TechnoLawyer

Michael Arrington is a lawyer turned blogger who covers Web 2.0 companies in TechCrunch, a blog with an astounding 347,000 RSS subscriptions (that's astounding because RSS is still a niche technology as opposed to email and the Web). Like many lawyers, he has an outsized ego, strong opinions, and writing skills to match, which makes him a must read among those of us who work in online companies.

On April 12th, he published an article entitled CEO Of Rivals Involved In Securities Fraud; May Kill Yahoo Acquisition.

The next day, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, a law firm in Georgia that represents Rivals CEO Shannon Terry, sent TechCrunch a letter threatening a defamation lawsuit unless TechCrunch posted an apology and correction of alleged false statements in its April 12th article.

I know what you're thinking. Yawn. A demand letter. Big deal.

Except that Arrington posted it on TechCrunch immediately upon receipt in an article entitled Shannon Terry Is Pissed Off, Threatens Lawsuit Against TechCrunch (see snapshot above).

Naturally, posting the demand letter increased the interest in his April 12th report. Wired picked up the story as did AOL — not to mention us.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but here's how I believe this saga will play out: Shannon Terry may get a correction posted, but TechCrunch will emerge more powerful than ever. No lawsuit will ensue.

So what's the lesson? Think twice before sending a cease and desist or demand letter to a blogger, especially a powerful one. Bloggers play by different rules and believe in transparency to the extreme. While you may win the legal battle, you may lose the publicity war, which arguably matters more in today's world.

Instead, pick up the phone and call the blogger. Have a civil discussion. Point out the problem and try to negotiate an agreement behind closed doors. You might even offer the blogger an inside scoop of some sort in exchange for agreeing to your request.

In short, when it comes to blogs, use a carrot before you use a stick. You can always use a stick later if a carrot doesn't work, but the reverse does not hold true.

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.

Coming April 20, 2007 to Fat Friday: Dave Culbertson reviews and provides a comprehensive guide to getting started with the Fujitsu ScanSnap s500 in a law firm, Eli Nelson discusses the risks associated with clawbacks and sneak peaks during discovery, Joyce Glucksman reviews her Treo 650 after nine months of use, Andrew Shear reviews PasswordMaker, and Charles T. Lester, Jr. explains how to see a file's metadata using Windows Explorer. 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 17, 2007 to TechnoFeature: Do you only use your Treo as a phone and to occasionally check your email? Did you know that you can also use it listen to music, read books, review documents, share photos, and much more? In this article, attorney Bryan Sims details his top 12 Treo programs for the mobile lawyer (we tried to stop him at 10, but he just kept writing). Among his picks, you'll find both free and commercial programs, professional programs geared for productivity, and programs that just make a Treo more fun.

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 19,2007 to Answers to Questions: Andy Satori discusses the security risks involved with the Fast User Switching feature in Windows XP, Matt Baker shares how his firm has tried to speed up the network performance of PCLaw, Kerry Hubick reviews Microsoft Access and KnowledgeTree for document management, Samuel Mandel reviews his law firm's GBC binding machine, and Michael Winkelman reviews how he uses PaperPort for managing scanned 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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers software that enhances and adds features to Outlook, integrated network security software, and an online client development application. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Take Client Development to a Higher Level
By Dennis Kennedy

Lawyers often focus on cases and matters. But before a case or matter comes into existence, you must deal with people — both existing and prospective clients. The traditional address book doesn't give you enough horsepower for sales, and high-end customer relationship management software is overkill for most law firms. So where do you turn?

37 Signals designed Highrise as a new Web-based approach to capture the middle ground between address books and the big CRM packages. The focus lies in giving you just the tools you need to manage people and projects and nothing more. With Highrise, you can share contacts, assign tasks based on those contacts, maintain a contact history, and, most importantly, group together related people, companies, notes, and other information in a "case," a term that should appeal to lawyers.

You can use Highrise for your own contacts or search for contacts across your firm. Highrise also helps you move from contact list to action. You can act on your contacts by setting follow-ups, calls, meetings, thank you notes, reminders, and more. Highrise can even send reminders to your mobile phone. You can log calls, conversations, email, and other communications with your contacts. You log email by simply forwarding or copying Highrise.

You can also mine new information from your contact lists. See all communications with a group of people. Build a list of all the experts on a given issue. Generate a list of your clients with whom you have not had contact in the last year. Etc.

Highrise comes from the same company that produces Basecamp, a popular online project management tool that we use to write this newsletter. Highrise is available in a free version with limits on the number of cases and people you can set up, and in five other versions ranging from $12 to $149 per month. SSL security kicks in at $49/month, which most law firms would probably deem necessary. Learn more about Highrise.

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 13, 2007 to Fat Friday: Roy Allen reviews Interwoven's FileSite client for managing Outlook email, Paolo Broggi provides some Amicus Attorney-PDA syncing tips, William Kellermann responds to a recent TechnoFeature on software upgrades, Andrea Cannavina shares her thoughts on the place of technology in the law office, and Thomas McDow explains how he achieved a seamless paperless workflow. 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 12, 2007 to Answers to Questions: Leslie Shear shares how she managed case-related emails in Outlook and what has changed since switching to Apple Mail, Andy Satori explains the trouble with converting PDF to an editable format, Arthur Kamp reviews Worldox, Aaron Craft reviews several tools from Sysinternals including a disk-wiping utility, and Mina Diksies explains how to view two WordPerfect documents using dual monitors (one on each). 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 10, 2007 to TechnoFeature: You've used text-processing tools (like Word and WordPerfect), search engines (like LexisNexis, Westlaw, and Loislaw) and litigation support databases — but have you worked with a brainstorming tool? In this article, technology consultant Seth Rowland reviews MindManager, evaluating how well it can help lawyers identify connections and reach conclusions within information by creating idea maps that link issues, facts, documents, and solutions in a multi-branching tree. What does Seth think of MindManager and how high a TechnoScore did it earn? Read his 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 document automation tool with built-in case management, a utility for setting up Windows networks, and a utility for managing and monitoring your network once you set it up. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Document Automation Catches Up to George Jetson
By Dennis Kennedy

Lawyers of my generation periodically daydream about George Jetson's job — push a few buttons and then put your feet up on the desk the rest of the day. That vision of the future didn't pan out and probably never will, but technology can make the lives of lawyers easier — most notably document automation software.

Unfortunately, while many lawyers crave automation, many also fear it because of a feeling that such systems are difficult to set up. This concern is especially prevalent among smaller firms. Easy Soft's EasyDocs aims to address this concern by focusing not only on an easy way to create document templates, but adding case and document management to the mix as well.

In the EasyDocs world, your practice revolves around the case documents you create. Thus EasyDocs enables you to automate standard forms and commonly-used documents, and manage your work on your cases at the same time. EasyDocs uses a case-oriented approach with which lawyers are familiar.

You can organize and display your templates by practice area, state, or categories. EasyDocs is network-friendly so you can store these templates centrally on a file server for everyone in your firm to use.

You can assemble your documents for output in either Word or PDF format. You can use your existing document templates and forms or create new ones. The history tab enables you to see all the documents in your case and regenerate a document with a single mouse click. EasyDocs is especially attractive for certain types of real estate practices because you can automatically import HUD-RESPA information.

The most unique feature of EasyDocs is the way it combines document preparation, document management, and task tracking into a single tool, making a lawyer's job, well, easy. For example, by default, all documents related to a case are stored in the same client folder. And each case has its own task list. The Case Log provides a dashboard so you can view all the document-related activity associated with open cases in one place.

EasyDocs costs $499 for a single-user license or $199 for a single user annual term license. Additional seats cost $99 each. Learn more about EasyDocs.

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.

Not that anyone asked, but below I've placed my top five dos and don'ts for online legal video:

Do:

1. Write a screenplay or storyboard before you shoot any footage. It's no different from a deposition — you need to prepare.

2. Use quality microphones. Sound is more important than video quality, especially on YouTube, which uses an inferior Flash format that makes everything look blocky. If people cannot make out what you're saying, nothing else matters.

3. Shoot your footage in locations that have lots of light. Nothing looks worse than underexposed video. Better to use a cheap camcorder with lots of light than a high-end HD camera in low light conditions.

4. Hire a director/editor even if you're an avid hobbyist. A professional will provide insights that will improve the project.

5. Provide useful information or tell a good story. Otherwise, what's the point?

Don't:

1. Convert your PowerPoint presentations to video. They don't translate well. If you do, at least add a voiceover to discuss each slide. Remember, silent movies went out of vogue some 80 years ago.

2. Rely solely on your 30 second television commercials. If people fast forward through your commercials on TV, what makes you think they will watch them on YouTube? Instead, do upload them since it's free, but create companion videos with more information.

3. Use video just for the sake of using video. Use this medium only if the visual component will enhance your message. No brainer examples of when to use video: someone in your firm appeared on TV, you have a good-looking and media-savvy lawyer in your firm who can serve as your public face, you handle cases with lots of visual evidence, you have brand new office space to show off, etc.

4. Make your video public unless it's ready and you're ready. People like me regularly scour YouTube for legal videos. On several occasions, we have sent thousands of people to videos that the creators then pulled because they weren't ready for that large of an audience. You can keep your YouTube videos private for purposes of obtaining feedback from colleagues.

5. Rely solely on YouTube. If you regularly create videos, set up a podcast feed and make your videos available through iTunes. Also, post them on your own site.

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.