The business relationship with the attorney who gave me my “breakout” case has developed in a way that I did not envision because it has resulted in my consulting almost exclusively for this one attorney-client. I know if I do a great job and maintain a successful relationship with this attorney, other attorneys in his law firm will also hire me.
Unless you’re an OB nurse, you probably don’t have many cord management skills. If you’re like me, the backside of your desk is a mess – of cables that is. One thing’s for sure, no matter who you are, the more gadgets you have, the more cables you have.
One of the most important principles I have learned from consulting with attorneys is to anticipate the opposing side’s arguments and positions. I also learned this analysis strategy in law school. On final exams, my grades depended upon my ability to argue both sides of every case even when I didn’t like my own arguments.
Video conference facilities have long been used to allow witnesses to offer testimony in different types of court cases; however, use of this technology can be costly. We’re now seeing the first instances of witnesses testifying in court via Skype®. In a Georgia criminal case, a defense witness was allowed to testify via Skype over objections from the prosecution, and in a Pennsylvania child custody case, the deported parents of two small children were allowed to testify from Mexico via Skype.
As long as there’s been email, there have been discussions – often heated – over whether or not it’s appropriate to use an email auto-responder. If you don’t know what that is, think of it as an automatic response that goes to each person who sends you an email. I’m sure you’ve been the recipient of the most common form “Hi, I’m out of the office backpacking in southern Sudan and don’t expect to return until September 31st. If this requires an urgent response, please contact, blah, blah, blah.” Most people use these to indicate they’ll be out of the office for some reason (like a vacation or boondoggle to Paducah) and won’t be responding to email.
We all know the person whose life would be totally different and of course much better if only “Y” had happened instead of “X.” The mantra never changes. “If Y had happened, then I could have done X” or “If only W had done Z, then my life would be different” or “If Q was different, I’d be different” and, my personal favorite, “If only Y had happened, I’d be happy or successful or married,” or whatever.
An email titled Send This to Everyone in New York Who Handles Nursing Malpractice Cases was forwarded to me by one of my attorney-clients. The author was the managing partner of New York City’s largest medical malpractice firm. For the last six years, I had been trying to think of a creative way to get referrals from this firm. Vickie’s blog on intuitive vision was still fresh in my mind. I knew immediately that I had to stop reviewing a complex medical record, put the day’s usual business on hold and focus on this potential opportunity.
Okay, that’s a graham air joke not a spell check joke. Seriously, as much as I love Firefox® and Chrome®, I still occasionally need to use Internet Explorer®. However, I am dismayed that it lacks the built-in spell check capability found in both Firefox and Chrome. By spell check I mean that little red line that indicates you’ve misspelled an important word in a web form (like the “comments” box on today’s Tuesday Tech Tip). Here’s an example:
Everyone has a favorite restaurant and I’m lucky enough to have several, depending upon which city I’m in when I get hungry. Here in Houston, it’s an Italian pizzeria enoteca called Dolce Vita in an old house near downtown. Sunday afternoons, if we’re in town, you can frequently find Tom and me on their shaded patio indulging in the outdoors with a glass of healthy red wine and scrumptious, real Italian food. This is a very casual, feel-good, comfy restaurant completely void of pretensions. But Dolce Vita’s standards are far from casual.
One of our CLNC® pros shares how losing sight of her business plan almost cost her a valuable attorney-client and what she did to come back even stronger.
*The opinions and statements made by Vickie Milazzo, the founder of Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. are based on her experiences and expertise, should not be applied beyond the specific context provided, and do not guaranty or project actual results. Vickie Milazzo is no longer involved in the operations or management of the business, but is involved as an independent education consultant.
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