South Carolina Family Law Blog : Spartanburg Divorce Lawyer & Attorney : Stevens-MacPhail Law Firm : South Carolina Family Law Serving Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Hilton Head Island

A Spartanburg-based family attorney is making a name for himself nationally. Ben Stevens is the Mac lawyer, the No. 3 blogger in the American Bar Association Journal's Blawg 100. On April 2-4, he headed two technology seminars at the annual ABA Techshow in Chicago. In addition to www.themadawyer.com, Stevens of Stevens-MacPhail PA shares his thoughts at www.scfamilylaw.com, fully embracing technology within the legal profession.

GSA Business: For starters, how did you become this guy enthralled with Mac computers?

Ben Stevens: The Mac part came about out of frustration in dealing with PCs. With the expense and downtime we got to the point we couldn't afford to have them in a busy practice.

Having worked with Macs in college and law school, I knew it was a stable platform, and we just decided as a firm to bite the bullet and make the switch. Since then our tech support and overhead has dropped to basically nothing. We do still have a (Microsoft) Windows server, so our computer guy comes every once in a while to do that. But as far as the Macs, they work and they keep us working.

GSA: I imagine some people would say you are limited in terms of software systems and compatibility.

Stevens: PC people have a lot of excuses why they shouldn't use Macs. And most of those are tech people who don't want to lose their jobs, and I understand that.

There are more programs written for Windows than Mac, especially in the legal software community. But there are two things.

One, most software is going Web based. The practice management software, our email and our electronic paper filing system are all Web based. As far as PC programs, we can run them virtually. I can do anything PC people can do and my Mac stuff, while they can just do their PC stuff.

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I will be in New Orleans today through Saturday attending the ABA Law Practice Management Section Spring Conference at the Hotel Monteleone.  As I have mentioned before, I am on the editorial board of Law Practice Today webzine and serve as an advisor on the Technology Core Group, both of which will hold meetings at this conference.  

In addition, I am planning to have dinner Thursday evening with Ernest Svenson (publisher of Ernie the Attorney) and Jeff Richardson (publisher ofiPhone, J.D.). If any of my readers will be at this conference or in the New Orleans area between now and Saturday, please let me know and perhaps we can meet in person. 

 

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Last week, I was interviewed by LexBlog about my two blogs (this one and The Mac Lawyer). If you are interested in learning more about me, how I got into blogging, and the benefits blogs provide, you can read this interview by clicking HERE.

Source: "Ben Stevens of The Mac Lawyer and The SC Family Law Blog: LexBlog Q&A" by Lisa Kennelly, published at Kevin O'Keefe's Real Lawyers Have Blogs.

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If you have a friend or family member that is a single mother, you may want to consider one of the following gift ideas for her. Most of these gifts are free, and I'm sure that they would be well received and much appreciated by her:

• A weekend of baby-sitting. Single moms often have very little “me” time. You can get creative and make your own baby-sitting coupon and put it in a card.
• Offer to take some pictures of your friend with her little one, and create a photo collage. It’s nice to have someone capture some of those everyday moments.
• A manicure and pedicure gift certificate. (Again, offer to baby-sit so she doesn’t have to take her kids to the salon)
• Get a calendar and fill it with free summer activities for kids happening in her area. Every time that mom is short of ideas she can reach for the calendar.
• A CD or downloads of inspirational songs that celebrate motherhood.
• Offer to help her organize something like homework, bills, or even junk mail. She might appreciate having someone she trusts help her purge.
• Cook a few family size meals and put them in her freezer.

Source: "Mother's Day: Gift Ideas for a Single Mom" by Georgia East, published at Moms & Dads: A Parenting Blog.

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I want to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy and successful New Year.

 

 

 

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People attempting to represent themselves in Family Court cases will sometimes ask the Court staff for help with various issues.  Over the years, I have overheard these pro se litigants ask virtually every question imaginable of the Clerk of Court's staff.  Many times, these people are attempting to obtain legal advice from the Court staff, which of course they cannot provide since they are not attorneys.

In order to help the public and the Court employees know what is (and more importantly isn't) permissible, our state Supreme Court has published a document which clearly explains what the Court employees can and cannot do.  This document was the result of work done by the South Carolina Access to Justice Commission, and you can access a copy of it by clicking HERE.

 

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Today is election day, and it is an historic one.  Our country will either elect its first minority President or its first female Vice President.  No matter which candidate you support, I sincerely hope that you will exercise your right to vote today and that you will take your children with you when you do.  

Taking your children with you to vote provides an excellent opportunity to discuss the election process in our country, the differences between the political parties, and how lucky we are as Americans to have the right to a free, fair election.  

I am proud to say that I have voted in every primary and election since I have been of voting age, and I have taken my children with me every year since they were born.  As they get older, we have some amazing discussions about the political process.  You should take this opportunity too with your own children if you are able to do so.

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I wanted to let my readers know that the lack of posts last week and this week are due to my being involved in a very complex child custody case that is being tried this week in Greenville County, South Carolina.  Please bear with me, and I will resume my regular posting schedule once this trial has completed.

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This month marks the 3rd anniversary of the SC Family Law Blog.  In addition, I have now published over 800 posts on this blog.  I began this blog as a service to people facing problems and challenges in their lives due to divorce, separation, child custody, visitation, child support, adoption, alimony, etc.  I have received wonderful feedback from my readers over these last few years, and I hope to continue publishing this blog for many years to come.

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The South Carolina Family Law Blog is proud to once again sponsor a youth baseball team (the Tigers) in the Hillbrook 7-8 year old spring baseball league.  I am our team's head coach again this year, and it looks like we have a great group of kids.  Coaching youth baseball is hard work, but it is always great to see these kids learning to play baseball and also to work together as a team.  If any of my readers are interested in following our progress this season, our team has its own webpage located here.  Go Tigers!

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The South Carolina Family Law Blog is proud to sponsor a youth baseball team (the Braves) in the Spartanburg County Recreation Department's 7-8 year old fall baseball league.  Our season began this week, and we have a great group of kids again this year.  I have volunteered as a little league coach for several years, and it is always great to see these boys and girls learning to play baseball and work together as a team.  Go Braves!

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As you may have noticed, this blog underwent a facelift over the weekend.  After over two years and well over 600 entries, I figured that it was about time to freshen things up a bit.  The folks at LexBlog worked with me on this new design, and they have been great to work with, as always.  I hope that you like the new design, and I invite your comments about it (positive or negative).

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In several cities throughout South Carolina (including Spartanburg), an outfit called “A Divorce Fast” is advertising legal services in the attorney listings in the Yellow Pages.  Apparently, this company provides draft legal forms to the public for a fee, but it is not affiliated with any law firm and employs no lawyers.  The worst part is that the Clerks of Court do not accept those documents as a valid filing, which means that consumers are being bilked out of their money with nothing to show for it.

The South Carolina Bar is supporting pending legislation (H. 3274) which would, among other things, make the unauthorized practice of law a civil cause of action.  I understand that this bill is scheduled to be in front of the House full Judiciary Committee tomorrow, but that it is meeting  with some resistance by the realtor and banking communities.  One would hope that our legislature would take this important step to assist the Bar in helping to protect consumers in South Carolina from unscrupulous companies such as “A Divorce Fast."

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City officials in Chicago recently removed the above-pictured steamy billboard for a law firm specializing in divorce.  The ad, which proclaimed "Life's short. Get a divorce," was up for only one week before its removal.  Numerous complaints were lodged against the ad by citizens, who found the scantily clad models objectionable. 

Other attorneys also complained because they believe the billboard to be undignified and unprofressional.  Some, including John Ducanto, past president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, have gone so far as to call on the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Committee of the Supreme Court of Illinois to sanction the attorneys responsible for this ad.

The actual reason that the city removed the billboard was not due to the complaints, but rather because the law firm did not obtain the necessary permits before erecting it.  The attorneys responsible for the ad claim that it was removed without due process.  Of course, they also report that calls to their firm increased dramatically during the short time the billboard was posted.

Source:  ""Life's Short" Divorce Billboard Removed After Complaints from Residents and Other Lawyers" published at FindLaw.com and "'Life's Short. Get a Divorce.' -- Chicago Billboard Turns Heads" by Chris Francescani, published at ABC News.

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