Virtual Law Office — Legal Practice Pro

Hey BigLaw/BigCorp – This is how you manage a company!

March 7, 2009 By Long Duong

Can’t remember how I stumbled upon Zappos.com and I’m not yet a customer, but when the opportunity presents itself, you better believe I will become one.

Zappos.com in a nutshell, is an online shoe store with a mediocre website but a seriously refreshing model that HR officers should seriously consider.

Highlights of this video from NightLine include:

100% healthcare
Encouragement of employee identity
A CEO (Tony Hsieh) who takes 36k in salary, less than some of his call center employees
A cubicle city with lots of flair (Hsieh himself has a cubicle – no corner office with a steel door)
A giant mural of Rick Astley (I’m sure rickrolling is safe for work)
A celebrated trainee program that offers trainees money to leave the company if they don’t feel committed (in this video, trainees were offered $2000 to leave – no one took the bait.)
…and most importantly, unbelievable employee morale!

If all companies operated this way, I wouldn’t envy the home office!

Top 10 Ways To Get Fired By Your Lawyer (or any professional service provider!)

March 6, 2009 By Long Duong

brett-headshot Brett Trout over at Blawgit wrote a great article about how to maintain an amicable relationship with your lawyer.

The advice is timeless and works for all professionals service providers. Ultimately it comes down to setting and acknowledging boundaries.

Brett discusses “violations” of the attorney client relationship:

If the violations stem from the nature of your business and/or you are an otherwise good client, most attorneys will overlook most of these issues. Unfortunately, once you have pushed too far, it is unlikely the relationship will ever recover. All too often, clients do not realize what they have lost until they go looking for a replacement. If you think finding a good attorney is hard, try finding one after being fired by your last attorney.

It’s a good read – check it out!

Thanks to @DebraTuomey for the tip!

Filed Under: Virtual Law Office Tagged With: brett trout

Envy This! – Submit your Home Office Photos or Videos!

February 21, 2009 By Long Duong

Do you have a home office you’re proud of? How about just one that’s comfortable? A cluttery mess? Or OCD inspired?

Send em in! All posted photos or videos will include a credit back to your site (including a “dofollow” link back!)

Please do not mail actual photos or videos. Use a host such as PhotoBucket and send me the image link.

Also include the following information:

1. Name?

2. Link to?

3. Occupation or Hobby?

4. Twiter ID (optional)

(Spammy/fake submissions will be weeded out so please don’t waste your time)

Click here to submit your entry (whspr.com contact page – to avoid massive spam!)

Filed Under: Virtual Law Office Tagged With: home office photos, home office snapshots, home office videos

Facebook Connect finally releases Commenting Widget!

February 19, 2009 By Long Duong

Facebook launched “Facebook Connect” last year and I was falling all over myself trying to learn how to integrate it with my WordPress blogs. A video was posted which claimed I could integrate FB Connect in 8 minutes! Epic Fail.

I’m not a coder. I’m an expert Worpdress php code trial and error manipulator, aka “Faker”. That video did nothing for me. It referenced technical coding that made as much sense to me as Calculus 3. (sidenote: Google’s Friend Connect is considerably easier to implement, but is still a very limited application)

So I did what every Faker would have done… google “facebook connect for wordpress.” Turns out there is a plugin but it didn’t integrate blog comments with WordPress (not with alot of modification anyway.) I gave up and thought maybe I’d hire a non-Faker/real coder to do it for me.

Well, everything changed today when Facebook launched the Facebook Connect Commenting Widget. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Virtual Law Office Tagged With: facebook comment integation wordpress, facebook comments, facebook connect, facebook connect comment widget

Blawging Lawyers launches tomorrow (Monday) @ 8:30AM EST!

February 15, 2009 By Long Duong

Just a reminder for those of you interested in Blawging Lawyers, I’ve recently learned that “seating” is capped at 250! Get on the bandwagon!

I guarantee you will be learning from the best. Go download your free report and get notified the instant doors officially open –> Blawging Lawyers

A bit more PR if you’re interested:

Blawging Lawyers opens its doors on Monday, Feb. 16, at 8:30 am Eastern, 7:30 am Central, 6:30 am Mountain, and 5:30 am Pacific. You can register and claim your spot then.

Blawging Lawyers shows you step by step how to successfully market your practice through blogging and internet marketing over a six-month program timeline. At the end of the program, you graduate as a Blawger, ready to turn on that tap and start attracting clients! There is nothing else anywhere like it on the Web.

Blawging Lawyers has a host of features you will really appreciate once you’re on the inside:

* Complete written topics (in Plain English, not too short and not too long)
* Audio “teleclass” discussions between Michael and Grant
* Success Interviews with attorneys who are reaping the benefits of blogging
* Live teleseminars with Grant, Michael, and experts
* Written and video walk-throughs of WordPress blog software
* Video critiques of law blogs
* Live Blawging Lawyers member community forums
* And More

Because Michael and Grant want to provide as much attention and help as they can in the forums and throughout the 6 month program, Blawging Lawyers can only accept a total of 250 members at a time. This way Grant and Michael can be sure you will get plenty of personal attention.

The Blawging Lawyers program is the perfect length at 6 months. It’s not too short, where you’d be missing entire topics, and it’s not too long, either (it’s about accelerating your learning curve and getting you going… not draining your time away endlessly). You will have everything you need after 6 months to take your practice to the next level of success.

If it’s after 8:30 am Eastern by the time you read this, you’d better head on over to to enroll now, before all 250 spots are gone.

Filed Under: Virtual Law Office Tagged With: Blawging Lawyers, blawginglawyers.com, grant griffiths

Stir Crazy in your home office? Feeling groggy? Reboot!

February 9, 2009 By Long Duong

I still conduct business at a traditional office – though I’ve taken steps to make the jump. That said, I still spend lots of time in my home office working. I spend lots of time optimizing my websites for better marketing and positioning (SEO) and despite only dedicating a few hours working at home, I still find myself getting a bit stir crazy.

My solution? Get out. Go roam.

Even if this means just a quick jump in the car to run errands or a gym stop to shoot some hoops, every bit of escape leaves you refreshed. I call this a “reboot”.

So stop reading this blog or just subscribe to it using Google Reader (yes, you can read HOE on your phone!) and take it on the run. (I just bought a Blackberry Curve and can’t put it down!)

I find that reading my RSS Feeds at the gym is a great way to relocate and stay connected. That said, going offline is healthy – and home office workers have a tendency become online addicts.

Here’s a list of suggestions:

Go for a walk
Go shoot some hoops
Go ride a bike
Go to the gym
Go run some errands
Go to the bank
Go for a swim
Go to the dog park
Go get a dog
Go to the bookstore <– personal favorite
Go catch a matinee flick
Go to the library
Go buy an overpriced cup of coffee or a smoothie
Go pick up some milk

Just go. Get out. Reboot.

Filed Under: Virtual Law Office Tagged With: go offline, home office dementia, home office productivity, stir crazy

The Ringtone from 24 (CTU) – Jack Bauer's calling!

February 7, 2009 By Long Duong

I recently puchased a Blackberry Curve 8320 and could go on and on about it, but for the moment, I thought I’d share a ringtone that I converted to mp3 format to save you ringtone crazies the trouble.

Download the Ringtone from 24 (CTU) << right click the link to save it to your computer

Now everytime your phone rings – it’s probably Jack Bauer.