Tips for Collecting the Tools You Need to Get the Work Done

As you know, the third item of the five items it takes to make up every business in the world is "getting the work done." We have started to talk about this topic and will continue to do so until we have gone through all the "tips" that I have with regard to getting the legal work done in your law office on a day to day basis.

The five things that it takes to make up every business in the world are as follows:
1. "Clients" or "Customers," 2. "Administration," 3. "Getting the work done,"
4. "Billing;" 5. Collecting.

In the area of "getting the work done" this week's "tip" is to talk about the basics that you need in your law firm in order to practice on a day to day basis with regard to form files, books, and databases.

It is obvious that the day of extensive book libraries are over unless you happen to be a law school. It is also obvious that there are lots of people out there that will sell you lots of information that turns out to be totally worthless. Obviously, if there are some particular information available to you with regard to forms or practice information that has to do with a particular area that you work in consistently, you owe it to yourself to look up that information and if it makes sense, to buy it for your office.

Over the years I have determined that there are certain basic tools that I need to have in my office on a day to day basis in order to make my practice run smoothly. These tools can be broken down into three categories: hard cover books, in house CD-ROMs and database internet services.

Let's talk about hardcover books first. There is an argument to be made that the only hardcover books that you need in your office are those that either are not available in any other format, or that you use so often that it is easier to use the book than it is to use a computer to access the information. These "must have" books are becoming fewer and fewer every day.

The following is a list of hardcover books that I have found are pretty hard to beat in terms of having them available so that you can thumb through the pages:
1. Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edition;
2. Federal Civil Judicial Procedure and Rules;
3. Kansas Court Rules and Procedure;
4. Missouri Court Rules;
5. Kansas Blue Book Directory;
6. Missouri Blue Book Directory;
7. Kansas Bar Association Publications by Area of Practice;
8. Missouri Bar Black Book Series by Area of Practice;
9. Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest Volumes.

I'm still somewhat of an old-fashioned lawyer, and sometimes find it difficult in trying to find something on the computer when you only are limited to a very small amount of information that you can look at on a screen at any given time. Sometimes it's just difficult to find what you are looking for when you cannot see a more of the Table of Contents than what fits on a single screen. I must admit that sometimes I still find myself going back to looking at particular state statute in the Missouri Practice Series in hardcover even though they are out of date, in order to find a particular section that I want to find on-line.

The next category of information to have available in your office is CD-ROMs. For a while CD-ROMs and the information that you could get from them were all the rage for a time. All you needed was a computer tower that could load your CD-ROM when you wanted to look something up. My impression is that this has been replaced by databases that are available on-line. One of the few exceptions to this is a publication by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Continuing Legal Education Department that is called "Forms for Use with Missouri Rules of Court." This is available in a two volume hardcover set and also has a CD-ROM with it. I have found this book and CD-ROM incredibly helpful in my practice. I must admit that I'm somewhat partial to it, since I am the co-author of the book along with Dean Jeffery Berman from the University of Missouri School of Law. I am told that this is the most widely sold publication from the Continuing Legal Education Department at UMKC, so there must be something of value in it. I recommend that if you don't have this book and CD-ROM, that you buy it. Jeff and I did it for free, we don't get any royalties; so this is not an infomerical.

The last area of information in the office that we use on a day to day basis is electronically accessed over the internet on a subscription basis. The two main services available now are Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis. Some time ago we opted for Westlaw, and have never been disappointed. Since we are a small law firm, we found that a basic package subscription on a monthly basis cut our Westlaw bills dramatically. We pay about $900 a month for a basic database that give us everything we need with regard to the states of Missouri and Kansas, the Federal Courts, AmJur Pleading and Practice and AmJur Business Forms and the Missouri Practice Series. We almost never need to access anything in addition to these areas on-line. If we do, oftentimes the databases are available free of charge so there is really no reason to subscribe to any thing more than you basically need.

There was a time when we had extensive form files in our office, but with the advent of the computer, CD-ROM databases and on-line databases, the need for these form files seems to be slowly but surely fading away. At this time about the only form files we use are for administrative forms.

At one time we actually had an index in our office that we kept up with regard to various forms we had regarding particular areas that we practiced in, but this form book catalogue, has probably not been updated in nearly five years. Slowly but surely, all these forms that we so religiously kept are being superceded by electronic storage or electronic access to databases which makes the paper form files in your office obsolete.

It is certainly not too difficult to see in the very near future that absolutely every thing in your law firm with regard to form files, information on practice areas and research will be totally electronic. I'm confident that many of you that are reading this are already at that stage. Hopefully, as every thing becomes totally electronic, people will work on making all of this electronic information more user-friendly. There are still a lot of lawyers in practice that were born before 1950. All of us have an unbelievable amount of information that comes across our desk on a daily, weekly and monthly basis regarding all kinds of things that we could pay for that are supposed to help us in our practice. I must admit, I love forms, but I like money better. I have only tried to invest in those things that I consistently use on a day to day basis and that I consistently find are helpful to me in my day to day practice. If you don't find yourself wishing that you had a particular thing that would help you in your practice on almost a daily basis, it is frankly not worth buying. On the other hand, if the tool is so basic that you find yourself needing it every day, or referring someone in your office to it so that they can get information that will help you serve your clients better, by all means invest in the product.

You will not be surprised to find that my suggestion in the area of form files, practice books and databases is similar to my philosophy in other areas, that is, use the "KISS" method. "KISS" means "Keep It Simple Stupid."

Next week we're going to talk about litigation meetings, docket meetings, and calendar meetings. I think you will find this "tip" interesting with regard to how it is different than "things to do"/case list meetings that we talked about several weeks ago. There is simply no substitute for periodically getting your office staff together and talk about what's working, what's not working, how to fix what's not working, how to be organized, how to be prepared, and how to build comradery and winning team with all the people that you're working with in your law office. I think you will find some of my suggestions both interesting and helpful.

Talk to you next week!

Jim Wirken is a civil trial attorney and the Chairman of the Board of The Wirken Law Group in Kansas City.