MTC: Mobile Hotspots Outpace Hotel Wi-Fi: A Game-Changer for Tech-Savvy Lawyers 📱💼"

Lawyers on the road can Stay productive with mobile hotspots!

As a seasoned legal professional and tech enthusiast, I've experienced a paradigm shift in connectivity during recent travels. My recent trips to Charolette, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and Panama, revealed a stark reality: hotel Wi-Fi often falls short, especially in crucial areas like conference rooms. This realization led me to an important reminder– my smartphone's hotspot consistently outperforms hotel networks.

Using an iPhone Pro Max 16 on AT&T and a Galaxy S22 on Verizon, I've found that mobile hotspots often offer faster, more reliable connections. This dual-carrier approach provides a safety net, as coverage can vary. Notably, AT&T as plans for unlimited talk and data in Central America that proved invaluable in Panama, incurring no additional fees and my Verizon plan provided much better coverage at the hotel in Orlando.

This shift questions the necessity of prioritizing hotel Wi-Fi when booking accommodations. The table below illustrates the stark contrast in average speeds:

Additionally, the landscape of mobile data pricing has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years, making the use of smartphone hotspots increasingly attractive for travelers. Carriers have significantly reduced their data prices, with many now offering "unlimited" data plans at competitive rates.

• AT&T offers their Value Plus VL plan with unlimited data for $51 per month.

• Mint Mobile has slashed its unlimited data plan to just $15 per month for a full year, while US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan provides 35GB of high-speed data for as low as $25 per month.

• Verizon offers competitive options, including its Unlimited Welcome plan, which costs $65 per month for one line and includes unlimited talk, text, and data.

  * Note these offers are subject to change.

Warning: Make sure the data plan you have with your carrier is sufficient for your travels! You don’t want to pay overage charges!!!

🚨

Warning: Make sure the data plan you have with your carrier is sufficient for your travels! You don’t want to pay overage charges!!! 🚨

Lawyers can Boost conference productivity with mobile hotspots!

Plus, you get additional security through mobile data versus wifi, as cellular networks typically offer stronger encryption and built-in security protocols compared to public Wi-Fi networks. Mobile carriers actively manage and update their security measures, making it significantly more challenging for cybercriminals to intercept your data. This enhanced protection is particularly crucial when handling sensitive client information or accessing confidential legal documents while traveling.

This shift towards more affordable and generous data allowances has made relying on mobile hotspots a viable and often superior alternative to hotel Wi-Fi, especially for tech-savvy professionals on the go. 📱💼 Cellular data provides a more secure connection, with encryption that makes it difficult for attackers to exploit, unlike many public Wi-Fi networks that may be unencrypted or poorly secured. For legal professionals navigating the digital landscape, embracing mobile hotspots could be the key to uninterrupted productivity. It's time to reconsider our reliance on hotel Wi-Fi and leverage the power in our pockets. 🚀⚖️

MTC

Monday Morning Humor: 📞 Remember When Phones Used to Have Wires Attached To Them?! 📞

Imagine there will soon be a generation who has no idea what this like growing up!

Remember the days when phones were anchored to walls and our mobility was limited by tangled cords?

Fast forward to now, and our smartphones fit in our pockets, doing everything but cooking dinner!

But at least back then, we did not have any data plans!

How far we've come in this tech-savvy world. 😲

#TechEvolution #LawyerLife

The PA Bar's Advisory Opinion Provides Some Good Tips to Working From Home!

The Pennsylvania State Bar came out with an advisory opinion directed at attorneys working at home given the COVID-19 pandemic.  It’s a good read for all of us as it reminds lawyers what we need to be doing to secure our client’s privacy and to ensure we don’t run afoul of our respective State and Territorial Bars.

I’ll list some good points from the Bar to follow further below.  But, my read of the big takeaways are:

1. You need to be Competent enough to keep Client Communications and information Confidential.

2. You need to take “reasonable” precautions.  It does not mean you have to have Pentagon-Grade IT Security.  But, it does not mean you can’t take any steps to secure your client’s info.  Simple steps like password protecting your computer and home Wi-Fi, using secure passwords, and running a VPN when you are using a public Wi-Fi should be your bare minimum basics.

3. You don’t need to be an expert.  If you need help, finds those (like me 😉) who you may be able to retain to assist you!

I did notice one bullet point below of unique interest:  “Prohibiting the use of smart devices such as those offered by Amazon Alexa and Google voice assistants in locations where client-related conversations may occur.”  What I found interesting, is the opinion doesn’t mention Apple’s Siri.  I’ll be writing about that in a future blog post.

---

Now, onto the PA Bar’s list of suggestions:

• Specifying how and where data created remotely will be stored and, if remotely, how the data will be backed up;

• Requiring the encryption or use of other security to assure that information sent by electronic mail are protected from unauthorized disclosure

• Using firewalls, anti-virus and anti-malware software, and other similar products to prevent the loss or corruption of data

• Limiting the information that may be handled remotely, as well as specifying which persons may use the information

• Verifying the identity of individuals who access a firm's data from remote locations

• Implementing a written work-from-home protocol to specify how to safeguard confidential business and personal information

• Requiring the use of a Virtual Private Network or similar connection to access a firm's data

• Requiring the use of two-factor authentication or similar safeguards

• Supplying or requiring employees to use secure and encrypted laptops

• Saving data permanently only on the office network, not personal devices, and if saved on personal devices, taking reasonable precautions to protect such information

• Obtaining a written agreement from every employee that they will comply with the firm's data privacy, security, and confidentiality policies

• Encrypting electronic records containing confidential data, including backups

• Prohibiting the use of smart devices such as those offered by Amazon Alexa and Google voice assistants in locations where client-related conversations may occur.

• Requiring employees to have client-related conversations in locations where they cannot be overheard by other persons who are not authorized to hear this information; and,

• Taking other reasonable measures to assure that all confidential data are protected.

---

Notable references in the PA Bar Association Formal Opinion

• American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Formal Opinion 477R (May 22, 2017)

• PA Bar Formal Opinion 2010-200

• PA Bar Formal Opinion 2011-200

• ABA Formal Opinion 477R

Happy Lawyering!!!

Videoconferencing: Do I need an external webcam? Probably not!

Videoconferencing has become essential given the COVID-19 pandemic.  It has allowed us to remain in contact as a society.  Moreover, it is becoming a necessary utility for lawyers.  We use videoconferencing programs (listed below) to conduct meetings, depositions, and hearings.  With this accelerated use, businesses, including lawyers, are finding that videoconferencing is a more economically efficient means of conducting work.  Simply put, it saves money, time, and effort to travel, whether it be in town or long-distance.  But, the question remains, do I need an external webcam?  Probably not.

I have a Logitech Webcam that I had purchased over 15 years ago - it works great - even at 720 dpi ("dots per square inch" - I'll do a post on webcam resolution in a future post). But, when I purchased it, videocamming from our electronic devices was still not a "thing."  As social media pushed forward, so did the desire to communicate via video and with it, accessibility to video from our personal electronic devices.

Webcams are provided internally in almost all of our laptops, tablets, and smartphones.  For the most part, they work quite well (and in some cases better than my old webcam and even the video cam built into my iMac).  And in all of those devices, which I find it unlikely that any attorney does not have at least one of the three listed, videocasting programs can be downloaded and utilized with ease.

Granted, most desktop computers do not have a webcam built in, although some external monitors do have them embedded.  But if you have a laptop, tablet, or smartphone with a cam, why waste the money for an external webcam.  Unless you are getting into video casting or are appearing on the news for interviews, you simply don't need a fancy, expensive webcam.  Meanwhile, you won't have to worry about draining your computer's resources while camming.

A LIST OF POPULAR VIDEOCASTING PLATFORMS FOR BUSINESSES FOR YOUR REFERENCE

• Adobe Connect

• Cisco WebEx Meetings

• Google Hangouts Meet

• GoToMeeting

• join.me

• Microsoft Teams

• Skype

• Zoom

Do Lawyers & Law Firms need Employee Monitoring Software for Remote Employees - Even if it’s reliable is it worth it?

Last week, the New York Times (NYT) came out with an article about employers remotely monitoring their employee computers. The COVID-19 Pandemic has increased the "shift" from on-site work to work from home. And employers understandably want to make sure they are getting the same bang for their buck – that is, are their employees working just as hard at home as they do at the office?

The NYT's article highlights an employee-monitoring program made by Hubstaff. The employee installs the program onto their "work" computer (and we are going to come back to about what is a "work" computer a little later). The employer is then allowed to monitor the employee's computer use. The program works for the most part – the employer is allowed to see much of what the employee is doing throughout the day. But to summarize the intrusion level, the supervisor for Adam Satariano, the author of the NYT article, says it best, "ick."

"Ick" in the sense that Adam's supervisor was able to see an internet workout class Adam had been a participant. Granted, Adam forgot to log out of the program before he moved on for the day. Monitoring software may "o.k." for large firms who can afford to provide each of their employees with an individual laptop. But for those of us with limited resources, e.g., solos and small practitioners, we rely on our staff (or contractors) to have their own computer. And if I were one of those "employees," I would not be letting my boss put a monitoring program on my personal computer. But this type of intrusion does not reflect that there is a more significant problem at hand.

Apparently, when employers require their staff to use this type of tracking software, their "productivity" goes up! But "productivity" in the legal field cannot be solely defined upon computer use. Sure, research, typing documents, and reading and sending e-mailing are done on the computer. But, you are not always on the computer during meetings, traveling to and from those meetings, or traveling to or appearing in court. And what about courts and other venues that don't allow electronic devices. What if, GASP, you are reading a paper copy of a book? Or work better handwriting your thoughts? Or better yet, have a bunch of programs running and not actually working! The problem of using a tracking program in "law practice" is that it does not address the most crucial question: Is your staff actually practicing law?

I think lawyers are more concerned with quality work and meeting deadlines. These programs can only monitor quantity. It cannot track the "quality" of the employee's work product. And quite frankly, if you cannot rely on your staff to meet deadlines with quality work, no employee monitoring software program is going provide you with the protection you will need from a bar complaint resulting from shoddy work.