Marilyn Longwell with Marilyn Longwell & Associates P.C. discusses how to use your client's story to direct and control litigation.

We're back today with Tim and Brandt to get more information about how to protect your hardware and data, this time looking at your mobile devices.

5 Best Practices for Keeping Your Mobile Devices Secure

1. Install protection software such as AVG (Android) or Avast (Android | iPhone+iPad).

2. Not to sound like a broken record, but back up your device. Make regular backups of your iPhone and iPad using iTunes/iCloud. Make regular backups of your Android device using the built in 'Backup and Reset' feature for contacts and passwords, and Dropbox, Google+, and Microsoft OneDrive for photos. You can also backup your entire Android device with Helium, MyBackup Pro, or manually by connecting to your computer. Mac users will need the Android File Transfer Tool.

An oil portrait of Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier was unveiled on Tuesday, May 16, at the historic Illinois Supreme Court building in Springfield. The painting hangs in the second floor hallway with the portraits of nine other chief justices, with additional portraits hanging in Chicago's Bilandic Building. The painting was done by artist Greg McNair of St. Louis. Chief Justices in Illinois are selected by their colleagues on the Supreme Court bench in a rotational pattern and serve for three years as the administrative head of the judicial branch. Chief Justice Karmeier's granddaughter, Emily Schnitker, performed the unveiling. She was on a Springfield visit with her 7^th and 8^th grade class from Trinity Lutheran School in Hoyleton. The class also heard the day's third oral argument, People v. Byron Boykins

Among those attending from Washington County were Circuit Judge Daniel Emge, Circuit Clerk Cynthia Barczewski and Court Reporter Brenda Engele along with Chief Justice Karmeier's wife, Mary, daughter, Karianne Schnitker and office staff.

Asked and Answered

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Q. I am the managing partner of a 16-attorney insurance defense firm in Kansas City. Several of our insurance company clients have advised us that they are willing to send us cases in Texas. We have decided that we would like to establish an office in Texas. Our plan is to hire three lateral attorneys with seven to 12 years of experience with Texas-based insurance defense firms. We are not certain as to the best city to establish this office. We are thinking it should be a central location. We would appreciate your thoughts.

A. Unlike many states that have one or two major cities, Texas has several, including Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Ft. Worth, El Paso, Corpus Christi, and others. Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston are all desirable locations for branch offices. Austin is more centrally located if your goal is to service the entire state.

Need tips for marketing your practice or building a firm website on a limited budget? Want how-to’s for embracing the latest technology to boost your practice? Join us in Naperville for these take-aways and more, including: how to advertise cheaply; how to take advantage of keyword searches in Google; how to produce documents economically and securely without incurring liability or risking client confidentiality; knowing your billing software options; how to use Microsoft Outlook to its fullest potential; cybersecurity issues; using social media in your practice; and much more!

The program takes place on Friday, June 2, 2017 in Naperville, Illinois. It qualifies for 6.25 hours MCLE credit, including 6.25 hours Professional Responsibility MCLE credit (subject to approval).

Click here for more information and to register.

In light of the WannaCry ransomware attack over the weekend — which affected more than 200K computers in 150 countries — today's challenge is especially timely. (Read this if you were attacked by WannaCry and need help knowing what to do next.)

Today Tim and Brandt, ISBA's tech gurus, talk about how to protect your computer and data as best as you can from malware, ransomeware, and other cyber attacks.

13 Best Practices for Keeping Your Windows PC and Mac Secure

(In Italy, 13 is good luck!)

1. Backup your data. Back it up again somewhere else. If everything else fails, you'll be really glad you have all your data saved elsewhere. Check out this previous D4S post that was all about redundant backup.

2. Disable the remote desktop in Windows and only use secure remote software (like TeamViewer). See this document for instructions.

We're providing you with five more free tech resources today — all part of our Timesaving Tech Tips week. If you've found any other great free (or cheap) tech resources that have helped you at work, we're eager to hear from you. Share your tips with us and others by commenting below. 

Update your profile now to enter! Giveaway ends May 26!

IllinoisLawyerFinder – the ISBA's new online public member directory – is now live.

We've just rolled out a new member benefit to help you* enhance your online presence and attract potential clients. Now it's your turn to go online and expand upon your FREE profile listing.

Update your profile and accept the User Agreement by May 26 for a chance to win our Grand Prize – 12.9" iPad Pro with 128GB or 1 of 3 $100 Amazon Gift Cards.

Expand your profile by doing any of the following...

IllinoisLawyerFinder, the ISBA’s new online public member directory, is now live!  All members (except judges and government attorneys*) now have a unique profile in the directory. To make the most of your profile, enhance your online presence, and attract potential clients, we recommend taking the following steps:

• Access your profile, choose your basic settings via the “profile wizard” that will automatically launch on your first visit, and accept the directory’s user agreement.
• Upload a professional photo of yourself.
• Indicate whether or not you are accepting clients.
• Unhide your contact information (i.e., phone numbers, business address, and email address).
• Select your practice areas.

For detailed instructions (and a video!) on how to access and edit your new directory profile, please go here. If you do not want to participate in the directory, you can find instructions for removing your profile here.

* ISBA members who are either judges or government attorneys can “opt-in” to the directory by following the instructions here.