This is the first in an occasional series of TWO TIPS from attorneys with specific practice areas. Their sage advice applies to that particular arena, and is very likely relevant to your practice as well. It’s always helpful to be reminded to follow the basics.

Let’s begin with attorneys who have a family law, matrimonial law, mediation or divorce practice. Each was asked to impart wisdom to a new associate who has joined their firm after practicing in a different field of law.

The pandemic is a modern tragedy that has permanently changed many aspects of our lives, and our businesses are no exception to this change. Resiliently, businesses pivoted to the online work environment to continue operations while maintaining vigilance of the health and safety of their team members and clients. Today, remote working or a hybrid environment largely prevails.

The online work environment comes with a unique set of challenges. To leverage its full value, we must stay focused on developing tools and best practices that enable our teams to maximize output; optimize efficiencies; respect and nourish human capital; and protect against burnout. A guide that has created immeasurable value for our firm is ACT, an acronym that highlights focus areas for leaders and employees alike. Consulting this guide, while managing, supporting and encouraging your team’s endeavors, ensures that everyone will always have opportunity to develop as a community, while maintaining a focus on growth and advancement.

It’s summer and either you’ve taken vacation or plan to take time off.

Review how your colleagues of Women Owned Law manage their time, their practice and their personal lives to have a truly relaxing vacation. Which tips will you follow the next time you leave the office?

By: Janet L Falk, Ph.D

Your long-awaited summer vacation is around the corner. Time to compose your Out of Office (OOO) automated email reply.

Let’s say you’re involved in cross-border litigation with an entity in Denmark and the case will be tried in U.S. federal court;  all the trial exhibits and discovery documents must be translated from Danish into English. Perhaps you represent a U.S. manufacturer whose workforce is primarily Spanish-speaking; you advise your client a best practice is to translate their handbook, NDA and onboarding forms into Spanish. Maybe you file a lawsuit on behalf of your client; when the defendant speaks Korean and is not English-proficient, the summons and related paperwork must be translated for them. You may need to depose a witness who doesn’t feel comfortable being questioned in English. Are you handling the estate of someone who owned properties in the United States and Venezuela? You’d better learn about the Venezuelan proceedings. Whatever the circumstance, you face a language barrier between you and whatever you need to accomplish for your case.

Here are three considerations when you require translation or interpretation services:

When I started my solo disability law practice, I got bogged down answering the same basic questions from potential clients over and over again. 

I needed to screen potential clients without myself or my staff speaking with every caller, only to find that they did not meet the basic requirements for a case that we would accept.