Podcast #8: Tech, ethics and more with Dan Siegel, PA Attorney!

My next guest is Dan Siegel.  Dan is a Pennsylvania Attorney, Speaker and Author covering issues in appellate law, ethics and technology.  Dan came to my attention through his recent webinar through the ABA & his attorney tech consulting firm, Integrated Technology Services.  During our informative podcast we covered the following three questions:  1.

My next guest is Dan Siegel.  Dan is a Pennsylvania are Attorney, Speaker and Author covering issues in appellate law, ethics and technology.  Dan came to my attention through his recent webinar through the ABA & his Integrated Technology Services, an attorney tech consulting firm.  During our informative podcast we covered the following three questions:  1. Given COVID and Shelter at Home Orders, what are three software programs are attorneys underutilizing while working from home, 2. What are three simple workflows can attorneys use today, and 3. What three areas of legal technology will attorneys need to keep an eye on POST-COVID-19?

Come join as we talk about these subjects and many more!

Links to the products and services discussed in our conversation:

How to reach Dan

• E-mail:  dan@danieljsiegel.com

• Twitter:  danieljsiegel

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/havertownlawyer

• Websites:

  https://www.danieljsiegel.com

  https://www.techlawyergy.com

Software

• Adobe Acrobat

• Action Wizard - Acrobat

• CYBERSECURITY 101

• Microsoft

• MS Power Toys

• MS Office - Power Rename

• MS Office:  Integrations and customization

• NSA white paper on conferencing application

• Samsung DeX on Mac and Windows

• Windows

• Zoom

Articles, Books, etc.

• Fee Agreements in Pennsylvania, 6th Ed.

• The Ultimate Guide to Adobe Acrobat DC Professional

• My earlier post on Phishing.

• Article on Law Firm hacked allegedly has some of President Trump's info.

Shout Out! Planet Depos is still offering free Webinars!

If you don’t know how to conduct video/virtual depositions, NOW is the time to learn!

Planet Depos, the company of previous Podcast Guest, Billy Zane, will be offering another free webinar this Wednesday on conducting virtual video depositions.  They have older webinars posted for your reference.  Watching the webcast live will give you an opportunity to ask the presenters questions.  Best part, its free!

If you haven't had the opportunity to participate, don't miss out!

I don't have any inside information, but once things settle with COVID-19, businesses will probably pull back on some of these free Webinars, CLEs, etc.

Sign up today as these presentations may not be here tomorrow!

Time to Update Your Zoom!

Copyright Zoom

Over the past several months, Zoom was pretty well beaten up due to some security flaws that were discovered in its platform.  This unveiling occurred and became prominent in the public forum, most likely due to the increased use of the service given the COVID-19 pandemic.  Believe it or not, this was a good thing!

The exposure of these flaws gave Zoom an opportunity - it could either sink or swim.  It appears that it decided to swim.  They have added increased encryption, more straightforward means of reporting abusers, the ability to chose data centers (for those concerned about China listening in), increase password security, cloud recording security, and other tweaks.

In the end, it's your call whether you will use this or other platforms.  Your boss, court, or opposing counsel may have a say in this.  But, the deadline to update was May 30, 2020.  If you haven't updated your Zoom to 5.0, you won't be able to participate in Zoom conferences.

Click here to update!

Etiquette/Ethics Tip: In e-mail, don't hit "Reply All"!

Don’t be lazy with your e-mail correspondences!

Human nature tends to be a little lazy, especially when it comes to taking simple steps instead of us "thinking" before we act. It's easy to see an e-mail with many cc:ed recipients, and instead of scrutinizing who these parties are, we just hit "Reply All." The problem is we may not be making just a faux pas but a bar complaint as well!

Depending on your practice, you may be cc:ing your client to help keep him or her reasonably informed. Likewise, your opposing party may be doing the same with their clients. 

But in doing so, it may not give you the right to e-mail, indirectly, your opposing party.  In other words, your response to the opposing counsel's e-mail probably should not include her or her client(s).

Granted, Attorneys like to keep control of the information flowing through them, not concurrently with them. And you want your opposing counsel to show you the same courtesy as you would expect him or her to do with you. Plus, failing to do so could lead to a bar complaint!

ABA Ethics Model Rule 4.2, Communication with Person Represented by Counsel, provides:

Transactions With Persons Other Than Clients

In representing a client, a lawyer shall not communicate about the subject of the representation with a person the lawyer knows to be represented by another lawyer in the matter unless the lawyer has the consent of the other lawyer or is authorized to do so by law or a court order.

So depending on your state rules, a little bit of laziness could lead to a bar complaint.

Rule of thumb, don't hit "Reply All." 

Videoconferencing: Do I need an external webcam? Probably not!

Videoconferencing has become essential given the COVID-19 pandemic.  It has allowed us to remain in contact as a society.  Moreover, it is becoming a necessary utility for lawyers.  We use videoconferencing programs (listed below) to conduct meetings, depositions, and hearings.  With this accelerated use, businesses, including lawyers, are finding that videoconferencing is a more economically efficient means of conducting work.  Simply put, it saves money, time, and effort to travel, whether it be in town or long-distance.  But, the question remains, do I need an external webcam?  Probably not.

I have a Logitech Webcam that I had purchased over 15 years ago - it works great - even at 720 dpi ("dots per square inch" - I'll do a post on webcam resolution in a future post). But, when I purchased it, videocamming from our electronic devices was still not a "thing."  As social media pushed forward, so did the desire to communicate via video and with it, accessibility to video from our personal electronic devices.

Webcams are provided internally in almost all of our laptops, tablets, and smartphones.  For the most part, they work quite well (and in some cases better than my old webcam and even the video cam built into my iMac).  And in all of those devices, which I find it unlikely that any attorney does not have at least one of the three listed, videocasting programs can be downloaded and utilized with ease.

Granted, most desktop computers do not have a webcam built in, although some external monitors do have them embedded.  But if you have a laptop, tablet, or smartphone with a cam, why waste the money for an external webcam.  Unless you are getting into video casting or are appearing on the news for interviews, you simply don't need a fancy, expensive webcam.  Meanwhile, you won't have to worry about draining your computer's resources while camming.

A LIST OF POPULAR VIDEOCASTING PLATFORMS FOR BUSINESSES FOR YOUR REFERENCE

• Adobe Connect

• Cisco WebEx Meetings

• Google Hangouts Meet

• GoToMeeting

• join.me

• Microsoft Teams

• Skype

• Zoom