TechnoLawyer: Email/Messaging/Telephony

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an email discovery appliance, PDF software for lawyers, and a free project manager. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

PDF for Lawyers
By Dennis Kennedy

Once upon a time, lawyers were grateful for PDF simply because of its ability to preserve the layout of the original document. Legal life was good. But then lawyers became more demanding of PDF, particularly when clients, discovery requests, and other aspects of their job became more demanding of them. Legal life was not so good.

Enter Bluebeam Software's Bluebeam PDF Revu, a "complete PDF solution," which means that in addition to viewing PDF files, you can also create, edit, and comment on them.  Bluebeam PDF Revu can also convert any file to TIF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PSD, PNG, EMF, WMF or PCL.

If you use Microsoft Office, you can use Bluebeam PDF Revu to create PDF files from Office documents with one click of your mouse. Even better, within Outlook you can automatically convert attachments to PDF upon sending the message. When converting Office documents, PDF Revu offers many security features (e.g., preventing the copying of images or text) plus you can apply watermarks and stamps such as date, time, document name, path, etc.

Other useful features include the ability to print any document to PDF, add images to PDF files, create bookmarks within PDF files, create PDF booklets with the "Bluebeam Stapler," copy and paste exactly what you want ("True Text"), and work on a Tablet PC.

That's all well and good, but where is the legal love? Bluebeam designed its new version 5 with lawyers in mind. For example, litigators can apply Bates stamps. You can standardize Bates stamping in your firm by creating Bates stamp templates with a prefix, suffix, and any number of digits.

With Bluebeam PDF Revu 5, you can also permanently redact text or images. The redaction tool doesn't cover the information. Instead, it actually removes it from the file. You can black out these areas if preparing files for discovery. If you're working on a document of your own, you can replace the excised material with different material.

Bluebeam PDF Revu 5 also has features for corporate lawyers, namely the ability to compare PDF documents. Bluebeam PDF Revu sells for $149 with volume discounts available. Learn more about Bluebeam PDF Revu 5.

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 January 26, 2007 to Fat Friday: Andrea Cannavina reviews Treo smartphones and its competitors, Kurt Schoettler discusses the importance of password strength (especially for lawyers), David Caracappa explains why winning the lottery would prompt a career change, Daniel Schultz explains how he makes use of a dual monitor setup, and Craig Humphrey takes a stab at defining Web 2.0. 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 January 19, 2007 to Fat Friday: Arthur Rieman reviews his Ultimate Ears super.fi 3 Studio earphones, Kerry Hubick offers his thoughts on self- versus professional software training, Thomas F. McDow fantasizes about how winning the lottery would change his law practice, David Herdman shares his two cents on public cell phone usage, and Ernest Marquez explains how a third monitor will function in his law office. 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 January 18, 2007 to Answers to Questions: Susi Santa Maria, a former Timeslips Certified Consultant, shares her tips for getting the most out of this often misunderstood and improperly installed program, Brent Blanchard offers his take on the Word v. WordPerfect debate (our version of the Energizer bunny), Eugenie Rivers reviews a utility for archiving your Outlook email (and our publisher points to an alternative utility), Martin Dean explains why technology won't solve a general counsel's contract management needs (but our publisher points to an online service that might help), and Michael Burn reviews his experience using Microsoft Access to manage litigation documents. 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 January 11, 2007 to Answers to Questions: D. Paul Dalton discusses the "build or buy" software dilemma, Caren Schwartz explains how to enter deposits to trust accounts in QuickBooks, Timothy Cleary reviews two estate planning tools, Michael Commins offers up a quick fix for slowly performing legal software on a network, and Stanley Tomlinson suggests a simple way to archive case-related e-mail. 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 January 9, 2007 and January 16, 2007 to TechnoFeature: What form of communication do you use most often with clients: telephone or postal mail? Most likely it's neither as many lawyers have shifted to the convenience of email.  Though it provides a record of communications and is lightening fast, email can become overwhelming. In this two-part article, attorney Dean Kirby shares his firm's best practices for handling a large volume of email. Part 1 covers filtering and filing. Part 2 tackles searching and archiving. Read this email newsletter to learn how to control your email before it controls you!

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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an online repository with Google-like search speed, PDF creation software for thrifty law firms, and a plug-and-play Microsoft Exchange appliance that promises 99.99% uptime for your firm's e-mail. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Finding Needles in E-Discovery Haystacks Very Quickly
By Dennis Kennedy
As electronic discovery becomes a fixture in complex litigation, both law firms and clients seek better ways to handle large volumes of documents. Increasingly, they seem to choose online repositories. Security, features, and other factors play important roles in the selection process. However, speed may be the biggest consideration. Do you really want to enter a complex search through millions of documents and wait minutes rather than milliseconds for your results?

Catalyst Secure's Catalyst CR 6.0 (Grid Edition) attacks the issue of speed directly. The first grid-based document review and litigation support platform, CR 6.0 delivers sub-second response times for complex searches. In audited benchmark testing, CR brought back search results in less than a second in the vast majority of queries even for queries with 750 search terms and 15 million documents.

CR 6.0 uses an innovative grid-based computing system that efficiently uses a large number of servers to generate fast results. The grid runs the well-known FAST search engine, optimized for the types of searches used in electronic discovery.

You can locate the documents you want swiftly using keyword, full-text, date-range, proximity, concept and even bates-number searches. CR 6.0 supports native review of Office documents, e-mail, and hundreds of other file formats, and has been optimized for PDF files. CR 6.0 uses a simple interface for searching designed to give you both flexibility and power. You can save searches, tag results, and manage workflow.

Once you locate documents, you and your team can review, redact, and prepare them for production, especially under tight deadlines. Every party in a case can securely use the CR 6.0 repository.

CR 6.0 provides a secure platform that can scale as your repository grows, but the speed will likely impress you and your team the most.

Contact Catalyst Secure for information about pricing, which depends on the size of the repository.  Learn more about Catalyst CR 6.0.

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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers a suite of security utilities for your laptop, an online personal finance tool that taps into Metcalfe's Law, and a network appliance that enables everyone at your law firm to securely send and receive large attachments. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Transfer Large Files Securely Without Attachment Limits
By Dennis Kennedy
In the old days, sending a large document meant using a FedEx Pak instead of a FedEx Envelope. Nowadays, sending large electronic files poses more of a challenge than simply choosing the next size up in packaging. Notwithstanding multi-gigabyte mailboxes, many e-mail servers (including Gmail) impose limits on the size of file attachments. Plus, e-mail servers are notoriously lacking in security (by design actually). Free file transfer sites can handle large files, but also lack sufficient security. So what's a law firm to do? Dust off its FedEx number and send CDs and DVDs?

No way! Accellion's Courier Secure File Transfer Appliance (SFTA) Version 5.0 provides law firms with a secure option for sending and receiving large files both internally and externally. Accellion has a history of providing secure file transfer solutions on a global basis to enterprises of all sizes. As a dedicated appliance for business file transfers, SFTA requires minimal IT administration and support.

When you use SFTA to send files to third parties, they receive a secure download link. To send or receive a file, all you need is a Web browser. Your firm can set up accounts for its employees and clients in minutes. Accellion claims that some firms may witness an 80% reduction in e-mail load.

New in version 5 is the ability to send and receive entire folders, thus preserving a directory structure (especially useful for your client's discovery documents). Version 5 can handle files and folders up to 10GB in size.

New administrative tools enable you to control usage throughout your firm. Like previous versions, SFTA simply plugs into your network and starts working. SFTA uses the SSL standard, and generates an audit trail. Much easier to use than even FTP and SFTP, which require software on both ends, SFTA works with your existing network and software. Optional plug-ins exist for integration with Outlook and Lotus Notes, which enable you to use your e-mail program instead of a browser.

SFTA comes in a wide array of configurations, starting at $3,500. You can start small and add capabilities as needed.  Learn more about Accellion Courier Secure File Transfer Appliance (SFTA) Version 5.0.

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 15, 2006 to Fat Friday: Andrea Cannavina discusses how new technologies have changed the dictation/transcription process and compares Olympus and Sony digital recorders, Jason Havens shares how you can use your Treo 600 for more than just a phone or PDA, Michael Schley explores file naming conventions for discovery documents, Cheryl Clayton discusses her use of multiple monitors in her solo practice (and we point to a seven monitor setup), and Daniel Fennick reviews his recent Dell technical support experience. 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 7, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Steven J. Best offers up his thoughts on New Jersey retainer rules and some advice for managing these fees in PCLaw 8, Sharon Kirts shares which HP printers have served her practice well and why she believes you get what you pay for, Al Harrison reviews LogMeIn for remote access (really remote — South Africa to Houston, TX), Daniel Fennick reviews how he uses PracticeMaster to manage case-related e-mail messages, and Jay Stassen reviews his office's new case management software from CIBER. 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.