The Oklahoma Bar Journal May 2025

grilled me with pointed questions. That was far better than hearing difficult questions for the first time in front of a room full of lawyers. OBA Executive Director Janet Johnson has been a great source of support and good advice. The OBA is lucky to have her leader ship. One cannot overstate the joy she brings to the workplace. My team, MAP Assistant Nickie Day and Practice Management Advisor Julie Bays, is excellent. Nickie is the best and most organized assistant I’ve ever had during my legal career, which was valuable as I kept hatching new ideas. She kept us all organized with our schedules. Julie received so much positive feedback on her great job as the 2025 ABA TECHSHOW co-chair. Her knowl edge of practice management soft ware is particularly important for new lawyers setting up a practice or firms contemplating a change of practice management software tools. I have certainly benefited from her candid counsel. Thanks to all of you, Oklahoma lawyers. I was always so proud when conference vendors told me after conferences how well- informed our lawyers were about legal technology products and services. Whether you’ve read my column, seen a CLE I taught, attended the Solo & Small Firm Conference or we’ve discussed your questions via phone or email, I hope you benefited. I certainly did. I was able to work at a job I truly loved for a long time. Mr. Calloway is the OBA Management Assistance Program director. Need a quick answer to a tech problem or help solving a management dilemma? Contact him at 405-416-7008, 800-522-8060 or jimc@okbar.org (until the end of May). It’s a free member benefit.

to helping them. Appearing in courthouses regularly also helps your career: You meet other law yers, receive referrals and connect with experienced mentors. It is also fulfilling to help someone avoid or mitigate a personal disaster. TIPS FOR KEEPING UP WITH LEGAL TECH There are resources online to learn about legal technology. Vendors will, of course, put their product’s best foot forward with their content. But my friend Bob Ambrogi’s blog Law Sites 3 is widely considered the “go-to” source for legal technology news. His journalistic background shines through. His recent feature outlin ing how most small-firm practice management tools are now con solidated under one of six own ership groups is a great example. Subscribe or visit regularly. Catherine Sanders Reach, director of the Center for Practice Management for the North Carolina Bar Association, writes great original content on legal tech and practice management. Anyone can subscribe 4 to receive regular summaries and links to her writ ing, as well as links to other online content she finds useful. So many deserve my appre ciation. In addition to the ABA TECHSHOW gang, I’ve benefited from my association with my colleagues at the ABA Law Practice Division, the National Association of Bar Executives, my close colleagues who are fellow practice management advisors across the U.S. and Canada and, of course, my co-workers here at the OBA, past and present. John Morris Williams was the OBA executive director for many years, leading the association through many interesting times. He supported my endeavors and often ONE MILLION THANKS

ENDNOTES 1. I will concede that we all underestimated the tenacity of the legal profession in hanging on to the billable hour far longer than we would have thought. Maybe AI will finally be the tipping point. But maybe it won’t.

2. https://bit.ly/3YKEjIl 3. www.lawnext.com. 4. https://bit.ly/42KxgRc.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL