawyer" has I had once envisioned. It's good that I'm getting comfortable being in a court room, but its rough to keep up with desk activities, one of which is blogging.

Had I not gone the "frugal route" with setting up my office, I don't know where we would be. We've survived this past year at an income level I would not have thought possible while I was in law school. I'm hopeful that we "hit bottom" as far as my income scale goes, but we will see.

The good news for this blog is that the Linux experiment has worked. I have Windows virtualized on one machine using VirtualBox OSE for the occasional application that simply refuses to work with anything other than Windows. Other than that, its all Linux. It has saved money and been more secure than Windows would have ever been. I don't have the income to buy a lot of the fancy law office software, so that works just fine too. As a result, I don't envision ever buying practice management software.

So where do we go from here? Due to the recent influx of solo attorneys, I believe my next post is going to be on tips to survive as a new solo.

We're back!

I think my site was hacked and the old URL was hijacked. I'm not sure what I'll do in the future, but for now, I'm back to the old lexlocilinux.blogspot.com URL.

Palm Centro and Linux

I've finally upgraded to circa 2008 hardware. I've replaced the old Treo 650 with a new Centro. I'm syncing it with gnome-pilot and Evolution, just like I did with the 650.

The verdict is... It works BEAUTIFULLY. The 650 would usually hang up and not always finish the sync. The Centro usually thoroughly syncs. Also, the 650 would not always sync. It only seemed to want to sync when there was new information. The Centro will sync every time you hit the button.

Also, most folks criticize the keyboard for being too small. It's really not too bad. The keys are better too. The 650 keys were hard and my fingers would slip off them, but these are kind of gummy and my fingers don't slip off them. It gets much louder and brighter than the 650.

I don't have any idea what I'll do next since Palm is releasing the Pre and I doubt it will work with gnome-pilot. Hopefully, I'll have a while to decide.

Do you notice your OS much?

Ok, so I've been at this deal of using Linux for a year. I don't really think about it much any more. Admittedly, I don't use specialized practice management software, but I don't see the need. I realize those that do a lot of bankruptcy or that sort of thing rely heavily on specialized software, but I don't do bankruptcy. I do personal injury, criminal defense, juvenile law and a few other areas, so Evolution, OpenOffice, gscan2pdf and GNUCash have been getting it done for me. The nice thing is that I don't have to constantly update virus software and that sort of thing. Also, my software is free too, so I think it puts me in a better position to help people where they need it, not just when they can pay high fees to pay for my overhead.

So, I don't notice my OS much. I just work and my software works too. Nice.

Got a question?

From time to time I do this... If you have a Linux in the Law Office sort of question, comment and I'll address it.

A year in.

Soon, I will hit my one year anniversary of practising law. I've been using Linux the whole time. I've blogged about all I use on this blog. I don't have to worry about viruses, updating virus software and that sort of thing. I've been able to adapt programs available in the Linux world or on the web for my practice. I've not paid a dime for software. I've been able to adapt contact management, scheduling, spreadsheets and that sort of thing for what I need.

So, I'm happy that it has worked for me. I know that those who have built a practice around certain software applications might have a difficult time adapting Linux, but for those who say it can't be done, I assure you, it can.