TechnoLawyer

Today's issue of Fat Friday contains these articles:

Lynne Geyser, Thoughts About Fixed Fees for Legal Work

Deepa Patel, Review: AdvologixPM on iPhone via Salesforce App

Lincoln Miller, Review: TimeSolv in a Solo Practice

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Today's issue of Answers to Questions contains these articles:

Gerard Stubbert, When to Pull the Trigger on Document Assembly Plus a Research Tip

Steven Schwaber, Thoughts on Business Bankruptcy Clients Paying Legal Fees With a Credit Card

Ronald Cappuccio, Review: Dragon NaturallySpeaking Legal Edition 11

Thomas Stirewalt, Multiple Monitors 101: How to Get Up and Running

Chris Martz, How to Create an Image-Only PDF From a Searchable PDF

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Originally published on April 26, 2011 in our free SmallLaw newsletter. Instead of reading SmallLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.

I am an unabashed Apple fanboy. They say the first step to recovery is admitting the problem. I was in line at Wal-Mart the day of the iPad 2's release. While I've used the iPad extensively in my solo practice since purchasing Steve Jobs' magical device, I was finally able to put it through the paces a couple weeks ago in the field here in Gadsen, Alabama.

I recently filed a wrongful death case against several municipalities in Alabama on behalf of a client who lost his only son during a high-speed chase gone wrong.

My Investigation at the Scene of the Accident

I conducted my own preliminary investigation using my 16 GB WiFi iPad 2 and a number of supporting apps and gadgets, including a Verizon MiFi for an Internet connection.

Once on the scene of the accident I accessed my DropBox iPad app to pull up my client's file and compared the photos in there with the scene in front of me. The iPad shined in this endeavor as the two years that had passed from the accident to the lawsuit had not been kind to the accident site. The paint used to mark points of impact and the location of the body had nearly faded to oblivion, so my "fresh" iPad photos became my landmarks.

I used Voice Recorder HD with DropBox support to record a brief statement from my witness while simultaneously taking notes in Penultimate using a Kensington Virtuoso stylus rather than my pudgy fingers.

I used my Canon EOS Rebel T1i EF-S DSLR to take multiple photos of the scene. Then, using the EyeFi wireless memory card I loaded these files into my iPad for later review.

In conjunction with the MiFi, I was able to search the Alabama court system's database to see what kind of criminal record my witness sported in case I needed to perform damage control in the future.

Using Google Maps and an officer's statement of the chase, I retraced the route through the county while the iPad sat shotgun (I was able to watch the dash-cam video of the chase before heading out to "relive" the chase).

While following the chase path I received a call from my client stating that an interview I gave a local station was playing on the radio. Once at his office I used the iCab Mobile Web browser to locate the audio clip on the station's Web site and saved it to my DropBox account. This browser lets me do things previously only available on jailbroken iOS devices. I also used iCab Mobile to look up some slang that an officer buddy gave me regarding his opinion of the subject cop in my lawsuit. Even I didn't know what "high-speed, low drag" meant!

After my investigation I used the 30 minute drive back to my office to catch up on email and Facebook via the VoiceBrief app that speaks aloud your email and other information.

An Almost Perfect Sidekick: 90% Bill Gannon, 10% Barney Fife

To be fair, using the iPad was not without its cons. The major issue I encountered was the GPS support. As noted above, I have the 16 GB WiFi model. As I understand mobile GPS technology, Apple products rely on both the internal GPS radio as well as cell tower triangulation to provide the most accurate location fix for the user. Since my iPad has no cellular radio I was limited to the internal GPS to get me from A to B, which proved problematic.

Although it could easily find the address of a witness I needed to speak with, it struggled to find my current location to calculate a route. It insisted on using my last known address as the point of origin when in fact that was 30 miles away! Perhaps I found a bug that Apple will address in the future, but in the end I had to use my iPhone to get to my starting point. Once I set a land-speed record to cross the rural county to make my appointment with my witness, the iPad performed beautifully.

Another complaint is the amount of glare on the iPad's screen. I was outside on a sunny day and had a really hard time seeing the documents and photos on the iPad. I can live with this issue as sunglasses and anti-glare screen protectors can help.

In hindsight I could have used the iPad 2's built-in cameras to take video and photos of the scene. While the HD video ability is useful I'm not impressed with the still camera results. After a photo is blown up to fit the display it loses a lot of image quality. Knowing my photos may well become exhibits I opted to bring the big gun — my Canon Rebel. I could have watched the dash-cam video via DropBox, but streaming it would have taken forever. We've all wiped the blood from our ears after watching a YouTube video over a 3G connection! I recommend using the iPad's native iPod app synced from iTunes to load any videos you need.

Conclusion

I was pleased with the performance of my iPad for legitimate legal investigatory work. As an added bonus, after its debut in the field, the iPad 2 is now a bona-fide tax write-off.

Written by Gadsden, Alabama lawyer Clark Stewart.

Publisher's Note: The WiFi iPad lacks assisted GPS. If you need GPS functionality, buy the AT&T or Verizon WiFi + 3G model. — Neil J. Squillante

How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, SmallLaw provides you with a mix of practical advice that you can use today, and insight about what it will take for small law firms like yours to thrive in the future. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: An admission or other material on a Web page can serve as important evidence or help you impeach a witness. But people — especially the unethical variety — can easily change or delete Web pages. Also, the hard drive that houses a Web page can fail. Therefore, you should act quickly and capture Web evidence as soon as possible. But if you don't capture it correctly, you may find yourself unable to authenticate it in court. In this TechnoFeature, Web evidence collection expert Paul Easton explains the four steps involved in properly collecting and preserving Web evidence as well as software tools that can make these tasks easier. He also discusses an alternative method that takes much less time. Sooner or later virtually every litigator will need Web evidence for a particular case so every litigator should learn how to collect it in a defensible manner.

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Originally published on April 19, 2011 in our free BigLaw newsletter. Instead of reading BigLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.

The ten technologies discussed in this issue of BigLaw make great additions to a large firm's technology toolbox to help manage your environment. Most are free or cheap. And even those that require you to incur a moderate expense are so important and useful that you really shouldn't manage your law firm without them.

1. Lights Out Management

This technology is now free with most servers for basic functionality. Pay to upgrade to a more robust feature set. Lights Out is one of those technologies that is, if not life-saving, then nights and weekends saving at the very least. And from a business perspective (it's not all about you), it will get your troubled system back online faster because you won't have to drive to the office.

Highlights: Your NIC dies but you can still administer your server remotely. You can "load" virtual media for installs, updates, and diagnostics. You can power on or off the server. You can establish a remote console session — and even access the BIOS of a server from the comfort of your living room.

HP Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) Advanced

Dell Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC)

IBM Remote Supervisor Adapter

2. Remotely Manageable Power Distribution Units (PDU)

Not free, but darn cheap. You needed power anyway, so why not buy the PDUs that are remotely administrable? Something's hinky with your Lights-Out Management interface? Your firewall, VPN device, or network switch is misbehaving? Log into the Web interface, power off the device in question, and then power it back on.

APC PDUs

3. Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) From Your Smartphone

RDP from your Android, BlackBerry, or iPhone (free "lite" versions exist for at least Android and iPhone). Remotely manage a server, or even perform real, light work, from your phone. The nominally priced pay versions give you some features you'll want (such as improved mouse controls) if you find yourself doing more than password resets and server reboots. (Got an iPad? Even better.)

Android

BlackBerry

iPhone

iPad

4. Application Virtualization

You might not know that Microsoft includes this technology for free along with the rest of its MDOP Suite if you have current Software Assurance on your desktop OS. Free! Or at least included with the price of admission to your volume licensing. So why aren't you using it?

If you don't have Software Assurance (you like to buy your software shrink-wrapped, or perhaps just take the OEM OS that came with your PCs), or if you'd simply prefer to throw money around, you may want to invest in ThinApp, or one of the many other players out there.

Why virtualize applications? The most obvious use case is to solve the problems of application compatibility and application conflicts. It can be a bear to ensure that every application in use at your firm plays nicely with your other applications and is compatible and stable on your new OS.

Microsoft's App-V

VMWare ThinApp

5. Multipath I/O (MPIO)

The enabling technology for MPIO is free from your SAN vendors (e.g., Dell Equallogic hit kits), and also included functionality of VMWare.

So what is MPIO for? Single points of failure are bad. Like a fighter jet's fly-by-wire operation where systems are not only duplicated, but sometimes quadruplicated in case one or more of the control channels fails. That's what you want for your firm's data channels. Redundant paths for your server to ensure it can always keep in touch with its SAN-provided data. You want MPIO. Trust me on this one.

Dell EqualLogic Host Software

6. Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)

Another freebie. Manage your Microsoft Updates proactively — from your desktop to your server operating systems to SQL to Exchange, and to infinity and beyond. See which clients are up-to-date and which are not. You can fully or partially automate it or go completely manual depending upon your comfort level and preference.

Windows Server Update Services

7. Microsoft Security Essentials

Free anti-virus, from Microsoft. Enough said. This utility is no Windows Defender. This product is effective and proving (finally) to be a legitimate anti-virus solution alternative from Microsoft. Also available as an enterprise-class, managed product under the name "Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection."

Microsoft Security Essentials

8. Two-Factor Authentication

Free. No need for a key fob. Set up a Certificate Authority (CA) server on your network. Issue digital certificates to your clients, vendors, and employees. And control access to your Web-facing resources with not just what they know (their passwords), but also what they have (their certs).

9. Secure File Transfer

There are free ways to go, like opensource SSH. But if you do that, you have to build an SSH server, support it, ensure that it has sufficient disk space and bandwidth, and supply your clients, co-counsel, etc. with an SSH client or a custom GUI for uploading and downloading files.

Possible? Sure. But just not worth it. But, you may say, FTP is also free — and easy, right? So why not just use that? In short, it's not secure. Passwords are passed in plain text. Don't kid yourself. Don't risk losing your files.

So what's the right answer? Try one of these solutions. They aren't free, but they get the job done and won't get you fired.

Biscom Delivery Server

LeapFILE

SendThisFile

YouSendIt

10. System Center Operations Manager (SCOM)

Not even a little bit free but worth every penny. Monitors everything. Or near enough. If what you're monitoring is a Microsoft product, then the Management Packs are free. For non-Microsoft applications and devices, you can either buy a ready-made Management Pack from a third party or build your own.

For example, if you really know what you're doing you could monitor VMWare with the product out of the box. But if you don't, or don't want to take the time, you can buy a third party SCOM add-on solution like those from:

Veeam

Jalasoft

Bridgeways

Cool Tools

Hopefully these tools resonate with you. Maybe you didn't know about them. Or maybe you only had a vague sense that you should look into them more closely. But if you haven't done so yet, take my advice and make the effort to integrate these technologies into your own toolkit.

Written by Matthew Berg, Director of IT at Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C..

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of Answers to Questions contains these articles:

Robin Meadow, Reviews Of Olympus Recorders, Dragon Desktop And Mobile, Dictamus

Michael Brutlag, Review: IBackup

Bryan Sims, How To Use Adobe Acrobat To Archive Email

Paul Mansfield, Clarifying My Beef With Timeslips (Correct Me If The Policy Has Changed)

Paul Purdue, An Insider's Perspective On PracticeMaster

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How to Receive Answers to Questions
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers an Android tablet (see article below), an email archiving system, PDF software, a calendar utility, and an iPhone app for service of process. Don't miss the next issue.

To Boldly Go Where Only One Tablet Has Gone Before

Currently, six blogs exist devoted to using the iPad in law practice (we link to their best articles each week in BlawgWorld). No such blogs exist for Android tablets. Usually, startup companies lead the way with larger companies content to wait for a proof of concept, and then crush their smaller rivals with superior distribution, marketing, and sometimes even products. In the tablet market, however, one of the world's largest companies struck first, changing the usual dynamics. Other tablet makers now face a tough road, but one company has a fighting chance because it creates many of the key components tablets require, enabling it to compete with Apple's iPad on price. This company's first 10 inch tablet launches in June.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 … in One Sentence
Already in the hands of technology journalists, Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 is an Android-based touchscreen tablet computer.

The Killer Feature
Do people buy tablets based on their hardware specifications? Samsung sure hopes so because while the Galaxy Tab and iPad 2 have an equal processor and 10 hour battery life, the Galaxy Tab's other specifications give it the edge over the current iPad.

It weighs .09 ounces less. Its screen is 0.4 inches larger and has a higher 1280x800 pixel resolution (it plays 1080p HD video). It has surround sound speakers. It can connect to 4G cellular networks. And it has an 8 megapixel rear camera with a flash and a 2 megapixel front camera (both cameras shoot stills and video).

Other goodies include an Accelerometer, Bluetooth, Assisted GPS, a Gyroscope, and WiFi, all of which the iPad 2 has as well.

Other Notable Features
Of course, some people care more about the software than the hardware. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 runs Google's Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" tablet operating system. As a result, you'll find lots of Google apps such as Android Browser (with Flash), Gmail, Google eBooks, Google Maps (including navigation), Google Calendar, Google Talk, YouTube, etc.

The Galaxy Tab can run most of the apps designed for Android smartphones as well as apps designed specifically for Honeycomb.

What Else Should You Know?
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will cost $499 for 16 GB and $599 for 32 GB. Samsung will release the smaller Galaxy Tab 8.9 later this summer. Learn more about Galaxy Tab 10.1

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on April 19, 2010 in our free SmallLaw newsletter. Instead of reading SmallLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.

When two or more individual lawyers, or two small law firms, join forces, the combination typically is driven by a desire to expand, better serve existing clients, and attract new clients. Joining forces should enhance economies of scale and collaboration for greater service quality, which in turn should mean more revenue.

This outcome can only occur if a cultural fit exists among the lawyers — common values and goals that facilitate the exchange of ideas, the education of one lawyer by another, positive social interaction, and a feeling of bonding with others in the firm. Ideally, the lawyers or law firms should have complementary practice areas that enable cross-selling thanks to the expansion of legal services the new firm can offer.

The lawyers in the combined firms typically concentrate on the "tinsel and glitter" of integration — deciding the new firm name, the location and configuration of office space, management responsibilities, and staff allocation. But too often an important element for economies of scale and service collaboration is neglected or even forgotten — technology.

The Key Technologies to Discuss During Due Diligence

Assessing the current state of technology used by the lawyers or firms, including the age of the hardware and software and their replacement cycle, should be — but rarely is — central to the merger due diligence.

For example, a law firm with up-to-date document processing and practice management software tools and a database of 4,000 contacts suggests that it has made an adequate investment in technology. Similarly, if a practice's technology has not been kept up to speed, the likelihood of realizing more value from the merger diminishes.

If the technology of the merger partners is up to date, it will make their combined practices more efficient. The time savings, efficiency, and commoditization of routine tasks and services afforded by electronic technology mean that legal services can be provided at a lower price with higher volume, which tends to produce higher revenues and profits.

But such benefits cannot be realized without adequate planning to integrate these technology aspects. Before you sign the dotted line, discuss the technologies below during due diligence.

1. Client Relationship Management Software (CRM)

For CRM to be effective, the merged practices must give up the "my client" mentality in favor of an "our client" approach — a task easier stated than accomplished. And even if lawyers are willing to share information, plenty of other issues remain regarding what data is entered, who enters it, and who verifies accuracy. The lawyers must create a standard classification system for each item in client or prospect records. Otherwise, CRM becomes a wasted investment with little useful return.

2. Knowledge Management Systems (KM)

The KM challenge mirrors the CRM challenge — creating a standard classification system for each lawyer's work product. If the document management systems of the merged practices are not integrated completely from the start, the result will be haphazard, after-the-fact efforts that doom KM efforts to failure. Not investing the time needed to update the knowledge management database weakens it — and holdouts diminish the value for colleagues and clients alike. A good KM system cannot ensure success, but it certainly tips the balance and makes it much more likely.

3. Finance and Accounting Software

Most law firms use some form of accounting technology (the days of the green eyeshade and paper ledgers are long gone). Some systems can produce extremely detailed assessments of performance to benchmarks, with far more data than the typical attorney can assimilate intelligently. A growing number of systems take an integrated time, billing, and accounting approach, while others are little more than electronic worksheets.

Whatever technology you use, unless the members of the new firm agree which financial benchmarks are most important and how to track and reward financial performance, the software system will never be an adequate management tool, no matter how sophisticated.

4. Communication Tools

The issues here are as varied as the tools themselves. For example, many firms and individual lawyers avidly pursue blogs as a business development activity. However, effective blogging requires dozens or even hundreds of billable hours per year. If all lawyers don't agree on the need for this expense, it can detract from other marketing activities or even from the practice itself.

Another example is email policy. If one lawyer or firm has been scrupulous about entering as billable all time used to send email to clients, while their counterparts have been lax about it, the new firm could lose much billable revenue. As in a marriage, small points of contention like this can drive newly merged lawyers or firms apart.

It's Common Sense, Not Rocket Science

Taking the time to assess and integrate technology concerns like those discussed above is essential to a healthy and growing law firm. A step-by-step process is the only way to ensure that technology will increase efficiency and quality of work in the life of the new firm. There is no one right way to combine technology systems and approaches, but there are clearly wrong ways. Paying due attention to the integration process will clear a path for harmony and profitability.

Written by law firm coach Edward Poll of LawBiz.

How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, SmallLaw provides you with a mix of practical advice that you can use today, and insight about what it will take for small law firms like yours to thrive in the future. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of Answers to Questions contains these articles:

Bob Leonard, Reviews: Dictamus For iPhone; SpeakWrite

Russell Minas, Review: AbacusLaw Vs Timeslips For Billing And Accounting

Caren Schwartz, Review: MyFax

John Tousley, How Multiple Monitors Work

Nancy Mertzel, Review: Evernote

Don't miss this issue — or any future issues.

How to Receive Answers to Questions
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 92 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

The Changes Afoot in Legal Technology

Four More Companies Go After the "App Store" Trademark

Going Paperless With the iPad

What's Hot in the Legal Profession

Build a Brand for Every Attorney

This issue also contains links to every article in the May 2011 issue of Law Practice Today. Don't miss this issue or future issues.

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