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Less Friction | More Freedom

by Ernie Svenson

Practical, actionable advice for solo lawyers who appreciate the value of technology but struggle to fully leverage its power.

Featured Post

How to practice from European coffee shops

I recently interviewed a lawyer who went from helping build a multimillion-dollar firm to practicing law from coffee shops in Europe. Sheila Wilkinson helped build a highly successful law firm from scratch. And she did this even before she went to law school. Crazy but true After law school, Sheila created her own successful practice, which she still runs... ...often from coffee shops in the country of Brussels. And more recently Sheila started helping fellow lawyers build their own...

5 months ago • 1 min read

Many lawyers have discovered a book called Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell. Lawyers find it both practical and incredibly beneficial. Because it contains useful principles and actionable takeaways. Mostly, the book is a step-by-step guide on how to delegate more work to other people to free up your time... So you can do things you enjoy instead of getting mired in drudgery. 📺 YouTube Digest I recorded a short digest of one key principle that you can act on now (without even having read the...

about 2 months ago • 1 min read

The #1 key to improving is keeping your operations simple. But you also need to use methods and tools that maximize your ROI. 🚫 Complexity is enemy #1 It's hard to avoid complexity when dealing with technology. Here's the secret... Keep the number of tech tools you use to a minimum that creates maximum leverage. Begin by adopting these three tools: Loom: an amazing asynchronous video communication tool, and it's free to start using Calendly: the best automated scheduling tool (book a free...

4 months ago • 1 min read

Do you want to know how some of the smartest, most successful people in the world think? Specifically, some of the practical steps they take to learn better and more efficiently. Well... 🤗🎉 Good news Courtesy of Shane Parrish, I've compiled some key insights from these deep thinkers: Adam Grant (author and organizational psychology professor) Tyler Cowen (economist, professor, and best-selling author) Barbara Oakley (well-known engineering professor) Adam Robinson (author and macro-trends...

5 months ago • 2 min read

ChatGPT has faced increased scrutiny day by day. No doubt it's a result of being the most popular AI tool. With scrutiny comes overreaction. And perhaps this explains what I can only call...l... 🚫ChatGPT "censorship" This week, I experienced ChatGPT create a weird summary of a YouTube video. 😳Check it out The video was an interview of author Yuval Noah Harari, who was being asked about the Middle East conflict. As you can see in this Loom Video, I asked ChatGPT to review the transcript and...

5 months ago • 1 min read

Let’s talk about going beyond superficial, often harmful beliefs. And, to do that, let’s start with… 👩🏻🔬Chemistry Lessons Have you read this book or started watching the AppleTV series yet👇 My Takeaway At one level, the story is about a woman in the 1950s subject to mistreatment and misjudgment. But to me, it's also about this... We're often blind to our deep-rooted beliefs and biases. We sometimes believe we're acting with good intentions but, in reality, are doing terrible harm. If you look...

5 months ago • 1 min read

AudioPen is an app that uses A.I. to streamline the process of cranking out text. What does that mean, exactly? The website describes it this way: AudioPen transforms messy voice notes into publish-ready text Draft articles, memos, emails, and more. In a fraction of the time. My assessment is that this is a tool that most lawyers will love once they start using it. Here's what you need to know... Simple & Easy to Use The application stands out in its utter simplicity and user-friendly...

7 months ago • 2 min read

The ability to persuade is a vital life skill, especially in the practice of law. There are modern treatises on persuasion, but the best place to start is with a treatise written over 2,000 years ago. In his The Art of Rhetoric, Aristotle discussed the concepts of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos as three keys to persuasion. Let’s examine each one quickly. Ethos is the appeal to the speaker's credibility or character. Aristotle believed that if the audience trusts and respects the speaker, they are...

8 months ago • 1 min read

In case you're wondering what a phishing attack is... It's where a hacker dupes you into giving them your personal information and then doing one of the following things: Gaining access to financial accounts and stealing money Locking down your data and demanding a ransom (to be paid in Bitcoin) Releasing confidential or embarrassing information. Often the deception begins with the hacker sending you an email, as it did in a... Well Known Phishing Attack It happened during the 2016 U.S....

10 months ago • 1 min read

In a Zoom session later today, I'll show members of my Inner Circle a fabulous tool you should know about too. Krisp.ai: Ideal for Remote Workers Krisp.ai was created to remove background noise in real-time, which is useful when you're in a noisy place (e.g., at home surrounded by screaming kids or barking dogs). You probably know about noise-canceling what you hear, but Krisp cancels the noise in YOUR environment. So others on your call can't hear the background sounds in your environment....

10 months ago • 1 min read
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