A lawyer can spend his/her day speaking and interacting with people, in person, by phone, e-mail, even social networking, orSkype,but how much work that attorney completes can be drastically affected by technology.

Today I spent the day with Brian Cluxton of HMU Consulting of Columbus Ohio. His technical skills doubled the speed of my network and moved my Outlook application to “The Cloud”! I have had the potential to do this for at least a year but not the ability.

Now I can access my calender, task list, contacts, and e-mail from any location and any computer. Before, I had to divide those tasks onto two, and sometimes three, computers. The same for my Blackberry Curve. Now our “contacts list” will have every “contact” I have, and my family and friends won’t be on a list separate from my colleagues.

This increases the capability of my cell phone, allowing speed dialing to anyone.

By being able to convert documents to PDF format, and e-mail, I was able to settle two cases and make progress on another. When my colleagues learn this stuff, we can view an order or agreement on our own screens and make collaborative changes “on the fly”.

With the right attitude, we can cooperate for the mutual benefit of our clients. It is immensely frustrating to have an adversary who feels they must be an “ADVERSARY” in the worst sense of the word, demeaning my client, covering up for his clients mistakes, and reflecting her client’s personality, even if it is an abusive one. Life is too short, and the lives of the children too precious for an attorney wasting time acting that way.

For a few minutes today, while we where changing our e-mail set-up, a colleague used to e-mailing docs had to resort to the “old fashioned” method of a fax; clearly, a step backward, but don’t throw away your fax machine, yet! A quick call to that attorney diffused a tense situation between our clients and saved a negotiated parenting. Now that’s the attitude I appreciate.

You should question the attitude of your attorney if they want to treat the parent of your children with more harshness or incivility than is necessary. Smart lawyers even try to treat abusive persons politely, firmly, but politely.

And, need it be said, that when the other side will not allow civility to prevail, you had best have an attorney who can try your case in court, and get the best result possible! The next few posts will be some “top ten tips” for parties and attorneys. Stay tuned.