The Legal Hokey-Pokey

It’s been a conscious decision from the day I started working at Summit Law Group (August 29, 2005, but who’s counting) that I would become Summit’s second CLM.  Knowing very well, that it would take me another 3.5 years to qualify as a “Functional Specialist” (someone who works in a specific function at a law firm, in my case I am the Accounting Manager having only oversight of the firm’s financial activity, this is opposed to an “Overall Administrator”).  The qualifications for a Functional Specialist are a bit more stringent than those of an Overall Administrator.  First off, you need five years in a managerial role.  Secondly, BEYOND the 120 minutes of certified course work in five of the nine areas of study over a 24 month period prior to applying for the exam, you ALSO needed 15 ADDITIONAL HOURS of certified course study outside of your own functional specialty.  The understood reasoning for the additional hours requirement is because, as a functional specialist you do not have responsibility and thus perhaps knowledge in all the areas of the law firm’s operations, even if you could sit for and pass the exam.

Knowing all this, it was apparent that any functional specialist seeking the Certified Legal Manager designation would need to exert a higher level of dedication and discipline to achieve this already very high standard for professional certification.

What I didn’t initially realize during my initial preparations was how much support and encouragement, education, mentoring, and cheer leading it would take for me to go from Certifiable to Certified!

Over the first two years of my employment at Summit, Marc G. Reynolds, CLM sat with me on many occasions to discuss the certification, the process, the educational requirements, his journey through the process, the trials others went through, the idea that many people hide the fact that they are taking the exam simply to save embarrassment if they should fail, and so on and so forth.  There was much to discuss and much to prepare for.  These discussions led me to offer complete transparency of the challenges I would be facing over the upcoming years.  Almost immediately, I began sharing with colleagues in PSALA that in May 2009 I would be sitting for the CLM.  Keep in mind, that this is 2005 still!  I couldn’t even start compiling my educational requirements for another two years, but yet, I was already putting myself and my dedication out there knowing very well, that if I placed this standard on myself, then others around me would encourage and help me along the way.

So we skip forward to October 2007.  I attend the Region 5 conference in Portland, OR and receive my first few CLM qualified hours of course work!!  How exciting!  I didn’t even realize it.  (Keeping in mind it was also at this conference where I met Wendy Rice-Isaacs, President of ALA International, and told her, “I”m going to be President someday too”.  To which she relied, “Oh, of your chapter?” and I said, “No! Of all ALA, just like you!”  What was I thinking?  Anyway, let’s hope I’m writing about that journey at another time.)

Next big step in the journey was attending the International Conference the following spring which happened to be in Seattle in May 2008.  Just prior to this conference I started back tracking through my legal course work and started documenting all of the sessions I attended in Portland as well as any chapter education that would qualify for certification.  Then, when the Annual Conference Educational Brochure was released I very delicately scoured the educational sessions for EVERY single CLM certified course to determine if I would reach all my educational needs by the end of the conference.  To my amazement, if I attended all the CLM sessions during the 2008 conference I was going to have more than 80% of my course work already completed, with still another year to complete the remaining educational requirements before sitting for the exam in May 2009.  WOW!

My next step was the PSALA CLM Study Group.  Beginning on October 1, 2008 members of our chapter’s elite compiled courses covering all the essential “areas of competence” for legal administrators.  These courses would be conducted every other Wednesday from 3:30-5PM until APRIL!  WOW!  We were so lucky to have such an amazing group of dedicated and specialized knowledge in our chapter.  And although I didn’t need to document this coursework into my criteria for certification, it was absolutely critical to my ultimate success.  After all, JUST simply being a manager for 5 years and receiving the prerequisite course work was simply NOT enough to pass the exam.  You needed a true and thorough knowledge of ALL areas of law firm operations.

The very first CLM Study Group meeting was a bit intimidating.  Even though I had discussed the exam and processes quite extensively with Marc G. Reynolds, CLM over the past few years, it was quite intimidating to hear that Carol Anne Nitsche, CLM had actually read THE Financial Management for Law Firms reference book three times, cover to cover.  This monstrous book was 500+ pages of formulas and finance theory all based around law firm performance standards.  OMG… There was no way I was going to have that much dedication.  Is that what it really took?  It was at that moment that I severely regretted having told EVERYONE that I was definitely going to sit for AND PASS that exam in May 2009.  Thank goodness, no other prior CLM’s at this meeting had gone to quite that length.

Skipping forward to January 2009, I submitted my certified educational listing to ALA Headquarters to “certify” that I could in fact sit for the exam in May.  I submitted my payment and application then… I found out that they wouldn’t schedule me to sit for the exam.  Well, not until February 2009 when I actually hit my 5 year mark!  PHEW!  I have to say, I was a bit panicked when I got the phone call saying “We received your application and your payment, but we can’t send you a confirmation letter just yet”.  But alas, in late February I received my certification letter telling me that I officially qualified to sit for the Certified Legal Manager exam on Sunday, May 17, 2009 from 8AM-12PM in New Orleans, LA.  YES!  SUCCESS!  Well, not yet, but I was so close!!!

Over the next few months, I spent 3-4 nights per week reading through all my study materials from the CLM Study Group, as well as the CLM Study Guide.  It seemed like the more I read and the more I studied the more confusing all the information got!  But, I made it through all the materials.  I was as prepared as I could be.

Fast forward to the morning of May 17, Barb Paige and I met for breakfast at 6:30AM to make a final study run and to fuel up for the 4 hour mental marathon!  But… both of us were exhausted!  Many of our friends went out on Saturday night while we stayed in to study, while we stayed in to be well rested and un-hungover.  So, that solemn morning we sat there at breakfast, ate quietly, and expressed how nervous we were to take that LONG escalator ride up to the third floor of the Marriott Hotel.

When we arrived at the exam room at 7:30, we were the FIRST people there.  The doors weren’t even open yet.  Just moments later, one of the ALA staffers bursts through the doors perky and happy and praising us for arriving first and SO excited that we were sitting for the exam (the other ALA staffer seemed just as exhausted as we were and fortunately shared our lack of enthusiasm at such an early hour).

Over the next half hour each of the other 30 or so exam participants trickled into the room, each one taking a seat at their individual tables, the rules were explained and off we went!  I read through the exam once marking all the answers I knew instinctively, setting aside all the questions that I would need to “process” more thoroughly for later on.  This took me about an hour to go through the 125 questions.  Next I went back through to process the approximate 1/3 of the questions that required some evaluation or at least a coin flip approach.  That took another hour.  It was now 10AM and I had all the answers circled in my exam booklet.  Last step was to transfer the answers from the booklet to the answer sheet.  That took another 40 minutes as I still re-read every question as I transferred the answers from the booklet to the answer sheet.  10:40… and I was done?  Just moments before that I saw one gentleman turn in his materials and leave, but that meant I was number 2 to finish?  That couldn’t be a good sign, so I started going through my booklet again…. hold on, I had done my best.  I promised myself that I would not beat myself to death and risk changing perfectly good answers!  So, I took a deep breath, picked up my exam and took the walk of shame to the “hall monitor” at the front of the room, went back, gathered my personal belongings and out the door I went, knowing it would be “6-8 weeks” before I knew the results.

The conference was amazing, blah blah blah.  The only thing I could think about was that exam, the individual questions that seemed crazy, the results of that exam, and what it would mean for my future.  Trying to picture my new email signature “Richard L. Wood, CLM”.

Four weeks passed, I’m sitting in my office.  It’s about 11:15AM and Marc G. Reynolds, CLM walks into my office holding one single envelope.  This envelop is handed over to me.  It hasn’t been opened.  It says “Association of Legal Administrators” on the outside.  My heart races!  Why did he do this to me?  He intercepted my exam results and now had brought the letter to me and expected me to open it in front of him.  What if I failed???

I slowly tear open the letter… “We are sorry to inform you that you did NOT PASS the Certified Legal Manager exam.”  My heart sunk.  I looked up at Marc G. Reynolds, CLM and said, “I didn’t get it”.  Together we went over the very vague scoring results to see where my weaknesses were.  Come to find out, I was actually pretty good in finance… but not so good in ALL the other areas, just BARELY not passing each of the other areas of the exam.

Now what?  The Region 5 Conference was going to be in lovely Banff, just outside Calgary up in Canada and would not be an exam site for the fall.  So, the only next chance I would have to retake the exam would be in Las Vegas the week after the Region 5 Conference.  Would I have to go through ALL that study prep AGAIN?  What if I failed AGAIN?  What would be next for me?  Was it supposed to be a sign that I shouldn’t even be in legal?  All of these questions pounded in my head for two months.

Then I sucked in my ample stomach and said, “I’m going for it.  I’ve already put in SO much effort.  I can do this!”  So, once again I was on the studious path preparing for the exam retake in Las Vegas, NV on October 8th at 1-5pm.

I decided to skip the Region 5 conference in Banff assuming I would be spending that weekend studying intensely for the exam.

I won’t drag you through the play by play again, except for a few minor steps.  I arrived in Vegas on the evening of October 7, got up early on the 8th and went to the spa for a full body Shiatsu massage, had lunch and went to the exam.  I was VERY relaxed.  I had been through this before and decided there was no need to be nervous.  I already knew what to expect, except this time I wasn’t expecting a failure notice!  Once again, I had finished the exam in less than three hours, then RUSHED to the airport to catch my 5:30 flight back to Seattle.

Once I get back to my office four weeks pass and I am contemplating my entire future based around the results of this exam.  I couldn’t let Marc G. Reynolds, CLM down again.  We’re peers.  He’s put a lot of effort into preparing me for this exam, preparing me for a bright future in Legal Administration, building me up to our peers inside and outside our firm.  What if I failed again?  Should I just leave?  Should I change careers?  I was heart broken at the idea of leaving, but very worried about the consequences of proving my own incompetence.

Again, four weeks passes, this time I grab the letter out of my mail box.  I open it… “Congratulations!  You have PASSED the Certified Legal Manager Exam!!”  Tears welled up in my eyes, not quite spilling over the dam.  I literally RAN to Marc G. Reynolds, CLM’s office and tossed the letter on his desk, “I PASSED!!!”  To which, Marc G. Reynolds, CLM replied, “Congratulations Richard L. Wood, CLM”.  I was the 7th PSALA chapter member to become a Certified Legal Manager and number 312 in the United States.  It was a very proud, yet humbling moment in my life.

I hope I’ve given you an idea of the risks and rewards of the journey through the CLM process.  Would I do it again?  Would I have told everyone that I was going to sit for the exam?  Would I sit for the exam knowing I would fail the first time?  Would I sit for the exam a SECOND time knowing in my heart of hearts that my life and career were going to changer regardless of the results?  I would.

Out of this intense process blossomed a new Certified Legal Manager.  A designation currently reserved for only 312 of our 10,000+ membership.  It’s not only a moment of pride for pride’s sake.  It’s an accomplishment of a thorough and well balanced education.  Even though the exam seemed like the “be all and end all”, looking back at the process, I learned so many new skills and developed a whole new understanding and respect for the AMAZING industry that I’m thrilled to be a leader in, Legal Administration.

If you’d like more information about the CLM process, the exam or my experience, please feel free to email me, Richard L. Wood, CLM at RichardW@SummitLaw.com.

Thanks to my dear friend Evelyn for sharing this with me yesterday:

This internet business was featured in a television news story yesterday evening.  It is quite frightening for those of us who assume that resumes would actually reflect the true history and qualifications of the applicant:

http://careerexcuse.com/

Our employment verification process takes the frustration out of your job search and eliminates annoying blots on your resume. We realize the pressure you face trying to find a job or start a new career. Based on many years of HR experience, our job reference services can help you land that job by providing you with outstanding job references for you to add on your resume, and answer any inquiries with a positive response..  Read more on How-it-Works

Why Choose CareerExcuse.com?

• You Choose Your Career History!
• You Pick Your Start and End Date!
• You Choose your Salary!
• We Provide a Real Company Just for You!
• We Provide a Real Address For That Company!
• We  Provide a Real Website For That Company!
• We  Provide a Real “800″ Phone Number!
• We Will Have our Operators Standing By!

Just one more thing to watch for when doing reference checks.  Evelyn

Here’s the ABC News Story: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/fake-job-references-real-jobs/story?id=8401993

First off, let me just say that I’m a Verizon junky.  I love Verizon.  They DO have a Map for That!  Great service, great devices (I have the BlackBerry Storm2) and reliable connections and speeds.  That’s my disclaimer!  (I hate AT&T, dislike T-Mobile and have never really thought much about Sprint except that they run on the “same” network technology as Verizon, just not as thorough of service coverage).

On December 8th I went to the Social Media Club Seattle event on the Microsoft campus.  Well, there was an “after party” sponsored by Spring 4G.  I’ve never been much of a Sprint guy, but thought I’d go and check it out anyway.  I’ve heard some good things about 4G WiMax and really wanted to see what it was really like.  That evening they had a 6 computer work station setup with Sprint U300 4G dongles (aircards that plug into your USB port) and I could not believe it when I did a speed test (the first and only thing I went directly to do) and saw it clock at 3.2 Mbps.  At the time I was told that was “a bit slow” by the Sprint rep, since apparently “good” signal strength can yield around 7-9 Mbps!!  That’s INSANE!  That’s 2x-3x faster than my home cable internet service… and it’s over the air!!  So, fascinated by the speed I experienced, I introduced myself to Jon (District Sales Manager) (@WSthHouse)and David (Store Manager at Northgate Way) (@Bonjour206).  These two are amazing guys.  Very nice, very straight shooting all around fun to hang out with.

So, I kept up twitter conversations with the two of them and a few days later David came to a #ColdPavement event in Belltown to hang out and so I could pick his brain some more.  I was basically digging for the weaknesses of 4G.  I did find out that some buildings do have penetration issues, so in those situations you’ll really need to be closer to windows (not so appealing an idea).  Other than that I couldn’t tell what the downsides could be since the service is only $59.99 a month (and completely mobile, unlike my home service).

After some thought of the subsequent days I decided that Friday night (last night) I’d take the plunge, go to the Sprint Northgate Way store and grab me some 4G.  Why not?  I’m going to be temporarily moving into a rental condo (I own it, but it’s been rented out over the past three years) and I don’t want to sign up for TV, telephone and internet while I’m trying to sell the unit.  So, this three inch dongle (three inches of speedy joy) could make that situation a lot nicer.

HOWEVER, Friday afternoon I discovered online through several different forums that the U300 has been having driver issues with Windows 7!  Ot oh!  I have Windows 7 on my laptop! YIKES!  I shot David a text message asking what his proposed work around would be… “No problem, a new update software update was released on Dec 14 with Windows 7 drivers.  You’ll be fine!”  Phew!  Saved the day!  Just when I thought I’d have to drop the whole thing, David rushes to the resque.

So, I get to the store around 5:30pm.  David is with a customer.  One of his sales monkeys RUNS over to ask, “Hey! How can I help you guys today?” (I brought my friend Josh with me, @JoshITGuy since he’s an IT Consultant and pretty savvy on networking and computer stuff)  I just told him that we were waiting for David and would browse while we waited.  Keep in mind Josh is also a Sprint junky.  Has been with Sprint for a long time (albeit one minor blip when he jumped ship to AT&T for an iPhone only to find out that AT&T sucks… that didn’t last long fortunately).  So, of course while “we” are browsing Josh is drooling over the BlackBerry Tour on display (with a dead battery unfortunately) and frantically wondering if David will be able to upgrade his soon to be obsolete 8330 to the shiny new Tour!

So, after about 15 minutes of wait for David to finish up with a customer (found out later he had been on a customer support call for a customer for 1 hour 10 minutes), he came over and we started the process.  He took us to the display and started showing us around the speed tests and all that, but I stopped him to say I’d already gone through it and had already made up my mind.  David ran into the back room and came out with a shiny black box that had my new toy inside.   Amazingly helpful, he says, “Well, this could take a few minutes to get setup because I’ll have to activate it and there’s a ‘Welcome’ message on there that I’ll have to get removed.  For some reason, just like with our phones, Sprint puts a welcome message on the aircards.  This doesn’t affect the 3G cards, but for some reason it prevents the 4G card from connecting and can be problematic if I don’t take care of it before you leave.” (WOW, it takes guts to admit that there’s a glitch in the system, even if you know how to get it resolved).  So he takes 15-20 minutes on the phone with a support rep to get this all taken care of, he says things are working fine.  But, I had my Windows 7 laptop WITH me.  (Smart cookie I am… make him get the software and make sure it’s working before I leave the store.)  So, he tells us that the software will take a little time to download and install.

So, while the download and install is taking place the three of us run out to grab a quick bite to eat and return to my laptop within the hour to have pristine Windows 7 compatible software on my laptop.  We walk in, install the software and within 15 minutes we’re connected to 4G and smokin the interwebs!

Oh, did I mention that while David was working with the customer support on the phone he was setting up my friend Josh with his new BlackBerry Tour?  Yeah, miracle worker!  He was able to get Josh’s renew date bumped by a few days to have him walking out with a powerful new BlackBerry Tour… all while on hold for my “Welcome Message” issue.

So, I got back late last night to the house I’m staying at on the top of Queen Anne hill in Seattle, immediately cranked up my laptop and plugged in the dongle.  Immediately went to the Speakeasy Speed Test site, fired it up, hit test… ONLY 1.8Mbps.  I was devastated (and very tired).

This morning I woke up, went down to the laptop again, did the speed test three times: 2.8Mbps, 3.4Mbps, and 3.8Mbps!  WOW!  Holy smokes Batman!  I’m stoked!

(In the image above, the Green number is my tested download speed and the Red number is my tested upload speed)

So, after a thrilling customer service experience with David and a great (and fast) experience with Sprint 4G, I’m a happy boy!

Did I mention that I’m happy?  Just want to be sure you understand that.

So, just as a disclaimer, Sprint 4G is not all that widespread yet.  It does cover most of the “I-5 corridor” from Bellingham down through Lakewood (just south of Tacoma) according to the service maps.  And it’s in a few other markets around the country.  But if you have this service and this dongle, it also does connect to their 3G data service too (although seems much slower in comparison now that I’m spoiled).  Take a stroll over to the Sprint Coverage Maps to see if their 4G service is in your market yet.

Good luck and happy surfing!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention the efforts that my dear friend Brian Westbrook put into making the Spring 4G “SMC After Dark” party work out flawlessly!  Great job Brian!

Just in case you haven’t seen the Stephen Colbert “The Word – Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.  Very funny!

I’m often asked how I could POSSIBLY manage to keep up with the constant stream of tweets from SO many followers (I don’t have nearly as many followers as many of my friends, but compared to others, 2700 is a lot).

Here’s my top 10 list of actions, applications and websites that will help you be more productive and keep on top of the Madness.

1. TweetDeck – You have to get this.  You have to learn how to use it.  It will change how you look at Twitter.  A couple months ago I put together a “Video: Intro to TweetDeck” (program has been updated since my video blog, but still very similar).  It’s quite a simple program, but what I love most about it is that I can categorize all the different followers into different columns.  So, I’ll have “Friends” in one column, “Legal Tweeps” in another, and “Seattle folks” in a third column.  I’ll also have one column dedicated to @replies, DM’s and one for my Facebook stream.  With all this you can now see everything spread out on one screen.
2. Upload a picture to your Twitter profile – I’ve actually heard some friends say they refuse to follow someone who doesn’t bother to change from the default image.  If you don’t like the idea of it being a picture of you, get one of your dog or a tree.  Anything but the default twitter image!  People will respect you more.    While you’re at it, make sure to add your real name, your location and a bio.  Also, for a web link use your LinkedIN page if you don’t have a blog or website to direct folks to! 
3. Get involved in your local Social Media Community – in Seattle we have the Social Media Club Seattle (a/k/a SMC Seattle) and you can also find events going on locally at twtvite.  Why bother with Twitter if you’re not going to use it to it’s advantages?  Turn those online relationships into real ones!  If you have a hard time finding people to follow, go to an event and meet some folks.  It will energize you to get involved.
4. Find Followers – Using websites like wefollow will help you find twitter followers in topic areas you might be interested in.  If you work in Legal (as a lawyer or otherwise) you can check out LexTweet (operated by LexBlog).  There are TONS of other websites out there to help you find followers.  Plus your friends will likely participate in #FollowFriday (#FF) where they recommend people to follow!  This is a great way to for you to find like-minded people.
5. Tweet on the Go! If you use a “Smartphone” there are lots of options for reading and sending Tweets on the Go.  For iPhone, a must have app is Tweetie (that’s the extend of my iPhone knowledge).  For BlackBerry I would suggest SocialScope, IF you get it.  It’s been in closed beta since January of 2009, I have hope it’ll be released to the general public soon.  Otherwise Ubertwitter is a great alternative.
6. Tweeting Articles – Some folks live on Twitter simply to share and read articles that they love!  One easy way I do that is by using Viigo on my BlackBerry.  Every morning when I’m on the bus I’m constantly reading articles from news papers and blogs.  Using Viigo with just two clicks I’ve submitted the article to Twitter.  Very simple.  Also, if you’re reading a blog you might notice that beside each article you see a Share This button or a Twitter/Facebook button.  USE THEM!  Tell your following you’ve found something they might be interested in!  (TweetDeck has URL shrinking build in.  So if you paste a long URL address it will shrink the address for you)
7. Re-Tweeting – Want to get someone’s attention? When you see something that someone has sent out and want to share it with your followers you “re-tweet” it.  On TweetDeck that’s a specific command.  You’ll know retweets because they start with “RT”.  When you RT someone’s tweet it tells them you like what they’ve circulated.  Some even take the time to thank folks personally for RTing their tweets.  This is a great way to increase your social profile. (Found this Re-tweet Etiquette very interesting)
8. Sharing Twitter Responsibilities – If you have a Twitter account for your company, organization or non-profit you should consider sharing the Twitter responsibilities with others.  One very popular and EASY way to do that is to use a site called CoTweet. Here you can both send out tweets from your organization OR from your personal account.  You can also assign specific people to reply to specific tweets.  This takes the burden off of one single participant and allows others to get involved.
9. Read Trust Agents!  If you want to feel part of the Social Media community and really be able to best “take advantage” of the relationships you build, Trust Agents, by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, is a fun and very helpful read.  I recently wrote a review of the book “Review: Trust Agents“.
10. Distributing Your Twitter Handle – First off, DON’T protect your Twitter profile.  It’s just dumb.  If you don’t want certain people to see what you say, then either Twitter isn’t for you OR you shouldn’t say “it” to begin with.  Next, I put a little clear sticker on the back of my normal business cards that have my Twitter handle on it and my blog URL.  This allows me to give folks that info when doing a traditional business card exchange.

BONUS: Be a person, not a company.  People want to connect with People, not companies.  It might feel nicer for you to be more anonymous as “XYZ Corporation”, but you’ll end up just that, anonymous.  People usually hate following companies and are generally suspicious of companies who follow them.

OK, that offically wraps up my rendition of “Top 10 Twitter Tips”.  Hope you find them helpful.  Drop me a line anytime.  I love interacting with folks.

Tweet ya later!!!

First off, I believe this book is well intentioned for corporate folks who have large organizations begging them to understand what this “whole social media thing” is all about.  It’s very appealing to this audience for a few reasons.  1) The methodical approach to much of the first 2/3 of the book are getting folks to understand the statistical value of target markets relating to technology, referred to as “Technographics”.  This approach could be very helpful to folks who need statistics to prove anything to someone else.  2) Lots of large companies are used in the Case Study examples.  Again, I believe this approach gives anyone who works in what they believe is a “stodgy corporate environment” hope that their organization too can overcome the fears of innovation.

My biggest concern about this book is that it really seems more as a sales pitch for consulting company where the authors work, Forrester Research.  This really puts me off, but alas, there were lots of gems gleaned in these pages.

This book couldn’t be further opposite of “Trust Agents” if it tried.  They only really have one thing in common and that is “people connect to people”.  I repeat, “People connect to People!”

Although I like the idea that they have a winning step by step approach for entering the Groundswell (the large uprising of customers voicing opinions and blogs about you online where you have no control), but I also worry that issuing a step by step approach to a crowd who are likely reading this book because they don’t know where to start, is like telling someone how to build a watch when they ask for the time.

The one missing message of this book was “just try it”.  Especially if you are in a much smaller environment (and I’ll bet you are) than the examples of companies given in the book.  In the legal administrator ranks we have a term called “Paralysis by Analysis” and it’s exactly what it sounds like.  People and companies will continue to put off the inevitable by over analyzing the circumstances or waiting for one more example of what can go wrong.

I don’t believe this book gives you everything you need to start a complex groundswell engagement if you’re a large company, but after all now you know that Forrester Research has the capacity and technical skills to help you over analyze the situation of your customer base and determine exactly what direction you need to go in.

I found it absurd to state things like, “This solution only cost the company $280,000 to start and maintenance is only $25,000 per month.”  Statements like that help me fully understand that Forrester is targeting much larger fish than me or my firm!  LOL

Don’t get me wrong, I did like the book, but just having finished Trust Agents (a very feel-good and personal book), the writing style and approach from a corporate formula approach just hit me wrong.

I think it was mis-titled.  Should have been “Groundswell: How your Fortune 500 Company will be Transformed by Social Technologies”

(This was my second Kindle book completed, but this one I started and finished on my new International Kindle 2! Much nicer to read on!)

Trust Agents is written by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

First off, this was the first book I read “cover to cover” on my Kindle 1 (Kindle gifted to me by my good friend Devri Owen).   As for my Kindle experience, I think more time should have been spent by the publisher to ensure proper formatting of the Kindle version.  It appeared that much of the book was “centered” with the exception of some excerpts which had a significant left indent, leaving 1/3 of the left side of the page blank, which you couldn’t entirely understand why in the Kindle.

So, about the book and content.  I loved it.  But I’m heavily involved already in Social Media.  So, because of the amazing relationships I’ve already built using Social Media, I felt this book perfectly worded my experience.  Of course I’m going to love a book that expresses my own experience. 

The big thing about this book for me was simply explaining that it didn’t matter what online tool you were using (twitter, Facebook, etc.), this book is about connect with people using these tools.  It’s about building relationships and becoming a Trust Agent.

One of my favorite messages in the book refers to the “One of Us” mentality. “One of Us” refers to the group of social media fanatics which, if you operate by the methods explained in the book, you get to become “One of Us” and accepted into the inner circle.  Once in the inner circle, you have new social responsibilities.  Perhaps more importantly for this message was that instead of being seen as another corporate sales person you’re “One of Us” by contributing to the overall success of everyone participating.  You connect with people for the sake of helping them accomplish what they need, instead of just reaching out to accomplish the sales needs of your company.

What I loved most about the book was the writing style.  I love reading blogs because people talk like people and not like corporate types.  That’s how this book was written.  It’s written in a very casual blog style.  Writing in this style helps the reader personally identify with the writers.

I work in the legal field (Accounting Manager for Summit Law Group).  So, as you may not know, trying new things in the legal field is very suspect to those around you.  Especially when you operate by the “Trust Agent” standards of just meeting people, trying to connect with them, helping them out with things, all while not forcing your own business down their throat.  So, I am often asked how my social media involvement helps my firm (usually by those outside my firm).  I often have to explain that I love helping people connect with others.  I’ve met HUNDREDS of the people that I tweet with and those folks I consider good friends.  I know that if/when they need legal services they will contact me to see if I know of someone (inside my organization or other) who can help them with their issues.  They contact me for a few different reasons.  MOSTLY because I’ve built a “One of Us” relationship with them where they feel I’m a friend and can be trusted for such a reference.  Although I have hundreds of Social Media contacts, I have even MORE contacts in the local legal community and will work very hard to help them find the counsel they need to solve their issue.

If you are already using Twitter (in specific, although Chris and Julien avoid specifying the online tools), this book will help you enhance relationships on Twitter.  It’s excellent at reminding you that people connect with people, not businesses.  A business who is involved with Social Media will never be a trust agent (my words not theirs).  A business might be a source of information.  But people connect with people.

I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.

If you have a Kindle, pick up this book here at Amazon.com or you can buy the hard-copy book also at Amazon.com

Today Doctor of Blogging for Lawyers Kevin O’Keefe posts his newest blog entry “Companies and law firms blocking use of social media : Insanity is rampant“.  And even though the author of the statistics posts a correction to Kevin’s blog, the results are quite amazing!

You have to take a look!

Was that title confusing? At first I wrote “Political Statement to Follow”, but then decided political statements generally DO require apologies on blogs where they are COMPLETELY off topic, but I think every blog should dedicate a bit of space to human rights, feeding hungry children, fighting world malaria, and LOTS more worthy causes.

So, I’m gay.  I’m pretty sure I’ve covered this in previous posts.  My partner and I have been together for 9.5 years.  Earlier this spring the Washington State Senate, House of Representatives, and Governor Christine Gregoire signed part 3 of the Domestic Partnership Rights.  This last part is casually known as the “Everything but Marriage” bill.  Normally, that would have meant that it would go into law 90 days after signed by the Governor.  However, a group of concerned citizens gathered enough voter signatures forcing the bill to go to a public vote in November.  So, you’ll be hearing more about Referendum 71.  In order for the original bill, passed by our state legislators and governor, the citizens must vote APPROVE.

So, blah blah blah… let’s put this really simple.  There are a handful of VERY important rights for domestic partners (gay couples and heterosexual couples with one partner over 62, it’s NOT just a gay thing):

1. Death benefits for partners of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty – currently, they are simply abandoned by the government to not only mourn, but also to fend for themselves.
2. Right to use sick leave to care for a seriously ill partner – doesn’t this sound like a basic right? Currently, I can’t take sick leave to take care of my ailing partner??? Crazy.
3. Pension benefits for partners of teachers and other public employees – similar to the death benefit for police and firefighters, currently any state pension can’t be passed on to a domestic partner.
4. Victim’s rights – I’m a little unclear about this one.  Please leave your comments to help me understand this one.
5. Right to workers’ compensation benefits if a partner is killed in the course of employment – I had never considered this point in the past.  I had never realized that if I were killed at work, my partner would receive nothing.  But if a straight married colleague lost her life while at work, workers’ comp would pay benefits to her husband.

Anyway, hope this helps clarify some of the issues.  I was warned that I would get emotional about this topic, but I think it’s worth expressing the reality of the situation.

PLEASE give me some feedback here.  Particularly on the Victim’s Rights issue.  And, I really want to hear some sort of legitimate opposing views.  All I’ve heard so far is the same lies that were spread in California about Prop. 8 that “this bill would force schools to teach homosexuality”… whatever that means!  Got a valid argument? Do share!

In the not so distant past we’ve all heard LOTS of controversy about the Lawyer Rating website called Avvo.

I had a wonderful and unique chance to sit and chat with Avvo Founder & CEO, Mark Britton, tonight at the Seattle Legal Bloggers & Twits Tweetup. Regardless of how your initial reaction is to Avvo, you really can’t help but like Mark. He’s a brilliant guy with a very impressive history of formulaic innovation.

I just want to spend a couple lines to tell you some of the highlights of what I learned about Avvo tonight. If you’re a lawyer please take this advice directly to www.avvo.com and update your profile!

1) “Avvo scores resumes” – In Mark’s words whenever any one of us is hirings someone we scan their resume and place higher or lower value to different sections. Through the use of outside consultants, test groups of hundreds of lawyers, thousands of consumer testers, and some complicated programmers they do they same thing, except instead of just a general idea of whether or not someone is a worthy candidate they place a score on the head of the player. That score can be aided, it’s constantly fluctuating based on the age and influential value of each entry.

2) “You generally get what you deserve” – MY words, not Marks. If Avvo scanned your website to create your preliminary score and you want to complain instead of claiming your profile and modifying and WORKING for a better, more accurate score them you get out of it exact what you’ve put in… Generally only complaints!

3) “Avvo helps lawyers understand what well-rounded marketing is” – Again, my words, but influenced by my conversation with Mr. Avvo. The more experienced a lawyer is, naturally the higher the score. But just like in life, “experience” and credibility for experience don’t just get marked on the calendar as you get older. There are important milestones that tell us, and others, when we’ve reached high points and low. And sometimes it’s the balance of LOTS of points that give you a synergistic score. Years (1 point) + AV Rating (2 points) + pos Client Review (1point) might individually total 4, but in a complex mathematical world that is Avvo that score might equal 6! Synergistic scoring (my term not Mark’s). All good things add up to more good things. If you think you have enough good things, just add a few more. Have something bad? Bad review? There are ways to counter it. Look at the options. If all else fails find more good to add!

4) Got questions about how Avvo works? JUST ask Mark! Mark@avvo.com. He says he’s always accessible. I don’t suggest only sending hate mail. I would suggest putting together real questions about how to increase your score… But please claim your profile and do a TAD bit of homework before simply complaining about what you heard about Joe Schmoe and his score. Mark and his Avvo team do TONS of educational events, webinars and meetings. Take a couple hours and learn this tool that is revolutionizing lawyer ratings.

Even before meeting Mr. Avvo tonight I’ve been an Avvo fan. I’m usually a fan of folks who want to do things a little differently. Way to go Mark!

That’s it for now. That’s my bus blog entry for this evening (yes, BlackBerry + New Wordpress Blog App + Time to Kill = Good Times!!)

I feel pretty well connected into Social Media, but that doesn’t mean I’m an expert… by anyone’s imagination!

However, I was talking with my good friends up a DerekMedia today, Derek Johnson & Andrew Dumont, about further developing Summit Law Group’s social media presence. This is a really tough topic for me since I’ve been doing it all up til now and I was curious about what an outside company might be able to offer insofar as changing up my own approach and “strategy” (if that’s what you can call my shot gun approach). Are there better and more practical methods that I’m not employing? LIKELY!

DerekMedia is likely a great solution for a firm like mine. First off, they are a customer and it always feels good to give business back to customers! Secondly, they have an edginess about them that I absolutely LOVE! They aren’t willing to sit idly by while the world revolves around them in the same old way it always has. They want to challenge the direction of the revolution!

Anyway, so the dilemma is: I’ve been doing all the Summit social media activity for a fair amount of time now getting things off the ground. And in the local legal community I am held in fairly high regard for innovation and approach on these issues. However, what is enough? When’s it time to say, “Yes I can, but should I? Is this the best use of my time and skill? Is there someone else who is more effective and/or efficient?” My ego says, “HELL NO! You rock!” But my intuition says, “Richard, relax. You can still ‘do’ it even if you out-house to Derek’s posse!”

Anyway, so now comes the discussion of ROI and budget and all that. But before I can touch that topic, I have to convince myself and develop convincing arguments that assistance is needed and desired.

Until next time, In-House or Out-House, help me decide!

This lovely story was just circulated by one of Summit’s lawyers who recently joined the firm. Enjoy!

I love how much is being discussed in regard to “Alternative Billing” in the legal community right now. However, for most folks “Alternative Billing” just means Fixed Fee or Flat Fee Project billing. There ARE alternatives to these “alternatives”!

First off, I know there are very complex fixed fee arrangements that exist for litigation. Usually involving fixed fees for different stages of the litigation process. But for some lawyers, evaluating the fixed fee process for the first time it seems very simple: Project one = $5,000. Not so fast! Be careful when proposing fixed fee arrangements. Use this cautionary hypothetical tale to keep you in check!

So, you’re getting pressure from your client (or Customer as Summit Law Group refers to folks who buy legal services from us) and your colleagues to come up with Fixed Fees for a litigation matter. As is the case with 80% of litigation matters there are a MILLION possible directions the case could go! And a multitude of complications within each of those directions! When bidding on a fixed fee litigation project, remain calm, don’t let your mind and anxiety drive you too far. “So many things could go wrong!”

Your #1 objective for proposing alternative fee arrangement is: Risk Sharing with your client. Of course anything could go wrong! Imagine the fear of “anything could go wrong” from your client’s perspective! If they are contacting you for litigation assistance, it likely already has gone wrong!

So, the real point of this entry was going to be about “Cautions for Fixed Fee billing”.

Caution #1: Think about pricing from your client’s standpoint. Is this flat fee sufficient to get the work done efficiently and fairly while saving your client money and giving them confidence in a job well done?

Caution #2: Don’t under bid! If you’re well known for using alternative fee structures by other firms it’s likely they will try very hard to bust your flat fee structure into pieces by dragging out the case. If you end up under bidding on the flat fee you put yourself in a tough spot. If this DOES happen to you, remember this IS part of the “risk sharing”. Your part of the risk was estimating the efficiency. You’re not efficient? Your problem!

Caution #3: No padding! Don’t just take your hourly rate and count on your fingers how many hours this will take you, then add 30% “just in case”. The “just in case” part is your risk. Think about the scope of the case at hand and what would be a reasonable fee for your team. If you’re new to the litigation game, then you likely have NO clue how to judge reasonableness.

What are your thoughts?

This is my first attempt at a video blog! Hope you like it. I know I likely missed a lot of TweetDeck hot items, but I think this video shows some nice basic uses.

(The advertisement at the beginning is out of my control. It’s like 30 seconds.)

We’ve gotten some amazing feedback from the Twitter Success webcast held on June 23! We had 265 RSVPs!!!!

Here’s the demographics for the RSVPs.

Below you’ll also find the recorded webcast. PLEASE fast forward to minute 25 for the “show” to begin! The first 25 minutes was just the recorded “count-down” timer. Sorry about that!

So, here’s the story, I have two computers. My work desktop, my home laptop. At work, I plug my BlackBerry into my machine and it connects to Desktop Manager, thus synchronizing settings each time. I do a similar thing at home with my laptop, except it just requires me to connect via VPN first, then I can open Desktop Manager and connect to the email server, again, synchronizing settings each time.

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On June 23rd, Richard Wood (@LegalAdmin) of Summit Law Group will be presenting a Twitter Educational Class for PSALA and the greater Legal Community entitled, “Twitter Success – 140 Characters at a Time!“. RSVPs can be made for either the live, in-person course, OR view the webcast either live or after the event! Thanks to PSALA In-Kind Web Sponsor ProMotion Arts for making the Webcast possible!

Learning objectives for attendees of this special class are:

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Last night’s SMC Seattle’s event at the Elysian Brewery on Seattle’s Capital Hill was a huge success! Here’s the slide show! (Or go to this link for the Flickr photos)

So, I’m not going to name names, but a friend of mine in California emailed me that he was shocked to have been told by his law firm to stop retweeting their tweets.

My understanding is that the marketing department would use twitter to talk about themselves (you know, that great way of marketing a law firm), but that they were unhappy that my friend would retweet (RT) their entries because they “no longer controlled the content”.

What the heck are they thinking?!?!? They’ve completely missed the point of MARKETING, let alone twitter!

The fun kicker? The firm has about 15 followers and my friend has about 1,500.

All I can say is WOW! Get out of the marketing business if this is your method for enhancing your firm’s services. Whoever is making this ridiculous decision needs to be fired immediately.

So, let’s look at why this practice is wrong.

First, RT (retweeting) is the primary way to prove that people are reading your tweets and making sure their followers take notice that they find what you’ve said is important to them. You might also call this TweetCred. (hehe)

Let me guess, you also don’t allow comments on your blog? Oh, you don’t even have a blog? LOL

Good grief. File this under, “Moron TweetCred”.

Admittedly, I’m actually very new to twitter, only a few months really. However, when I went my inaugural “tweetup” with SMC Seattle’s @Shil_Wei a few of us were discussing twitter on BlackBerry and someone asked me, “Richard, I see you use TwitterBerry (this was prior to SocialScope). When you’re on your BlackBerry how do you follow a new user?” I had no idea! And then another “new friend” chimed in that he didn’t know how on his iPhone either!

So, we have two issues here. First, a short-coming with the mobile twitter apps to-date. And second, not realizing the capabilities of Twitter’s Mobile interface!

I’m going to show you how to do this using the Twitter Mobile site!

So, one would think that going directly to someone’s twitter address would allow you to Follow them directly from that site. HOWEVER, on the twitter mobile site, the key to success is to login first! So, first go to http://twitter.com where the site will detect your BlackBerry (or God forbid your iPhone, hehe) and thus will automatically ask for your twitter login credentials. After you login you’ll see your “normal” homepage feed only it will have a Mobile friendly layout. Now that you’re logged in you can no use “Go To” BlackBerry Browser function and goto the bessed twit’s URL for whom you with to follow. You should now see Follow option near their name at the top of the page. Or, thankfully, Unfollow if that’s your desired outcome.

Good luck twits!

As if I didn’t have plenty of obligations already in this world, I’ve recently added on Twitter to the list of “things to do on a VERY regular basis”. WHAT am I thinking?

This coming from someone who is already obsessed with email, Facebook, blogging, and… MY BLACKBERRY! Now, I’ve taken the very deep plunge into the Twit world.

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twtvite :: Startup Tweetup

In the Startup biz? Join us for drinks and appetizers! Featuring @Tatango crew! RSVP http://twtvite.com/631nyi #startuptweetupseattle

Posted using ShareThis

This post by Marshall Isaacs is hilarious! A must-read!

“Exclusive Interview with Mrs. Billable Hour“

Of course everyone who owns an iPhone and who has a Twitter account already has 45 different options for sending tweets on the run. However, the options are a lot more limited for us BlackBerry folk!

Lets take a look at a few of them:

1) TinyTwitter – very basic operation, very “lightweight” (memory wise), a little quirky
2) Blackbird – VERY archaic UI, not a lot of functionality, absolutely no frills
3) TwitterBerry – one of the best “Twitter only” apps for BlackBerry. It’s very reliable. Doesn’t seem to auto-shrink URLs for you. This means less room to type tweets when you want to include a URL
4) SocialScope – This seems to be THE best option for any BlackBerry users! It integrates Facebook status and Twitter updates. You can post photos directly from you BB to TwitPic and it will auto-shrink URLs when you past them in from any site. Separate tabs for “all updates” (Facebook and Twitter merged together with an icon so you can tell which came from where), then there’s a tab for “@” replies (twitter), another tab for Direct Messages (twitter), and then a fourth tab for Facebook only feeds.

SocialScope is BY FAR the best of all the available twitter apps for BlackBerry. That said, it’s also still in ALPHA testing. You have to enroll and ask to be a tester and that means there may be quirks you experience. Ironically I’ve never had any quirks… until today. Their server is down today so I haven’t been able to login today. YIKES! But I have TwitterBerry also installed to manage a company twitter account.

Nat Colley of VetYourLawyer.com publishes an interview he did with me regarding Client Trust Accounts.

Take a look and listen!

Attorney Client Trust Accounts