Improving Communication Archives | Page 3 of 5

7 03, 2012

Are Smartphones Confidentiality Risks for Lawyers?

2019-04-01T21:03:49+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Are Smartphones Confidentiality Risks for Lawyers?

Jared Correia of LOMAP posted some important factors attorneys should consider in response to a question he frequently gets: Should solos use a smartphone as their primary telephone? He pointed out a number of concerns that the lawyer should address, including the ability to “wipe” a lost or stolen phone, and Plan B for practical issues such as dead zones and dead batteries, for a mobile lawyer.

I would like to add another security issue that should be taken into account. All lawyers, including those who also have a regular land line at the office, should give some thought to this. More and more issues are surfacing about apps having unexpected access to data stored on or transmitted by smartphones. Today the Washington Post reported that “Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has called on the FTC to investigate Apple and Google after reports that smartphone and tablet apps could pick up more data from consumer’s phones than they realize.”

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23 02, 2012

Are Lawyers Acting Like Elderly Aunts?

2019-04-01T21:04:48+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Are Lawyers Acting Like Elderly Aunts?

A few months ago my 81 year old aunt asked me to help her with emails on her laptop. She had finally succumbed to years of pressure from family members to get a computer. Now she could be included more in the family conversations and picture swapping. She could easily keep in touch with loved ones across the country. But she still wasn’t using her laptop.

When I sat down with her, I discovered two main problems. First, she didn’t really understand some very basic concepts, like how the mouse worked. She had trouble remembering that she needed to point and click. Second, the interface was unfriendly to an elderly person. She couldn’t keep up with where the mouse pointed, and kept losing the cursor when it zipped across the screen. With a few adjustments, I slowed down the reactivity of her mouse and made the cursor bigger and bolder so her old eyes could keep up with it. Then I “co-piloted” with her as she sent some emails, gently reminding her what to do, until she had enough practice to fly on her own. […]

26 01, 2012

Is Your Listening Tuned to the Right Station?

2019-04-01T21:05:50+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Is Your Listening Tuned to the Right Station?

“There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for.”
—James Nathan Miller, Author

Many people think effective communication is simply choosing the right words to say. I submit, however, that poor listening skills create the biggest barrier to good communication.

Effective communicators listen attentively, but even attentive listeners can go astray. If a radio is not finely tuned to the right station, the reception gets garbled. Similarly, to fully understand a speaker’s message, a listener must properly tune in to the purpose of the speaking.

By way of illustration, most of us have whined about a frustrating problem at some point. We often know what to do about our problem, but we want to complain first in the hope of garnering some sympathy. Our frustration increases when listeners respond with suggested solutions to the problem. That wasn’t the kind of listening we wanted.

Many listeners miscue about the appropriate kind of listening required because most of us have a preferred approach that we use until we understand that something else is needed. We need to switch listening approaches to fit various situations. […]

12 01, 2012

Electronic Briefs: Hyperlinking Your Way to A Positive Outcome

2019-03-19T23:13:52+00:00By Cathy L Ribble ACP|1 Comment

by Cathy L. Ribble

A few months ago, one of my attorney clients called on his way home from a hearing to discuss the briefing schedule the judge had outlined for our case. The judge had also clearly indicated his preference for electronic briefs with hyperlinks to the cited legal authorities. I docketed the briefing deadline and began to research the additional steps required to provide the judge exactly what he wanted.

The first step for any litigation project is […]

7 10, 2011

The Proper Care and Feeding of Referral Sources

2019-04-01T21:28:36+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

Because I work with a lot of different lawyers, people often contact me when they need to engage one. Sometimes a friend needs legal services, and I hear from them later about their satisfaction level with the services received. Often, however, a friend calls on behalf of the potential client. I give them contact info for a couple of appropriate lawyers, which they forward to the client. Usually I give the lawyers I recommend a heads up by email or voicemail…and that’s the last I hear of it.

Over the course of a couple of years, I referred 5 or 6 potential clients to one lawyer. I never even heard whether she got hired. When a new referral request came in, I had a little conversation in my head: “I wonder whether the previous referrals were good matches for her. In any event, she didn’t seem to particularly appreciate them. She never let me know what happened. Did she even say ‘thank you’? I think I’ll send this referral to someone else who will appreciate it.” […]

8 03, 2011

What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You

2019-03-21T20:09:07+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You

I have had my business and personal accounts at the same bank for 16 years, but for over a year, I have been thinking of changing banks. In fact, I would have already moved my accounts if it weren’t such a hassle to transfer all those automatic payments. I had the intention to find a better bank one day.

What does my bank account have to do with your law practice? […]

24 12, 2010

3 Inspired Tips for a Happier Holiday

2010-12-24T12:36:23+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

This is a time when we come together with people we love, hoping to share smiles, laughter and warm feelings. Yet despite our best intentions, sometimes things go awry. Maybe we have so many preparations to complete that we get stressed and irritable. Maybe we want all the food, decorations and our clothes to be just right and beautiful, and we get a little rigid or persnickety when someone else has a different vision of what that would look like. Maybe someone does that thing they always do that annoys us so much. This year we can choose to react differently, opening the way to different results.

It is Christmas Eve morning and I woke from a dream of 5 guidelines for enjoying family time during the holidays. Unfortunately I only heard 3 before I woke up, but if I remember to follow these 3, I think that will be enough. I share the strategies with you, along with my interpretations, in hopes that these reminders will help you have the holiday you intend.

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20 08, 2010

3 Ways to Capitalize on a Referral Source Call

2019-02-10T23:15:57+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

Lee Rosen recently blogged about 5 Ways to Mess Up a Referral Source Call. He was talking about how some people make contact with a potential referral source, then start selling themselves and virtually assure that they’ll never get any referrals from that contact.

I commend you to his post as an easy-to-digest reminder of 5 common blunders. They all boil down to being far more interested in getting your message out, than in listening to the other person and finding out how you can help them.

Now that you know what not to do, what can you do to make it more likely that the contact will actually turn into a referral source? That really boils down to 3 basic principles.

1. Find a way to help them with something.

This is the number one way to get more referrals. Studies show that when someone gives us a gift or does us a favor, we have an urge to respond in kind. So make an effort to send them a referral or at least make an introduction that they might benefit from. If you can’t do that right now, is there some information or a resource you can share? Maybe it’s a link to an article that provides an answer to a question or problem they mentioned.

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6 07, 2010

Making Your Criminal Practice More Rewarding

2010-07-06T14:11:09+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Making Your Criminal Practice More Rewarding

“The variety in a criminal law practice keeps it enjoyable. Familiarity at the courthouse makes it fun,” says Austin solo Erik Goodman, who has been board certified in criminal law since 1985. Houston criminal attorney John Parras agrees. “People charged with crimes are wealthy, poor, smart, dumb, funny, eccentric, boring, interesting and mundane. The scenarios that bring them to court are sad, funny, interesting, complicated, simple, stupid, and entertaining,” according to Parras, who has been designated as a Super Lawyer – Rising Star and began his legal career as a law clerk to Michael Tigar and Ron Woods in the Oklahoma City Bombing trial.

Yet many criminal attorneys suffer from stress and burnout. Others struggle to make ends meet. How can you keep your practice manageable, enjoyable and financially successful, too? […]

21 06, 2010

Handy Additions to Your Conflict Resolution Toolbox

2010-06-21T13:04:13+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Handy Additions to Your Conflict Resolution Toolbox

“I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail,” observed the famous psychologist , Abraham Maslow. When it comes to conflict resolution, the only tool that most lawyers get from law school is a hammer.

Hammering your opponent might work in a trial, but it doesn’t create optimal outcomes in a casual disagreement. It doesn’t work very well when your “opponent” is your boss or someone you care about. It doesn’t foster healthy and productive on-going relationships at the office. Hammering the other side and trying to “win” tends to spawn resistance, rigidity, passive-aggressive behavior, escalation or chronic difficulties. Defeating your opponent rarely results in genuine resolution of the issue.

Lacking other tools, ironically, some lawyers avoid confrontation on their own behalf. I know a very effective trial attorney who wouldn’t return a shirt that was the wrong size. Conflict avoiders allow the biggest rainmaker or the loudest bully in the office to control decision-making, without benefit of their valuable input. Meanwhile the law firm experiences low morale, costly turnover, missed opportunities and wasteful mistakes.

To help you become more effective at resolving your own conflicts, as well as at helping clients resolve theirs, here’s a brief primer on a few techniques to add to your tool box. […]

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