TechnoLawyer: Business Productivity/Word Processing

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a suite of PDF tools for law firms (see article below), a gadget that enables you to securely use the Internet on any computer, and eDiscovery software designed to expedite the document review process. Don't miss the next issue.

PDF: The Next Generation
By Taeho Lim

When law firms first discovered the PDF format years ago, they quickly embraced it thanks to its ability to preserve any document regardless of its native format. However, the PDF-related needs of law firms have grown. The ability to create PDF files is now just the baseline.

To meet these needs, DocsCorp has released pdfDocs Desktop 2.1. This new version of its popular PDF software contains a number of legal-specific features. In addition, pdfDocs Desktop 2.1 features improved integration with popular document management systems not to mention DocsCorp's own products.

The centerpiece of the new version is the Binder feature, which enables you to automatically "bind" together a collection of documents into one file, and create a table of contents, bookmarks, links, etc. with just a few clicks. You can keep the documents in a Binder in their native format or convert them into PDF format.

Perfect for closing books, deal books, eBriefs, etc., you can apply page numbering, time/date stamps, and information from your document management system. Using the new Numbering Sets feature, you can set up and automatically apply this information to any Binder. You can establish Numbering Sets across your firm.

Also on the automation front, pdfDocs Desktop 2.1 has a Bates stamp feature for discovery and other documents that require tracking. You can apply prefixes and suffixes, and you can use Bates stamps with the Numbering Sets feature described above.

Among the other notable features, you can automatically convert email attachments into PDF format to safeguard documents, redact, watermark, annotate, and repaginate PDF files, and create secure PDF files.

In terms of integration, pdfDocs Desktop 2.1 integrates with Hummingbird DM, Interwoven WorkSite, Open Text, TRIM Context, and Worldox out of the box. You can right-click on a document within your document management system to create a PDF version of that file. In other words, no need to check it out and check it in again. Your document management system will still provide an audit trail showing the PDF creation. You can also add documents directly to a Binder in this fashion.

pdfDocs Desktop 2.1 also integrates with DocsCorp's other products, including pdfDocs OCR Server (converts imaged text into editable and searchable text), pdfDocs formFiller (a soup-to-nuts PDF forms solution), and pdfDocs compareDocs (document comparison for any file type). Learn more about pdfDocs Desktop 2.1.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming December 20, 2007 to Answers to Questions: Trevor Davis reviews the StartStop transcription system along with the Olympus DS-4000 digital recorder, Matt Baker reviews Worldox for document management in the context of a paperless law office, John Federico explains how to add legal terms to Dragon NaturallySpeaking's vocabulary, Ed Siebel discusses why many law firms have switched from PCs to Macs, and Brian Peterson reviews DirHTML for creating and printing folder indices. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming December 18, 2007 to TechnoFeature: Monstrous file cabinets are quickly giving way to monstrous hard drives. But as with paper, you still need a system for locating particular files in a jiffy. In this article, business attorney Mike Schley reviews enterprise-class desktop search tool ISYS:desktop 8. He shares how he uses it in his practice, what features he likes the best, what could use more work, what he thinks of the company's customer service, and how it differs from the free desktop search utilities available today.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Tuesdays, TechnoFeature is a weekly newsletter that contains in-depth articles written by leading legal technology and practice management experts. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a multifunction network appliance for small law firms (see article below), mind mapping software that integrates with Microsoft Office, and backup software that can backup anything to anything. Don't miss the next issue.

Internet in a Black Box
By Taeho Lim

In Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," a black monolith taught the apes everything they needed to made the jump to humanity. That black monolith was the first network appliance.

Plustek's MultiServer MFA 1000S looks a lot like one of those monoliths — a black tower that sits between your network and the Internet, and provides your firm with today's essential services, including a router, email server, Web server, anti-virus and anti-spam protection, firewall, FTP, QoS, VoIP telephone service, SMS messaging, file server, and DNS.

MultiServer MFA 1000S runs on Linux, the popular open source operating system mostly used on servers. For email, MultiServer MFA 1000S supports IMAP and provides SSL encryption so that you can send and receive email securely even when using a mobile device. You can access email using clients like Outlook or via your Web browser. It can even handle multiple domains.

In addition to scanning email for viruses and spam, MultiServer MFA 1000S can also archive email and monitor it for certain keywords or domain names. Storage is unlimited as you can add additional hard drives as necessary.

MultiServer MFA 1000S features a system recovery feature, enabling you to roll back to any point in time. Thus, you can easily retrieve a mistakenly deleted message or undo any incorrect settings. You can manage MultiServer MFA 1000S via your Web browser, including downloading and applying updates. MultiServer MFA 1000S supports Chinese, German, French, and Japanese in addition to English. MultiServer MFA 1000S carries a street price of approximately $975. Learn more about MultiServer MFA 1000S.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming December 14, 2007 to Fat Friday: Eugene Curry responds to a thread on biglaw associate salaries and shares how he chose lawyers when he worked as general counsel, Chanler Sparler reviews the pros and cons of using Roboform for creating and managing passwords in his busy law practice, Edward Still offers three suggestions for improving CLE, Stephen Seldin reminisces about the glory days before Windows and fancy word processors, and Chas Watson reviews Amicus Attorney 7. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming December 13, 2007 to Answers to Questions: Kristy Binmore reviews her firm's use of Philips digital dictation recorders and the SpeechExec Transcription Set, Brett Thompson explains how his firm uses QuickBooks for trust accounting, Dan Norris reviews Adobe Acrobat as part of his firm's paperless workflow, Yvonne Renfrew reviews Text Cleanup for copying and pasting between programs, and Edward Kionka reviews Parallels for running Windows software on a Mac. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming December 11, 2007 to TechnoFeature: When it comes to PDF files, you need a few key functions. Before sending information you need to preserve the integrity of the document, remove metadata, perhaps combine multiple documents into a single PDF, plus you need the ability to quickly review and manipulate the order of pages. In this article, legal technology consultant Caren Schwartz reviews Bluebeam PDF Revu which does all that and more. She discusses the installation process, her favorite features, the problems she encountered, tech support, pricing, and of course her overall TechnoScore.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Tuesdays, TechnoFeature is a weekly newsletter that contains in-depth articles written by leading legal technology and practice management experts. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers an email and instant messaging security and archiving service, an online spreadsheet (see article below), and a simple billing program for Mac users. Don't miss the next issue.

Context Is King
By Taeho Lim

Why use an online spreadsheet when you have a perfectly good one in your Office suite? Context, my friends, context. Being online means you can share your spreadsheet with just about anyone or anything.

For example, Team and Concepts' online spreadsheet EditGrid enables you to create a spreadsheet, access it from any Web browser, collaborate with colleagues, send the data to other applications and databases, publish the spreadsheet on your Web site, etc.

Team and Concepts claims that EditGrid has a short learning curve because it looks and feels just like Excel. Familiar features include cut and paste, charts, auto-fill, number and cell formatting, and more than 50 keyboard shortcuts. EditGrid works with all major Web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Netscape. The iPhone Edition, currently in beta, enables you to use it on Apple's popular smartphone.

With EditGrid, you can collaborate on spreadsheets in real-time with anyone else. For example, you might create a firmwide expense report. When someone makes an edit, it flashes in red so you always stay up-to-date on the latest version. You can control access levels and privileges, and prevent others from editing specific parts of the spreadsheet. EditGrid even offers an in-application chat feature for communicating with your co-editors.

In addition to its familiar feel and real-time editing, EditGrid provides an API that connects your spreadsheets to your existing databases and legacy applications. The API is bidirectional so you can both send and receive data. Other spreadsheet features include Web publication, auto-save, revision history on a cell by cell basis, versioning and rollback, and integration with any public data source such as Yahoo! Finance.

EditGrid comes in two versions — Personal and Organization. The Personal edition is free whereas the latter costs $5/user/month and provides SSL security, shared workspaces (which can contain several spreadsheets), technical support, a custom login page, and administrative tools. If you prefer, you can run EditGrid internally on your own server, thus enabling you to integrate LDAP. Learn more about EditGrid.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming December 7, 2007 to Fat Friday: Harold Goldner explains how his solo practice survived a hard drive failure, Steven Schwaber reviews ActiveWords (and our publisher ponders the speed of keyboard commands versus mousing), Jonathan Cope responds to a recent post that criticized CLE seminars, Deborah Schneider reviews her experience with Dell versus other PC makers, and Ed Schoenecker discusses what's missing from Office 2007. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming December 06, 2007 to Answers to Questions: Jason Havens discusses the pro and cons of local versus national Web and email hosting services plus what he thinks of Yahoo Small Business, Anna Marie Sossong reviews her experience with PCLaw upgrades and tech support, Paul Hager issues a warning to Microsoft Word haters, Pam Rolph discusses the must-have features of an online calendar for law firms, and Brent Blanchard reviews Windows Explorer for case management. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.