Renaming a file in Windows Explorer is very easy: Just select the file with a single click and press F2. This allows you to edit the file name. When you are done, click Enter to finish.

But what happens if you want to rename multiple files? Yes you can press F2 multiple times, but there is a better way!

When you need to rename multiple files, press F2 and edit the name of the first file as you normally would. But, don’t press Enter when you are done. Instead, press Tab. This will jump you to the next file in …

As Richard Ferguson, a lawyer friend of ours says on his email message:

“People may forget what you said….
People may forget what you did….
but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Despite the fact that we lawyers make our living communicating, many of us don’t take steps to optimize client communications. This is a shame, because highly effective client communications leads to both great case outcomes that satisfy the client’s legal goals and a great lawyer-client relationship that can result in higher work satisfaction and repeat business and referrals. Accordingly, here are our suggested steps to …

There are two possible approaches to personal current awareness:

1. Develop excellent searching skills so that you can find what you need when you need it
2. Pick a fairly narrow specialty and read everything new about that that you can find

I often recommend the first approach to students or junior lawyers who haven’t decided their particular area of legal interest.  Most lawyers I know make a best attempt at the second approach once they find their practice niche, but then most lawyers I know work at mid-size or larger firms where they refer things outside their niche area to colleagues, …

“It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating” was said once by Oscar Wilde.

The final tip in this series is the capstone issue in our Top 10 Financial Mistakes posts – and one that we feel is facing most firms today.

This capstone issue is how to deal with the introduction of new partners while funding the buyout of existing but aging partners. Without a succession plan that compensates aging partners over time by establishing a retirement fund, the firm might be unable to attract new partners. The reason is that prospective partners who are …

I wrote about the trouble I have with Acronyms yesterday at Slaw. Today’s Tip: Use an Acronym Dictionary!

I have a nice little book on my reference shelves called Acrobuster. It is a dictionary of Canadian English acronyms, initialisms and abbreviations.  It is available in these libraries. There are other print sources, but I like this one because it is Canadian.

There are also online Abbreviation or Acronym Dictionaries:

Abbreviations.com
Internet Slang Dictionary & Translator
Acronyms and Abbreviations from Businessballs.com
Acronyms search tab at The Free Dictionary

Do you have any favourite sources?…

At some point or another, every computer user has had Windows or another program lock-up and crash. After this happens, you will sometimes be lucky enough to get an error message. On occasion, that error message will actually give you helpful information about why the computer crashed.

But all too often, the error message will be complete gibberish and offer absolutely nothing that will help you understand why the crash happened, much less what you need to do to fix it. Here is a sample:

Say what????

Next time this happens to you, don’t despair. You can safely assume loads …

Max Amsterdam once said: “Business is the art of extracting money from another man’s pocket without resorting to violence.”

The purpose of having a written agreement between all parties in the firm is that everyone then knows the terms of the arrangement between them: the expectations, the consequences and the means to implement those consequences. Failing to have such an agreement between lawyers is the equivalent of a shoemaker’s children running around barefoot.

Office-sharing agreements cover issues between solos sharing the same office suite. Common issues include management of the suite, lease payments, confidentiality, signage and sharing of …

There is good leagal content that doesn’t necessarily come in the neat packages that we usually look in.  Though our commercial legal database subscriptions have linked, vetted, edited, and easily available content, legal researchers would be remiss if they didn’t look for open access journal content as well.

Regular Slaw and Slaw Tips readers will be aware of legal content on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).  See Lyonette Louis-Jacques’ May 2011 Slaw post for indexes to this and other journal content.

The University of Windsor Law Library has a nice list of open access law journals. Worth a look …

When you need to collaborate on a document displayed on your screen, it’s great to have a colleague from down the hall come into your office and look over your shoulder.

But what happens when that person is across the city or on the other side of the world?

You can use join.me – a ridiculously simple screen sharing tool for meetings on the fly with up to 250 people. Use it for collaborating on a document, a training session, computer trouble-shooting and anything else that requires you to share a computer screen. You can also share files and chat …

You should assess whether you can accept the financial risks associated with taking the matter, just as clients will assess whether they can (and will) pay your fee. Spend time at the beginning of the relationship to learn if the client is able and willing to pay a reasonable fee for the legal work the client wants done.