Category Archives: Practice Tips

Employers May Fire Workers They Consider Too Attractive

Written On January 3, 2013 By Bob Kraft

Great news for lawyers, at least in Iowa — it’s safe to fire all your good-looking employees. If I did that, I’d be the only one left in the firm. But maybe your situation is different. Here’s the report from the American Association for Justice news release: Reuters reported that the Iowa Supreme Court recently ruled [...]

Posted in Practice Tips

How Not to Spend Your Whole Day on Facebook

Written On November 20, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I saw this video about a month ago and kept meaning to post about it, but well, you know how it goes… Tips for keeping your focus while working:

Posted in Practice Tips

Your Patient Information is Safe: Data Security and Offsite Backups Protecting Health Information

Written On October 25, 2012 By Bob Kraft

This guest post is courtesy of Brian Foster. Brian spent five years in the IT field as a desktop support tech and supervisor. He is interested in networking, cloud computing and social networking. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets specific regulations for how health insurance companies and the medical providers they work with manage [...]

Posted in Medical and Health Resources, Practice Tips

Making The Most Of Graphics For Trial

Written On October 11, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Melvin Dubinsky, a trial attorney in New York City, had his article “Making The Most Of Graphics For Trial” featured in the August 2012 edition of The Practical Lawyer. In an increasingly computer-dependent and image-saturated world, the use of trial graphics has never been easier or more beneficial. Mr. Dubinsky’s article presents actual examples from [...]

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How To Trick Yourself Into Working

Written On September 25, 2012 By Bob Kraft

This video about how to prevent procrastination, via Andrew Sullivan, looks interesting. I think I’ll watch it later…

Posted in Practice Tips

Dallas Trial Lawyer Indicted For Stealing From Clients

Written On September 6, 2012 By Bob Kraft

A Dallas personal injury trial lawyer has been indicted on four counts of stealing money from client settlements and for stealing identities in order to take out loans. I don’t think I’ve ever met the lawyer accused of these crimes, and I sincerely hope the lawyer is not guilty of these allegations. Trial lawyers have [...]

Posted in Practice Tips

Social Security Disability: What Every Lawyer Should Know

Written On November 21, 2011 By Bob Kraft

This article was written for the American Bar Association to serve as a brief guide when a lawyer who does not practice Social Security disability law receives an inquiry in that field. I hope you find it helpful. Learn how to collect the proper data to give an informed referral Learn how to distinguish among [...]

Posted in Practice Tips, Social Security Disability

Texas Supreme Court Lays Out New E-Filing Rules

Written On March 12, 2011 By Bob Kraft

John Council, writing for the Tex Parte blog, had an update on e-filing for the Texas Supreme Court this week. Here is John’s report: While some state district courts in large urban areas such as Dallas and Houston embraced this concept long ago, the Texas Supreme Court will finally do the same on March 14 when [...]

Posted in Practice Tips

Online Doctor Ratings Aren’t Very Helpful

Written On November 2, 2010 By Bob Kraft

That’s the opinion of Dr. Kevin Pho, a primary care physician in Nashua, New Hampshire, in an article in USA Today. Dr. Pho’s comments apply equally to online ratings of lawyers. Attorneys are increasingly building their online presence at sites such as Avvo.com and LinkedIn.com. In fact, Avvo has just this week added doctors to [...]

Posted in Medical and Health Resources, Practice Tips

Featured Link – Ten Minute Mentor

Written On May 6, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Ten Minute Mentor is a service of the State Bar of Texas and the Texas Young Lawyers Association, and consists of several hundred short videos by legal experts. The videos are completely free and include all these categories: Category: ADR , Appellate , Bankruptcy , Business , Consumer , Corporate Counsel , Creditor/Debtor , Crime [...]

Posted in Featured Link, Practice Tips

PILMMA – Personal Injury Marketing and Management Association

Written On April 9, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Today is the first day of the Spring 2010 meeting of the Personal Injury Marketing and Management Association, one of my favorite legal organizations. This is the first PILMMA conference I’ve had to miss since its beginning in 2005. If you’re not a member, you should contact PILMMA and sign up for the Fall meeting. [...]

Posted in Bar Associations and Legal Groups, Practice Tips

Legal Research On a Shoestring Budget

Written On November 20, 2009 By Bob Kraft

In a recent post by Anurag Acharya on the Official Google Blog, anyone can now find federal and state court case opinions with Google Scholar. By entering either party names or topic (for example, disability) you can now search for the full text of legal opinions and articles. And it’s free! According to Acharya’s post, [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Practice Tips

Another Great PILMMA Conference

Written On September 26, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Today is the last day of the Fall 2009 PILMMA Marketing and Management Summit, and it’s been the best one yet. I’ve been in the group since the first meeting in April 2005, and it just keeps improving. We’ve had great speakers, fun and informative networking, and best of all was the two-day Platinum Level [...]

Posted in Bar Associations and Legal Groups, Practice Tips

Lawyer’s “Negligent Stapling” Causes Judge to Dismiss Motion

Written On September 25, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Ouch! Check your paperwork before submitting it to a court. As reported at Law.com, a New York judge dismissed a motion for summary judgment in a car wreck case because the plaintiff’s petition was stapled in such a way as to twice stick a court clerk and draw blood. The judge said the papers were [...]

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Featured Link – National Punctuation Day

Written On September 24, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Today is National Punctuation Day, and it couldn’t come soon enough for me. I get so tired of seeing improper punctuation coming from people who should know better. Misplaced quotation marks and unnecessary apostrophes just drive me crazy. Do yourself a favor and visit this site or buy a book on grammar and punctuation. You [...]

Posted in Featured Link, Practice Tips

New Texas Law Lowers Cost of Getting Hospital Records

Written On August 25, 2009 By Bob Kraft

In what should be good news for those of us who routinely request hospital records, a new Texas law goes into effect September 1, 2009. This amendment to the Health and Safety Code will limit the fee for medical reports requested and delivered in digital format to $75 plus the actual cost of delivery. Here [...]

Posted in Government, Practice Tips

Trial Lawyers Say Medicare Slowing Lien Settlements

Written On July 13, 2009 By Bob Kraft

McClatchy Newspapers reported on personal injury lawyers who “represent Medicare beneficiaries who’ve been in accidents. Medicare has paid their hospital costs, which must be reimbursed once the victim reaches a damage settlement with the party at fault.” But lawyers “said that Medicare can be extremely slow to tell them what its share of the settlement [...]

Posted in Medicare, Practice Tips

5 Reasons to Buy an iPhone if You’re an Attorney

Written On July 9, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Barack Obama may have been the best advertisement for the BlackBerry, giving sales the much-needed shot in the arm because of the threat posed by the iPhone and other smartphones that have flooded the market. But, no matter how many new models of the BlackBerry are introduced, no matter how high profile the endorsements (unintended [...]

Posted in Practice Tips

Report: Counsel Without Malpractice Insurance Should Tell Clients

Written On June 22, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The Texas Lawyer reports that the Grievance Oversight Committee, which is appointed by the Texas Supreme Court, recently recommended that the court adopt a rule requiring lawyers who do not carry legal malpractice insurance to disclose their lack of coverage to clients. This has been a controversial issue for several years in Texas. Personally, I’ve [...]

Posted in Miscellaneous, Practice Tips

Third Circuit Says “Mail Box” Rule Cannot Be Invoked To Save Time-Barred Claim

Written On May 12, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The Legal Intelligencer reports, “If you’re filing a claim against the postal service, don’t just drop it in the mail because the courts won’t apply the ordinary presumption that a letter mailed is a letter received.” Now, “the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has declared in Lightfoot v. United States that the so-called ‘mailbox [...]

Posted in Practice Tips