As lawyers, we have an ethical duty to ensure privacy for client communications. Technology hasn’t changed this, but there have been recent questions as to what steps lawyers should be expected to take to protect electronic communications. To address these issues, the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility recently released Formal Opinion 477, an update to Formal Opinion 99-413, which discusses how changes in technology use coincide with Rule 1.6 concerning client confidences.

Here at Zola, we can understand why so many legal practice management programs make grand claims of being fully integrated, all-in-one solutions. Software with capabilities to meet all your law practice management needs in one user-friendly interface is appealing. The fact of the matter is that these claims are often misleading. You end up stuck with practice management software that relies on third-party applications and integrations to meet many of your key needs. The bottom line is - you can’t be an all-in-one practice management solution if you are relying on third party applications for important functions such as email, accounting, and document management.

As a conscientious professional, you constantly strive to satisfy your clients.  After all, a happy client can lead the way to great referrals and more business. To achieve this, you must be responsive and attentive, while establishing a sense of trust that your client can rely on you to help solve their problems.

What is an evergreen retainer? An evergreen retainer is a type of security retainer. Just like other types of retainer, your client pays you a sum up front and you are able to use this money to pay your fees and expenses. The difference is with an evergreen retainer, your client needs to keep a predetermined minimum balance on the account.

Does your firm rely on a bookkeeping service to manage your books? Have you experienced data syncing issues or do you have concerns that your provider doesn’t have sufficient experience to manage your books in compliance with your state bar’s client trust (IOLTA) rules and regulations? If so, then it’s time to take your firm’s legal billing and legal accounting into your own hands.

Every lawyer has been there. You need your client to get you time-sensitive, confidential documents and they can’t get to your office. Or you’ve been told “the check is in the mail” and you need to disburse funds that aren’t there. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a convenient, secure way for your clients to send you critical information and pay their invoices using their smartphone? Enter Caseway Mobile, a custom, branded portal application available exclusively to Zola Suite users that lets your clients share privileged information and pay their invoices via their mobile device. With this intuitive and user-friendly application, your clients are sure to keep your law firm in mind when they need you most.

Whether you’ve been practicing for years or just starting out, you undoubtedly have multiple simple form documents that you use again and again. When you think about the time you waste replacing the information and customizing the same document for each matter, it can really add up. Want to find a better way to streamline this process? Zola Suite’s document automation will do the trick!

With cyber security concerns on the rise, how can you safeguard sensitive information against security breaches? To stay in contact with your clients on a regular basis, you probably use email as your preferred way to share and discuss details about their case. But as we’ve all read in the news, email is not the most secure way of sharing sensitive information. Without internal encryption, information shared between your practice and your clients may be intercepted by a third party.

Florida has become the first state to mandate technology CLEs. Beginning January 1st, Florida lawyers must complete a minimum of three extra credit hours of technology-related CLE courses, raising the standard to 33 hours every three years. The FL State Bar decided that lawyers within the state have a technological competence to protect and serve their clients as necessary.  Florida Bar Board of Governors member John Stewart stated, “[l]awyers now have to be familiar with social media issues, e-discovery, e-filing, legal outsourcing, web-based conferences, cloud computing and record keeping, how electronic records are stored and secured, webinars, protecting their electronic communications with clients, and other issues.”