When I agreed to write a column for Pennsylvania Law Weekly, I did so because the areas I intended to discuss did not fit into the traditional categories that apply to most legal writing. Instead, my goal was to focus on the intersection of legal ethics, technology and practice management, addressing the practical issues that confront individual attorneys, their firms and their staffs, including nonlawyers. As a result, one column might address changes in technology that impact legal practice, while another might examine how to balance practice management concerns with a lawyer’s ethical obligations. Or, as in this piece, I may analyze how changes or proposed changes in the Rules of Professional Conduct will impact the way lawyers practice, market and/or manage their offices. In addition, I welcome reader comments and suggestions and hope to answer questions in these pages.
I come to this column from a rather unique perspective. I operate a law office that handles workers’ compensation claims; we also provide ethical guidance, as well as appellate and writing services, to other attorneys. I also operate a technology consulting firm that helps lawyers use technology to improve their workflow. Thus, some readers may already know me as the workers’ comp lawyer, or the ethics guy, or the technology attorney, or as a writer. Wearing all of these hats gives me, on several issues, a perspective that many of my colleagues do not have.
