Qui Custodes

Windows

About a year ago a Judge in Nevada (I think it was Reno but I'm not sure) was shot through his windows as he was looking out.  The shooter was a man with a rifle in a building across the street.  Apparently the man was upset about some ruling the Judge had made or was about to make. 

About the same time a young woman working late at a law firm called me--apparently some person was trying to get in and she was terrified. 

My suggestion:  keep the curtain or blinds drawn, even during the day. Set things up so you can see out but no one can see in.  At night, be sure to close the windows and lock them!  If you have a ground-floor office, this is extra-important.

Office Door

If you don't want to use the little "bell ringer" you have choices:
 a)  keep the front door locked and ask people to ring the doorbell.  Then look to see who's there & buzz them in. That's a good way to go, a little more expensive, but it works.  It also strikes a number of people as "unfriendly".  On the other hand, if your client base is abused women, they might like the idea.  It depends on the practice area.  You will have to decide for yourself.  It's a good system to use for weekends and for when you and your staff are working late.

b) a pressure plate under the rug where people step on it as they come in and a remote bell rings/buzzes.  Unnoticeable.  Also not too expensive. I think it's a little less than the buzzer system but you will have to price it out.

Most of these things can be gotten at Radio Shack for not much and are easy to install. Have fun.

Office Safety--front door

OK.  Now we just finished (for the moment) talking about your front door.  It assumed that you had a reception area separate from your personal office.  But what about the front door to your office?  It has to be open during office hours right?  Usually that's correct. But you should have a bell/buzzer that shows when the front door opens. They are cheap too.  Just a little ringer mounted high up so the door touches them as it is opened is enough.  You just want something so you know somebody's come in.  If you have an assistant, she (or he) will want to know too.  Nobody likes being surprised by someone standing behind them, even it is is innocent. 

Angry, Angrier, Angriest

Just a general comment, not a tip here.  The more I read about politics, the more I realize that the Secret Service has its hands full.  In fact, according to some widely quoted statistics which may or may not be correct, threats to politicians are up 3-4 times what they were a few years ago. 

We should all keep in mind that this free-floating anger has to go somewhere and lawyers make a good target.  We are money hungry trial lawyers picking on poor doctors, we defend the obviously guilty and try to get them off with legal trickery, we regulate businesses to death, we tell people who they have to hire and who they cannot fire.  We take money from the mouths of the deserving just for fun.  If we win the case it's because it was obviously right and we just ran up the bill.  If we lost the case it's because we're incompetent, not because the other person had a good point.  If we recommend settlement we're cowards, if we don't recommend settlement we just want to steal their hard-earned money and run up the bill. 

So be careful out there.  Pay attention.  We lawyers are the obvious target for people in pain.

Office Safety--your door part 3

Almost forgot the most basic rule of all--If you have a door, use it.  Don't leave it propped open all the time.  A closed door ensures both privacy and security.  There are exceptions to this rule and I'll talk about them later.  But if all you have is an open office with your assistant sitting in the reception room and an office for yourself, use the durn door.

Office Safety--your door part 2

Set a peephole in your office door so, if someone unexpectedly knocks, you know who it is.  for information on how to do that, see my earlier posts about home door peepholes.

Office Safety--your door part 1

The door into your personal office (not the door into your firm's space) is almost always in interior, hollow-core door.  Why? because it's cheaper and people generally only have a door there for privacy.  Nuts!  That door is key to your personal safey.  It should be a solid-core door that is well mounted to the wall with 3" screws at a minimum.  If you want to be extra safe for extra cost, get a steel door that is fronted with a wood veneer.  Be sure to mount it solidly using 3" screws or larger.

Office safety--Introduction

I'm going to start listing different things people can do for their office that a) don't cost much (if anything) and b) will dramatically increase safety.  Many of these ideas are taken from stuff I've written before but never published on this blog.  Others are new.  Frankly, I'm not even sure how many I'm going to put out there but I assure you of 1 thing:  there's a lot you can do to enhance your office security with out spending a lot of money. 

Alien Abduction pack for the office--part 2

1.  Pen and/or pencil w/ refills as needed
2   A pocket knife
3.  Coins (at least $10 in quarters)
4.  A paper copy of key telephone numbers--staff, current clients and the courts.  Others as you decide you need them.
5.  Paper and digital copies of your last bank statement including the IOLTA statements
6.  Paper & digital copies of your insurance policies.
7.  At least 1 pad of paper to take notes on.
8.  A written copy of your emergency procedures plan.  You don't have a plan?  Oops!  Better make one.

What would *you* add to this list? 

Alien Abduction pack for the office--part 1

You will need a bag to carry this stuff in.  I would recommend a wheeled computer bag or one of the big shoulder-mounted computer bags like Nerino Petro uses.  He's got several posts at his blog Compujurist with good tips.  Anyway, after you have the bag, you will need:

1.  A good laptop that is fully synched with your system or a netbook holding all your software and an external hard drive that is fully synched with your system.
2.  the charger for the computer
3.  An internet cord
4. A good extension cord
5.  a smart phone
6.  a wall charger for the phone
7.  a car charger for the phone & if possible for the laptop
8.  some small tools to fix things that will break
9.  duct tape
10.  a wireless card for the internet
11.  a radio
12.  batteries for all and
13. eyeglasses