Brian Foster Attorney of the Month IBF Law Group Law Firm of the MonthPROCESS SERVERS WE HAVE TWO SPEEDS FAST AND FASTER!! SERVING ALL OF ARIZONA ASAPSERVE.COM 480.821.1552 Court Filing Record Retrieval Private Investigations Skip Trace/Locates TABLE OF Contents 10 6 What Does Data Encryption Mean and What Does It Do? By Dave Kinsey 7 Arizona Is Deregulating the Practice of Law. What Might that Mean for You? By Billie Tarascio 8 Trend to Continue Remote Work on the Rise By Katherine Bishop 9 Incentives That Will Improve Law Firm Employee Happiness & Loyalty By Emily LaRusch 10 Brian Foster Attorney of the Month 14 Changes: Greater Access to Justice or Diminishment in Integrity of the Legal Profession? The Jury is Still Out By Benjamin Gottlieb 16 IBF Law Group Law Firm of the Month 21 Mythology of Personal Injury: Gap in Care By Bill Gallagher, DC, CMVI SPECIAL SECTIONS 22 Talk of the Town 3Welcome Phoenix attorneys to another issue of Attorney at Law Magazine. As you saw in our last issue, the legal industry is shift- ing here in Arizona. We follow-up on the new rule changes for non-lawyers in this issue. I’d also like to welcome our Attorney of the Month Brian Foster, an entrepre- neurial attorney who is shaking up his career as well. I hope you enjoy learning more about Foster and his new vistas. Sheree Wright also sat down with writer, Susan Cushing, this month to tell us a bit about her immigration law firm IBF Law Group in our latest Law Firm of the Month feature story. I hope you all enjoy this issue and would like to remind you the deadline for the Veterans in Law issue is coming up. If you’d like to participate, please feel free to reach out to me. We’re looking forward to honoring our veterans this November. As the legal community continues to evolve so do we here at Attorney at Law Magazine. We are excited to announce our newly renovated website which makes keeping up with the magazine easier. We’re also excited to share that you can now follow Attorney at Law Magazine on Google News. Keep reading, Ken Minniti EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER 480-219-9716 KMINNITI@TMMPUBLICATIONS.COM FROM THE Publisher Attorney at Law Magazine is published by: Target Market Media Publications Inc. Copyright ©2020, Target Market Media all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is strictly prohibited. Advertising rates on request. Bulk third class (standard) mail. Although every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy of published materials, Attorney at Law Magazine & Target Market Media cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied by authors. Corporate Office : 5828 North 7th Street, Suite 200 Phoenix, AZ 85014 Phone (480) 219-9716 www.tmmpublications.com • info@tmmpublications.com Ken Minniti PRESIDENT & CEO Howard LaGraffe VICE PRESIDENT Caitlin Keniston EDITOR Jaqueline Dávila GRAPHIC DESIGN Susan Cushing Veronica Jauregui ASSISTANT EDITOR Dragana Kartalija ADMINISTRATION Bill Gallagher, DC, CMVI Dave Kinsey Emily LaRusch Billie Tarascio CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Katherine Bishop Benjamin Gottlieb CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Andrew Paul PHOTOGRAPHY Northern Alabama | Atlanta | Chicago | Dallas | Ft. Lauderdale Jacksonville | Los Angeles | Miami | Minnesota North Carolina Triangle | Ohio | Philadelphia | Phoenix | San Antonio Salt Lake City | Middle Tennessee | Washington D.C. CONTRIBUTING Editors EMILY LARUSCHDAVE KINSEYBILL GALLAGHER , DC, CMVI BILLIE TARASCIO 4 ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · PHOENIX· VOL. 12 NO. 5O: 602.230.7600 C: 602.692.3964 F: 602.503.4469 E: nminniti@cox.net W: www.nancyminniti.com 8388 E. Hartford Dr. #100 | Scottsdale, AZ 85255 Referral Fee Paid to Agents & Brokers. 30% Putting experience and knowledge to work for 17 years New Construction • Single Family Homes Townhomes • Condos • Land Nancy Minniti REALTOR®Encryption means “hidden.” Spe- cifically, encryption is used to keep confidential information private by scrambling all the ones and zeros to make them appear like gib- berish unless you have the key used to perform the scrambling. This key (a special code) is kept private so that you are the only one that has it. With the key, your information looks just like you would expect it to look. Without the key, the data is worth- less, it is meaningless. There is a cer- tain amount of technology behind the scenes where you often may not know the actual key used to perform the en- cryption, but this key is essential both to keep the data private and to allow you to access it. ENCRYPTION AT REST VERSUS ENCRYPTION IN TRANSIT There are two major types of en- cryption: 1. encryption at rest 2. encryption in transit Encryption at rest means that in- formation is saved to a hard drive by a computer program that uses a key to scramble the data just before it ac- tually writes the information. Some common examples of encryption are encrypted laptop hard drives and encrypted mobile phones. Laptops and mobile phones are very portable and easily stolen, so they are commonly en cr yp t e d to ensure that your data won’t be compro- mised if they are lost or stolen. A thief may steal the device, but they won’t have the key so it will be worthless. The most common type of laptop encryption uses Microsoft Bitlocker to perform this encryption and the unlocking happens automatically by using your password to log into the PC. Unless someone knows your password, they generally won’t get access to the in- formation on the laptop, so make sure you are using a good password and never write it down on a sticky note that might get stolen along with the laptop. Encryption in transit is data that is being transmitted, generally over the internet. When you log into your bank’s secure website to manage your account, you are using encryption to keep the information strictly between you and your bank. This is used to protect email being transmitted via Office 365 as well. There are many places where encryption in transit is required to keep your information safe. HOW DO YOU KNOW SOMETHING IS ENCRYPTED? When you go to a secure website, you will generally see a lock in your browser to indicate that the website you are working with is encrypted. The web address will also techni- cally start with “https” instead of just “http.” The ‘s’ is used to indi- cate that the site is secure. Most mod- ern mobile phones will be encrypted by default so long as you supply a PIN. However, you will want to verify that by reviewing the phone settings. Many modern laptops have the native ability to be encrypted, but will gen- erally not be encrypted by default. If you have sensitive information on that laptop, this can be very danger- ous. Managing technology and security involves many things. Checklists are helpful to ensure that you are doing all the things that you need to be do- ing. Ask your IT provider about en- cryption. If they are already talking with you about encryption that is a good sign that they are keeping up with the times and are being proac- tive. If they have not spoken with you about encryption that is a red flag that your IT provider might not be doing all that they should be doing to take care of your security. Ask about what you are doing with regards to encryp- tion at as well as encryption in transit. If you want to be serious about securi- ty, set aside at least one meeting a year to review your security, review your checklist. What are your top threats? What are you doing to manage those threats? Encryption should be one of many things on the list of things that you review. DAVE KINSEY | Technology What Does Data Encryption Mean and What Does It Do? Dave Kinsey is the president and owner of Total Networks, the technology adviser to Arizona’s law firms. Mr. Kinsey is on the technology committee for the State Bar of Arizona, has presented at several CLE seminars on the top- ics of technology security and data protection, and his team is the first and only Arizona IT company to earn the CompTIA Security Trustmark, certifying that Total Networks meets or exceeds security best practices. 6 ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · PHOENIX· VOL. 12 NO. 5The Arizona Supreme Court has just passed sweeping reforms to the practice of law, including the elimination of rule 5.4 that pro- hibited fee splitting and ownership of law firms by non-lawyers. Law firms can now be owned by non-lawyers and register as an “ABS” or alterna- tive business structure. Additionally, LLLPs, or Limited License Legal Prac- titioners will be eligible to practice law including the ability to file docu- ments, appear in court, and represent individuals in mediations. Whether this is a good idea or not, is no longer up for debate. On January 1, 2021, change is coming. So, what does this mean for you and your practice? How do you thrive in an environment where the Big 4 accounting firms and big box stores like Wal-Mart will be offering legal services that directly compete with your firm? How can you prepare, adapt, and thrive in a deregulated legal industry? You have time and notice to make sure you have a strong foundation in your firm right now. This will allow you to be more flexible and adapt your client services as new providers enter the market. It may also position you to accept capital injections from outside players looking to invest in law firms. Start with these four fundamental principles: 1. Think very closely about your clients and who you serve? If you haven’t specialized yet, now is the time. The more specific you can get about who you serve and why, the easier it will be to compete in the deregulated world. Lawyers will become surgeons and specialists. Lawyers will not fill the role of the urgent care doctor. 2. What will your practice look like in five years? What have we learned about the practice of law from the pandemic? Will you need office space? How much? How will you in- teract with your consumers and with the court? Are your technology sys- tems locked in and scalable? 3. Take a look at your financials. Do you have a healthy profit margin? For a firm with 2-5 attorneys, you should have a 15%-20% profit mar- gin. Costs associated with employees, including owner salaries should be no more than 50% of your revenue. You should be spending between 6%- 10% on marketing, and less than 6% of your revenue on rent. If you check these numbers and they are close, your model may be solid. If your numbers aren’t close, you probably have some work to do on your law firm’s financial model. You still have time before the capital comes in and starts scooping up firms and clients. 4. Check your technology and your systems. Is every person in your firm using your technology in the same way? Do you have a consistent stream of clients coming in? Are your cases processed in a consistent, proac- tive manner? Some more good news for how you can broaden your practice? We have heard from the Maricopa County Superior Court Justices that they are upgrading their software to allow for virtual trials to continue well after the pandemic and that they will move to a system of electronic submission of exhibits. Virtual trials mean that lawyers will be able to represent people across the state without increased costs of travel. It also opens up opportunity to provide physical space suitable for virtual representation. You could theoretically offer your office space for those who needed to have the internet bandwidth and logistical space for a virtual trial. Non lawyer ownership is allowed already in London, Australia, and Washington D.C., the business model of law is not radically different there than it is here in Arizona today. The future of law has always been subject to speculation, but now the possibilities are broader. Certified Legal Document Preparers have been licensed in Arizona to provide document preparation for more than 20 years. The existence of CLDPs did not shrink the legal market for lawyers and has created a viable industry for providers and consumers who need legal help, but may not need the expertise or can’t afford the expertise of an attorney. I have owned both a law firm and a certified legal document preparation company simultaneously in Arizona for more than seven years. Consumers have benefited from being able to leverage the services of both companies to maximize their budgets and their success in their family law action. My hope is that the industry grows to serve more clients and lawyers thrive in the specialized field they have chosen. Do not allow fear to immobilize you. torneys can and should thrive amid the changes. BILLIE TARASCIO | Practice Management Billie Tarascio is the owner of Modern Law, Modern Law Practice, and I Do Over. She served on the Arizona task for the future of legal services and can be reached for law firm consulting at billie@modernlawpractice.com Arizona Is Deregulating the Practice of Law. What Might that Mean for You? 7AALM: Why are we seeing so many law firms and legal professionals opt for remote work instead of returning back to the office? ME: Law firms and legal profes- sionals are opting for remote work for several reasons including: Con- tinued concerns over COVID, re- cent digital transformation projects that help maintain productivity and communication, and increased flex- ibility and reduced commuting time of their team members. Many of our clients have offices in cities that still have restrictions and their leadership teams are still evaluating when they can safely open their offices. While they continue to plan on how to re- turn, recent projects have provided their team members the tools nec- essary to maintain their productiv- ity. These tools include cloud-based technologies, remote access solutions, and communication and collabora- tion tools. In addition to this, we’ve had recent conversations with clients around how remote work can help re- duce real estate costs and help recruit team members. AALM: As remote work becomes the new normal what is the impor- tance of law firms having an end-to- end remote workforce strategy? ME: While technology plays a key role in an end-to-end remote work- force strategy, law firms must evaluate their culture and practices to create a plan to maintain productivity, en- gagement, retention, and profitability. The strategy should identify the scope of the remote workforce and consid- er the change to HR and IT policies, communication challenges, manual workflow automation, change man- agement, and support that will be re- quired. The strategy will also include the technology toolsets necessary for the remote workforce and include considerations for tracking employee productivity and well-being. Finally, the strategy must ensure that security and privacy is still in alignment with an enterprise risk management pro- gram. AALM: What assessments should law firm leadership and IT teams con- duct in order to ensure their remote work strategy translates into an ef- ficient, cost-effective work environ- ment? ME: Remote work has always brought the concerns around employ- ee engagement and productivity. Sev- eral recent studies have shown that remote work can improve efficiency. Similar to on-site counterparts, re- mote workers should have employee performance processes and metrics built into their job description. Stan- dard output-based metrics such as workload, open matters over time, matter cycle time and spend to bud- get per lawyer can be used to track the remote workforce. To ensure en- gagement and connectedness to the firm culture, some firms are utilizing weekly check-in calls. AALM: With employees spread out across the globe, seamless communi- cation can be tricky. What technol- ogy should law firms have in place to streamline communication across the organization as well as with clients? ME: Law firms use a variety of com- munication and collaboration tools to maintain seamless communication. Some firms mandate video calls for all meetings using a variety of video conferencing technologies. We have seen firms streamline communication further by adopting a full communi- cation and collaboration platform like Microsoft Teams. In addition to video conferencing, a Microsoft Teams im- plementation utilizing proper infor- mation governance allows a firm to collaborate on documents and proj- ects, a persistent chat platform to cap- ture conversation context, planning and task management tools, and in- tegration with Office 365 applications (SharePoint, Power BI, etc.). AALM: How can IT work to train users on updated software and ensure they are following security protocols? ME: One of the challenges firms have faced with the remote workforce is the evolution of the IT support staff. Supporting remote team members has forced the IT team to create ad- ditional channels to assist with new challenges. We have seen support teams utilize office hour sessions, short videos, self-service knowledge bases, support chat bots, and other creative solutions to train users and ensure security protocols are being followed. Trend to Continue Remote Work on the Rise BY KATHERINE BISHOP The coronavirus pandemic has caused the number of remote legal professionals to skyrocket. And while some law firms are eager to reopen offices, others are opting to continue working remotely. In fact, lawyers and law firm staff enjoy working remotely so much that 67% want to continue that arrangement once offices fully reopen following the coronavirus pandemic. We sat down with Mike Engels, Principal Consultant at Netrix, to discuss this trend. 8 ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · PHOENIX· VOL. 12 NO. 5Employee happiness is an often- overlooked stat in business. I un- derstand how it happens; you’ve got a lot going on and the last thing on your mind is worrying about the mental health of those working in your office. It can be easy to ignore... until your employees up and quit, that is. Employee happiness is directly linked to productivity, creativity, and positive attitude. It is also linked to the longevity of employment and in- creases loyalty to your company. So, how can you make your em- ployees happier? Spoiler: You don’t need to give everyone a raise. Imple- menting creative and useful benefits and incentives is enough to help your staff feel valued. Keep in mind that the most beneficial incentives are go- ing to be those that encourage work- life balance and negate burnout. ELABORATE BENEFITS OTHER COMPANIES ARE OFFERING Vault curated a list of benefits other law firms offer to members of their law firms and I want to share a few of my favorites. • Daycare exclusively for children of firm employees that operates on the same schedule as the law firm • Quarterly massage budget • All expenses paid annual one- week trip to Hawaii • Global soccer tournament with paid travel to different fun locations to play • On-site gym with a personal train- er available for once-weekly sessions. Now, those benefits are all dreamy but most of us aren’t quite in a place in business to offer such elaborate perks just yet. What can we do on a tighter budget? BENEFITS THAT WON’T BREAK THE BANK There are plenty of ways to show your appreciation for your employees without emptying your pockets. Here are a few that really stuck with me as impactful. • A cereal bar – this one is quirky, fun, and filling • Breast milk delivery program for traveling moms • Extended parental leave for all parents, including adoptive & sur- rogate • Flexible work hours – Netflix doesn’t track vacation time or work- ing hours, they track the actual work completed • More vacation time These are all pretty simple examples but they greatly improve the balance between work and family, which is shown to improve the quality of work produced. It’s important to note, too, that if you notice a benefit is not being utilized, you can switch it up! There’s no need to waste money if the benefit isn’t one that your team finds valu- able. Survey your employees about what they would rather see and work to implement those instead. HOW BACK OFFICE BETTIES GOT CREATIVE WITH BENEFITS You don’t have to stick to the same benefits that everyone else is offering. In fact, I highly recommend that you don’t do that! Sure, there may be some things that would be viewed as stan- dard. But offering additional unique ( & useful) benefits helps to make you stand out as an employer and further encourages employee happiness and loyalty in your team. At Back Office Betties, we have implemented some perks and incentives that our team loves and utilizes. Dream Program – Every employee fills out a wish list of their dreams and we grant wishes based on per- formance, thus connecting personal goals to their day-to-day work Working From Home – Every Bet- tie works in the comfort of their home. We provide their equipment and en- courage participation in our Betties community through chat and virtual events so that each employee gets the best of both (working) worlds! Home Buyers Program – Two Bet- ties per year qualify for assistance with a down payment on a new home Wellness Days – Twice per year, Betties are offered a paid day off to get pampered on Back Office Betties’ dime Annual Growth Budget – Each Bettie is given a budget to spend on learning and growth, however they see fit 2 + 3 = 5 Year Anniversary Pro- gram – Upon their fifth Bettie-ver- sary, employees get 2 weeks consecu- tive paid time off + $3000 to take a va- cation and treat themselves for their loyalty and hard work These are just a few examples of ways to boost your employees’ hap- piness, but don’t let these suggestions limit you! Benefits aren’t the only way to boost morale. I recommend asking your team what would make them happier and follow up with action based on their sug- gestions. Utilize an employee happiness survey like Office- Vibe and also track productivity, then see how the two compare! EMILY LARUSCH | Digital Marketing Emily LaRusch is the CEO of Back Office Betties (www.BackOfficeBetties.com), the only Legal Receptionist solu- tion to offer unlimited call plans for small law firms. As a customer service expert, Emily and her team help law- yers provide superior customer service and land more clients with relentlessly friendly and knowledgeable legal receptionists. Incentives That Will Improve Law Firm Employee Happiness & Loyalty 9Next >