When I got my first job out of college (back when God was a child) as a loan officer trainee at a big bank, computers (old Wang workstations) were only for secretaries. I suggested to my superiors that if I had a computer on my desk I could be much more efficient but that was like asking them to send me to school to learn stenography. Several years later, when I got out of law school and went to work at a law firm and at legal aid, still no computer on my desk. But that didn’t last long.

In talking to lawyers about going paperless, I’ve come to realize that in some offices with more than one attorney or more than one staff person, the scanner (if there is one) is treated like the fax machine or the copier. That is, they have one machine, it is in a common area, and the lawyer either has to leave his or her desk to use it or ask the staff person to scan the documents.  The scanner is treated like the old Wang workstation.

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At Sam Glover’s behest, I have been experimenting with social networking sites such as Linked In and Facebook. Both sites urge you to find your “friends” and “connections” so that you can expand your network and uncover untold riches (they really are untold).

So you dutifully go about searching for people you know, inviting them to be your friends, and then in turn look at their friends to see who you may know in common. It’s much easier to find friends by looking at other people’s lists than it is to just randomly type in names of people you know (like your buddy Jane Johnson).  If you stick with these sites for a while, you’ll periodically get waves of e-mails of people you know who have just joined and are themselves trying to expand their networks.

For lawyers, creating these on-line friendship circles raises some interesting questions about who should be your friends. For example, do lawyers want their clients to be their “friends?”

From a networking perspective, this could be a great boon to a lawyer’s practice. Become “friends” with your clients (with their permission, of course, because the client may prefer that you keep his or her identify confidential under Rule 1.6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct), and then all of the client’s friends can see who the client’s lawyer is, or provide a prospective client with yet another means of checking you out. Your social network page may even drive clients to your website through a convenient link on the social networking site.

Wait a second. Your clients are going to be your “friends?”

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The description from Minnesota CLE:

Tech Tuesday: Free and Open-Source Software for Running the Whole Law Office
Presented by Presented by Samuel Glover; moderated by Todd Scott and Peter Berge

Tuesday, March 18, 2008, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. CST
1.0 law office management credit
Tuition: $75

Part of the ongoing “Tech Tuesday” webcast series, streaming the third Tuesday of most months.

The standard commercial software for running a law office is by no means cheap. There are, however, alternatives. In this Tech Tuesday webcast, attorney Sam Glover, the author of the SoloSmallTech.com blog, will talk about free and open-source alternatives to standard operating systems and office suite, calendar, tickler, and file management applications. His conclusion, surprising to some, is that free and open-source software has progressed to the point that it competes toe-to-toe with its commercial counterparts and meets all the requirements for electronic filing with the courts.

Presented by Sam Glover, Samuel J. Glover & Assoc., Minneapolis; moderated by Todd C. Scott, Minnesota Lawyers Mutual, Minneapolis, and Peter H. Berge, Minnesota CLE, St. Paul.

Register Now for Free and Open-Source Software for Running the Whole Law Office

Update: ILS Attorneys responds below; Mr. Akinwole is apparently real, and his friends are unhappy that I posted this without first visiting Nigeria and looking him up to make sure he existed before posting.

I have started to notice a few LinkedIn users recently who say they are attorneys from Nigeria or other African countries. Mr. Abayomi Akinwole, for example. I do now know whether Mr. Akinwole is real, but a search for “ILS Attorneys Nigeria”, the firm and country he purports to be from, turns up nothing but his LinkedIn profile.

So is this a clever ploy to draw in people willing to send off retainer checks, or is it evidence that the internet is finally allowing the global networking we have been hoping for?

I don’t know, but it does surprise me that someone who is “hip” enough to be on LinkedIn would not also have a website for the law firm at which he is a partner, so I am suspicious. And curious.

Here is MCLE’s description:

In this Tech Tuesday program, legal technology expert Brendan Chard and attorney Sam Glover will be guest speakers. Mr. Glover is the author of the SoloSmallTech.com blog and Mr. Chard consults with attorneys on a variety of technology issues, including blogging. They will discuss how attorneys are using blogging both to better inform their clients and to market themselves, and will give specific suggestions on how blogging can be an integral part of client communications.

Presented by Brendan Chard, Chard.Net LLC, Minneapolis and Samuel J. Glover, Samuel J. Glover & Assoc., Minneapolis; moderated by Todd C. Scott, Minnesota Lawyers Mutual, Minneapolis, and Peter H. Berge, Minnesota CLE, St. Paul.

You can register here.

On April 4, 2007, over the noon hour, I will be presenting at MCLE’s Tech Tuesday. The topic is “Simplify your life with technology (or, how I learned to stop worrying and love my computer).” I will be presenting a three-step process for using technology in your law practice:

• Eliminate (almost all) paper
• Streamline your digital life
• Fun and profit

I will be going over hardware, software, and most importantly, using both, in order to get your technological life in order and simplify your law practice.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm CDT
Live via the Internet (www.MinnCLE.org)