Month: July 2016

Ten Things: ‘Cool Tech’ for In-House Lawyers (2016)

On August 12, 2016, I will be one of the lunch-time speakers at the State Bar of Texas 15th Annual Advanced In-House Counsel Course in beautiful San Antonio, Texas.  I will be joining Jason Smith of Apttus and Jane McBride of Optimus Legal to discuss ways to “Work Smarter, Not Harder.”  A lot of what we’ll be talking about will involve the use of technology (along with some good old-fashion “non-technical” ideas).  If you know me, you know I love gadgets and technology.  Give me some neat technology to play with and I am off to the races, trying to think of all the ways I can use it in my work and personal life.  And there is always something new to try.  Last year, I wrote a post about using technology to increase efficiency in the Legal Department.  I focused a lot on some of the bigger technology efforts most in-house Legal Departments now require, e.g., matter management, e-discovery, along with some of my favorites like Practical Law and Getting the Deal Through, etc.   Everything I wrote about in that post is still relevant and it’s worth taking a look back at that one.  But, since time does not stand still and there are plenty of new programs, apps, and other tech bits for me to write about, this edition of “Ten Things” will discuss 2016’s “cool tech” for in-house lawyers.  I should point out that I do not receive anything to endorse the technology below, it’s just my opinion on what I think in-house lawyers, located just about anywhere in the world, might find useful:

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Ten Things: Ten Habits of Highly Effective In-House Lawyers

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I have written posts on the keys to being a successful in-house lawyer and the steps to take if you are interested in becoming the General Counsel, the latter being one of the most popular pieces I have written to date. A couple of weeks ago I came across an old, dog-eared copy of Stephen Covey’s 1989 business self-help masterpiece, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”  If you haven’t read it, it’s worth picking up a copy.  As I flipped through the pages of the book I realized that most, if not all, of it is still relevant almost 30 years later.  And it got me thinking about some of the things I learned as I advanced in my career as an in-house lawyer.  Through luck, hard work, trial and error, excellent mentors, and other things, I stumbled upon a number of “habits” that I think make for highly effective and successful in-house lawyers.  This edition of “Ten Things” will discuss what I think those habits are:

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