Show notes
Emerging technologies simplify many aspects of life, but they also make it increasingly challenging to safeguard privacy in both personal and professional settings. As a lawyer, it is essential for you to stay informed about how to protect privacy by utilizing the appropriate tools and equipment. Paul Secunda joined us today to talk about protecting your privacy, building open communication between employer and employee, tech tips to focus on your work, and more. Paul Secunda is a partner at Walcheske Luzi LLC. He leads the ERISA litigation unit, which focuses on retirement, medical, and disability class action litigation. He also serves as a consultant, testifying expert, and mediator in the fields of employee benefits and workplace law. Paul is a former labor and employment law professor with 18 years of experience at two law schools, focusing on employment law and employee benefits. Throughout his career, Paul has been engaged in litigating, teaching, and writing about workplace law, handling tasks from reviewing employee handbooks to managing complex class action lawsuits and submitting amicus briefs to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. Paul's expertise spans employee rights and the practical application of technology in both professional and personal contexts. Join Paul and me as we talk about the following three questions and more! What are the top three tech tips you would advise any lawyer to maintain a separation from work and personal time? What are the top three tech rights an employee has when it comes to utilizing a personal tech device for a BYOD firm? What are your top three tech tips to ensure focus at work, to help prevent necessary work during personal time? In our conversation, we cover: [01.28] Tech Setup - Paul's current tech setup. [09.00] The Balance – Balancing technology as a small law firm. [10.00] Tech tips – Paul shares some tech tips for separating personal and professional life. [11.40] Clients - How to work with overbearing clients? [13.26] Superiors – Paul explains how you can handle your superiors. [16.38] Open Communication – The importance of open communication between employer and employee. [20.06] Tech Rights – Paul explains how employee privacy rights differ significantly between public and private workplaces. [25.44] Tracking Software – Paul explains why he would advise against letting your employer put tracking software in your computer. [29.52] Focusing on work – Paul shares three tech tips you can use to focus on your work and prevent working on your personal time. Resources: Connect with Paul LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/paul-secunda-a17228/ Website - walcheskeluzi.com/ Equipment Mentioned in the Podcast Fujitsu Scanners - thescannershop.com/fujitsu-scanners/ HP Printers - hp.com/us-en/shop/mdp/printers/laserjet-pro iPhone 15 Pro - apple.com/iphone-15-pro/ MacBook Air - apple.com/macbook-air/ Software & Services Mentioned in the Podcast Adobe Acrobat Reader - get.adobe.com/reader/ Clio - clio.com/ Sanebox - sanebox.com/ TurboScan - play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.piksoft.turboscan WordPerfect - wordperfect.com/en/ Transcript 00:00:00] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Episode 90, Balancing Your Use of Technology Between Your Work and Home with Labor and Employment Lawyer, Paul Secunda. [00:00:19] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Paul is a former Labor and Employment Law professor with 18 years of experience at two different law schools specializing in ERISA and Employee Benefits Law. He is now an attorney with Woltersky Luzzi, LLC. Paul's legal career has been devoted to litigating, teaching, and writing about workplace law issues, handling all aspects of the employment relationship, from reviewing employee handbooks and summary plan descriptions, to litigating complex class action cases, and submitting amicus briefs to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. [00:00:46] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Paul caught my attention with his law journal article, The Employee Right to Disconnect, after I come across California's recent Employee Right to Disconnect bill. This bill would require employers to create a written policy guaranteeing California employees the right to disconnect from work communications during non working hours. [00:01:01] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Join Paul and me as we discuss how employees, including lawyers, have rights and practical uses of technology in both their workplace and their private lives. Enjoy! [00:01:09] #Add Read #1: Consider giving us a five star review on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast feeds. [00:01:09] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Have you been enjoying the techsavvylore. page podcast? Consider giving us a five star review on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast feeds. [00:01:21] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Paul, welcome to the podcast. [00:01:23] Paul Secunda: Thank you for having me. [00:01:24] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: I appreciate you being here and to get things started, [00:01:26] Our Guest's Current Tech Setup! [00:01:26] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: please tell us what your current tech setup is. [00:01:28] Paul Secunda: Well, currently I'm working on a MacBook Air, about 11 inch screen and being assisted by the new iPhone 15 pro. [00:01:37] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Nice. And is your MacBook Air, is it an M1 chip or an M2, M3, or are we looking at an Intel processor? [00:01:43] Paul Secunda: This is from 2023, and I believe it's an M2 chip. [00:01:48] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Very nice. How do you like the speed? [00:01:50] Paul Secunda: The speed is much better than my previous iteration from 2019, which was a much slower processor, so I very much appreciate it. [00:01:59] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: So, I'm guessing that was an Intel chip? That is correct. So you should really notice like a boost. [00:02:04] Paul Secunda: And when you're working and jamming away at five different things at the same time, it really does make a difference as far as getting stuff done on a timely basis. [00:02:12] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: How has the battery been on that? [00:02:14] Paul Secunda: The battery's been okay. I would say I could go about three or four hours. But I'm on a high light and I am meaning I'm, I have a high brightness, I should say, and that seems to drain the battery, but I need that just to see things better, but I'm mostly plugged in most of the day. [00:02:31] Paul Secunda: So I don't really go without the plug, whether I'm at a deposition or whether even if I'm in the courtroom, I usually find a plug to plug in. So I haven't really had to test it that much. Do [00:02:43] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: you carry a backup battery with you? [00:02:44] Paul Secunda: I do not. [00:02:45] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: But I want to check out the anchor. Product line, they come up some really good backup batteries that are usually fairly light will fit in your suitcase or your briefcase. [00:02:52] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: I should say, [00:02:53] Paul Secunda: okay, well, I'm ready right now, [00:02:55] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: just sort of as an emergency. And if you go like on Amazon or something similar, I'm sure you'll find a deal at some point anchors had like 20 percent off. Here and there, and there's some good options. There's also of course other brands, but I would go with a reliable brand to make sure that the battery is made well, gonna last a while, and also doesn't cause some sort of like back feed, some sort of back charge by accident. [00:03:17] Paul Secunda: No, that's, that's really much appreciated because needless to say, that can be a lifesaver. [00:03:21] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: And any other tech that you use? [00:03:23] Paul Secunda: Well, I, I did mention the phone, but really I'm a fairly lean and mean operator, I guess. [00:03:29] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: So I have to ask, do you have a printer and do you use it a lot? [00:03:32] Paul Secunda: I tried to avoid printing out copies. [00:03:35] Paul Secunda: Can I use an app called TurboScan? In other words, I did take whatever I get in the mail or from others and put it in PDF form almost immediately. I digitize. And thereafter, whether I'm dealing with, let's say, a deposition, a court reporter, or various chambers, I try to stick mostly with PDF files. This is also true with dealing with opposing counsel. [00:04:01] Paul Secunda: We tend not to send things to each other by snail mail anymore. I send documents in discovery through servers and or digital files. [00:04:11] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Do you have a PDF reader of preference? [00:04:13] Paul Secunda: Adobe Acrobat. [00:04:14] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Okay. [00:04:15] Paul Secunda: Yeah, I use Word, Microsoft Word for my word process. [00:04:18] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: And you don't use Pages? Apple Pages? [00:04:21] Paul Secunda: Well, only when it, sometimes I get documents in Pages form. [00:04:26] Paul Secunda: Really? And so what I'll do, unusual, unusual, but what I'll do is I'll redo the format into Microsoft Word. It's what I'm comfortable operating in. [00:04:34] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: So I have to ask, the app that you use, when you get a lot of, Documents. I mean, isn't that a little time consuming to have to take a picture page by page by page? [00:04:43] Paul Secunda: Yeah. If I were to get a lot of documents, like a bundle, we'd feed it to the printer we do have in our office. Okay. And I would put it onto a thumb drive and then put it on my server that way. But if you're dealing with anything, let's say less than 25 pages, which is a lot of my documents, It's very handy. [00:05:01] Paul Secunda: It's very easy to use and the, the pages that are generated are very accurate and look good. [00:05:06] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Yeah. I use the Fujitsu scan snap, which is considered like a staple of any cell loan, small practitioners. It's an ADF on a document feeder that. Takes 50 pages at a time and could really move through a lot of documents. [00:05:20] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: When I started practice way back when I was dealing with a lot of large VA files, Department of Veterans Affairs files for my clients. And that could be like a thousand, two or three thousand pages. And that would just taking, of course, also back then the iPhones and other smartphones, PDF capture was not as good as it is today. [00:05:38] Paul Secunda: That is true. And so I guess I should say in talking about PACs, since you've brought up the printer, I am using a Let's see if I can find it here. An HP laser jet pro. You eight zero. Wow. Yeah. So [00:05:53] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: how many pages can you fit into the scanner of that printer? [00:05:56] Paul Secunda: I think the feeder is up to 50 pages. [00:05:58] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Cool. And you know about inkjet superstore, right? [00:06:01] Paul Secunda: I do, because we all know that inkjet could drive you into bank. [00:06:04] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Although I haven't had to order for them in like a couple of years, because since COVID, everything's really gone, really, really gone digital. [00:06:12] Paul Secunda: Yeah. And that's what I was trying to say, which is I really don't do unless it's sent to me. I am not one to send other people things by hard copy. [00:06:22] Paul Secunda: I really do try to avoid it, not just because it's inconvenient, but all that sustainability stuff as well. [00:06:27] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Gotcha. Gotcha. I'm with you on that. So you have an HP printer and what you have an all Apple. [00:06:34] Paul Secunda: No, this is very interesting. I'm the only person in my office who uses Apple, all the other partners that I have, of which there are four other partners on a HP slash Lenovo type of platform. [00:06:47] Paul Secunda: And so the way we handle that is we use a Clio, which is just a management software interacting with a Google business server, this kind of application. [00:06:58] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: So you have a Google business account, correct? And why don't you use. Google Docs versus Microsoft Word. [00:07:04] Paul Secunda: I just am a dinosaur, I guess. I've been in practice for 27 years and I just feel more comfortable. [00:07:11] Paul Secunda: It's not that I don't use Google Docs. I do. And in fact, some clients prefer to use Google Docs and I've I've certainly I have that capability, especially when we're working on documents together. It can be very, but if I'm writing a brief or if I'm writing other types of documents, I tend to feel just more comfortable in the Microsoft world when we're talking about something like that. [00:07:35] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Fair enough. Fair enough. So wait, you're not using WordPerfect. [00:07:37] Paul Secunda: I'm not using it. It's funny. I started my life using WordPerfect. When I was in college and law school, I was a WordPerfect guy, and somewhere in the late 90s, early 2000s, maybe when I became a law professor, which was in 2002, I started using Microsoft Word and never went back. [00:07:53] Paul Secunda: So at this point, it's been over two decades I've been on Microsoft Word. [00:07:57] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Do you believe that they still make WordPerfect and that some lawyers actually still use WordPerfect because of whatever little, the macros that they made, that they're afraid to start over again, which is amazing. [00:08:07] Paul Secunda: I have co counsel who use WordPerfect and Needless to say, we've come up with a way of interacting that doesn't get all sorts of codes and other problematic things in our documents. [00:08:17] Paul Secunda: But yes, there are a few people still out there. They're diehards, I would say. [00:08:20] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: How well does the conversion work between a WordPerfect document and a Microsoft Word document going back and forth with the file itself? [00:08:28] Paul Secunda: I would compare it to, have you ever used the converter on like an Adobe and gone to a Microsoft Word document? [00:08:34] Paul Secunda: Yes. So there are problems, right? You have to go through that document and take out codes and other types of information that is either wrong, or like, for instance, it messes up the footnotes, but you have to then remember the footnotes. So I would say it's very similar. I would say that you run into a lot of the same types of problems between Word Perfect and Word that you see between like Adobe and Word. [00:08:55] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: I commend you for you guys being able to work through that. [00:08:58] Paul Secunda: We are a. As a sole practitioner, you will understand that as a very small office, we do a lot of things on our own. We have no secretaries, no administrative assistants, no paralegals. We do our own work, and so when we do it, we try to do it in a way that is most comfortable for us individually. [00:09:17] Paul Secunda: But also we need to interact as a firm. So we're trying to have a tech balance there. If you will. [00:09:23] Michael D.J. Eisenberg: Yeah. I used to use open office, but I had a paralegal law clerk who had been with me for a while. And it just became too much for her that ultimately ended up getting Microsoft office just because I wanted to sort of keep the peace. [00:09:35] Paul Secunda: But people have a lot of, this comes up also in the PowerPoint world. When you're used the Google version or with the spreadsheets, people are very comfortable with Excel. So fine. There's a comfort there for a lot of people, including myself. Yeah. Well, let's get into the questions. Yeah. Okay. Please. [00:09:53] Q?#1: What are the top three t…
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