Jerry Lawson recently reminded me that the second edition of Bob Ambrogi‘s book, The Essential Guide to the Best (and Worst) Legal Sites on the Web, has now been published. I got the chance to talk with Bob a few months ago when he had just finished the final galley proofs and the book was headed off to the printer.
For those who don’t already know this, Bob is the real deal. He’s been writing about and reviewing legal websites since the very beginning, and there’s no better authority on the topic. Bob was also in the first big group of lawyers to create websites with great content and he is also one of the early lawyer bloggers (LawSites). My comment on the first edition still stands, “A highly useful and well-organized reference tool that should be kept beside every lawyer’s computer.”
I’m way overdue in mentioning Meg Spencer-Dixon’s very useful The Lawyer’s Guide to Palm-Powered Handhelds, a book in which I played a small role in the editing process and will confess my bias toward. I like the practical focus of this book, which shows how lawyers can use and benefit from Palm devices more so than dwell on esoteric, technical matters. This focus works well for me and for most lawyers. If you’ve bought a PDA, you might as well find ways to get your money’s worth out of using it. This book will definitely help.
As long as you are putting together a reading list, don’t forget that technological innovation in the practice of law necessitates a rethinking of how we charge our clients. Three great starting points on that topic are Jim Calloway and Mark Robertson’s Winning Alternatives to the Billable Hour, 2nd Edition : Strategies That Work, Paul Dunn and Ron Baker’s The Future of the Firm, and Alan Weiss’s Value-Based Fees.
Why not turn off that darn computer and read a book for a change?