Posts made in October, 2008

Legal Research, Virtually

Posted by Laurie on Oct 16, 2008 in Legal Practice, paralegal, virtual legal assistance | Comments Off

I love working as a virtual assistant, but there are things I miss from my days in a law office environment.  One of these is the legal research I was sometimes able to assist with.  For me, it was a really fascinating aspect of my job.  Probably partly because I enjoy reading so much that I happily read anything and everything. I also enjoy puzzles and solving things, so reading caselaw to find the nuggets of information that could help or hurt our case was a very rewarding task.

Of course as a virtual assistant I can still do legal research.  I can access online legal databases like CanLii or NexisLexis.  I can search through decisions on some of the court sites (like the Supreme Court decisions). I just need someone who wants me to do it for them!  I even would enjoy going to the law library if the need ever arises.

Tuesday Time Tip

Posted by Laurie on Oct 14, 2008 in Home Office, Time Saving Tips | Comments Off

Ok, it’s a little late in the day (guess I need some time management help today!) but here it is, this week’s time tip!

BUY IN BULK

Yes, this tip is still business oriented! When you need office supplies, buy as many as you can afford.  Stock up on printer cartridges or post-it notes or even just your office coffee beans!  The fewer trips you make to the store the more time you have to focus on your work.  I know that it’s easy to allow “important” things to distract us.  I mean, who can go without coffee when they’re tired at 2pm (or a slurpee if you’re my BFF)?  If you run out of a supply that’s a necessity you’ll end up heading to the store and you may never find your focus again that day.  So buy in bulk and save time!

Twitter Marketing for Lawyers

Posted by Laurie on Oct 13, 2008 in blogging, networking | 1 comment

Thanks to @moanderlawfirm I read this interesting article in the Wisconsin Law Journal (written by a new Twitterer @janepribek).  It’s got a nice description of setting yourself up on Twitter and shares info from Chris Moander about how using Twitter has helped his solo law practice. He’s gained clients and done plenty of networking.  I’ve also gained clients from Twitter and have to say Twitter is a fabulous networking tool in my opinion.

I also need to point out though that I don’t agree with Chris’s suggestion in the article that you weed out people who “discuss weeding their gardens”. I like to hear the personal and business stuff. Actually, the only people I unfollow are ones who are TOO business oriented and clearly only there to self-market.  Twitter really is a conversation.  I want to hear about your kids, terrible traffic and even your garden!! I like a real mix – and I get it on Twitter!  Otherwise I’d say stick to regular blogging, then you don’t have to interact if you prefer not to, just spout your own message. The best networking contacts for me have been ones I can establish something in common with (maybe even a love of gardening).

I’d love to hear from any of you? Do you use Twitter for marketing, networking, just personally? Which types of Twitter people do you follow or unfollow?

That’s it for now, tweet you later!! Oh and make sure you follow me @halosecretarial!

Fresh Focus

Posted by Laurie on Oct 9, 2008 in blogging | Comments Off

I was pleased to be asked a little while back to provide a guest post for Kris over at Fresh Focus.  My guest post on Backup Plans went up yesterday and I hope you go over there to check it out.  Not to mention check out some of the other good stuff featured at Fresh Focus – it’s a great blog!

Tuesday Time Tip

Posted by Laurie on Oct 7, 2008 in Time Saving Tips | Comments Off

This week’s Tuesday Time Tip is inspired by this article over at MSNBC.com.

Touch mail only once (yes that means email too!!)

It’s so easy to look through our mail and take a “quick peek”.  It’s even easier to glance at our inbox to see what’s coming in and how full it’s getting.  But we should resist the temptation and instead choose 1-3 times per day to sit down and truly manage our email.  What should we just respond to right now? What should we delegate? What should we just delete because we’re never going to have time to actually read it anyway? What can be archived for future reference?

I work really hard at keeping my inbox clutter-free.  It means that I don’t waste time re-reading emails and more importantly, critical deadlines don’t get missed because I didn’t have time to actually read all of my mail. Same with the “paper” mail (not that I get much of that thankfully!)  Bills are immediately put into their proper place to await payment and invitations are promptly responded to.  Junk mail promptly is delivered to the recycling bag!

So don’t be tempted to look at your mail until you have time to actually work through it.  You’ll be glad you waited!!