The Tennessee Bar Association’s Practice Management Center has resources for every stage of law firm management. Among the newest offerings is an on-boarding plan for firms expanding their employee rosters. A growing firm is a great thing! It's a sure sign that your hard work is paying off with satisfied clients and more opportunities. But as business expands, it is important to bring new people up to speed smoothly and efficiently. Use this checklist to make sure you cover everything without overwhelming the new hire.

Brian Faughnan, president of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL), is featured on a new episode of Bob Ambrogi's podcast, LawNext to discuss why the APRL has "asked the American Bar Association to amend the model rules that govern law practice to allow lawyers admitted in any U.S. jurisdiction to practice law and provide legal advice to clients anywhere in the country." APRL says the current rule is "anachronistic" and "concluded that the change is critical to a '21st Century' approach to the practice of law.'" Listen to the episode here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Faughnan is a shareholder in the Memphis office of Lewis Thomason, where his practice includes representing lawyers and law firms in disciplinary matters. He recently posted the 500th post on his blog Faughnan on Ethics.

For those who would like to learn more about conservatorship work, the TBA is offering a free one-hour Zoom discussion on best practices, with a focus on general practice and small and solo firms. Nashville lawyer Amy Willoughby Bryant and Lebanon lawyer Travenia Holden will present the session on April 25 from 2-3 p.m. CDT. An optional hour of CLE credit is available for $50. For more information or questions contact TBA’s Director of Education and Professional Development Jennifer Vossler.

Succession occurs when an attorney or firm sells, quits, transfer assets, winds down or when an expected or unexpected death occurs. TBA’s Practice Management Center has expanded resources in the Winding Down A Firm section offering a new tutorial video and a new 48-page handbook thanks to Nashville area lawyer and TBA member Timothy “Tim” Takacs of Takacs McGinnis Elder Care Law. The handbook includes sample language and forms, a planning toolkit and a sample office policy manual for your practice.

Are you considering moving to a new practice management system, time/billing/account system, voice over internet phone (VOIP) system, or document management system? New scorecards are designed for printing and distributing to firm members to evaluate vendors. Access hundreds of resources in TBA’s Practice Management Center, including a new checklist on best practices for training employees on new technologies.

A new whitepaper offering 10 tips for cleaning up your Outlook inbox — Outlook Top 10 Tips and Tricks — is now available in TBA’s Practice Management Center. This and many other best practices are located in the Managing a Firm section that looks at cybersecurity, document automation and management, money and practice management, and a large section on technology with recent updates to our whitepaper on getting the best deals on technology.

TBA’s Practice Management Center offers comparison charts on many legal tech tools. This month, updates have been made to PDF programs and web meeting services. A new comparison chart on Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 is also now available. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of Google and Microsoft.

The TBA Practice Management Center offers an easy way for members to get their legal technology and law practice management questions answered at no cost by an expert at the Affinity Consulting Group. All experts are former practicing attorneys who have spent years working with law firms on best practices, technology, management and process. Email your questions to tbapmc@affinityconsulting.com.

See what’s new in TBA’s Practice Management Center with updates in our Protecting a Firm section related to backup strategies, ransomware defense and antivirus, and wireless encryption. Also, be sure to check out a new whitepaper on Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Our one-stop solution to practice management offers updates to resources related to client costs advancements and time, billing and accounting in our Money Management section, printer and computer recommendations in our Technology section, and insight on ways to improve communication with technology and policy.