Welcome to part four of our blog series on Going Green, dedicated to helping attorneys practice law in a more environmentally friendly way.  Last week we discussed the overuse of paper in the legal profession, and covered some simple ways that you can use digital technology to decrease the amount of paper that we waste on a daily basis.  This week, let us cover another simple solution to a growing problem, gas and travel costs.

One of the biggest contributors to the destruction of our environment has always been the use of gasoline.  It has been an issue debated at every level, and certainly needs greater solutions from the highest levels.  But there are things that we can do every day that will help out on a smaller scale.

As lawyers, there are many things that you have to be in the office to do.  But there are also a lot of things that you can do from home or at another remote location.  Figuring out a schedule that works for you, it may be helpful, and beneficial to the environment if you can work remotely one or two days every week.

Technology allows you to log into your work computer from anywhere, send and receive files from your home computer or smart phone, and keep up with daily tasks from wherever you happen to be.  Staying home will not only help save the environment, it will save you money on travel and electricity costs at the office.

In addition, no matter how tempting it can be to drive yourself to work every day, you can help out by simply taking public transportation or carpooling with friends or colleagues.  Most cities today offer very convenient, and often environmentally friendly, public transportation systems.  Take advantage of the options that you have in your area to become a “greener” attorney.

Past Installments in this Series
Part One – An Introduction to Going Green
Part Two – Cut Electricity Costs, Just Flip the Switch
Part Three – Forget Paper, Go Digital

The following is a guest post written by Paramjit Mahli of The Sun Communication Group.  The Sun Communication Group is a full-service, boutique marketing and public relations company that works primarily with small law firms.

The economy maybe in the doldrums, and the natural inclination for businesses is to review areas where they can cut their budgets particularly marketing/pr budgets.  The irony of course, is during these turbulent economic times, business should actually be implementing their marketing/pr programs with more gusto than ever before. In fact, the Harvard Business Review (HBR) noted earlier last year:

“It is well documented that brands that increase (marketing) during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.”

It is more important to keep visible in the market place, particularly when competitors may be disappearing after cutting their budgets. All business is based on confidence and psychology.  And for people to do business with you, they have to like, know and trust you. PR is one of the best ways to get known and trusted.

Next time you are fortunate to have a reporter call consider some of the benefits of getting good press coverage:

1. Most clients like to see the firm's lawyer quoted in the news, particularly top tier press. Psychologically, it reinforces the belief that they made the right hiring decision.

2. Exposure increases business development opportunities.  Being quoted, interviewed, featured, or published in the media helps you gain visibility in the marketplace, and it confers that all important 'third-party credibility.'

3. Although our economy is going through some turbulent times, remember that what’s true for consumers of legal services is also true for lawyers looking for work; they prefer a firm that is perceived positively.

4. In high-profile cases/issues which draw media interest, an essential part of the job must be to make sure the media cover the story accurately and fairly. As with most people lawyers DO get a thrill out of seeing their own name getting ink.

5. Finally, public relations has a ripple effect, boosting the morale of other employees and instilling them with pride with the firm.

Of course, all of this is just empty rhetoric if PR plans are not implemented.
 
The Sun Communication Group has launched a very affordable service for those seeking public relations, SCG Legal PR Network. This service allows firms irrespective of size gain exposure to both national and non-legal media through a variety of opportunities.

This is a new weekly post where we will be reviewing some of our favorite User Feedback from attorneys who have completed Lawline.com CLE courses.  We decided to start this blog post because we thought it would be fun to share our favorites.

Faculty Member: Herald Price Fahringer

Lawline.com CLE Courses:
Cross Examination of an Expert Witness
Art of Persuasion
Strategies for Delivering Opening Statements
The Basics of Legal Writing

Herald Price Fahringer has run the gauntlet at Lawline.com, teaching four amazing courses.  By combining years of experience and a real knowledge of people and the law, Mr. Fahringer has proven himself to be an expert speaker, and one that our users have asked for again and again.  Below are some comments we have received that really stand out.

Favorite Comments about Herald Price Fahringer
"What a great speaker. He performs like an actor on a stage. He really held my attention. Bravo!"   - Robert (Arlington, VA)

"The only thing that can be said about Mr. Fahringer is: wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, and, then, when you run out of "wonderfuls," superb, superb, et cetera."   - Glenn (Virginia Beach, VA)

"As always, Mr. Fahringer is a gem in the crown of our profession -- knowledgeable, articulate, and engaging!"   - Cynthia (Pacifica, CA)

Favorite Comments on his CLE programs
"100 proof stuff here. It's an art not a science. Fahringer delivers with the strokes of Picasso."   - Neil (Northbrook, IL)

"Possibly the best CLE presentation I have ever seen, live or distance learning. He was just fantastic."   - Dana (Chattanooga, TN)

"Clear, concise and very effective. Speaker was well-organized, engaging and held my attention throughout the presentation."   - Scott (New York, NY)

The following article is a guest post written by Christine Musil, Director of Marketing for Informative Graphics Corporation (IGC).

Fiascoes resulting from improper redaction have certainly made a lot of headlines recently. The most recent occurred last week when social networking juggernaut Facebook inadvertently revealed their internal estimated value for the company ($3.7 billion), which was in stark contrast to the valuation they had submitted to Microsoft ($15 billion). Now Facebook is scrambling to piece its integrity back together as they face definite embarrassment and possible allegations of fraud.  In 2005, U.S. military officials released improperly redacted documents to the media containing classified information on the shooting death of an Italian secret agent by U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Incidents like these prompted the NSA to produce a document* devoted to proper redaction methods and common pitfalls.
(*Link to NSA Document: http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/dod/nsa-redact.pdf)

Redaction is a simple but important process which involves concealing information in documents that is deemed sensitive or inflammatory.  Historically, redaction was done using black magic markers to cross out names, social security numbers, medical records, and the like.  More recently, law firms and corporations have been using various electronic methods to redact digital documents such as PDF files. 

One would think that companies like Facebook and the U.S. military would be savvy on electronic redaction technology, right?  So what went wrong?  In both examples, users creating the redaction simply drew a black box over the text they wanted to hide. Some used Microsoft Word’s drawing shapes to cover text then output that file to PDF. The faulty logic here is that converting a Word document to PDF does not actually remove hidden text. Recipients of that PDF can still select the text in the document and paste it into another application, where that covered text is then fully visible.

Additionally, many users don’t realize that deleted content is often still available through examination of invisible metadata. There are many applications that reveal this metadata, including any comments, text revisions and all usernames of people who commented or modified the document.  The moral of the story is – just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it can’t be seen by others.
 
Best Practices for Electronic Redaction

Clearly, to avoid becoming a cautionary tale like Facebook, all users responsible for redacting documents must be adequately trained on how to perform proper redaction and on proper use of their selected redaction tools. This training must start with making the user understand that visible content—what you see on the screen and on hard copy prints—is not all of the information the document has to offer.  There are numerous ways to uncover data that’s invisible to the naked eye.

The safest method of redaction is to use a software application that creates an entirely new file with the content selected for redaction and all metadata omitted. True redaction software will let users open their original document, select areas for redaction (ideally collaboratively, so all interested parties can verify redactions) then finalize the file as a new rendition of the document as a clean TIFF or PDF.

There are a number of redaction tools available. Adobe Acrobat (www.adobe.com) now has a redaction feature in its Professional Extended version, but for less money there are several smaller products that focus strictly on redaction. These products include Redact-It® by Informative Graphics Corp. (www.redact-it.com), RapidRedact (www.rapidredact.com) and I.D. Shield from Extract Systems (www.extractsystems.com).

Electronic redaction is a simple concept, but it actually has great complexities.  Proper training and software with adequate functionality are essential ingredients that cannot be ignored.  Don’t end up like Facebook – face the facts about electronic redaction and get the tools and education to do it right!

Another week has passed, and another group of people have started using new internet technology to connect with others and build business.  Hopefully, that group of people includes some lawyers.  Welcome to part 11 of our blog series on social media for attorneys.  This week we will focus on viral marketing.

Viral marketing is a term used for the spread of an idea or movement from person to person.  This is a similar concept to word of mouth, but one that has taken on a whole new life of its own when used in the context of social media.  You can take advantage of networks and communities to get your message out to as many people as possible.

The term “going viral” simply refers to something that begins to spread rapidly across the web.  In many ways, a message or idea goes “viral” on its own.  But you can use the social media components that you learn in this blog series to facilitate that process.  Here is how:

1. Use Twitter to link to something that you want to spread with a short, exciting, and eye-catching punch line.  This way you’re followers will check it out.

2. Use your blog to either bring people in, or direct people out to where you want them to go.  The more links that you use, the better.

3. You can use your accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, or other networks to link back to either Twitter or you blog and create even more links.

4. Comment on other blogs with links back to your own blog, drawing readers from all over.

Things that will go viral are exciting and catchy.  Nobody is going to spread the word about something that is boring or common.  Make sure you have something unique to say, something that is worth spreading across the internet, and something that a lot of other people will find stimulating.

Some examples of things that are worth using the social media to spread are contests and promotions, new ideas, important published works, etc.  You can be creative.  And everything that you try to spread should be something that other people feel comfortable promoting as well.  Because no matter how much work you put in, the only way that something will really spread is if other people want to spread it too.

The more your name or your firm is associated with these ideas that spread across the internet, the more people will know who you are, increasing the likelihood of new business.  This is an important part of personal branding and the social web.

Next week we will dive into Question and Answer services, how they can help you “become an expert” and help drive traffic to your website.

Past Installments of this Series:
Part One – Intro to Social Media for Attorneys
Part Two – Signing up for the Networks
Part Three – Using Blogs as an Information Source
Part Four – Start Blogging Today
Part Five – Introduction to Twitter
Part Six – Introduction to LinkedIn
Part Seven – Networks as a Communication Tool
Part Eight – Submit Yourself to Blog Catalogs
Part Nine – Put Your PR Department to Work
Part Ten – Lend us your Comments

At Lawline.com, we could not be more proud to have such an elite group of lawyers on our faculty.  We strive to produce the highest quality Continuing Legal Education courses on the web, and it is our faculty members that make that happen.  And when one of them launches a new venture, we are quick to check it out.

Recently, Fernando Pinguelo launched “e-Lessons Learned” over at http://eLLblog.com.  Fernando taught a course on Lawline.com called, E-Discovery: What You Technically Should Know.

The new blog is designed as an educational resource about e-discovery best practices, featuring insightful content authored by both Fernando Pinguelo and law students from across the country.  In it, they combine practical experiences and theoretical knowledge to create an e-discovery blog that identifies cases that expose e-discovery mishaps at the employee level, exposes the specific conduct that caused a problem for a company, and offers suggestions on how to learn from these mistakes and prevent similar mishaps from occurring in the future.

If you are interested in the many facets of e-discovery and want to learn more, this is a great resource to check out.

This is a new weekly post where we will be reviewing some of our favorite User Feedback from attorneys who have completed Lawline.com CLE courses.  We decided to start this blog post because we thought it would be fun to share our favorites.

Faculty Member: Phil Kleiner

Lawline.com CLE Courses:
Family Based Immigration
Overview of Non-Immigrant Laws and Temporary Visas
Permanent Residency and Employment Based Immigration

Phil Kleiner has taught 3 courses on Lawline.com and it is fair to say in the past year he has picked up his fair share of fans. 

Favorite Comments about Phil Kleiner
"The three Lawline immigration seminars by this speaker are fabulous; please provide more seminars by him on additional immigration topics."   - Martha (Nashville, TN)

"I think Phil Kliner is one of the best CLE presenters I have seen."   - Nadia (Washington, DC)


Favorite Comments on the CLE program
"I thought this was an excellent presentation. The written materials are fantastic. The materials include pertinent forms, as well as pertinent federal law sections. It was a very informative lecture."   - Scott (Las Vegas, NV)

"The troubleshooting approach with an emphasis on practical skills was particularly effective. I also liked the consistent comparisons made between the different types of visas; it was helpful."   - Whitney (Houston, TX)

Welcome to part three of our blog series on Going Green, dedicated to helping attorneys practice law in a more environmentally friendly way.  Last week we introduced a very simple concept that lawyers, and everyone else, have heard time and again.  Turn things off when you’re not using them.  Yet too many people ignore the simple rule because it is just that, too simple.  Here is a hint to help you in your quest to go green, sometimes the simplest solutions are the most effective.  Small changes, if they are made by the majority, lead to positive outcomes.

In this part, we introduce an idea that is important in the legal profession, more so than other industries.  Lawyers and law firms use a lot of paper.  Boxes, cabinets, closets, and storage bins full or paper.  It’s a simple fact, something that comes with the territory.  And for those who recycle, good for you.  But an even better, more efficient solution, is to cut your paper usage in some very basic ways.

First, take advantage of digital media.  The internet and technology revolution has made it just as easy to keep “electronic” files as it is to keep paper files.  Documents can be scanned, emailed, posted to the web, downloaded, and carried anywhere with the help of a laptop, phone, or flash drive.

The legal profession has to catch up with the times.  Get rid of the wasteful usage of paper and you can cut time, energy, disposal costs, printing costs, and storage costs.  Not to mention, you would be doing a service to the environment.

Part of going green means living a cleaner and more efficient lifestyle.  Losing the paper dependency is one of these ideas that makes sense on every level.  It will make your life easier, as well as help out those around you.  At this point in time, in 2009, we have all but eliminated the need for paper.  There is no reason that those in the legal profession need to continue to waste paper as much as we do.

If 50% of all lawyers cut their paper usage by 50% over the next year, we will not only save countless acres of precious forests, we will help to move the entire legal profession to a more efficient future.  Stay tuned next week for another edition of Clean Lawyer.

Past Installments in this Series
Part One – An Introduction to Going Green
Part Two – Cut Electricity Costs, Just Flip the Switch

Another week has passed, and another group of people have started using new internet technology to connect with others and build business.  Hopefully, that group of people includes some lawyers.  Welcome to part 10 of our blog series on social media for attorneys.  This week we will focus on YOU.

Since the beginning of this blog back in December, we have received some tremendous feedback from attorneys and social media experts alike.  This series has been featured and referred back to in a number of articles and blog posts around the internet.  And we have helped a number of attorneys begin to blog, or market their blog more effectively.

But there are so many more of you out there that we have yet to reach/communicate with.  We want to hear from you.  Whether you want to share your social media experience with us, ask us a question, or you need some help, we’re listening.

There are many ways that you can interact/speak with us.  You can leave a comment below with your name and email address so that we can respond to you.  You can send us a message on Twitter, we’re at www.twitter.com/Lawline for those who have yet to follow us.  You can become a fan of Lawline.com on Facebook and leave a comment on our wall.

Each of these methods involves using a social media resource to communicate, and is a necessary step in learning the many processes that we discuss in this blog series.  We look forward to hearing from you, and hope that you do not hesitate to tell us or ask us anything about social media.  Thanks for reading.

Next week we will continue our discussion of social media, focusing on the idea of viral marketing – what it is, and how it can help you.

Past Installments of this Series:
Part One – Intro to Social Media for Attorneys
Part Two – Signing up for the Networks
Part Three – Using Blogs as an Information Source
Part Four – Start Blogging Today
Part Five – Introduction to Twitter
Part Six – Introduction to LinkedIn
Part Seven – Networks as a Communication Tool
Part Eight – Submit Yourself to Blog Catalogs
Part Nine – Put Your PR Department to Work

This is the second installment of the Clean Lawyer series, and already we have started to see some interesting trends.  People around the legal community are eager to start instituting greener practices, some of them just don’t know how.  Hopefully this series can be somewhat of a voice for that crowd.  Most of the strategies or ideas that we talk about here are things that we have, or plan on implementing in our own offices.

To start, I wanted to go over some very simple, low cost things that you can do around your office (or home if that applies).  Though each of these things are very small, they will have a larger overall impact when many people start to employ them.  And I don’t care if you have heard it all before, because chances are you have yet to implement even the simplest of green initiatives.

First, start turning off everything that you are not using.  That goes for the lights in the offices where no one is working, the appliances that are on during the day that don’t need to stay on at night, and the computers you are using.  Computers do not need to run overnight, there is no reason for it.  Though many computers have energy saving settings on them, it is best to shut them off and reboot them when you come in the next day.

By turning off all the things that use electricity around your office, you will be saving energy and cutting costs.  Though the difference may be very small, it will add up over the long run.  And if every single lawyer in the US started to do this, that would be a whole lot of energy savings to go around. 

And it’s that easy to get started, so don’t take it for granted.  Real change is only a click/switch/push away.

Past Installments in this Series:
Part One – An Introduction to Going Green

The Legal Beat, Lawline.com’s blog and outlet to the rest of the legal community, prides itself on non-stop coverage and analysis of all things related to the law.  We are constantly looking for likeminded professionals to share and communicate with.  Recently, we found Tim Baran, owner and author of CLE Post.

CLE Post is a blog that focuses on informing everyone in the legal community about continuing legal education parameters, guidelines, requirements, and updates.  It has become a great source of information for everyone in the field in a relatively short amount of time.

Recently, we spoke with Tim and asked him to describe his passion, why he started CLE Post, and where it was going. 

Q - Why did you start CLE Post?

A - A passion for efficiency, technology, innovation and productivity served as the impetus for creating CLE Post.   In other words, this new venture is the result of a burdened creative soul parading as a tech geek wannabe, with a knack, no, a need for sniffing out new, more effective processes and tools to facilitate a more productive and effective way of doing things.

Q - What is your background?
 
A - My background includes 15 years of experience in the legal industry including the federal court, law school and law firms, serving from 1999-2008 as the director of library services and the continuing legal education program at Anderson, Kill & Olick, a law firm headquartered in New York City.   It was time to test my wings.  I felt ready.
 
I quickly discovered that nothing can quite prepare you for the exhausting, frustrating, rewarding role of entrepreneur.   Multi-tasking takes on a whole new meaning.   The process is consuming and enthralling.

Q - When did CLE Post launch?
 
A - CLE Post began publishing on July 22, 2008 in a blog format using Google's Blogger, but quickly outgrew that forum.  And after an exhaustive search and testing, I settled on WordPress to provide a state of the art blog and content management publishing platform.  Our goal is to provide a forum and community that engages, informs and empowers, facilitating the exchange of  news, information and analysis to all sectors of the legal industry including law firms, corporate legal departments, attorneys and continuing legal education professionals.
 
CLE Post will continue to evolve, change and adapt to serve the community.  We have great plans for implementing new, innovative services and applications and welcome feedback from you.  Please visit us at clepost.com.  If you've visited before, come again, we're constantly adding new features and useful information.

In October of last year I posted a blog that discussed the results of a gender-based pay study conducted at the University of Michigan.  The results were not encouraging.   Women were disadvantaged by far more than one would expect in today's age.   We needed an initiative for change.  Fortunately President Obama has taken such an initiative last week as he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law.

The fair pay act will permit employees to more easily sue their employers if they feel they are a victim of pay discrimination.   The window of time allotted for a person to bring action is extended, from 180 days of receiving the first paycheck that constituted pay discrimination, to 180 days for each paycheck.   Employers, therefore, are going to have to provide detailed attention to their employees and to any signs of unacceptable behavior relating to compensation.

The new law is a high point for civil rights activists.  President Obama is the embodiment of equal opportunity for minorities and he is making sure that no one gets left behind.  The law helps to avert discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age and disability.  After signing the bill, the president said in a conference, "It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign - the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act - that it is upholding one of this nation's first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness."

The new law was named in honor of Lilly Ledbetter, a former Goodyear employee from Alabama.  As she was approaching retirement with Goodyear, Ledbetter discovered she was a victim of pay discrimination — her male colleagues were getting paid more than she was even though they were doing the same amount of work.  She brought the issue to court and although initially victorious, the Supreme Court overruled on the grounds that she did not take action within the 180 day window. 

The Obama Administration had the Act on the top of their priority list.  I think this is a genuine and memorable way to kick off the administration of the White House – the President is reassuring his voters that the "change" he campaigned on will in fact, be implemented.

Another week has passed, and another group of people have started using new internet technology to connect with others and build business.  Hopefully, that group of people includes some lawyers.  Welcome to part 9 of our blog series on social media for attorneys.  This week we will focus on your public relations department.

Odds are, if you are an attorney looking to grow your practice, you are engaged in some sort of public relations effort.  Either you do a little PR yourself, you work in a law firm that has a PR department, or you outsource your public relations work to a firm that specializes in that type of work.  The most popular one is most likely the third, let the pros handle it.  But the many areas of social media are so new that even the pros need to catch up.

You can use your ever evolving knowledge of the social media landscape to make sure that whoever is handling your public relations efforts are well informed and doing all that they can do to help you grow.  Call them in for a meeting and let them know that you want to go after the online marketplace.  Tell them that you expect to spread the word about your practice through new media, and that they can help you out in many ways.

In a recent poll, “Public Relations” was voted as the number one industry with the most opportunity in the social media landscape.  It is clear that the social media experts can see the positive effects that the social web can have in PR.  Do the PR firms see it yet?

Here are some things that your public relations team can be doing in the social media landscape:

1. Using Technorati, Google Blog Search, Twitter Search, and others to comb the web for mentions of your name, your firm, or other news that relates to you.

2. Joining groups on Facebook and other networks that can provide leads for articles, stories, reports, studies, and books.

3. Sign up for automated alerts from various niche networks in the legal community to find newsworthy events and stories.

4. Actively reach out to Twitter users and Social Network members with information regarding your online efforts.

5. Help create viral marketing efforts through interesting stories spread across networks like the blogs, Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, and other bookmarking services.

There are many ways to take advantage of the social media space in public relations, and you need to be sure that whoever you hire is using this space to their advantage.  At this moment, the number of lawyers trying to grow their business in a stale market is greater than ever.  Those who take advantage of new media channels, and cutting edge technology, will be on the winning side in the longer term.  Making sure that your Public Relations department (in house or outsourced) is following up on your own online strategy is a major step to getting your name out there.

Other Social Media News: This blog series was mentioned as a resource in an article on blogging for lawyers.  To read the article, click here.  Also, this blog series was used as a reference for an article on hiring a social media manager for your organization.  To read that article, click here.

Past Installments of this Series:
Part One – Intro to Social Media for Attorneys
Part Two – Signing up for the Networks
Part Three – Using Blogs as an Information Source
Part Four – Start Blogging Today
Part Five – Introduction to Twitter
Part Six – Introduction to LinkedIn
Part Seven – Networks as a Communication Tool
Part Eight – Submit Yourself to Blog Catalogs

The following article was written in response to our blog, Clean Lawyer: An Attorney's Guide to Going Green.

Ways to save money in these tricky economic times aren’t exactly obvious. Old habits are hard to break — like the one of using rubber stamps to mark documents, particularly multiple copies of a document. Hundreds of dollars per year can be saved by just eliminating one trip a day to a copy machine using an automated process. Untold amounts can be saved by preventing a copy from becoming an “original.”

Using rubber stamps is a very inefficient method of marking paper documents generated from a word processor. Moreover, unless the stamp obliterates part of a document’s content, it can’t keep the document’s use consistent with its intent. If a worker requires multiple copies of a document to be stamped and the document has multiple pages, each page requires identification if the document is to be secure and/or protected. Otherwise, at least the first page of each copy needs to be stamped. If copies of the document are intended for different recipients, the marking should so indicate, e.g. client copy, accounting, privileged, etc. This practice requires a collection of custom rubber stamps which is neither efficient or economic. And, depending on how the stamp is used, only marginally effective, if at all.

Rubber stamps in the margin or text in a footer offer little protection. In 2006, the Department of the Navy determined best practices dictated that documents should be properly marked “. . .before they are distributed. The reason is that not everyone is attuned to how to handle documents they receive… proper marking of documents alerts the recipient to any requirements that are attached to the document.” http://privacy.navy.mil/training/BestPrivacyPractices4A.ppt#335,3,BEST 

Because many documents are more than 1 or 2 pages, the inclination is to mark the only first page of the document, e.g. “privileged.” If that marking (1) exists only on the first page and (2) is only in the margin, the document is one that, in paper form, can have its purpose or intent altered. Once done, the quality of digital copiers make distinction between the true “original” and a duplicate without marking, almost impossible. Rubber stamps, since they are usually placed in the margins of paper documents, do not provide for the protection of the document. Stamps require existence (i.e., the appropriate stamp) and manual application that costs time and money. It is worth noting that the average business document is copied 19 times.

While electronic documents provide a partial solution, a PDF cannot protect a paper document. As long as we continue to generate paper, today’s business and legal environments demand paper document integrity. Because a document is most vulnerable at the time of printing, its marking should be done at that time. Graphical marking by the word-processor and the printer is the only efficient method of preserving the integrity of paper documents when they are printed.

For more information, go to StampIt for Word at (http://www.stampitnet.com). StampIt provides a complete solution to paper document marking and signatures without the use of rubber stamps.

Welcome to the first part of our series entitled, Clean Lawyer: An Attorney’s Guide to Going Green.  This series is devoted to changing the world, no small task.  The more we take a stand and change the way we live and work in the world, the more impact we can have on our environment (or less impact if that makes more sense).

In the legal profession, there are many things that we can do to reduce our carbon footprint on the world.  And even the smallest of things, however insignificant as they may seem, can go a long way to reversing the trend that we have set for generations.  If every lawyer in the world were to do just one thing differently, one more environmental friendly task, that would make a huge difference.

In each edition of this blog series, we will introduce something new that you or your firm can do to help the cause.  Some of our suggestions may seem small and insignificant.  Others may seem difficult and expensive.  But all are doable, and all will help our society in the long run.

There are so many parts of your day to day life as a lawyer that you can change.  And the benefits of these changes are too great to ignore.  Not only will it benefit the environment, many of these changes will lower your operating costs, boost your promotional marketing, and leave your new and improved practice in better shape than ever before.

In 2009, Lawline.com turns 10 years old.  We are celebrating this with some incredible new initiatives and business practices.  It will be the year that Lawline.com goes Green, and we are sharing our knowledge and information with the rest of the legal community.  Together, we can take small steps toward a cleaner, more efficient planet.

To see more about our mission, click here.