< PreviousY our firm’s website is how you put your best foot forward to the outside world 24x7x365. You’ve put a lot of time and energy into creating it and building it up, so it only makes sense to make sure your website is protected and providing a return on your investment. Keeping a site protected involves a number of best practices around security, up- dates, passwords, and more. Security is paramount since your site is exposed to the outside world, and hacking attempts continuously. A recent study showed that websites lose 95% of their traffic, on average, when they are compromised and in turn, get blacklisted by Google for a security issue. By adopting these five best prac- tices and staying on top of potential issues, you can keep your website humming along at its best, promot- ing your firm to potential clients day and night. USE STRONG PASSWORDS The first area you’ll want to check is related to accounts and passwords. To start, take a look at the list of us- ers that have access to log into your WordPress admin portal. Are there old vendors there? Old employees? Disable any accounts that don’t need to be currently active to reduce the number of potential points of entry for hackers. The second thing you’ll want to do regarding log- ins is to create a complex, unique password for your WordPress admin account. These passwords should be at least 12 char- acters long (preferably 16+) and rotated regularly. Use a password manager like LastPass or 1Password to generate and keep track of these passwords. KEEP YOUR SITE UPDATED With a WordPress site, there are a couple of different categories of updates that need to be regularly performed to make sure your envi- ronment is properly protected from security risks and hackers. These include the WordPress core, any plugins, and possibly theme up- grades (if you’re using a pre-made theme or framework that regularly releases updates). These organiza- tions regularly release patches and updates to address discovered secu- rity flaws and bugs in their software, very similar to how your computer has periodic updates for the same types of issues. It’s important to test your website’s appearance and functionality after installing these updates, as it’s pos- sible that some code or plugin up- dates can cause incompatibilities or formatting quirks depending on the structure of your site. MONITOR SECURITY In addition to keeping your site patched, it’s important to monitor the site for any compromises - accord- ing to security vendor Sucuri, web- sites are compromised every day due to lack of installed updates, reuse of leaked passwords, neglected sites or a lack of resources to update to newer software versions. Commonly, hackers will insert code into compromised websites to either generate income from ads or load malicious code into your visi- tors’ computers. This is something you’ll want to use a third-party ven- dor for - there are a number of se- curity vendors that specifically work with WordPress to provide solutions and alerting for this. MONITOR UPTIME While it’s important to stay on top of your site’s security, it’s just as im- portant to keep an eye on the uptime and performance of your hosting company. The best way to do this is by using a plugin or other service that will constantly keep an eye on your website and send you an alert if it de- tects your site has gone offline. Depending on what has caused it to go offline, you can either fix the is- sue or raise a support ticket with your website hosting company to address and resolve what’s causing the down- time. BACK UP YOUR SITE Just like your computer, even with the best security solutions, things happen. You want to have scheduled, regularly tested backups that can be restored in the case of accidental de- letion of content or resources, mali- cious changes to the site, or the site being compromised by a hacker. Daily (or even hourly, depending on how often you update your site) site, content, and database backups are the best way to make sure you can restore your website if something happens to it. By staying on top of these five items, you can keep your website pro- tected, looking great, and providing a consistent return on your marketing investment. Protect Your Website with These Five Easy Steps BRIAN CRAIG | Legal Marketing Brian Craig is the founder and CEO of LegalScapes, a full-service digital marketing agency that works solely with law firms. With over 15 years of experience in online marketing, Brian helps lawyers across the United States get more clients through the Internet. When not working with clients, you’ll find him playing basketball, going to Carolina games, and planning the next adventure with his wife and two daughters. Drop Brian a line at brian@ legalscapes.com, call (919) 646-8707, or visit LegalScapes on the web at www.legalscapes.com. ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · NORTH CAROLINA TRIANGLE VOL. 7 NO. 4 20The NC Advocates for Justice held its annual conference in June at the Hotel Ballast in Wilmington. The theme was: Revitalizing & Retooling Our Community. EVENT SPOTLIGHT OUTSTANDING APPELLATE JUDGE BOB HUNTER, DAVID KIRBY, WADE BYRD AND DAINA BYRD EBBIE AWARD WINNER DAVID HENSON, JULIE KAY-SACK AND KENNETH SACK HELEN BADDOUR, JUDGE LUCY INMAN, EBBIE AWARD WINNER VALERIE JOHNSON AND LETO COPELEY NC SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CHERI BEASLEY JUDGE CARL FOX AND JOE CHESHIRE BILL BYSTRYNSKI, KIM CROUCH AND GUY CRABTREE BRAD BANNON, DARRIN DUPREE JORDAN, JUDGE JEFFERY CARPENTER AND BILL POWERS MARY POLLARD AND KIM COUCH (LOWER RIGHT CORNER) AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 21A letter arrives in the mail saying that your property might be condemned under eminent domain and the en- tity that sent it wants to meet to pres- ent their offer. “There are two competing forces here. The government has the right to take your land. You have the right to contest the value. The contestation right is a very powerful right, and we’re able to use that to the property owners’ advantage,” said Raleigh emi- nent domain attorney Cooper Howell of Hansen, Howell & Wilkie, PLLC. Josh Hansen, Howell, and Jessica Wilkie represent landowners and business owners across NC whose properties are being taken by the NC Department of Transportation, pri- vate utility companies, or local mu- nicipalities. Each project has a unique set of issues. “For example, in Apex and Holly Springs, in the area of the I-540 Project, there may not be a suitable replacement for some of those prop- erty owners losing their houses. They need to make sure they understand their rights.” NO HEAVY LIFTING REQUIRED “Most eminent attorneys who rep- resent property owners work on a contingency fee basis based on the amount that we’re able to recover for the property owner that’s above what the DOT offers. There’s typically no out-of-pocket expenses, upfront charges or deposits with these cases,” said Hansen who has been practic- ing eminent domain law in NC for 15 years. “Once they hire an attorney, they don’t have to do any heavy lifting. The majority of our clients are not equipped to develop and argue their case, so they turn that entirely over to us. We work with them and keep them informed as we are preparing and negotiating their case.” said Hansen. “However, clients can be as involved as they want to be in the process; it is really up to the individual client.” MY NEIGHBOR’S OFFER IS DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT “If we can get involved early we can talk to the condemnor’s representa- tives; we can help shape the conver- sation and bring up areas of concern such as types of damages, land use, and comparable sales that generally help the property owner get a better first offer,” said Hansen. “There’s a phrase in our business called ‘highest and best use’. Just be- cause you’re sitting on 10 acres that you happen to be farming doesn’t mean that’s where the case value is generated. It’s almost always an anal- ysis of ‘what is the market doing’? What could your land be used for? How could it be developed? Those are very subjective factors,” said Howell. “There’s no such thing as an identi- cal piece of real estate,” said Hansen. “Someone will ask why one neigh- bor got X, when I got Y? Well, your neighbor may have damages that you do not have. The key is to make the best arguments for each specific piece of property.” If money is one key factor in an em- inent domain case, the other is tim- ing. “Very often DOT will say some- thing will take a month or two, and it winds up taking six months. It’s im- portant for clients to know they can make plans based on a more realistic time frame such as when they need to move,” said Howell. DON’T DO IT YOURSELF “As a property owner, you can shoot yourself in the foot by saying the wrong things, and anything the prop- erty owner tells the condemner goes into a negotiation log. It becomes part of the record of the case. So if that person is not absolutely confident that they’re going to handle that case from the beginning all the way through the end, they should get their attor- ney involved, that way there are no quotes, no estimates, nothing to bind the property owners to some guess,” said Hansen. “We will meet with any property owner on their property for free, to determine the best course of action, which may or may not involve hiring an attorney.” “Relationships are important to ev- ery business. While we are working against the Department of Transpor- tation, to a large extent we work with those folks to get a case to a position where we can have a reasonable con- versation on what the taking is worth,” said Hansen. “We have built these re- lationships over the years and use that experience to best serve our clients.” HANSEN, HOWELL & WILKIE, PLLC 1618 Glenwood Ave. Raleigh, NC 27608 (919) 256-5266 www.hansenhowell.com Hansen, Howell & Wilkie, PLLC Understand Your Rights BY BOB FRIEDMAN COOPER HOWELL AND JOSH HANSEN EMINENT DOMAIN ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · NORTH CAROLINA TRIANGLE VOL. 7 NO. 4 22The North Carolina Bar Association held its 121st Annual Meeting at Biltmore in Asheville June 20-23. During the meeting, members elected C. Mark Holt as NCBA president- elect and held a gala with dinner and dancing to celebrate the installation of new president LeAnn Nease Brown. PHOTOS COURTESY NC BAR ASSOCIATION EVENT SPOTLIGHT NCBA PAST PRESIDENT CARYN MCNEILL NCBA PAST PRESIDENT SHELBY BENTON AND CAMPBELL SCHOOL OF LAW DEAN RICH LEONARD NCBA PRESIDENT LEANN NEASE BROWN AND INSTRUCTOR KEM QUERBY OF ASHEVILLE BALLROOM & DANCE CENTRE KEYNOTE SPEAKER JUDGE ALLISON RUSHING N.C. SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE CHERI BEASLEY NCBA PRESIDENT-ELECT MARK HOLT AND HIS WIFE JOANNA WITH ALETIA FERREIRA AND STEVE EPSTEIN RASHAD MORGAN, JANICE COLE AND GWENDOLYN LEWIS GORDON BROWN AND PRESIDENT LEANNE NEASE BROWN AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 23A re you wondering why you don’t have more cash in your check- ing account? Struggling to pay yourself? Find yourself us- ing your business line of credit too often? Try these six tips to increase your cash flow and sleep better at night knowing you have money in the bank. 1. Do you accept credit cards? It is a way of life today. Many clients don’t have the cash to pay a re- tainer. Not only are you probably waiting longer for your hourly clients to pay you, you are probably losing business if you only accept cash for retainers. The credit card fees you pay will be offset by the increase in business and getting paid faster. 2. Do you know what the balances are on your client retainers? Do you ever get surprised by a client retainer running out? Bill your clients for additional retainer BEFORE they run out. Your #1 goal is to get paid in advance. You will have $0 in collection costs and write-offs this way. 3. Flat Fee Billing Moving to flat fee billing allows you to collect the fees upfront with- out having any invoices to send or accounts receivable to track down. The client also feels more comfortable knowing how much they will be spending on fees. Win/Win! 4. Review your Accounts Receivable at least once a month. Statistically speaking, once a receivable is older than 60 days, the likelihood of collection goes down drastically. Pick up the phone and call the clients that have not paid. 5. Get your client bills out quickly Set a monthly deadline to get client bills out by. If they are sitting in your briefcase waiting to be reviewed for weeks, that is cash that is not sitting in your checking account! 6. Do you pay your bills on the due date? If you don’t have good cash flow management practices, you are likely either paying your bills early or paying them late. Paying them early ties up your cash when you don’t need to. Paying them late costs you money in late fees. Pay them on time for maximum cash flow management. Proactive cash flow management allows you to sleep at night know- ing you are covered for your upcoming expenses. Creation of an eight to 12-week cash flow forecast is critical to knowing where the gaps are creating a plan if you do have a cash crunch on the horizon. JESSICA GONIFAS IS THE FOUNDER OF SILVER PEAKS ACCOUNTING SERVICES LLC, AN ACCOUNTING AND ADVISORY FIRM DEDICATED TO HELPING SOLO AND SMALL LAW FIRM OWNERS INCREASE PROFIT AND PERSONAL WEALTH. 6 Simple Ways Law Firms Can Improve Cash Flow BY JESSICA GONIFAS, CPA ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · NORTH CAROLINA TRIANGLE VOL. 7 NO. 4 24S am Tate and Mike Lotz worked for the North Car- olina Administrative Office of the Courts to help develop its new website launched in 2018. The experience laid the foundation for Raleigh-based Civvis a complementary business of creating paperless forms for court systems which they launched last year. “For citizens going to court, filling out a court form is a nightmare, especially if you have a disability, comprehen- sion or visual impairment,” said Civvis co-founder Tate. “With everyone using their phones for their access to the internet, we created a technology layer that allows us- ers to fill out complex paper-based forms simply by using their phone or any other device. You can think of it as the TurboTax of court forms,” said co-founder Lotz. In 2017, the NC Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice’s Final Report recommended a migrating toward a paperless system. Clerks’ offices in North Caro- lina manually processed over 31 million pieces of paper, resulting in over 4.3 miles of shelving to maintain that pa- per. The court system uses over 1,000 different forms for pro se filings. “Our platform offers a modern solution to paper-based court forms and processes. We help legal service provid- ers such as court systems, Legal Aid, nonprofits, law li- braries, and attorneys deliver online services efficiently and in a user-friendly format,” said Tate. With the explosion of legal tech companies, we’ve no- ticed an interesting paradigm shift in the legal/judicial world,” Tate adds. “On one side of the spectrum, you have rapid innovation that mostly caters to attorneys and law firms such as AI, doc assembly, mobile apps, etc. On the other end of the spectrum, the courthouse, there’s little to no innovation for the people work- ing in the courthouse or the people going to court.” Civvis is used for pro se mat- ters such as divorce, landlord/ tenant disputes, and wills and estates. “If someone is going through the estates process, they can use Civvis so when they go to the clerk’s office, they are in good shape to continue that process,” said Lotz. No More Poor Handwriting “We have built-in logic for required fields which pre- vents submission until data is entered,” said Tate. “We also have validation checks for emails, addresses, phone numbers, etc. We can map one field on our web applica- tion to many on the court forms. For example, a court process may include six forms. Users only have to fill in their name once, and it will populate in the corresponding field on all six forms.” We take poor handwriting out of the equation because users fill out the forms from a computer or smartphone,” Tate adds. “Data populates court forms in a clean, unified fashion.” The net result is quick processing because clerks don’t have to return forms to applicants for additional infor- mation or corrections. In an era of tight budgets for the courts, Civvis can reduce labor cost in the clerk’s offices. “Clerks are the customer service arm of the judiciary, and our software fits right in with their day to day du- ties,” Lotz said. “By reducing paper, streamlining intake, and leveraging modern tools like email, text alerts, and appointment scheduling, we solve many challenges clerks face when interacting with the public.” Duke Tech Lab Civvis will participate in the 2019 Duke Law Tech Lab in September. “Sam and Mike bring a unique perspective as technologists who have worked for the Administrative Office of the Courts,” said Kelli Raker, Coordinator of En- trepreneurial Law Programs at Duke Law and Managing Director of the Duke Law Tech Lab. “In our commitment to companies with a mission to in- crease access to legal services, we were impressed by their insights around remedying the pain points experienced by the public when interacting with the court system.” Civvis is scheduled for beta testing later this year. Then the plan is to roll it out in North Carolina before going nationwide. For more information, visit civvis.com or follow Civvis on Twitter @WeAreCivvis. Civvis Helping Pro Se Go Paperless BY BOB FRIEDMAN SPONSORED BY LAWYERS MUTUAL Legal Innovators SAM TATE MIKE LOTZ AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 25AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENTS PRESS RELEASES EVENTS PROMOTIONS ACTIVITES HONORS RECOGNITIONS TALK TOWN of the SUBMIT PRESS RELEASES FOR NEXT MONTH’S TALK OF THE TOWN AT WWW.ATTORNEYATLAWMAGAZINE.COM/SUBMIT-TOT/ At their Annual Convention in Wilm- ington in June, the North Carolina Ad- vocates for Justice in- stalled Vernon R. Sum- walt , a partner at The Sumwalt Law Firm in Charlotte, to the office of President for a one-year term that will run through June 2020. Sumwalt succeeds Mary Pollard, the Executive Director of NC Prisoner Legal Services, whose term as the or- ganization’s 45th President officially wrapped up on June 23, 2019. David S. Henson was confirmed to the posi- tion of president-elect at the NCAJ Conven- tion. He will begin his term as president in June 2020, when he will succeed current president Ver- non Sumwalt of Charlotte. Henson is a partner at Henson Fuerst, based in Raleigh, where he has practiced law in the areas of injury, disability and mass torts since 1998. Dan Titsworth of Ledbetter & Titsworth of Cary announced the opening of his new firm, Titsworth Law Offices, P.A., effective September 1, 2019. Titsworth and his longtime paralegal, Kim Miller, along with existing staff will continue to concentrate on per- sonal injury litigation and workers’ compensation claims. Nexsen Pruet announced Raleigh- based corporate and merger and ac- quisitions attorney Ken Lewis has been named to Lawyers of Color’s inaugural Na- tion’s Best List. Lawyers of Color is a nonprofit devoted to promoting diversity in the legal profession and advanc- ing democracy and equality in mar- ginalized communities. The group is respected for its celebration of at- torneys of color and its research and studies regarding the intersection of the legal profession and social justice. Chris Beacham, for- mer assistant attorney general for the North Carolina Department of Justice, has joined Riddle & Brantley LLP as its lead Eminent Do- main attorney. Beacham also practices personal injury law and civil litigation. He is the Chair of Diversity and Mem- bership for the Eminent Domain Sec- tion of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. Ellis & Winters LLP announced the addi- tion of two attorneys in the firm’s Raleigh of- fice. Luke J. Farley, Sr. is a commercial litigator focused on representing clients in the construction industry, especially general contractors, subcon- tractors, suppliers, and sureties. Ginger B. Hunsucker focuses her practice on medical malpractice and professional liability defense litigation. She defends healthcare providers and organiza- tions throughout North Carolina. Andrew S. Chamberlin , a partner in the Ellis & Winters’ Greensboro office, was recently installed as “President- Elect” of the Inter- national Association of Defense Counsel (IADC). Membership in the IADC is com- posed of the world’s leading corporate and insurance lawyers and insurance ex- ecutives. Smith Debnam announced the ad- dition of attorney Joseph A. Davies to the firm. Davies joins Smith Debnam as an associate attorney within the firm’s construction law section. Da- vies will concentrate his practice in the area of construction law and liti- gation, representing general contrac- tors and subcontractors, as well as property managers, landlords, com- mercial tenants, equipment rental companies, and building material suppliers. Olive Law Group announced that Chris Peffley has joined the firm as Of Counsel. He focuses his practice on technology transac- tions and licensing to helping clients identify and manage risk, grow revenues, and monetize IP. Scott W. Drorbaugh ¸ former felony pros- ecutor for Alamance County District Attor- ney’s Office, has joined Haas Tharrington, P.A. as the primary litigator in family law proceedings and non- violent criminal defense. Drorbaugh also practices adoption law and as- sisted reproductive technology law. Vernon R. Sumwalt David S. Henson Dan Titsworth Ken Lewis Chris Beacham Luke Farley Andrew S. Chamberlin Chris Peffley Scott W. Drorbaugh ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · NORTH CAROLINA TRIANGLE VOL. 7 NO. 4 26$995.00 Up to Six Videos 30-45 Seconds each Affinity Partner of NC Attorney at Law Magazine Let Potential Clients See and Hear You! Add Promotional Video to your Home Page Gigi Gardner David Tyson, Executive Producer 919-696-6512 david@tysoncommunications.com tysoncommunications.com Screenshot from Website Video UPCOMING EVENTS To View All Events or Submit an Event, Visit AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com/ Legal-Events/ 12 Sep 4 Oct 28 Sep 10-12 Sep Young Lawyers Division Social Wake County Bar Association Tennis Tournament Wake County Bar Association Raising The Bar 5K Durham County Bar Association 2019 Annual Conference North Carolina Association Of Women AttorneysThe Wake Women Attorneys held a summer social at The Raleigh Times in July. CourtLogic was one of the sponsors. OUT on the TOWN The Raleigh Legal Marketing Association held a DIY marketing workshop for solo and small firms July 19 at Lexis Nexis headquarters. The half-day workshop covered topics such as social media, content marketing and PR strategies. Attorney At Law Magazine was one of the sponsors. SPEAKERS SHANNON LANIER, BRIAN CRAIG, DANIEL BRIAN, AALM PUBLISHER BOB FRIEDMAN, CRYSTAL MATTHEW AND LINDSAY BURNS, SARAH JESSICA FARBER, LEE LLOYD, NICOLETTE FULTON, LINDSEY GRANADOS AND SARAH PRICE LEE LLOYD, SARAH PRICE, KRISTINA THOMPSON AND NC SUPREME COURT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE MARK DAVIS HEATHER CONNOR AND DAMON BEATY LINDSAY BURNS, JODI COVERLY AND SHANNON LANIER JEN HALLMAN, MARLET EDWARDS, BRIAN CRAIG, DANIEL BRIAN AND CHRIS PEFFLEY 28 ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · NORTH CAROLINA TRIANGLE VOL. 7 NO. 4PETER JOHNSON SPEAKER KEN GRAY PETER JOHNSON. JODI COVERLY, VANESSA HARDEE AND RANDY PULLEY SPEAKER EMILY MASSEY LABCORPS’ KIMBERLY LICATA AND WARD AND SMITH’S BRAD EVANS The Research Triangle Area Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel held a CLE hosted by Ward And Smith entitled, “Ethics and Professional Responsibility in the #MeToo Era” The Raleigh Legal Marketing Association held a lunch in August at Hutchison. The featured speaker was Peter Johnson whose presentation was “The Ever Demanding (and changing) Role of the Marketing Professional.” AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 29Next >