♫ Walking in Memphis
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel?  ♫

Lyrics and music by Marc Cohen.

The New York Times on Wednesday Jan 21 published an article “The Benefits of a Lunch Hour Walk” by Gretchen Reynolds.  It has important implications for those feeling stressed, out of shape and suffering from a less-than-optimal mood. She states:

“A new study finds that even gentle lunchtime strolls can perceptibly — and immediately — buoy people’s moods and ability to handle stress …

With the 10 year anniversary of Wise Law Blog rapidly approaching  this April, my thoughts have turned recently to the nuts and bolts of law blogging.

There are numerous articles online about the virtues of law blogging, and all the benefits becoming a blogger can bring to you and your firm.

These positives include increased profile, better optimization for your firm’s website, and the genuine professional advantage of being current and engaged in topics of interest to you and your clients.

There is somewhat less guidance online, however, on “how to blog.” Not surprisingly, this is a question new writers …

Get a digital checkup.

Given this week’s news of attempts by “ransomware hackers” to extort payments from three British Colombia law firms by hijacking and blocking access to the firms’ confidential data, that will be my firm’s tech step #1 – and is my first Practice Tip – of the year.

Get a digital checkup.

Like it or not, law firms are increasingly vulnerable to malicious actors online; we are also perpetually vulnerable to the consequences of our own neglect within.

One solution to these very real threats is to institute an Annual Digital Checkup for your firm.

Have a …

I was reminded earlier this week of the sage advice of one of my early mentors on the topic of “file avoidance,” a very particular form of procrastination that tends to attach itself to specific tasks on specific files.

He said:

“There will be files that you encounter in your career that, for one reason or another, you simply avoid.

“There may be no reason for it. You have tasks to be done and you absolutely know  how to do them.  But for one reason or the other, you never quite get to those files.

“They seem to linger and

♫  Inch by inch, row by row, I’m gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground…♫

Lyrics and music by: David Mallett, recorded by: Peter, Paul & Mary.

Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying: “The best way to predict your future is to create it”

Brian Tracy in his blog talks about the Golden Hour – a time that you set aside at the start of your day to work on the most important task you will have for your lifetime – namely your personal development.

Brian …

This week’s practice tip features a guest post from Rachel Spence, a law clerk  with Wise Law Office, on the importance of delegation in our work.  This article was previously featured at Wise Law Blog.

– Garry J. Wise

……………..

Delegate, Don’t Abdicate

The  simple truth is that as legal professionals, we require effective delegation like we require oxygen to breathe. There’s no need to be shy about why.

Delegation helps us to:

♫  Saying, you got to play your cards and roll those dice,
You may never get a second chance in this life;
Don’t waste your time, ’cause time will tell,
Good things yeah they hardly ever roll around twice.
No second chances… No second chances….♫

Lyrics, music and recorded by Damian Follett.

This is the sixth post in the series on lawyers and marketing.  We have previously looked at  the product mix, the people who provide your services, how you promoted your services and the place where you render your services.  In this next instalment of the examination of the …

Relief is at hand, at last, for iPad2 users who have suffered through two months of sluggish, under-performing, and perpetually stalling tablets since installing September, 2014’s iOS 8 update.

Apple has this week released iOS 8.1.1, an operating system update that magically restores speed and luster to its older mobile devices, including the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4.

After installing the update Wednesday morning, I noted my iPad 2’s immediate resurrection to useful and pleasing life. Its performance has returned to its pre-iOS 8 level, which was always pretty good – good enough for me to resist the …

♫ It doesn’t have to be like this
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking…♫

Lyrics and music by: David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Polly Samson, recorded by Pink Floyd.

Garry’s last post inspired me to write about using dictation on both PCs and Macs. I have been a long-standing fan of voice recognition and the latest versions are even much better than earlier versions. While there is voice recognition built into the Windows operating system, I haven’t seen it used in practice. Rather, I have found that people use …