This article is from Jeff Schoenberger, who recently joined Affinity Consulting. He specializes in Apple, Mac, iDevice, and document automation projects. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or on Twitter or App.net @jrsch

The iPad mini is both an incredibly new product and a modest revision of what we already know. It's incredibly new in that it brings to the 7" tablet space features unknown in that market. Before October 23, you could not get a small-sized tablet with cellular data regardless of how much you were willing to spend. For connectivity away from home, you had to depend on the wifi of strangers. Furthermore, neither major player in the 7" space, Amazon and Google, could boast of many legal-specific apps designed with a 7" screen in mind. Some existed on Android, but they were scaled-up versions of phone apps, not designed to utilize larger screens. Apple brought these key features to the 7" space.

Applying technology to an inefficient process will give you a net gain of zero. Throwing technology at a problem without first looking at the process will rarely ever fix it. In fact, it may likely exacerbate the problem by adding another layer of complexity to existing process challenges.

A great misconception about technology is that it is a quick fix for everything- a Band Aid of sorts. Often, lawyers uncover a problem in their firms and immediately seek to solve it with technology rather than examining their process first. For example, lawyers frequently realize their firms are missing billing opportunities. As a solution, many opt for more sophisticated software only to discover that the cause of the problem is process-related. There is a break in the process by which staff captures billable time and events. In this case, the most effective solution would have been to refine the process.

Did you know that Worldox Gx3 Professional allows you to copy email messages that have been saved in Worldox, back into Microsoft Outlook?

Perhaps you need to edit, attach or just follow-up on an email that has already been safely stored in Worldox, and copying that message back to Outlook would make things easier.

Affinity Consulting Group (Affinity), which specializes in strategic technology and management solutions for law firms and legal departments of all sizes, today announced the availability of its YourExecutive management consulting program for law firms in need of flexible management solutions pertaining to law firm strategy, operations, finance and information technology.

YourExecutive alleviates law firms of the hassle and expense of recruiting and securing executive level talent when they may not be financially or operationally ready to do so. Whether the goal is firm growth, increased productivity, or re-assessing existing policies and procedures, Affinity's YourExecutive team will leverage its extensive law firm management and technology consulting experience to deliver desired results.

Partner Barron Henley, Esq. and Director of Education, Jennifer Ramovs collaborated on this recent article published in the upcoming edition of the ALA's Legal Management. 

Barron and Jenn discuss how technology can boost efficiency and how to make sound decisions with your IT budget so that you get the technology you need and the training necessary to ensure that you can get a solid return on your investment.

Click HERE to read more

ALA Members, be sure to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it about taking advantage of exclusive member benefits from Affinity Consulting.

The foundation of any business begins with its identity as an organization. Who are we? What do we stand for? What are our values as a group? It is our values that define our culture, and it is our culture that drives our identity.

As lawyers and administrators, one of our biggest challenges is instituting change so that our firm culture accurately represents our values as an organization. Often times, employees prefer to remain entrenched. They do things simply because "that's the way it's always been done." It's no secret. For most, change is a scary notion. So, how do we create a positive cultural shift? Hopefully, the following tips will help you to get your staff to embrace change with a positive attitude.

This Friday, June 20th, our own Greg Bray will be presenting as part of the reccuring "Feature Friday" webinar series put on by Lexis Nexis. Greg will be presenting from 12PM EST - 1PM EST - you can register for this FREE webinar HERE. 

June 19, 2012, Atlanta, GA - Affinity Consulting Group (Affinity), an independent technology consulting group dedicated to the legal profession, has been named as the newest Rocket Matter Productivity Partner. Rocket Matter is the leading cloud-based practice management solution that meets the calendaring, task management, reporting, billing and overall practice management needs of today's small and mid-sized legal firms.

Nothing describes the default industry like the old adage, “The only constant is change.”  As default firms struggle to keep up with an ever-evolving legal landscape, it is this change that has come to define the practice of foreclosure law.  From new judicial and servicer requirements to shifts in the rule of law, firms must be nimble and ready to adapt their processes in order to conform to the new world of default practice.  

Many of us know that we need technology to make our practices more efficient, but we also know that technology can be a complex and daunting subject. Knowing what you to get, and what you already have, is only the beginning of the challenges technology can face. Helping you navigate the challenges of technology is the goal of our upcoming webinar, June 20th, in partnership with the ALA.

First published on Dave Bilinsky's blog, these are some great words of wisdom, predictions and tips to help you have an awesome rest of 2012