What I use to manage my practice

As most readers of this blog know, I am in a constant search to find the “best” way to manage my practice. As everyone knows, there is no “best” way to manage a law practice, but there is always improvement. So here are the bits of technology and old-school hardware I am using to manage my practice.

As you may also know, I use Linux for my operating system more than half the time. But since I still use Windows at the office, all the software I use is available for both Linux and Windows. There are two exceptions: Outlook, which I don’t really use any longer, and Acrobat.

• Calendar: Google Calendar, Plaxo, and Outlook. While I used Outlook for a long time, Outlook is Windows-only, slow, and bloated. I love that Gcal send SMS reminders to my phone so that I don’t have to be at my computer to get my reminders. It also syncs with Outlook, so I still boot up Outlook once a day or so to back up my calendar. And I also sync my Gcal with with Plaxo, for double-secret extra backup. I don’t worry about security, as there is really no attorney-client privileged information contained in my calendar. (Reading this, I realize I don’t really need Outlook at all any more.)
• Tasks/to-dos: Remember the Milk, paper and pen. I just started using RTM for deadlines (scheduling order deadlines, due dates, etc.). Google Calendar is missing this vital feature, and RTM has much easier keyboard shortcuts than Outlook. RTM integrates well into Google Calendar, and will also send SMS reminders before a task is due. For things without due dates, I use a work planning grid. It just works better.
• Contacts: Plaxo, Outlook, and Mozilla Thunderbird. The address book in Outlook is better than most, but it ties me to Windows, which I don’t like. But Plaxo syncs with Outlook beautifully, and also with Thunderbird, Gmail, and it automatically updates my contacts’ information when they update theirs with Plaxo.
• E-mail: Mozilla Thunderbird. I use IMAP, not POP, so my e-mail stays stored safely on my mail server, and I can use any e-mail application to see it without having to re-setup folders, etc. And Thunderbird does e-mail, especially IMAP, better than all the rest.
• Word processing / document creation: OpenOffice.org. I stopped using Microsoft Office nearly a year ago, and have never looked back. It’s free, powerful, and easier to convert documents to PDF. Plus, it offers excellent support for both MS Office and Corel Wordperfect file formats.
• PDF creation: OpenOffice.org, Ubuntu Linux, and Acrobat 7.0 Standard. Many documents are as simple as hitting the “convert to PDF” button in OOo. To print websites and things, I use the built-in PDF printer in Ubuntu Linux or the Acrobat PDF printer in Windows. For PDF document editing and assembly, however, Acrobat is great, although I plan to convert to CutePDF when I finally feel the need to “upgrade” to a newer version. Unless a good and free options emerges.
• Timekeeping: OpenOffice.org Calc. Simple is always best, and sometimes fancy shmancy timekeeping software is just too hard. I just use a spreadsheet to log my hours. I think I would need a better solution if there were more people working here than just me, but an OOo spreadsheet is perfect for an office of one.
• Billing: OpenOffice.org Calc. Since I rarely have more than one client with an hourly-fee arrangement at any one time, I do not need anything fancy for billing. I just use OOo Calc to whip up invoices, which seems to work just fine.
• Bookkeeping / accounting: GnuCash. I am a nuts-and-bolts kind of guy. I hate the way Billing Matters Plus and Quickbooks try to hide the bookkeeping from the user. GnuCash lets me handle the books like a bookkeeper so that I can see what is happening.

Tagged as: accounting, billing, calendar, collaboration, contacts, e-mail, free, GTD, OpenOffice.org, PDF, save money, scheduling, software, starting a law firm, tasks, timekeeping