The Cloud & Security: It’s Easy

Posted by BryceJD on July 8, 2015
Posted in: Technology.

There’s a lot of hand-wringing in the legal community about cloud computing and security concerns. There are also tons of bar journal and magazine articles threatening dire consequences for attorneys who are not properly storing client data and foretelling the doom and gloom that could result from a data breach.

It seems like a lot of the information I read and hear about law firm security is espoused by people who either have no idea what these new computin’ machines are all about or are proposing some completely insane Top Secret Encryption intended for nuclear launch codes that 99% of law firms have neither the ability nor the need to implement. Allow me to distill the steps you need to take down into five relatively simple concepts. I don’t speak for any bar ethics committee or anything like that, but if you follow my five very simple rules I don’t believe anyone could possibly fault you or say you were irresponsible. Continue Reading

Ridiculous Student Loan Payments? I’m Not Buying It

Posted by BryceJD on June 28, 2015
Posted in: Law School/Bar Exam.

There are tons of stories in the news about college students (and especially law students) having outrageous student loan debt. The debt can’t be paid. The debt is thousands upon thousands of dollars a month. The debt is making all these people impoverished. Everyone is defaulting and losing everything due to the oppressive student loan payments.

These people claimed they were tricked and bamboozled by the lending banks, and just have no idea how this happened. They claimed they lived frugally and scraped by, doing their best to keep debt low while also getting a first rate education.

I will be probably be completely excoriated by my peers and others for this, but if this student loan debt was acquired any time from 2010 up to the time of this writing, I have one word for these claims: Bullshit. Continue Reading

Why I Don’t Like Avvo

Posted by BryceJD on June 26, 2015
Posted in: Social Media.

For those of you (blissfully) not in the know, Avvo is basically “Facebook for Lawyers.” Lawyers can create profiles, upload pictures and information about themselves, and answer questions that potential clients post on the site or e-mail to the attorney through the site. Clients can also review attorneys, and Avvo provides a “rating” for lawyers based on various factors. That sounds all well and good, except for one seriously obnoxious facet of the site: There’s no way for an attorney to opt out. Continue Reading

True Currency

Posted by BryceJD on June 22, 2015
Posted in: Solo Practice.

A big part of life is defining what is truly valuable to us. Some people are hyper-ambitious, always searching for the next brass ring. Other people are relatively happy where they are, and just kind of coast by. Some people define success by tangible symbols: Money, houses, cars, boats, lavish vacations, etc. Others are more focused on inward feelings of accomplishment, happiness, or safety. I’ve grappled with these questions myself, and I think I’ve more or less distilled the things most valuable to me into two simple concepts:

  • Freedom
  • Time

These are the only truly priceless, irreplaceable things that we all possess. You can lose your house, your car, and every single one of your material possessions. You can gain all of it (and maybe more) back. I have seen nearly destitute people declare bankruptcy and make a nice life for themselves a few years out. People fall on hard times. It happens. Humans are incredibly resilient; we can recover. What you can’t replace, though, is the time you lose or the opportunities and experiences you give up trying to carve your name on Glory Row. Continue Reading

Lazy Bar Prep

Posted by BryceJD on June 14, 2015
Posted in: Law School/Bar Exam.

The Days of Reckoning are very fast approaching for the Summer 2015 Florida Bar Exam takers. Having sat for that same exam not very long ago myself, I’ve compiled some tips that play a bit fast and loose with the notions of traditional studying you’ve probably had heaped upon you. I’m not saying my way is the only way or even necessarily the best way, but for a certain type of personality and mindset I think it’s pretty fantastic.

If you aren’t in law school or taking the bar exam, this post will somehow both make no sense to you while also boring you to death. You have been warned. Also, by way of full disclosure, I am not some sort of Certified Bar Exam Guru or anything like that. I don’t work for BARBRI or Kaplan or any other bar review company. Continue Reading