The Mac Lawyer

The Mac Lawyer Selected for "The 2008 ABA Journal Blawg 100"

I was notified today that The Mac Lawyer has been have selected for "The 2008 ABA Journal Blawg 100", which lists the 100 best websites primarily written by lawyers, for lawyers.  Specifically, this blog is one of the 10 selected in the technology category, and the other blogs nominated are truly a "who's who" in the legal technology field. Voting is open between now and January 2, 2009, to select the favorite in each category.  If you enjoy reading my blog (or if you're just feeling generous), click the banner below and vote for this blog.  Thanks, and congratulations to the other nominees.

Follow The Mac Lawyer on Twitter

After listening to many people, including my friends and tech gurus Kevin O'Keefe and Grant Griffith, preach the virtues of Twitter for a long, long time, I finally decided to open an account for myself to see what the buzz is all about.  My username is @TheMacLawyer (fittingly enough), and you can follow me at twitter.com/themaclawyer.

Twitter is one of those things that is a little hard to describe to others.  The short definition is that it is a micro-blogging service, but that doesn't tell you much.  Twitter describes itself as "a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

To this point, I am still experimenting with how to best utilize Twitter, and the jury is still out.  I have posted some personal views/opinions there, and I will post some blog/tech related items in the future.  If any of my readers are on Twitter, please let me know and we can "follow" each other (in Twiiter-speak).  I'll try to post here from time to time to let you know what I think about Twitter going forward.

Update 11-9-08:  In the three or so days that I've been on Twitter, I've managed to pick up almost a hundred followers.  So far, I think Twitter is pretty cool, and I'm enjoying the connections and interactions that I am having with everyone there.  If you haven't done so, check me out HERE.

The Mac Lawyer in Tucson, AZ

I am heading to Tucson, AZ today to attend the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section Fall Meeting at the The Westin La Paloma Resort.  I was recently appointed to serve as an advisor to the Technology Core Group and a board member of the Law Practice Today webzine, and both of these groups will hold meetings at this conference.  I have enjoyed my work in the past with the ABA, and I appreciate being asked to serve in these additional capacities. If any of my readers will be at this conference or in the Tucson area between now and Friday, please let me know and perhaps we can meet in person.

The Mac Lawyer As Seen By Wordle

Have you heard of Wordle?  If not, you may want to check it out.  Wordle generates “word clouds” from text that you provide, with these clouds giving greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.  You can "wordle" selected text, a whole document, or an entire website / blog. 

In addition to just be a cool toy to play with, I think that Wordle can be an effective tool for attorneys interested in analyzing specific documents.  For instance, if a personal injury attorney sends a demand letter to an insurance adjuster, he might be interested in first seeing what the focus of the letter is from the word cloud produced.

When I plugged in The Mac Lawyer, it produced the following word cloud:

The Mac Lawyer Featured in 60 Sites in 60 Minutes

So I'm reading the April/May 2008 issue of the ABA's Law Practice magazine over the weekend, and what do I see on page 21 but the following:

TheMacLawyer.com is a must-read blog for anyone using a Mac in the legal environment.  It's written by ABA TechShow speaker Ben Stevens.

As it turns out, this blog was featured as one of this year's 60 Sites in 60 Minutes at TechShow.  As you probably know, this session by Craig Ball, Tom Mighell, and Reid Trautz is always one of the best and most anticipated sessions each year.  I attended this year's version in Chicago, but I missed the first few minutes when my blog was mentioned. I am flattered to have been mentioned, even though I am just now finding out!

The Mac Lawyer Cited in Web 2.0 Technology Article

Lawyers USA recently published an article addressing Web 2.0 services of interest to attorneys.  The Mac Lawyer was interviewed for this article and cited as a reference with regard to online case management software.  An excerpt containing my quotes is listed below:

Ben Stevens, who practices in a two-lawyer firm in Spartanburg, S.C., touted Rocket Matter's low price and accessibility from anywhere with an Internet connection.

"I think it's a revolutionary product for attorneys," said Stevens, who also blogs as The Mac Lawyer. "It's easy to maintain, easy to access and easy to use."

Stevens said there are other online services that provide billing and other functions, but none that pull together as many features as Rocket Matter.

If you are a subscriber to Lawyers USA, you can access the full article by clicking HERE.  If you are not, you can visit their website for subscription information.

Source:  "User-Friendly Technology Via The Web" by Dick Dahl, published at Lawyers USA.

The Mac Lawyer in Chicago, IL for ABA TechShow 2008

I am leaving today for Chicago to speak at the inaugural "Mac Track" at this year's TechShow 2008, sponsored by the American Bar Association.  If you are attending, I hope that you will stop me and say hello.  One of my favorite parts of attending and speaking at these seminars is the opportunity to meet and talk with my readers.  I will try to post from Chicago if time permits.  If not, I will definitely do so when I get back home.

Jim Calloway's Sites for Mac Lawyers

Award-winning legal blogger Jim Calloway published an article last week discussing sites for Mac-using lawyers.  He had several nice things to say about this blog, saying it is "not to be missed."  I sincerely appreciate Jim's comments, as I have read his blog for a long time.  I urge you to check out his post for all of his comments about The Mac Lawyer and some other great blogs too.

Source:  "Sites of the Week: Sites for Mac Lawyers" published at Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog.

Publicity for The Mac Lawyer and MILO

I just noticed today that The Mac Lawyer and the Macs in Law Offices (MILO) discussion group were mentioned in the December, 2007 edition of the ABA Journal.  An article profiling Michael Grossman's path to becoming a sole practitioner stated, "He hit the estate planning books and boned up on law office technology via blogs like the Mac Lawyer and an e-mail discussion list called Macs in Law Offices."  If you haven't yet read A Conspiracy of One, you can do so by clicking HERE.

High Praises for The Mac Lawyer

This has been a week for The Mac Lawyer.  First, this very blog was chosen as one of the Top 10 Law Blogs by Greg May of The California Blog of Appeal.  In commenting on my blog, Mr. May said that "anyone using a Apple Macintosh computer in their practice should check this frequently."  While that is certainly one of my goals in publishing this blog, it is nice to hear someone else say it.

Then, I received an email yesterday that said "Your site rocks and has helped me a great deal over the last year."  I spend a lot of time working on this blog, and comments like that make it worthwhile.  The email I referenced was from Aaron Pelley, who publishes the Criminal Defense Law With An Apple blog.  Mr. Pelley wrote a post yesterday called "Where do you get your information? (Part 2 - Blogs and Sites)" in which he said that The Mac Lawyer "is hands down the best blog for lawyers looking to set up a Mac-Firm."  This was very high praise, and it is very much appreciated. 

If you are not familiar with these two blogs, I urge you to check then out, as I believe they are pretty great themselves.