TechnoLawyer

Coming April 29, 2008 to TechnoFeature: Sometimes recognition is a bad thing — like when celebrities try to avoid the paparazzi. Other times, like with OCR technology for instance, recognition is key. In this article, legal technology consultant John Heckman reviews the latest offering from the OCR experts at ABBYY — FineReader 9.0. He covers all the latest features, including the ability to format headers, footers, footnotes, and paragraph numbering. Read John's comprehensive review to see how ABBYY FineReader 9.0 performed when put to the test.

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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.

Coming May 1, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Tim Hughes reviews Westlaw and LexisNexis for legal research plus adds his two cents on adhesion contracts, Thomas Collon reviews Google calendar and Mozilla Thunderbird for shared calendars, John Kaurloto explains how to use subforms to automatically link to documents in Microsoft Access, Ryan Opria reviews IOGEAR's USB 2.0 External Video Card for using multiple monitors with a laptop, and Steven Schwaber responds to a previous Post that criticized WordPerfect. 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.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers dictation software for your BlackBerry and an accompanying online dictation service, an online service for retrieving medical records, and new electronic discovery software designed for in-house counsel in the early stages of a case or investigation (see article below). Don't miss the next issue.

Put the Cushy Back Into Corporate Counsel
By Neil J. Squillante

Being a corporate counsel used to be a cushy job. When litigation arose, you could have your outside counsel swing by to collect documents. Those days have ended. It's one thing to let your outside counsel rummage through file cabinets, but it's not advisable to have them rummage through your computers. Increasingly, that task belongs to you.

DigIT Technologies' DigIT Enterprise 2.5 enables your legal department to access to all electronically stored information throughout the enterprise, enabling you to quickly search for, find, and preserve data that may prove relevant to an investigation or litigation.

DigIT Technologies customizes every installation of DigIT Enterprise based on your specific needs. Once configured, it performs three core functions — Early Case Assessment, Custodian Mapping, and Full Custodian Capture.

Regarding Early Case Assessment, digIT Enterprise enables you to make decisions before you spend any money processing data. By running a few quick searches, you will know how much evidentiary data exists so that you can establish a case budget and strategy. digIT Enterprise also provides the requisite information necessary for the Meet & Confer requirement of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure such as the number of custodians, how much data each custodian has, and where that data resides.

While some software uses a single method for identifying custodians, digIT Enterprise employs a variety of methods for Custodian Mapping, including address, machine name, and integration with Microsoft Active Directory. You can also map email using particular fields such as the sender and the name of the mailbox.

Full Custodian Capture facilitates the preservation of all potential evidence belonging to one custodian in a single search. digIT Enterprise places all available information for each custodian into a "repository." You then apply search terms against each custodian's collection, and then export potentially relevant files to your review platform of choice for further analysis, tagging, and categorization. This approach ensures that no file is altered or deleted during discovery by any key custodians.

Learn more about digIT Enterprise 2.5.

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 April 24, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Mark Manoukian discusses the benefits of open source software (and how you might use it every day and not know), Brad Jensen explores whether reformatting your hard drive provides enough protection from snoops, Craig S. Clark reviews Passwords Plus as well as the Treo 700wx, Daniel Fennick reviews his experience using PracticeMaster and Tabs3 together, and Theo Yates reviews PDF995 PDF converter plus the Wayback Machine. 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 April 22, 2008 to TechnoFeature: In the world of eDiscovery, spoliation of electronically stored information (ESI) is a new and important concern. Looking at a client's ESI can be risky if you start opening and copying files from their workstation because you might "stomp on the data." In this article, trial attorney and legal technology expert Bruce Olson provides a comprehensive review of SafeCopy 2.1 Mobile by Pivotal Guidance. This software promises to safely copy ESI for subsequent review and analysis. Installed on a USB U3 device, SafeCopy 2.1 Mobile is intended to provide a mobile solution for use at client sites without the need to install the software on the client's system. Find out how SafeCopy fared in Bruce's busy litigation practice.

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.

Coming April 21, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Ernest (Ernie the Attorney) Svenson reviews the Freedom Chair and Pocket Desk from Design Within Reach plus he issues a warning about desks with a CPU compartment, Dixon Robertson reviews Microsoft SharePoint for law office collaboration and knowledge management, David Bernier reviews PracticeMaster for case management, Hope McNeil shares her experience with both Word and WordPerfect, and Kurt Schoettler explains how to easily switch display options on a laptop. 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 April 25, 2008 to Answers to Questions:

Reviews of Nuance Software Titles; Sony Vaio VGN-FZ140E; Time & Chaos & Intellect; Copernic; Rise and Fall of WordPerfect
By Bill Baldwin, Elizabeth Harris, Paul Lepine, Wendy Parker, & Thomas Stirewalt
In this issue of Answers to Questions, Bill Baldwin reviews PaperPort, OmniPage, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Acrobat Professional, and more, Wendy Parker shares her thoughts on the rise of Word and the fall of WordPerfect, Elizabeth Harris reviews the Sony Vaio VGN-FZ140E and Sony's repair policy, Thomas Stirewalt reviews Chaos Software's products for shared calendars, and Paul Lepine reviews Copernic Desktop Search.

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. You can subscribe here.

Coming April 25, 2008 to Fat Friday: Richard Hackerd reviews his Treo 755p and its syncing abilities with Amicus Attorney, Elaine Dowling shares her thoughts on finding relevant CLE courses, Brian Sherwood Jones reviews Tiddlywiki for personal task and information management, Meredith Hamilton reviews EMC's online backup solution MozyPro, and John Starkweather points to an innovative computer desk option from Steelcase. 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.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a new business productivity suite with legal-specific features (see article below), a plug-in for Gmail and Google Apps email, and the world's most advanced keyboard. Don't miss the next issue.

Fabled Word Processor Meets PDF, Falls in Love
By Neil J. Squillante

Traditionally, the software industry presented law firms with a dilemma — single-task best-of-breed programs or easier to manage but lower quality all-in-one programs. And then came the suite, which offers best-in-class programs designed to work together.

Corel's new suite, Corel WordPerfect Office X4, seeks to take the suite where it has never ventured before with new features and programs that eliminate the need to purchase standalone programs from other companies.

At the heart of the new suite lies WordPerfect X4, which features a robust set of PDF tools. You can create, import, edit, and archive PDF files (including PDF/A). WordPerfect integrates with most scanners and now has its own OCR engine so you can convert scanned PDFs into editable text to save as WordPerfect, PDF, or Microsoft Word formats.

WordPerfect can handle just about any document format, including Microsoft Word 2007. You can also convert between formats. If you have become accustomed to Microsoft Office, you can make all of WordPerfect's keystrokes and menus mirror those of Word.

WordPerfect X4 also eliminates the need for tools for redaction, metadata, and legal utilities as it includes these functions. You can redact documents in any supported format, including Microsoft Word and PDF. You can save documents without any metadata. The Legal Toolbar enables you to create tables of authorities and tables of contents, and the Pleading Filler creates pleadings that will satisfy any court. Corporate lawyers will find redlining tools as well as the ability to publish to EDGAR.

This being a suite, Corel also includes a number of other programs, including some that are new. For example, WordPerfect Lightning is a "Web-connected digital notebook" in which you can capture your ideas and other information (text and images) as well as quickly view files in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, or PDF format. It also includes Snapshot Tool for taking screenshots, The Navigator for organizing and sharing the information you collect, and The Connector for online contact management and calendaring.

If these and Corel's other new additions to the suite aren't enough, WordPerfect Office X4 also provides many customization options. For example, you can use PerfectScript or Microsoft Visual Basic to create macros and run scripts. In addition, Corel can work with your firm to customize WordPerfect X4 and the other components of the suite for your specific needs.

Corel WordPerfect Office X4 sells for $299. Users of previous versions can upgrade for $159. Learn more about Corel WordPerfect Office X4.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that briefly discusses and provides links to three hot new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. You can subscribe here.

As many of you know, I have used a Mac as my main machine since 1990. As a company, we currently own 4 Macs and 3 PCs with 2 new Macs about to replace 2 old Macs and 1 PC (one of the new Macs — mine — will also run Windows). I even watch Steve Jobs' keynote presentations (they're more entertaining than most TV shows).

Mac users have a reputation for evangelizing their choice of computer platform to others — kind of like a missionary. I've done it myself. But I'll be the first to admit that when Mac users act with such speed and zeal that they miss the point and fail to make a cogent argument, they can become annoying.

Case in point.

In the April 2nd issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire we covered the Asus MK241H, a 24 inch LCD monitor with a built-in Webcam for video-conferencing.

Almost immediately, two Mac fans within Technolawyer responded. The first wrote:

"Or ... you could just get an Apple PowerBook — either the iBook or the MacBook Pro. Both have a camera built in along with video conferencing software which runs like ... well, like a Mac."

This response has several problems. First, a few factual errors. The iBook and PowerBook never had a built-in Webcam (iSight). Apple introduced this feature with the MacBook and MacBook Pro in 2006. The MacBook Air also has a Webcam.

Second, did he read the article? We covered a 24 inch display with a Webcam! Suggesting that those interested in such a display instead use a notebook with a 13, 15, or 17 inch display misses the point — by 7-11 inches.

Apparently, he forgot that Apple sells two "headless" Macs — Mac Pro and Mac mini. People who use these Macs need external displays just as much as those who use headless PCs. And I know that at least some of these people (like me) want an integrated Webcam. So the Asus MK241H doesn't appeal only to PC users, but to Mac users as well.

Unfortunately, Apple has ignored its very own customers in this regard. It has not updated its line of 20, 23, and 30 inch Cinema Displays since 2004. Yes, 2004! None of them have a built-in Webcam. (Apple changed the specifications slightly in 2006.)

The other person who responded wrote:

"For several years, Apple's iMacs (computers integrated with monitors) have included built in video cameras, along with their excellent video conferencing software iChat. It's good to see the PC world is catching up."

While the iMac line does include a model with a 24 inch display, the line about the PC world catching up again ignores all the Mac Pro and Mac mini users who want a display with an integrated Webcam.

So, why would someone want a Mac Pro or Mac mini in the first place? Many reasons exist.

For example, the Mac Pro is the fastest Mac by far. It supports dual displays out of the box. Its four hard drive bays eliminate the need for external drives and messy cables.

The Mac mini is extremely portable and cheaper than a laptop. Set up a 24 inch monitor, keyboard, and mouse at your home, office, and vacation home, and just shuttle the Mac mini among all three locations.

Sadly, this tale has a sad ending. The Webcam in the Asus MK241H does not work with iChat, the video-conferencing software in Mac OS X.

In other words, isn't it about time Apple caught up with the PC world?

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.