Some of us have older iPhones, iPods and iPads which will not run newer versions of iOS. Needless to say, newer version of many apps also won’t run on these older devices. That changed today. Apple now lets you access earlier versions of apps for your older hardware.
This is how it works: Select the app you want. If it is incompatible with the iOS version on your device, a prompt will offer you a earlier compatible version of the app.
Interesting move for Apple as they prepare to release iOS 7, which presumably would leave many devices and apps …

♫ It was the night things changed, can you see it now?
These walls that they put up to hold us back fell down
It’s a revolution, throw your hands up, ’cause we never gave in..♫

Lyrics, music and recorded by Taylor Swift.

“Change the firm but don’t change anything about how I work”

Those were the instructions that I received from one managing partner after being called into a firm to help them with coming up to speed on a number of fronts.  They knew they needed to change…in many fronts..such as in technology and other areas.  The …

Building on last week’s tip about managing current awareness, today’s tip is about watching for source changes.  A whine at my research blog shared a recent experience with the change of an RSS feed address.  If you are monitoring information using automation to help, make sure you pay attention to when information should appear.

If you are considering watching Government of Canada news releases with RSS feeds, here is a handy list.…

Any program on your computer can be “pinned” to the Taskbar. This makes it visible as an icon on the Taskbar and allows easy access without having to use the Start Menu. To pin a program to the Taskbar, right-click on the program or shortcut to the program and in the menu choose the Pin to Taskbar option. Alternatively you can also drag the icon to the Taskbar.
If you want to remove a pinned program, right-click on the Taskbar icon and click Unpin this program from the Taskbar. Alternatively you can also drag the icon off of the task …

Summer wanes, the harvest abounds, and we ready ourselves for a return to our higher-octane existences.  New beginnings, new chapters, and for those of us observing Rosh Hashanah, a new year begins with contemplation and taking stock of the year gone by.

It is also a time to reflect on and appreciate the people in our lives, personal and professional, whose contributions and presence have made a difference.

In that spirit, I will firstly say thank you to my Tips partner, David Bilinsky, for inviting me to join him here in collaboration, discussions and debates on “all things law practice.”   …

One of the really important aspects of lawyering is to have the right information at the right time for your clients.  Sometimes this means watching a resource that has a regular publication schedule like the Canada Gazette Part II (the source of new federal regulations and proclamations).  Canada Gazette Part II is published every second Wednesday. My Recurrence  dialogue box for a “Check Gazette Part II” Outlook appointment looks like this:

A one minute appointment every two weeks scheduled to not block a time when others may wish to schedule meetings with me. The body of the appointment has a …

All of us should check our credit report on an annual basis. Not only is this a good idea to cheto to  make sure there are no mistakes on your credit record,   it can also protect you against identity theft. If someone has stolen your identity, the transactions they have completed can tip you off that your identity has been compromised.
You can check your credit report once a year for free.…

♫ Will remind, will remind, will remind me…♫

Lyrics, music and recorded by Röyksopp.

I admit that I have more than a typical fascination with technology.  But this tip is about as low-tech as you can get. I have used this system for all the time that I have been in practice, when practising in  firms as well as at the Law Society and I have found that it works exceedingly well.

In the image you can see a dry-eraseable 4 month calendar.  By placing this calendar in a prominent location in your office and assigning someone with …

I have had the benefit of working on a writing project with others from my firm recently.  One of the key things that I have learned from this is that writers, especially if the work is intended to convince others to act, must put themselves in the shoes of the reader.

The next time you are reviewing a research memo, opinion letter, brief, or argument (or even an email), try to review your work as if you were a member of the intended audience.

This type of review is harder to practice than it sounds. It is especially hard to …

Hat Tip to David Whelan via a tweet that led me to  LawAtlas:

LawAtlas^SM is a gateway to key laws aimed at improving our health or access to health care. Visitors can use the Interactive Law Maps pages to generate maps and tables highlighting selected features of the law as it exists today or has changed over time.

Though the interactive law maps are only for the USA, the principle of looking a law in a visual way is worthy of a research tip.…