SIDEBAR Summer 2021 - 11

MONTGOMERY B AR .O R G
minutes not hours. Each attorney in
our firm has direct access to the Internet
for research. E-mail has replaced the
pink message slips. Faxes can be sent
from computers or through standalone
machines. Documents can be instantly
sent by e-mail or fax. The era of a
paperless office is on the horizon. Cell
phones, digital cameras, palm size
computers, and scanners are wonders
that didn't exist ten years ago. Today they
are becoming inexpensive necessities.
Time and billing software combined with
the power of today's computers generate
bills in hours not days. Look around
your office and you will find some form
of technology that didn't exit ten years
ago and you wonder how you got along
without it.
Ten years from now, technology will
continue to change the practice of law.
Wireless networking will do away with
the tangle of wires around every desk.
Your computer will be the center of your
universe. The telephone and dictation
machine will be built into the small
palm sized computer that you plug into
your network each morning and take
home with you at night. Flat 21-inch
monitors will take up very little room
on your desk and video conferencing
from tiny, attached cameras will be the
norm. Digital storage devices will replace
paper. High-speed printers will generate
documents as necessary. Your digital files
will be read online rather than stored in
file cabinets. Most face-to-face business
will be replaced by online conferences
conducted over the Internet. Pleadings
will be digitally filed and accessed from
your office. Documentary evidence
will be in digital form and our future
courtrooms will use computers for
exhibits, dockets and witness testimony.
Distance will no longer be a barrier to
legal representation.
Twenty-five years from now, trials
will be conducted online not in person.
Change is inevitable; technology is only
limited by our imaginations.
Cultivating a
Constructive Culture
in the Hybrid Work
Environment
M
ost businesses today have realized that the traditional 9-5 in-office
workday has permanently transitioned to a hybrid environment
where employees work from the office some days and from home
other days. Although for many firms this transition began over the past several
years, the COVID-19 pandemic only served to hasten the process.
Employers and their employees, however, are finding that although there
are many advantages to the hybrid work environment, there are also a few
challenges.
Aside from the technical and logistical challenges of creating a hybrid
workforce (which have largely been addressed at this point), many business
owners and HR professionals are now focusing on rebuilding policies and
processes to maintain employee engagement and a unified culture. As many
business owners will attest, a sound culture is critical to any company's success
with the payoff showing in revenue growth, retention, and increased operating
income.
The Montgomery Bar Association offers its members access to My Benefit
Advisor as a solution for employee benefits, including voluntary offerings.
For more information about My Benefit Advisor, visit our website at montba.
mybenefitadvisor.com or contact Ray Keough at (610) 684-6932.
SUMMER 2021 11
http://montgomerybar.org http://www.montba.mybenefitadvisor.com
SIDEBAR Summer 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SIDEBAR Summer 2021
