Blog – John A Hamer Law Office PLLC

Thoughts on living in a Pandemic….

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 14:06:00 GMT

Mobile Pay Options

Part 1: Download and use Gpay, Applepay, Samsung Pay etc. This allows you to simply place your phone near a CC machine. Pay with your phone or prepay online whenever possible. Paypal and Venmo are also great ways to exchange money without touching another human being or anything they’ve touched. Go to your Apple and Google Play store to download and set up. We provide our clients with a secure payment portal at www.hamerlegal.com . Many other businesses allow online payments. If you’re not taking online payments currently, please contact Jason Robinson from www.reliancebankmn.com and get set up right away!

Online Security for Remote Business During a Stayhome Order

Part 2: Wear gloves and carry your own pen with you. Don’t absent mindedly grab a pen at a register. We are asking our clients to upload and download documents through our secure portal on www.hamerlegal.com . Our MyCase case management software allows us to do all of work and receive payments securely and remotely.

“It’s gonna take a lot to drag me awaaaay from yoooou…”

Part 3: No idea if this supported by science, but I soap up before touching the sink handle. My hands are soaped when I touch the sink handle. Happy Bday is great, but take advantage of the great acoustics in most bathrooms. Find a chorus 20 that’s longer than 20 seconds and use your falsetto to hit the high notes. Try “Africa” by Toto, for example.

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COVID-19 Hamer Legal Update

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 16:34:00 GMT

Court cases are happening on an individual basis, most are being cancelled and rescheduled, while some are still going. We will contact you prior to your specific court date so that you will know what to expect.

We are taking our part in social distancing. If you need to come in for any reason we ask that you phone first to make an appointment. We are diligently cleaning the offices.

We urge all at this time who are able, to get your estate planning in order. In these uncertain times, peace of mind goes a long way. Meet with an attorney while you are still healthy!

(PS. Of all 365 days of the year, the Maxine Calendar had this to say for today. What are the odds?!!)

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Happy New Year!! #2020

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 03:41:00 GMT

Well, I don’t think I could have ever predicted the wild ending to 2019. Leaving my old office and starting my own firm was the furthest thing from my mind in January of 2019. But here we are. Welcome 2020!

It’s crazy how fast time flies. I’ve been a practicing attorney for all of the last
decade. Crazy. I still consider myself a young attorney. All of those years were with one firm. When I graduated from law school and passed the bar exam in 2008, the country was in the midst of a horrible recession. College grads couldn’t get jobs, so they continued to do the only thing they knew how to do: go to school. Law schools were graduating record numbers of students at the same time large firms were laying off lawyers across the country. It was a hard time to enter the field.

I was an independent contractor that first year. I made $20,000 which didn’t even cover my student loans. Many of my friends were still without jobs. Some abandoned the legal profession all together. Taking a job in another field would have been very tempting if the opportunity were there. That said, I was single, I shared an apartment, and I was used to being poor. I literally had nothing to lose. Betting on myself to do better was easy because I wasn’t really risking anything.

2019 was different. I have a family. I have a home and mortgage. I worked most of a decade to become a partner in my own firm. Betting on myself now means putting everything I’ve worked for on the line. On the other hand, believing in myself despite the risk is what got me to where I am in the first place. It’s easy to get complacent and just accept where you’re at because it’s safe. Comfortable. I frequently counsel clients that bad things happen to everyone. We all face adversity. But sometimes, adversity forces us to leave our comfort zones and make the changes we should have already made.

No one has ever won a race by waiting for the finish line to come to them. Dreams don’t come true. They’re planned true. They’re risked true. They’re worked true. Then they’re made true. Happy New Year! See you next decade.

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www.hamerlegal.com We have a website!! But it’s on the dark web….

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 22:29:00 GMT

Week 3 Update
Hey! We just completed week 3 at Hamer Law Office. What a whirlwind! We used Quickbooks to process our first payroll and even had money left over! We’ve been very busy completing the new business stuff and doing some actual legal work, finally. We picked up several new cases, so we’re moving right along.

New Logo and Website!
The biggest news for this week is that we got a new logo AND A NEW WEBSITE!! We’re super excited about both. Brendon Cox of TriM Graphics , met with us, learned about the type of service I pride myself in offering, and suggested the compass. The compass is much more representative of what I do and who I am than something like a gavel or scales of justice which only pertains to the law. We view ourselves as guides to those who need help getting their lives pointed in the right direction after an injury or criminal charge. We couldn’t be more excited for the work Brendon did to come up with branding we can be proud of.

Hamerlegal.com
Our website’s live!! It’s just buried on the dark web. Apparently the process to be indexed by Google and the other major search engines is really slow. So for now you’ll have to actually type the address into the address bar or click the link here: www.hamerlegal.com . My suggestion to new businesses is to make your web presence an EARLY priority. That and credit card applications. You’ll want a CC early to start tracking your expenses and paying for licenses and subscriptions. That took a couple weeks to accomplish. The website and Google indexing can take even longer, apparently.

Hamerlegal.com was created by our friends at MyCase legal case management software. Unlike many webdesigners, they only build legal websites and have actual attorneys on staff to help craft the page and create top-notch content. Best of all, it integrates 100% with our case management software. Clients will be able to set appointments, communicate via messaging, upload and download documents to and from a secure portal, and even receive SMS text messages reminding them of important court dates! The site also automatically re-aligns itself on smaller screens for easy mobile compatibility, be it phone, tablet, or notebook!

Thanks for reading. Please visit the new site, or come see us in person.

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December 5, 2019

Wed, 11 Dec 2019 15:00:00 GMT

We wanted to thank everyone for all of your support. I’m going to (try to) do some blogging here to keep everyone up to date on how things are going, what we’re up to, and other noteworthy news in the legal and small business community. I don’t plan on filling people’s feeds with a bunch of standard advertisements. I’m really going to try to give people a glimpse into the ups and downs of small business entrepreneurship in a fun and interesting way.

I hope people will find th is interesting and informative! I’d also love advice from business owners who’ve done blogging, vlogging, etc. before!

Post 1.

We are halfway through our 2nd week in business. We opened on a short week with the Thxgiving holiday turkey sandwiched right in there. We missed a key opportunity to save money right off the bat by paying full price for a coffee maker and missing a Black Friday opportunity at a half-price mini-fridge.

Speaking of giving thanks, we’re SUPER thankful for all of our business partners, supporters, friends, family, and CLIENTS most of all!

I’ll thank specific partners individually and with links and details in subsequent blogs.

For now, I’ll briefly go through some of the boxes we’ve already checked and a few pending.

1) We set up trust and operating accounts with Reliance Bank in Faribault. Applied for a credit line we hope to never use.

2) We found our new home at Jen Becker’s Thrivent office. What a wonderful job she’s done with the building! 1645 Lyndale Ave by Mike’s garage and Parker Kohl Funeral Home if you want to stop in. Call ahead if you want fresh-baked cookies (seriously). Move in time was only 1 day with help from great friends with trucks and strong backs.

3) Registered new case management software. Almost fully integrated!

4) Purchased a domain for like $10 on domain.com. www.hamerlegal.com (Coming soon!)

5) Registered licenses with Microsoft 365. jhamer@hamerlegal.com . Get the package with Office included and 2tera cloud storage for like $10/mo.

6) Ran a budget and connected accounts through Quick Books Online. Vital for small business owners. Track income and expenses, view accounts from 1 dashboard in real-time. Added payroll integration for easy payment of employees, taxes, and benefits.

7) Got phone and internet through Spectrum. Same number! 507-332-4001.

8) I’ve hung up 3 pieces of 2nd hand art and Sarah put up a bird feeder.

It’s been a whirlwind, but we’ve accomplished a bunch already! Still coming: logo, web page, sign out front, business cards…

I’ll keep posting and I urge you to follow and like. Opening my own practice has been challenging, but fun and entertaining too! If I can shorten the learning curve for others thinking of starting a business, I’d love to do so!

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Welcome to our new website!

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 05:41:00 GMT

Welcome to our new website! This site has been professionally designed to be responsive and mobile friendly, so it looks great and is accessible no matter what type or size of device you are using.

Our new website also has an integrated Client Portal, meaning you are able to access your case documents, correspondence, and calendars directly from our website!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us today.

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