What we’ve done in lieu of shoveling…

• We’ve continued collecting and posting member checklists on practicelaw. For more information or to donate a checklist or other form, check out a previous post.
• The Legislature is hard at work. Keep up-to-date with feeds from the MSBA Advocacy site. We have a general feed on the practicelaw homepage and feeds on legislation impacting particular areas of practice on the forms pages for those areas.
• We’ve prepared and posted a new law firm guide, Launching a Law Practice in Minnesota, chock-full of information and resources for those hanging their shingle in Minnesota. For more information, see a previous post.
• The Appellate Practice Council is updating practicelaw’s appellate practice resources. A newly revised article “Appellate Motion Practice” detailing appellate practice in both state and federal court  is now posted.
• Today we added the blog of attorneys Teresa Thompson and Norah Olson Bluvshtein, netWORKed, to practicelaw’s legal blog roll. Their blog addresses workplace issues faced by employers as a result of today’s increasingly networked workplace.
• We posted a very informative “Tips for Effective Advocacy from Hennepin County District Court” authored by Judge Jay Quam.
• The Minnesota Uniform Conveyancing Blank Task Force revised two and drafted two new Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. These were adopted by the Minnesota Department of Commerce and posted on practicelaw.
  • Sheriff’s Certificate-Sale Under Decree of Mortgage Foreclosure UCB 60.4.1 (revised)
  • Sheriff’s Certificate-Sale Under Decree of Mechanic’s Lien Foreclosure UCB 60.4.2 (new)
  • Sheriff’s Certificate of Sale upon Execution, or Pursuant to Judgment or Order UCB 60.4.3 (new)
  • Affidavit of Identity and Survivorship UCB 50.2.2 (revised)

practicelaw staff also prepared and posted the corresponding Editable Conveyancing Blanks, ECB 6041, 6041, 6043, 5022.

 How we plan to spend our summer…

• Working with practitioner Bob McLeod on reviewing and revising the Guardianship & Conservatorship forms on practicelaw. We will post the first set of revisions in June and will continue rolling out revised forms into early 2012 (when we will be shoveling our roofs once again).
• Expanding the existing set of Civil Litigation forms 
• Drafting additional probate forms, particularly summary administration forms. Right now we are still using the “think method” to get that done, but hope to move to a more productive method later this summer. Let us know if you are interested in helping with this project.
• Partnering with Minnesota Lawyers Mutual to make some of their resources and forms available to MSBA members. First up, videos on disaster preparedness for attorneys.
• Adding At-a-Glance resources for advising distressed homeowners, blogging,and  managing student loans.

And last but not least…

replacing our soon-to-be-missed fearless leader, Greg Luce, who announced his departure in a recent post. Greg brought a lot of tech vision, expertise, ideas, energy, and good humor to the job. We wish him well.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Appellate Practice, Checklists, Civil, Legal Blogs, Practice Management, practicelaw, UCB

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For criminal law practitioners:
practicelaw now houses two summary outlines and memoranda of law in support of a downward departure. They were prepared by Ryan Garry and contributed to practicelaw after his terrific presentation at a MSBA Criminal Law Section CLE in January. One would be appropriate in a case of criminal vehicular homicide, and the other, in a sale of controlled substance case.

For real property practitioners:
The Residential Real Estate Committee of MSBA’s Real Property Section recently reviewed and updated its residential lease, RPF 41.

The Minnesota Uniform Conveyancing Blank Task Force revised two Uniform Conveyancing Blanks.

• 60.8.2 Affidavit of Creditor Regarding Non-Homestead Status
• 70.3.1 Notice to the Commissioner of Human Services Regarding Possible Claims (Under Minn. Stat. 246.53, 256B.15, 256D.16 or 261.04)

practicelaw staff then revised the corresponding Editable Conveyancing Blanks, ECB 6082 and ECB 7031.

These newly revised forms are all posted at practicelaw.

For readers:
practicelaw’s legal blog roll was expanded to include, among others, the Top 25 Minnesota Blawgs.

We added the Winter issue of the Labor & Employment Law newsletter. And each month, we also post the latest MSBA Probate and Trust Law Section’s Federal Tax Committee Update.

For rule abiders:
Various sets of Minnesota Court Rules have been amended in the past couple of months. Also, the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes now publishes the Minnesota court rules in a searchable format. To accommodate our users, we’ve updated all our rules links to the Revisor’s version.

In the hopper, need your help:

• Addition of practice checklists – After 64% of practicelaw survey respondents asked for checklists on practicelaw, we started collecting them from practitioners. These will be formatted, credited, and posted this spring. For more information or to donate a checklist or other form, check out a previous post.
• Monster J&D – It’s time again for our periodic review of the Monster J&D. If you know of specific issues that should be included in the Monster J&D that are not included currently or provisions that you feel are lacking or that need to be added, email Greg Luce. The suggestions to date can be viewed at http://mnbar.us/erMBm4. The current version of the Monster J&D is available for review here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2174599/Monster%20J%26D/fam-680-2011Q1.doc

In the hopper, got it covered:

• The Legislature is back at work. What are they up to? Well, we’ve added feeds from the MSBA Advocacy site to practicelaw to keep you updated in one-stop shopping.
• We are putting the finishing touches on a new law firm guide, Launching a Law Practice in Minnesota.
• The Appellate Practice Council is updating the articles on appellate practice.
• practicelaw staff is working with practitioner Bob McLeod on reviewing and revising the Guardianship & Conservatorship forms on practicelaw.
• practicelaw staff is working on expanding the set of Civil Litigation forms available to members.

Now, back to shoveling roofs.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2011. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Criminal Law, Judgment and Decree, Legal Blogs, practicelaw

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Who responded
Of the 773 respondents, half had over 21 years of experience. Interestingly 72% were in solo or small firms (2-5 attorneys), down from 80% last year. 14% of our users now come from firms with more than 20 attorneys, up from 10% last year.

practicelaw use is spread out among those with different levels of experience:

What you told us about practicelaw

Over half of the respondents indicated that practicelaw is “important or very important” in their decision to maintain their MSBA membership.  In addition, 81% of respondents are “satisfied or very satisfied” with the materials available on practicelaw, with 89% indicating that the materials or services on the site are “good or excellent.”

Why you came to practicelaw in 2010
Real estate forms continue to drive traffic to the site, with 65% and 62% of respondents, respectively, indicating that they used or relied upon the Uniform Conveyancing Blanks and Residential Real Estate forms in the past year. In addition, 49% indicated use of the Editable Conveyancing Blanks we added to practicelaw in the last year. 51% of those polled stated that they utilized the probate materials.

Forms are, by far, in the most demand, with 92% of those polled indicating forms are the most important offering on the site.

How you work
Internet Explorer continues to dominant the browser competition; 65% of those polled use IE as their browser, followed by 22% using Firefox. The biggest gainer? Google Chrome, up to 8% from 2% last year.

64% of respondents have made the leap to Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010, braving the ribbon interface. Alas WordPerfect use dwindled to 11%, down from 15% of respondents last year.

Use of social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter was about the same as last year. About a third of respondents are holding firm that they will not use any of these sites in the next year; 8% expressed an interested in dipping their toes in the water in 2011.

Approximately half of respondents use Westlaw and half, Fastcase.

What do you want?
In a word – more.  Lots more forms, checklists in almost every practice area. We’re working on it.

All in all we were overwhelmed with the response. Last year 276 responded and this year, 772. We received lots of suggestions on new content, how to improve existing content, and some pats on the back. Thank you. And remember, it’s never too late to add your 2 cents. We welcome emails and calls from users anytime throughout the year.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2011. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Developments, practicelaw

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• The MSBA is in the midst of developing a strategic plan,
• practicelaw staff members are planning for the end of 2010 and 2011.

My first reaction was enthusiasm; after all, I am the queen of lists and planning—everything can be reduced to a to-do list, right? No. Strategic planning is a lot more than a to do list…

Because I am obedient, I formulated a post in my head. Would start with the goal of the strategic plan — using member dollars in the best way to achieve member goals. Then I would talk process – survey, meet, calendar.  Lastly, be Carnac the Magnificent – make predictions. As my plan to post on planning took shape, I was boring myself and knew my post would tranquilize the reader.

Why? Well I think reading about a strategic plan is like reading a book without a villain. A plan before the plan is implemented is too neat and tidy. The interesting part, the villain, is what is not being considered.

Let me give you a real life example. A few years ago I planned a bridal shower for my niece who lives in Chicago. I planned the date, location, food, guests, invitations, games, décor, gift.  The day of the party I loaded up my car and arrived at the party location with my gift, place cards, party décor. Terrific. But I forgot my clothes. That’s correct. My party outfit consisted of my travel outfit — a 14-year-old grey Westlaw t-shirt, black gym shorts, and blue flip flops. My outfit, the villain, was more noticeable than all my careful planning.

My point? Sometimes the best plan can omit a crucial piece. In my example, I was so busy planning for the bride, the guests, that I failed to plan for myself. Yet all the streamers and banners in the world couldn’t detract from my bizarre attire, so I would have been well advised to think more of myself and less of the overall ambiance.

Which brings me back to strategic planning for the MSBA and practicelaw and the importance of considering staff and their needs, strengths, and limitations.

The last few weeks I’ve been looking at practicelaw statistics, discussing the member needs, assessing legal practice trends, contacting others about ideas and new resources that would appeal to some of our under-served practitioners — Labor and Employment, Elder Law, and in-house counsel. I found myself feeling apologetic as I appealed for their assistance as I added, “practicelaw consists of a small staff of attorneys, editors, designers – talented and committed, but limited by size and existing demands on our time…”

I had similar thoughts as I participated in a MSBA strategic planning meeting wearing two hats – member and staff. The member side urged, “Do X and Y and Z” because the goal is worthy, but the staff side cried out, “No X, Y, or Z unless you give up A, B, or C.”

Here’s the reality – not intending to break my arm, patting ourselves on the back — but truly, the small MSBA staff serves a demanding population well and no one thinks we’re overpaid. Not that we’re complaining but we’ve rightly joined with MSBA leadership to try and address what we should discontinue as well as what we should continue or start.

If all goes well, in the end, we will be addressing MSBA goals and practicelaw goals in the most efficient and effective way we can, given our budget and our size. It may mean individual dissatisfaction. (We regularly receive calls from members upset that we’ve discontinued the print member directory, despite compelling financial reasons for doing so.) Be patient. Discontinuing or changing is hard work – just as much for staff as it is for members. We’re not out to gore your ox, we’re invested in our existing programs and processes. We just don’t want you to get all dressed up so that you can party with someone in gym shorts. And we certainly don’t want to be the ones in the gym shorts. Been there, done that.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: practicelaw, Strategic Plan

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Try practicelaw.

Why? Well it isn’t the cows, rather it is the fact that we have good, solid resources that make your practice more economical and efficient. Since its inception in 2001,  practicelaw has grown steadily and substantially in use and content, and now includes more than 750 peer-reviewed or court-approved practice forms, dozens of checklists and practice aids, and more than 300 links to additional attorney-selected resources available on the internet. All free to MSBA members. (If you’re interested in a peek backwards, read our previous post discussing the Way Back Machine, an internet archive of old web sites.)

We knew we had good resources before, but after our redesign we have more of them, they are easier to find, and they are updated more quickly by staff attorneys and editors and your peers.

Take a look of what we’ve done over the course of the last year. If Marilyn Monroe could sing Happy Birthday to practicelaw, that would seal the deal.

The question isn’t really “Why use practicelaw?” rather, “Why not?” I know Justin and Lady Gaga would agree.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Developments, practicelaw, Updates

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