Hi, I’m Adriana Linares, San Diego County bar associations, technology and practice management advisor. Don’t forget that as a member you can always make an appointment to meet with me to have your questions answered about technology, case management, practice management, little bit of marketing, and sometimes I can answer some basic questions about accounting and finance.
By Adriana Linares
For many attorneys and professionals, maintaining a separate office phone number without carrying an additional device is crucial. Softphones, commonly known as voice-over-ip phones, offer a viable and affordable solution. These services consist of a subscription and/or an app that uses your device’s microphone and speakers (and sometimes camera) and, of course, an internet connection. Devices such as laptops, smartphones, computers, smart TVs, and tablets can all be converted into softphones.
By Tatiana Kline
As a Public Defender, I have become skilled at advocating on behalf of others. I take pride in my ability to fight for what is right and not back down until a just outcome is obtained for my clients. But when it comes to advocating for myself, that skill seems to vanish. I find myself unable to advocate in the same zealous manner when it comes to my needs.
By Katie Parker
As noted in a recent Ethics in Brief column (here), an attorney’s persistent lack of civility can have concrete financial consequences. In the case at issue there, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s reliance on lack of civility in reducing an attorney’s fee award. The Court observed that plaintiff’s counsel’s “beratement of opposing counsel and belittling of the trial court were unnecessary to advocate zealously” on his client’s behalf. Snoeck v. ExakTime Innovations, Inc., 96 Cal. App. 5th 908, 925 (2023).
Cutting and pasting is a simple task. Perhaps so simple and effective that most users never ask, “Could there be more?” With a few keystrokes, you can easily repurpose text from one place to another. It’s such a common and old function that it’s probably one of the few keyboard shortcuts known by the least proficient Word-users: CTRL + X cuts, CTRL + C copies, and CTRL + V pastes. But could there be more? I’m so glad you asked because, yes yes, there is so much more. You have OPTIONS, and they can work wonders in helping you insert text more efficiently and prevent you from getting into a formatting fight with Word.
By Bhashini Weerasinghe
As we rapidly approach the upcoming election and brace for the inevitable and continued onslaught of campaign attacks on some of the most vulnerable populations, I cannot help but think about my own immigrant story. I was seven years old when my dad told us that he was going to go to the United States to get things situated before we would all join him in about a year. I remember the party we had on his last day in Sri Lanka and the ride to the airport to drop him off. I also remember waking up the next day and wanting to see my dad and having my mom tell me that dad is on a flight. She pulled out a globe to show me that dad is flying across the world. I remember asking if we could take the train to meet him. My seven-year-old brain was struggling to understand what an ocean was and why we could not see dad. I remember that year, I had many phone chats with my dad — but that meant, we get word that dad is trying to call, and we all would head to the town where there was a clothing store that had a phone and wait for him to call back. In Sri Lanka, we didn’t have our own phone — no one did. This was before cell phones were a thing, and before you could Facetime with your loved ones.
By Jim Eischen, Co-Chair, San Diego County Bar Association Wellness Committee
By Alara Chilton
When a client files or threatens to file a State Bar complaint alleging a lawyer’s ethical misconduct, a lawyer may be tempted to impede a State Bar investigation by seeking to negotiate an agreement that shields the lawyer from the State Bar’s ability to investigate and prosecute a lawyer’s ethical misconduct. Such agreements are intended to ensure a client’s or former client’s silence regarding the alleged misconduct. However, a lawyer’s efforts to enter into such an agreement may run afoul of Business and Professions Code section 6090.5.
We will begin this two-part series on understanding the difference between OneDrive and SharePoint by exploring OneDrive. In part two, we will discuss SharePoint and the differences between them.
By Valerie Silverman Massey
Scenario: As a senior or supervising attorney, you are preparing to file a document with a court. A more junior attorney prepares the document using prior office writings/research or conducting new research and preparing the document from scratch. Your name is on the caption and the signature line.
