Monday Morning Humor: Life Before WiFi - Who Remembers the Torture of Dial-Up Modems!

Breaking News: Some International Internet Traffic May Be Down Due to Cable Cut!

Hong Kong Telecoms Company HGC Global Communications estimates that 25% of traffic between Asia and Europe as well the Middle East has been impacted!

🛜

Hong Kong Telecoms Company HGC Global Communications estimates that 25% of traffic between Asia and Europe as well the Middle East has been impacted! 🛜

lawyers reacting to potential internet disruptions!

CNN reports that submarine cables in the Red Sea, crucial for telecommunications between Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, have been damaged, causing significant disruptions. Four major telecom networks are affected, with an estimated 25% of traffic being rerouted to minimize customer impact. The cause and perpetrators of the damage remain unidentified, amidst speculations involving Houthi rebels and military activities by the UK and US. This incident highlights the vulnerability of the undersea infrastructure that underpins global internet connectivity, reminiscent of past disruptions like the 2006 Taiwan earthquake. Among the impacted networks are the Asia-Africa-Europe and the Europe India Gateway, both vital for international telecommunications.

So if you feel your internet is a little wonky today, you may not be wrong!

Maintaining Legal Operations During Internet Outages: Tips For Lawyers

The downing of at&T’s INTERNET service caused some concern across the us…

AT&T’s outage last week should serve as a warning to lawyers about their own internet reliability (I don’t know how a $5 refund will alleviate AT&T customers from the self-panic ensued by the outage?🧐).  In the digital age, the legal profession, like many others, has grown increasingly reliant on the Internet for its operations. The internet is an indispensable tool in a lawyer's arsenal, from conducting research and accessing legal databases to communicating with clients and filing documents electronically. However, this dependency also means that internet outages can significantly disrupt legal operations, posing challenges that law firms must navigate to maintain continuity and uphold their duties to their clients.

Lawyers can take several proactive measures to ensure minimal disruption in their work due to internet outages. Here are five strategies to consider:

1. Backup Key Resources Offline: Lawyers should ensure they have offline access to critical resources, such as legal databases, case law, statutes, and client files. This can involve preemptively downloading essential documents and using software that allows offline access to these materials.

2. Establish a Redundant Internet Connection: Having a backup Internet connection can be crucial for maintaining productivity during an outage. Since AT&T went down last week, having a different provider (perhaps on a cheaper plan) could be a good investment. This could be in the form of a secondary wired connection, a mobile hotspot, or a tethering option through a smartphone. Investing in a reliable data plan for mobile devices can provide an immediate alternative if the primary connection fails.  (For example, I have Verizon FIOS for the office Wi-Fi, AT&T for phone and internet on my personal cell, and Verizon mobile for my blog phone and internet.  BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, or REDUNDANCY, REDUNDANCY, REDUNDANCY!

3. Regular Data Backup: Regularly backing up data to external drives or cloud storage that can be accessed offline ensures that work can continue seamlessly, even without an internet connection. Automated backup solutions can be set up to run during off-hours to ensure that all recent work is securely stored.  Remember, my So, if one of your backups is in the cloud, then your other backup should be in a physical location like a hard drive at your office or offsite.

4. Develop and Test an Emergency Plan: It does not help if your emergency strategy doesn’t work! Creating an emergency plan that outlines steps to take during an internet outage can help minimize downtime. This plan should include contact information for IT support, steps for switching to a backup internet source, and a list of critical tasks that can be performed offline. Regularly testing this plan ensures everyone knows what to do when the internet goes down.

5. Invest in Training and Preparedness: Ensuring that all staff members are trained on how to access and use offline resources and understand the emergency plan is crucial. This can include training on manual procedures for tasks typically performed online, such as filing documents or conducting research.

lawyers can be proactive in the event of their internet going down!

By taking these proactive steps, lawyers can minimize the impact of internet outages on their practice, ensuring that they can continue to work effectively and meet their clients' needs, even in the absence of an online connection. Internet outage is a major concern I have with Law Practice Management providers based solely on the internet – if you lose access, there is going to be a major problem – and I don’t know how “understanding” a judge is going to be if you miss a filing deadline because the internet went down.  But in the meantime, what can lawyers do if there is downtime due to the internet being offline?

When the internet goes down, a lawyer, like any other professional reliant on online resources, can still stay productive by reverting to more traditional methods of working and organizing. Here are the top five things a lawyer should consider doing when you are completely stuck offline, and you have done everything necessary to protect your client’s interests:

Lawyers can still be productive during an internet outage!

1. Review Physical Files and Documents: Without internet access, it's an excellent opportunity to organize and review physical case files, documents, and any printed material that might have been set aside. This can also be an excellent time to catch up on reading case law, statutes, or regulations relevant to current cases that haven't been prioritized.

2. Plan and Strategize: Use this time to strategize for current cases or projects without the distractions of emails and online notifications. This can involve outlining arguments, planning case strategies, or brainstorming solutions to legal problems. It's also an excellent time to set goals and priorities for the coming weeks or months.

3. Networking and Client Relations: Reach out to clients, colleagues, and other professionals through phone calls. This can be an excellent opportunity to check in on clients, discuss cases, and build stronger relationships. Networking can also involve setting up future meetings or lunches.

4. Continuing Legal Education (CLE) and Professional Development: Lawyers often have CLE requirements to maintain their licenses. When the internet is down, it's an excellent time to catch up on CLE materials available in physical formats, such as books, journals, or even pre-downloaded audio or video courses.

5. Administrative Tasks and Office Organization: Use the downtime to catch up on administrative tasks that might have been neglected. This can include organizing the office space, filing, billing & invoicing, or even planning for future marketing efforts.

Did AT&T’s internet outage impact your firm’s OPERATIONS? Please share your stories!!!

While the internet is a crucial tool for modern legal practice, being disconnected can provide a valuable opportunity to focus on tasks that might otherwise be overlooked or deferred. It's also a reminder of the importance of having backup plans and being adaptable in the face of unexpected disruptions.

Happy Lawyering!

MTC

Episode 79: Handling Medical Information on The Internet With Leah Bucholz

Our next guest is Leah Bucholz, the founder and leader of Prestige Veteran Medical Consulting. PVMC is a veteran-owned family company dedicated to serving those who have served. Specializing in Independent Medical Opinions, commonly known as "Nexus Letters," the firm delves into the intricacies of injuries and illnesses stemming from military service. Moreover, Leah is a U.S. Army veteran, medical expert, and former C & P examiner.

Join Leah and me as we discuss the significance of robust security measures and policy enforcement to ensure HIPAA compliance and protect patient privacy. She shares practical advice on maintaining documents electronically, managing passwords securely, and utilizing PDF readers for sensitive data handling. We also discuss legal tech tools for efficient document review and management. Overall, our discussion emphasizes the critical role of technology in safeguarding confidential information, complying with regulations, and enhancing productivity in professional settings.

Join Leah and me as we discuss the following three questions and more!

1. What are the top three tips for maintaining HIPAA compliance of documents online electronically?

2. What are the top three tips for maintaining many documents online electronically?

3. What are the top three secret tips for using your favorite PDF reader?

In our conversation, we cover the following:

[01:13] Building a Secure Remote Tech Ecosystem: Exploring Cloud-Based Tools, Compliance, and Backup Strategies

[12:48] Mastering HIPAA Compliance: Essential Tips for Maintaining Document Security Online

[26:17] Top Tips for Managing a Large Volume Online

[35:52] Unlocking PDF Reader Magic: Expert Tips for Efficiency and Effectiveness

[28:45] Connect with Leah

Resources:

Connect with Leah:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leahbucholz/

Website: prestigeveteranmctx.com/

YouTube: youtube.com/@prestigeveteranmedical

Email: mailto:leah@prestigeveteranmctx.com/

Hardware mentioned in the conversation:

Internet connection provided by AT&T: att.com/internet/fiber/

Software & Cloud Services mentioned in the conversation:

Backupify: backupify.com/

JotForm: jotform.com/

Spanning: spanning.com/

Speedtest.net: speedtest.net/

Zapier: zapier.com/

Zoho Vault: zoho.com/vault/

Zoho: zoho.com/

My Two Cents: In celebration of the World Wide Web's 30th Birthday, a look back on how it changed how lawyers work.

The World Wide Web (WWW) celebrated its 30th Birthday on April 30th! Introduced as a "global computer networked information system," it, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, "establish[ed] an information sharing-and- retrieval system that enabled the websites we still use today!" The Internet has changed how lawyers find, consume, and share information today and very well into the future! Here are some examples:

Access to Law: One significant impact is the emergence of other legal research platforms, which have disrupted traditional platforms' monopoly on delivering legal information. The competition has eased access and lowered the cost of these providers. Meanwhile, the availability of the WWW significantly decelerated the need to visit brick and motar law libraries for legal research. (The first more subtle deceleration being "libraries" delivered on CDs.) When was the last time you had to spend time running down to the library hoping the right book was correctly shelved (or was that just in law school where students may hide books from others? 🙃). All the while hoping to get your work done before it closes. Does anyone remember how to Shepardize case law by book? 🤪

Competition: The WWW has increased competition and greater accessibility for clients seeking legal services. Multiple lawyer review sites (many, IMHO, are worthless) allow potential clients to review others' experiences with lawyers to help them find the right attorney (meanwhile, Google Business seems to be taking over many of these "review sites"). Lawyers can now reach potential clients through the WWW, targeting a specific client criterion - age, interest, location, etc. - Just make sure you are following the appropriate state bar rules!

Global Access: The scale of law firms has also changed due to the WWW, with law firms now able to operate across different jurisdictions and reach more clients globally. (Just make sure you follow the various bar association regulations for each jurisdiction (if necessary) along with your own!). The WWW has changed law firms' staffing composition structure in two critical ways, both pre- and post-hiring models. Before hiring, law firms now have access to a more extensive pool of candidates through online job postings, social media platforms, and professional websites. After hiring, the Internet has affected how law firms achieve client outcomes by providing lawyers with quick and easy access to legal research databases anywhere they have access to a computer and the Internet. This allows them to stay up to date with their cases, work from almost anywhere, and not be too constrained by time zone differences (I once had a clerk working remotely by 12 time zones - we'd talk in my morning/her evening or visa vie. It was great! I'd go to sleep and wake up with her done and delivered!!!). This has also affected the need for or at least the size of brick-and-mortar offices.

"Brick & Mortar" Footprint/Work From Anywhere: The democratized Internet has made it easier for lawyers to access users through e-mail and social media. With web e-mail, users can access their e-mails from anywhere in the world. This helped start a growing trend of lawyers practicing in virtual offices. Virtual offices allowed many solo and small firm practitioners to forgo the need for costly downtown office space and allow them to work from their own office at home. This practice grew when the COVID pandemic required traditional "brick and mortar" offices to shut down and force many to work from home. People saw the advantages of working from home, like saving time traveling to and from work, saving office leasing monies, flexibility in working from home and getting more work done without water-cooler distractions. Plus, Chatbots, VOIP allowing virtual receptionists, and other customer service applications have enabled online conversations between firms' lawyers and their clients from anywhere, enabling more efficient communication and delivery of legal services.

Saving Trees and the Environment: Cloud-based technologies have also allowed for repositories and digital platforms, eliminating the need for multiple paper copies for "physical" discovery production, courier services to deliver stacks of paper documents, and keeping an up-to-date copy of your office file on paper when you travel. All of this can easily be maintained on a computer tablet or laptop. With mobile phone data roaming and Wi-Fi, lawyers can sync their computers with other office members instantaneously to keep a client's file up-to-date. Plus, lawyers can stay up-to-date with current laws and precedents on-the-go without any hassle.

Ease of communications with the courts and agencies: The WWW has changed the legal landscape by introducing court electronic filing systems that allow lawyers to file legal paperwork online. A filing deadline typically means until midnight (but confirm with your court and judge's rules and orders). In the past, in order to meet that deadline, you'd need to have your brief done earlier: You would need to print an appropriate number of copies, run down to the courthouse, and submit it at the court midnight drop box (I've done a couple myself). But now that time can be used to finalize your brief as you can file it (for many courts) online! Meanwhile, judges and lawyers can also collaborate more efficiently using e-mail. Additionally, the WWW has made it easier for lawyers to share information with colleagues worldwide, making group communications instant regardless of the time zone. 

A Mixed Blessing? As lawyers became more reliant on the WWW to do their work, they also have had to contend with many problems that come with it. Granted, the days of slow dial-up internet speeds are long gone! (Oh, the dreaded communications sound when you first connnect!) But the internet did bring on online computer bugs or viruses crashing, erasing, or holding hostage our law firm's computers and information? On the other hand, lawyers need not wait for or go out and purchase new CDs (which recently turned 40) every time there is an update in their computer's operating system, law library, anti-virus and other software programs; they can just download it from the net! Yet, spam and faux e-mails, instant messages, and the like, are bombarding our individual internet windows with lottery wins in foreign companies, a long-lost relative needing cash immediately, and offerings that are just too good to be true! 🙄 And of course, when the internet goes out, our access to the cloud "disappears!" This blocks access to our work and worse yet to the court we need to make that midnight filing!!!

The WWW has significantly changed how legal professionals approach their job since its release in 1993. Technological developments have transformed our paper-based profession into an evolved work requiring lawyers and clerks to improve their typing skills, their knowledge of technology and software, and adapt to digital platforms. THE ONE THING THAT HAS NOT CHANGED is as a lawyer, you must check your work and your staff's work - Use reliable sources on the WWW, make sure the results from your computer's calendar due date calculation and spell check programs are correct, and check the writing and sources from anything you draft in ChatGTP - it's been known to sometimes get things wrong and just to make stuff up! 

MTC.

Happy Lawyering!!!