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Previewing Blawg Review #26

Sep 29, 2005 Noticias

Tom Mighell is Senior Counsel and Litigation Technology Support Coordinator with the firm of Cowles & Thompson in Dallas, Texas. Well beyond his jurisdiction, Tom Mighell is highly regarded as the publisher of the Internet Legal Research Weekly newsletter, as well as the Internet legal research weblog, Inter Alia, among other things.

Tom is a speaker and author on Internet and technology issues at national conferences, including the ABA Techshow 2005, as well as solo and small firm conferences. He also serves as a consultant to attorneys and small business owners on issues of Internet security, privacy, and computer maintenance. Even among those who know their way around the Internet, Tom Mighell’s the go-to-guy for the latest tips and tricks for technology-assisted legal research.

Tom was recognized in 2004 at DennisKennedy.com as one of the two Best Legal Blogging Experts, and Inter Alia was picked Runner-Up in the Best Overall Legal Blog category. Dennis Kennedy said it best:

I usually tell bloggers-to-be to look at Tom’s blog to get a good idea of how to post quality content on a regular basis. Inter-Alia.Net provides a steady stream of useful information and Tom’s generosity in mentioning the blogs of others is unparalleled.

We’ve been looking forward to Tom Mighell’s Blawg Review #26 with much anticipation and high expectations. His “Blawg of the Day” is a regular feature that brings Tom’s loyal readers back to Inter Alia day after day for links to the latest and greatest legal blogs.

AutoMuse

Sep 28, 2005 Noticias

a powerblog review by Lynne Meyer

AutoMuse, a blog written by E. L. Eversman, covers its subject matter from a unique perspective. In fact, according to E.L., it’s currently the only place of its kind on the Internet.

As you might guess from the title, AutoMuse is an automotive blog. E.L. is the chief counsel for Vehicle Information Services in Bath, Ohio, USA. And the blog is also a “blawg,” covering legal topics as well.

E.L. calls it “just downright useful information” for consumers, attorneys, car people and anyone seeking specific information, including automotive-related legislation, the conflict between insurance companies and collision repairers, diminished value and a disinterested opinion of how cars hold up after use. Says E.L.:

“I always thought it was odd that there were lots of reviews about new cars, but no one ever bothered to provide information about whether it would be a great vehicle after 3 years and 25,000 miles. I try to accommodate that need as well as provide a wide range of auto-related information.”

Since Vehicle Information Services pretty much owns this market segment, anything AutoMuse provides is new territory.

Despite this being a “blawg,” AutoMuse covers a very wide range of topics that appeal to industry insiders, consumers, lawyers and others. The writing style is straight forward and there’s everything from security breach notification laws and the design and handling of the Thunderbird Convertible, to the “Can-I-Sit-Behind-Myself Test.”

On the topic “Security Breach Notification Laws Get Insurer Attention,” E.L. reports that the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) notified its members about 19 newly enacted state security-breach notification laws, warning more states will likely follow suit. E.L. remarks that “given the amount and extent of personal information insurers collect in claims processing, I shudder to think what information identity thieves could get if they hacked into insurer files.”

About the aforementioned seat test, E.L. reports, “I’m 6′ tall, and in many cars, I can’t comfortably sit behind myself. In the Mazda5, I didn’t have a problem.”

Blogging has proved to be a superior medium for raising awareness of and rallying support for a very important issue in the U.S.:

“Until I started blogging about problems between insurers and collision repairers over fixing vehicles, most people weren’t aware that we don’t have used motor vehicle safety standards. In other words, if your brand new car is involved in an accident two days after you buy it, it may not meet any of the crashworthiness or safety standards it had to meet upon leaving the factory after it’s repaired and returned to you.”

Even though E.L. had raised the issue in other ways, including being published in legal journals, quoted in trade publications, and as a frequent speaker, there was little response until the blog. “Since I began blogging about this, however, I’ve gained the support of automotive engineers, auto manufacturers, collision repairers and some attorneys to help me find a mechanism to ensure that used motor vehicles continue to meet a level of ongoing safety. I owe this all to the power of blogging.”

You’ll find a lot more at this informative blog, including roundups of automotive-related posts from around the blogosphere, known as the Carnival of the Cars. Finally, we’d like to point out that AutoMuse has achieved recognition, by being named in the recent Forbes Best of the Web blog awards in the category of Automobile blogs.

Head on over and check out this informative resource, AutoMuse.

David Maister Speaks and I’m Listening!

Sep 28, 2005 Noticias

Responding to my Legal KM Economics & Realization Rates post, the professional services consulting guru was kind enough to send me his thoughts on the matter (published below). David will also be including a copy of this exchange under the ‘Ask David a Question‘ feature on his website (highly recommended, btw).

Here is David Maister’s response in it’s entirely:

“You’re not missing anything, but you’ve been sucked into a very old “short-term impact v. long-term impact” debate. I discussed all of this in the introduction to my book TRUE PROFESSIONALISM.

Look at it this way: is it ever profitable for any firm in any business to find new ways to produce whatever they produce to the same quality with lower cost? Is it ever worth getting more efficient than your competitors? The answer must be yes, surely?

If you can achieve the same quality with lesser cost, you get options: pass some savings on to clients, or keep some for yourself, or at a minimum, convince the client that you are acting professionally, keeping their interests at heart and looking for ways to save them money.

What would it be worth to have clients believe that you were that kind of provider? What does it cost you if they believe you are not looking for ways to be efficient but are looking for ways to maximize the bill, not minimize it.

Now think about your answers to all these questions when you are the buyer. How would you (do you) feel about these things if a consultant like me (or an accountant) was trying to serve you. Could you tell if he or she was looking to save you money, or was looking to get the number of billable hours up. If you could tell, would you care?

Yes, in the short run, it may cost you money to be efficient or give more value for a fixed cost, but come on, people, that’s what competition is all about in a free market economy. Everything else is sophistry.

It’s got nothing to do with my four key drivers, our methods of pricing or how we do the accounting. You make money if you are becoming more valuable or more efficient. Everything else is burying your head in the sand.

It does no good to remain inefficient until the marketplace forces you to reduce lower prices, and just hope no competitor gives the game away.”

David’s opinions are overwhelmingly powerful because of this big picture, long term approach. I suspect it’s also why his books populate so many senior partner’s bookshelves. Thanks David!

Como agregar una Imagen en el Titulo, Parte II, Son of Moto

Sep 28, 2005 Noticias

VUELVO A REPETIR PARA CUALQUIER CAMBIO EN LA PLANTILLA, GUARDEN ANTES EL TEXTO EN UN DOCUMENTO WORD O EN EL NOTEPAD.

Como las diferencias en las plantillas son varias dependiendo del estilo que hayan elegido, iré publicando para cada uno(si es que puedo…jajaja), una imagen con el código que debieran agregar y que debieran quitar para tener en el titulo sus fotos..Para este Template:

Son of Moto

ANTES:

DESPUES:
(Los que tengan el mismo template, solo borren el código anterior y reemplazenlo por este, y cambien la url(direccion de tu foto) de la foto de ustedes, que debe tener mas o menos el mismo ancho)

Legal KM Economics & Realization Rates (Some Questions…)

Sep 26, 2005 Noticias

I’d like to discuss law firm KM economics for a moment, as I have some issues I’d like help understanding.

If you read Matthew Parsons book, which cites David Maister’s 4 drivers for professional service firm profitability (Realization rate, Leverage, Margin, and Utilization), he describes one of the more difficult conundrums for KM - justification & ROI. If we make lawyers more efficient in a time based billing model, we are reducing the firm’s billings. It’s not that simple, as Matthew points out, but that’s the argument we’re up against.

One of the best arguments going the other way, towards KM’s value, is that by helping the firm to leverage (driver #2) the work down to the most appropriate person, we are helping improve the firm’s PPEP (Profit per Equity Partner). The obvious goal here, as Matthew describes, “is to deliver the same quality (or better) legal services with a smaller share of partners time”. This is an excellent justification for KM (in my mind), and probably the first one I’ll cite when discussing how KM can help in the provision of legal services.

My inquiry today centres around another another of Maister’s profit drivers mentioned in Matthew’s book, specifically, KM’s lack of impact for the firm’s Realization rate. The Finance Director he quotes states: “The only way that I can see that knowledge strategy can simultaneously increase PPEP and average realized rate is where there is a shift away from hourly rate billing for particular types of work to fixed fees, and we make investments to make that fixed-price work more efficient“.

I’d like to discuss this issue moving beyond the Value-vs-Time based billing debate, and see if we can find a better connection between KM and Realization rates. Why? First of all, I think KM can effect Realization. And secondly, many firms are still holding onto the hourly rate business model, and I have my doubts that it will ever entirely dissapear. Simply put, I think that KM practitioners have to find a better supporting argument, and I think I have one…

Realization is calculated by dividing total billings by the number of hours billed. But what about when time is written off a file? For example, an Associate takes 15 hours to do prepare a contract, where it should have been done in 4 hours. Regardless of how the mark down is handled on the bill, that time simply disappears - a big black hole. A very rough measure of those hours could be found by comparing prebill value -vs- the firm’s fees billed or received. Could it not? Obviously there are a number of reasons why time can be written down or off of a file, but what if we were able to reduce that number? Could KM lay any claim to that billing efficiency?

KM (or any other process efficiency) adds value to the firm by reducing those lost hours - especially with Associates who likely suffer the worst reductions. Better training, access to firm knowhow, automation, and quality research support, are among the many factors that should help law firms reduce the number of unbilled hours.

Time is not an unlimited resource in a law firm, and it’s likely the most complex factor a firm must manage. People can walk out the door, and they’re not cheap to recruit or bring up to speed. Helping Lawyers work more efficiently can make the bottom line better, and create happier employees. I believe this. Now I just need some help proving it.

So here are my questions (any help would be greatly appreciated):

1) Do firms consider this ‘lost time’ as part of their realization rate? (My firm does, but is this common?)

2) How significant is this gap? Is this a small factor in our evaluation of KM? or an important argument?

3) How can this be measured to get at KM’s value? Are gross measures good enough, or must it be done at a matter level?

4) Does this not get back to the ‘Leverage’ driver? Good training (both formal and KM resource based), and building the skills of Associates, in order to reduce Partner time in delivering legal services.

5) What am I missing?

Previewing Blawg Review #25

Sep 25, 2005 Noticias

It’s been three weeks since Todd Chatman kicked off “back to law school” month at Blawg Wisdom and, now, he’s back to wrap it up with Blawg Review #25, at the blog he calls ambivalent imbroglio.

Ambivalence describes “simultaneous conflicting feelings,” from German, ambivalenz, coined in 1910 by German psychologist Eugen Bleuler (on model of equivalence, etc.) from Latin ambi- “both” + valentia “strength,” from prp. of valere “be strong” (see valiant). A psychological term that by 1929 had taken on a broader literary and general sense. Ambivalent was first recorded 1916.

Imbroglio means a “confused entanglement” dating from 1750, from the Italian, imbroglio, from imbrogliare “confuse, tangle,” from in- “in” + brogliare “embroil,” probably from M.Fr. brouiller “confuse”.

Feeling ambivalent about his imbroglio three years ago when he started blogging, he reached out to the blogosphere for direction:

So what to do now? Where to go from here? I’m something of an academic fugitive, on the run toward… what? Over the course of the next few days (and weeks?), I’ll be trying to figure that out, although the process has already reached something of an advanced state. Right now, the options include law, library school, becoming a journalist/freelance writer, or heading off into the wild and wooly world of work with some non-profit like Vote Smart or Public Citizen. And the point here is that if you have any thoughts on any of this (academia, English as a profession, law, law school, libraries, becoming a librarian, library school, working for non-profits, these non-profits in particular, job searching and career changing more generally, etc.)…. If you have any thoughts as this process continues, please do share by clicking the comment button below.

Over three years later, still no comments, but a lot has happened.

Como agregar una Imagen en el Titulo

Sep 24, 2005 Noticias

Lo de arriba es lo que obtuve como resultado de esto…después cambiaré la foto, es sólo para que vean los cambios…


Por ahora sólo publicaré las imágenes con una pequeña explicación, mañana lo explicaré más, voy a chillán y vuelvo.


ANTES:



DESPUES

Ese 103 que aparece en este blog tuve que ajustarlo hasta 30.
SUERTE!!!

Como agregar Encuestas

Sep 23, 2005 Noticias

Como pueden ver ya tengo una, así que no dejen de votar, para ver que es más cómodo para ustedes…

si quieren una propia pinchen aquí EN POLLHOST saquen una cuenta, y despues es muy fácil, solo ingresan su pregunta y las opciones…

Si tienen dudas déjenlas aquí mismo…

SUERTE!!!

20/10/2005

Un aporte de Pastelera 1 que completará este post:

1.entras a www.pollhost.com

2 ingresas tus datos

3 cuando los tengas listos vas a “create a new poll”

4 luego repletas donde dice “Question to ask” la pregunta que deseas hacer

5 luego repletas en las answer las alternativas que deseas (el sistema te permite hasta 20)

6 después vas a “create poll” y aprietas

7 de allí vas a “create voting vox”, allí puedes amononar tu encuesta cambiarle de color letra, etc (ah! también ahí están los tipos de modelos)

8 el siguiente paso es apretar “get HTML codes for this box”

9 allí copias todo fíjate que sea hasta abajo y pegas en la plantilla de tu sidebar

10 recomiendo poner un título pa no perderse si quieren borrar la encuesta o cambiarla

11 si quieren cambiarla deben volver a www.pollhost.com e ingresar su username y password y repetir los pasos.

The VLLB Tagcloud!

Sep 23, 2005 Noticias

Thanks to Knowledge Jolt with Jack for introducing me to tagclouds!

So without further adieu, here is the VLLB tagcloud:

Cambios Parte II, Color

Sep 23, 2005 Noticias

El color se puede definir de 4 formas:

Primera forma: #rrggbb (por ej., #00cc00)

Segunda forma: #rgb (por ej., #0c0)

Tercera forma: rgb(x,x,x) donde x es un entero entre 0 y 255 inclusive (por ej., rgb(0,204.0))

Cuarta forma: rgb(y%,y%,y%) donde y es un número entre 0.0 y 100.0 (por ej., rgb(0%,80%,0%))

Las 2 formas mas utilizadas que yo he visto en las plantillas de los blogs son la primera, que corresponde al código hexadecimal del color, y la tercera que corresponde al RGB (red, green, blue) que nos da cualquier programa.
Por ejemplo el paint de windows, cuando buscamos un color a nuestro gusto….se pueden ver los pasos de esto en la siguiente figura, nos entega el RGB

Como pueden ver de paint, para el color seleccionado (ese verde), me entregó los siguientes números

Red=R=83

Green=G=111

Blue=B=74

Este es el código de mi plantilla que define la mayor parte de las características del título:

En donde color : #FFE es el color del título

Y este otro código define las características de la descripción del título:

donde también color: #ffe es el color de la descripción (el texto que se despliega bajo el titulo, explicando en que consiste el blog)

Así que todos los cambios de color se hacen en estas dos lineas solamente.

Ahora para cambiar el color del título del blog (de la tercera forma) solo tienen que sustituir el color: #FFE o el que tengan ustedes por el color: rgb(83,111,74) como se muestra en la siguiente figura:

Si tienen el color en código hexadecimal, solo deben reemplazar el FFE por el valor de ustedes..

Todos los colores pueden ser cambiados, aquí les dejo algunos links, que tienen listas de colores con sus respectivos códigos hexadecimales,(por ejemplo:#FFFFFF)..

Tabla de Colores WIKI

Este programa para que lo descarguen si quieren, sirve para buscar colores y entrega el código hexa…funciona sin problemas ya lo comprobe..

Si quieren ingresar su color como codigo hexadecimal y solo tienen el RGB, este link que dejo a continuación les permite pasar de uno al otro..

Convertidor de RGB a Hexadecimal

Aquí dejo las imágenes de ejemplo..

En este caso si se dan cuenta el mismo color verde que saque del paint anteriormente con RGB (83,111,74) me entrega un codigo hexa de 536F4A y despues que tengo este codigo puedo reemplazar en mi plantilla el FFE por el 536F4A de la siguiente forma:

El resultado es el mismo aunque se haga de la primera o tercera forma, como se puede ver: