This post originally appeared as a TechnoRelease in the TechnoLawyer newsletter. Post authored by Leonard Johnson, VP of Marketing at NetDocuments.

At this time every year we find ourselves contemplating our shortcomings and using the New Year as an excuse to change our ways and better our lives. Everyone is sending out resolutions lists, so instead of shooting for the stars, test out these five simple and easy-to-do tips for enhancing your law practice and client relationships for 2010.

ENGAGE CLIENTS MORE IN THE SHARING OF DOCUMENTS

Social media technologies have built up steam recently for a reason; people want to participate and converse. So do your clients. Look for ways to involve your clients and there is no simpler way than to set up a extranet where you can provide them a place on the web to exchange documents securely, involve others on the case, and show your technology leadership to solve problems.

KITCHEN SINK ON THE CLOUD

Will desktop applications and computing become a thing of the past? While not completely, 2010 looks like the year that law firms of all sizes will truly embrace applications that exist online only. Hosted email, hosted practice management, such as Advologix, and hosted document management will give you a complete office on the web.

WORK MORE AT HOME AFTER DINNER

No, you don't have to go back to the office. You can work from anywhere so easily these days compared to what it used to be like. Place your documents online with NetDocuments and make sure your bandwidth at home is good. Have dinner, spend time with people you love, and when the rest of them settle into their evenings, you can do that extra stuff you were thinking you'd do if you went back to the office.

PROTECT YOUR FIRM'S INTELLECTUAL ASSETS

When a lawyer is producing client documents, aren't these documents the life blood of your business? Shouldn't they be protected, accessible and managed? It is a given that every law firm should be backing up electronic data regularly,every day, if at all possible and storing backup data files offsite, preferably in another location. But remembering those backup disks is a hassle. NetDocuments does this for you transparently by simply using its service as it is hosted at LexisNexis' world-class data center, plus a fully-redundant data center in a national bank vault. For the cost of a meal a month, you get the same technologies that the large firms have.

DEPLOY A WEB-HOSTED AND MATTER-CENTRIC DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT

Never before has the same functionality that large law firms enjoy become available to solo's and small law firms than now. Get rid of the techie hat and the associated windows directory techie environment, and instead be client and matter-centric with a centralized, anywhere, anytime access, document and email management service. The ethical duties of lawyers to their clients are paramount, and one of the most important is the responsibility to protect and preserve client property. That is what a web-hosted document management offers.

CHECK OFF THESE GOALS IN LESS THAN 60 SECONDS

Sign up for a free, no obligation 30 day test drive that takes just 60 seconds and you can check off all these goals above in one swoop! What a way to start off a new year! And, if you like it, simply turn your test drive into a live account for $30 a month/user or less and off you go.

Get a service that innovates, continually improves and scales as you grow. The NetDocuments team has over 20+ years of expertise with law firms and is today's SaaS leader in content management. NetDocuments is used by law firms of all sizes thanks to its per-user pricing, scalability, and Web-based benefits.