TechnoLawyer

Coming May 3, 2007 to Answers to Questions: Charles Stokes reviews Microsoft Access for litigation support with a few important caveats, Yvonne Renfrew explains how to save Outlook email to a PDF file using Acrobat 7 (and we tell you how to do it with Acrobat 8), Edward Zohn discusses why it really doesn't matter which word processor you use, Kent Davis shares three document management options for a midsize law firm (120 users), and Andy Satori offers his suggestions for effectively wiping a hard drive. 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 May 4, 2007 to Fat Friday: Mark Bassett reviews Any Password Pro for login and password management, Harry Steinmetz discusses the benefits of using PowerPoint properly, Michael Harnois shares his experience activating his Acrobat 8 Professional upgrade, Stephen Silverberg reviews Sony versus Olympus digital dictation recorders, and David O'Connell discusses the role of insurers in tort litigation. 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 May 1, 2007 to TechnoFeature: You have a lot of research to do — and little time. What you need is an effective and efficient way to sift through material to determine what you need and what you don't. In this article, paralegal Kim Plonsky reviews a new suite of products by Cirilab that aims to do just that. Kim discusses how the products work, how well they work, and what needs improvement. Has Cirilab created the Microsoft Office of legal research? Read Kim's review to find out.

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 a PDF solution with legal-specific features, a Word add-on for law firms, and a solution for administrating  stock and stock option plans without running afoul of regulations such as FASB 123R. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Not Just PDF, PDF for Law Firms
By Dennis Kennedy

With the number of PDF solutions growing like gangbusters, consumers have become pickier. While price remains important, it has become imperative for PDF vendors to further differentiate their products by focusing on the needs of a specific market such as legal.

A good example is DocsCorp's pdfDocs Desktop, which combines affordability with many features and an integrated desktop approach. PdfDocs Desktop enables everyone in your firm to create, secure, and manage PDF documents, and integrates with popular document management systems.

You can easily create PDFs by printing documents, spreadsheets, email, and Web pages to the pdfDocs printer. You can also create PDFs by dragging and dropping a document onto the pdfDocs Organizer workspace area. The program also handles PDF forms — both creating them and filling them out — a feature that has become "must have" for many law firms.

pdfDocs Desktop helps you secure your documents by both password protection and metadata removal. You can prevent readers from modifying documents, and control who can open and view them. You can also redact information from sensitive documents using a special redaction tool.

pdfDocs Desktop can merge documents created by different programs into a single PDF, rearrange documents, change the order of pages, insert page numbers, and add bookmarks, highlights, logos, watermarks, notes, and Bates stamps. In short, you can perform a wide variety of useful tasks that one-trick-pony PDF creation programs will not let you do.

Of special interest to law firms is pdfDocs Desktop's ability to integrate with popular legal document management systems from Hummingbird, Interwoven, Worldox, and others, enabling you can create PDF files easily with a right-click of your mouse from within those systems. You can also easily save your PDF files in the appropriate folders.

pdfDocs Desktop also integrates with Outlook to automatically convert email attachments to PDF format, and email multiple attachments as a single PDF file on the fly. pdfDocs Desktop also integrates with scanners.

Pricing for pdfDocs Desktop starts at $126 plus $24 per year for support, but volume discounts are available.  Learn more about pdfDocs Desktop.

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 27, 2007 to Fat Friday: Paul Lepine reviews his VXI Tuffset telephone switch box for telephone and dictation (an update on a Post from three years ago), Wells Anderson clarifies Time Matters' current support policy and points to some free Time Matters resources on the Web, Ben Schorr explains why Outlook has a size limit on Rules and how this limit has changed in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Stephen Adams reviews his experience with Dell tech support and laptop repair services, and Julia Gordon responds to a recent TechnoFeature article about hardware and software upgrades. 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 April 26, 2007 to Answers to Questions: Tony Fama provides detailed instructions for entering deposits into trust accounts in QuickBooks, Roy Greenberg discusses the various solutions he has found for editing PDFs, Richard Schafer explains how to switch your monitor from landscape to portrait, Jason Havens discusses the positive impact Vista may have on Microsoft's competitors, and George Ripplinger reviews Amicus Attorney and PCLaw. 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 24, 2007 to TechnoFeature: The new amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) have been in effect for almost four months — but perhaps you haven't yet found the time to study them. Luckily, attorney Bruce Olson has. In this article, Bruce shares his top ten tips for the new rules and their impact on the process of e-discovery, covering everything from the basics (read the rules!) to the safe harbor provisions. Whether you're just starting to familiarize yourself with the new FRCP or simply need a refresher, don't miss Bruce's top 10 tips.

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.

By now you've heard about the charges being dropped against the three Duke students. I'm a Duke graduate who disagreed with the decision to put the kibosh on the entire lacrosse program. Forget the team. That was unfair to the fans. Duke's president repeatedly implored us alumni to let the legal system run its course. Fine, but that means innocent until proven guilty.

Incidentally, when I was a student, a lacrosse player dented my car while practicing in the parking lot behind the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. That knucklehead. But I digress.

As we march further into this century, it seems like all the best new talent is on the Internet. For example, take a look at video blogger Mary Katharine Ham's take on the Duke case in which she creatively excoriates the poor lawyering on the part of the prosecution. She's not a lawyer, but she thinks like one. Oh yeah — she recorded this episode in December 2006, four months ago. (Click here if you can't see the video below).

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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers a free remote access tool, document management software for small law firms, and a utility that converts PDF files into HTML and other formats. Don't miss the next issue.

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

The Next Best Thing to a Transporter
By Dennis Kennedy

Lawyers increasingly work in settings away from the office, but need access to information on their office computers. Plus they occasionally need support or assistance from the IT department. Having access to all of your computer assets from wherever you are has become a priority for many lawyers. Since you can't have Scotty beam you back and forth as needed, the next best alternative is remote control software.

UltraVNC is a free software tool that enables you to display the screen of another computer on the screen of your computer over the Internet or a home of office network. You can then work on the other computer remotely, as if you were sitting in front of it.

You can use UltraVNC to access other computers, provide support and trouble-shooting, administer networks, give demos or presentations, and perform any number of other tasks remotely. You can also securely transfer files.

UltraVNC is an enhanced version of a popular open source program called VNC that has a long history. It runs on Windows systems. If you use its embedded Java viewer, you can use an Internet connection and a Web browser to view and transfer files from computers supporting Java (that means Mac OS and Linux). The Web browser capabilities also enable you to access a home or office computer from an Internet cafe or hotel room.

UltraVNC enhancements include a Video Mirror Driver to improve the speed and accuracy of screen updates and remote control. Although UltraVNC does not include encryption, plug-ins exist that can encrypt your communications. There is also a helpful text chat feature so you can communicate with the person at the other computer. UltraVNC is free.  Learn more about UltraVNC.

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.

As you know, we publish TechnoLawyer Blog. Monster, the online career site, publishes Monster Blog.

What do we have in common?

A blog at pureserendipity dot com is republishing our posts without permission.

The problem is not so much the blog, but the fact that it's being indexed by Technorati, the second largest blog search engine. Thankfully, Google does not yet index this blog, but if that ever happens, it could siphon off our traffic.

I suspect the blog is hosted in Russia, which apparently has modern copyright laws. I tried emailing the domain owner a friendly note, but didn't hear back.

I've contacted Monster's legal department, but I don't yet know if it will work with us.

What would you do if this was happening to your blog?

a. Ride Monster's coattails (assuming it takes action).

b. Try to hire a copyright lawyer in Russia.

c. Contact Technorati and ask to have the blog removed from its index. And perhaps contact Google as well as a prophylactic measure.

d. Do nothing unless it gets indexed by Google.

e. Something else?

PS: On Wednesday, this very post will appear in that blog.

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.