PRACTICE POINTERS
Practicing from the Home Office BY STEFANIE SCOTT SHAH
Stefanie Scott Shah is the founding member of Scott Shah Law. Her practice includes complex commercial, patent, and employment litigation. Additionally, Shah acts as outside general counsel for growing businesses, handling all their legal needs. She can be contacted at stefanie@scottshah.com.
C
OVID-19 has brought about unprecedented changes to our lives. The virus has impacted virtually every industry, including, of course, the practice of law. Due to stay-at-home orders, working remotely has become the norm rather than the exception. Fortunately, attorneys can work just about anywhere—as long as we have a computer (with a webcam), noise-cancelling headphones, and the software discussed below.
GOING DIGITAL Attorneys and law firms that have not converted to a paperless office will have the most challenges working remotely. If you fall into this camp, you will need to digitize your files. The easiest and fastest way to do this is to use a scanner. People swear by the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500. It is expensive but fast. If you already have a paperless practice, there is no dire need to invest in a digital scanner. There are countless applications that allow you to take a photo of a document and convert to PDF. The Adobe Acrobat Pro DC subscription (mentioned below) provides this functionality. Of course, this practice would be prohibitively slow if you are digitizing an entire office. 30
AUSTINLAWYER | MAY 2020
CLOUD-BASED FILE MANAGEMENT Many firms have systems in place to allow their attorneys to work remotely (e.g., by logging into their desktop computer through a VPN). If that is the case, you are all set to go. If your firm does not currently have a way to access files remotely, you can easily and cheaply use cloud-based software to organize and manage files. The most common options include Dropbox, Box, and Microsoft OneDrive. Box is a corporate and law firm favorite. The application can be installed on both your work and home computers, and all documents saved to the relevant folders are automatically uploaded to the cloud and synced with both—allowing the user to seamlessly work between the two computers. CLOUD-BASED PRACTICE MANAGEMENT AND BILLING Your firm’s practice management and billing software might be out of your control. But, if you have a choice, I highly recommend a cloud-based version, as it simplifies the process of tracking and billing time remotely. The most popular of these is Clio, which has an incredibly user-friendly interface, helpful telephone support, and is accessed via the internet (i.e., any computer, anywhere). PDF SOFTWARE There are numerous options to create and edit PDF documents, but Adobe Acrobat Pro DC is the most popular. With a subscription to this cloud-based software, you can easily OCR, substantively edit, Bates-label, sign, password-protect, combine documents, add headers, convert PDFs to Word documents (and vice versa), organize pages, and compare files.
GROUP CHAT If you can’t run down the hall to ask a colleague a question, you’ll need an efficient way to stay in touch and compensate for the lack of facetime. Email (which can be difficult to organize and search) is inferior to chat technology such as Slack, the forerunner in this field. In Slack, you can set up various “channels” with specified descriptions/goals (e.g., conflicts-checks, matter-specific, etc.), which can be accessed by designated people. Alternatively, you can direct message one or multiple user(s). The software can be installed on your computer, phone, and/or tablet and is easily searchable.
being used to conduct mediations and depositions. Without it, many aspects of litigation would be impossible to do from the (required) comfort of our own homes. Skype has been around the longest, but Zoom is the fan-favorite in videoconferencing. SOCIAL NETWORKING With all the pressures of work and home, it is easy to overlook the social aspect of our jobs. But socializing with your colleagues is important for firm morale and mental health. Although we cannot meet in person, my firm has been hosting virtual coffee breaks, where we discuss life events (no work talk). I have heard of others who have organized virtual happy hours. All socializing can be conducted over Zoom.
VIDEO CONFERENCING The biggest shift in working remotely is collaborating via CONCLUSION videoconference. It is often much As we enter our second month more efficient to talk through abiding by Austin’s “Stay Home— an issue than to send a flurry of Work Safe Order,” you and emails or messages. The phone is your firm have probably begun always an option, but—in a world adapting and using some of this where we are staying home 90 technology already. If not, I hope percent of the day—it is somethese tips will serve as a useful times nice to see another face guide on how to get there without (even if all participants are wear- AUSTIN too much hassle or need to leave LAWYER ing sweatpants and/or shushing AL AL the house. a child in the background). More importantly, videoconferencing is
