Why do we need to back up? Let me count some ways!
Myths
1. Myth number one: A hard disk will always give me a warning before it dies. We know this is a myth by practical experience. A hard disk may die without warning at any time. There is never a convenient time for this to happen. A hard disk will die. It is much more a question of when rather than a question of if.
2. Myth number two: Viruses are something that happen to other people. Two weeks ago a fellow attorney sent me an e-mail with an attachment. The subject of the email was a series of characters in random order which appear as the characters above the numbers on my keyboard. The e-mail itself contained no text--only an attachment in Microsoft Word. Luckily, I have an anti-virus program on my computer that alerted me of the presence of a virus on the attachment. I did not open the attachment but rather called the other attorney and asked him if he sent me an e-mail. He said that he knew nothing about an e-mail. This is the second time that this has happened to him. Having a virus may necessitate reformatting the hard disk and losing all data.
3. Myth number three: My office will never be destroyed by fire, earthquake, tornado or terrorist attack. I have known several attorneys whose offices were totally destroyed by fire. This is a great reason to store back up tapes off premises. If back up tapes are stored on premises, they will be destroyed along with the office.
4. Myth number four: I do not need to back up my computer before installing new programs. I have had problems with computer programs being installed and then conflicting with other programs. The result was that my computer would lock up on occasion. These problems can be corrected with some computer programs that take a snap shot of the disk and allows one to go back in time to restore the computer to a particular date before the problem arose. A tape back up will also allow one to restore the computer to its condition at the time of the back up.
5. Myth number five: If I back up regularly and store the tape off premises, I will be protected. I have experienced backing up until the disk crashed only to discover that the back up could not perform the restore function. The back up appeared to work correctly when made, but I did not test the back up to see if it would restore on a regular basis. Also, our firm uses Amicus Attorney on a peer-to-peer network. For years we relied on the person who operated the computer on which the database was stored to make regular back ups. We discovered that when Amicus Attorney is in use by anyone on the network, the back up program skipped the Amicus database file (amicus.db). We weren't getting any back ups at all for the most important file in our office.
6. Myth number six: Backing up on only one media is good enough. See Myth Number Five! I received advice from Paul Bernstein (one of the foremost computer gurus in the ISBA) that I should use more than one media. Paul backs up three ways: tape, jazz drive and cd roms. If there are problems with one media, then the back up has a back up.
7. Myth number seven: All of the people in your office are backing up correctly and regularly. One of my axioms of life is that people will do what is easiest. Backing up is not fun. People will have a tendency to put off backing up if there is something "more important" to do. Check on your office staff from time to time concerning the most recent back up tape and testing whether the tape is restorable.
Off site storage
This past week, my paralegal's back up came under the scrutiny of the whole office. The Amicus Attorney database file became corrupted and locked up anyone's computer that attempted to use the program. I spent 61/2 hours the next day working with tech support to try to resuscitate the file. The file was corrupted so badly that we couldn't even make a copy of it. When I retrieved her most recent backup, I was delighted to learn that we only lost five hours worth of data. She used two media for her backups. She used tape once a week and the Internet for daily back ups. We also learned that the Internet service that we use, Compasscomm.net, at www.compasscomm.net, also makes regular back ups of its Web site. The cost is about $20 per 100 megabytes of storage. We zip our data files to conserve space and to speed the transmissions. In addition to the Amicus Attorney database file, we back up our time slips and accounting data to Compasscomm.net. It takes about 10 minutes or so to transmit amicus.db. We have been very satisfied with the service and find the Webmaster very responsive. We looked at other services which were a bit more sophisticated. Some services required the installation of a program which would automatically back up to the Internet site. However, we found that we could not do that through our firewall (3-Com).
In summary, backing up is no fun. However, when my disk crashes or when my files become corrupted, I still manage to smile when I sing the Back Up Blues. The moral to this story is to please back up often, correctly and on more than one media.
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Maximilian M. Prusak is a partner with the firm of Prusak & Winne, 331 Fulton St., Suite 704, Peoria, IL 61602 Phone: 309/ 674-4222.
By Donald Weihl
In the October, 1991, poll conducted by the section council, articles on efficient use of attorneys' time ranked high in the responses as a desired subject of attention in the newsletter. This is understandable, but somewhat surprising due to the fact that attorneys fall in a group that have substantial education and generally believe that they are already using their time very efficiently. It is not that they are inefficient in the use of their time they believe, but instead that they have much more to do than their time permits. In truth, a large percentage of attorneys are using their time efficiently, if efficiently is defined as being very productive a substantial part of each working hour each day. Unfortunately, being productive every minute is not the answer to the problem. The problem is a matter of priorities. All too often the time that is being efficiently used is not being devoted to problems that are causing the anxiety about not having enough time. The actual priorities of the tasks being performed during the efficiently used time are not the highest priorities.
How to accomplish matters of the highest priority requires more than efficient use of time. In short, it requires scheduling. The best way to gain control of your practice is with a written schedule. If you are going to accomplish your highest priority items, you must make time to do so. How many times have you heard an attorney say he doesn't have time to prepare a schedule for the use of his time because his time is totally consumed each day putting out fires of immediate importance? Nonsense! The "I simply don't have enough time to get to that project." response is not the true answer. It is "an avoidance tactic." The true answer is one that requires thoughtful consideration. Is the answer "I have not used my time efficiently enough to get to that project?" Or, is the answer, "That project is not high enough on my priorities list that I have been able to reach it?"
Hopefully the second answer is true, and you have been using time efficiently to perform tasks of relatively greater importance. If this is the case, it is obvious why the written schedule is the place attorneys have to start to use their time efficiently. Your number one priority and the priority of the busy attorney is to schedule time to prepare the schedule that will cause the task with the greatest importance to be ranked above other tasks that are also ranked in order of importance.
There are literally hundreds of books available to tell every segment of society how to use their time efficiently. Housewives, businessmen, salesmen, etc. all have the same problems. They don't get enough accomplished. The books focused to address the tasks each group performs all use the same approach. The approach consists of the following steps to better organization:
A. List
B. Prioritize
C. Schedule
D. Do
E. Analyze
There is nothing wrong with the approach; however, it is much easier said than done. Assuming that time is scheduled to list, prioritize and schedule, there is nothing to prevent the days' mail containing material with a higher priority than anything currently being attended to. The federal or state judge may have finally issued his order granting you relief and providing for five or less days action. Even worse, he may have denied your relief requiring instant action. Attorneys have demands that can be much more oppressive than those of the housewife, businessman or salesman. The "all in a days' work" attitude can be a useful tool in avoiding the effects of the stress that constant demands create, but it is not a bit helpful in providing the solution to the productivity requirement that makes the task of using time efficiently for attorneys more unique. The multitude of demands that attorneys must respond to makes the solution just as unique as the productivity requirement. The solution is far different than waiting on the next person in line or the person with the lowest meat market ticket number.
The solution lies in giving appropriate emphasis to the "prioritize" and "do" steps with additional emphasis on a step called "capable support staff."
In the "prioritize" step, attorneys must be able to identify which tasks will provide the highest payoff in return for the investment of time and energy. The payoff may be for the attorney or for the client; however, there is rarely a dilemma over which tasks provide the highest payoff to either the attorney, his firm, or the client. The dilemma comes in the "do" step and living with the frustration that comes from being unable to "do" the tasks that provide less than the highest payoff.
What do you do with the lower payoff items? There are many answers to this dilemma. The best answer depends on many factors; thus, there is more than a single answer or choice. Consider each of the following:
A. Delegate the task to a partner, associate, paralegal or secretary.
B. Have a partner, associate or paralegal commence organization of the task with a due date to bring the task back for your additional attention and input.
C. Schedule the "do" step for the weekend, next holiday or some later date.
D. Have your secretary notify the client of the action taken with respect to scheduling and repeat this step as often as necessary. If it is a task that you are never going to get to, return the matter to the client and make a recommendation of an attorney with appropriate capability to handle the matter.
E. If it is a required non-client task, hire it done by additional staff.
The process ends as it begins, with analysis of what has been done, how well it has been done, and how high the payoff was from the performance. A part of this process is the scheduling of time for further scheduling of time to repeat scheduling and each other step of the organization process, i.e. list, prioritize, schedule, etc.
If you have read this far and you are saying to yourself, "This guy has to be kidding, I have so many tasks that I need to do, but can't find time for ... it is hopeless," a more drastic approach is called for. In that instance, you need to unplug the telephone, lock the door and list the tasks with the highest return to you, your firm, and your clients. Place the lower payoff items into a box, pile, corner or other location, but do not list them. Do not let in any new mail, calls, or clients until you have every single piece of paper, envelope, box, etc. either categorized as a high return item, or otherwise have placed it in the low return location.
Only after your complete review of every task will you prioritize and schedule the highest return items. You will then work only the highest return items until time permits treatment of the lower return items with one of the A, B, C, D, or E choices mentioned earlier. In the process, you may find lower return tasks becoming higher return tasks or unnecessary tasks. Either way, the process continues with your knowledge that you are using your time as efficiently as possible.
There is great benefit to using the system outlined in this short article. It works! Even if you don't make every deadline or achieve every goal, you become an organized attorney. Your clients will respect you and gratefully pay your bills. You will take pride in your work, sleep better and accomplish even more with the motivation that success generates.
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Donald E. Weihl practices in the St. Louis-Belleville firm of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale and is a past chair of the ISBA Law Office Management and Economics (Standing Committe on) Council. dew@greensfelder.com
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