TechnoLawyer

Leap Legal, an Australian software company that sells LEAP (an integrated accounting and case management suite), recently released a video on YouTube about a lawyer who cannot find a file while an client impatiently waits on hold. The video is well acted — the guy playing the lawyer truly looks frazzled. Strangely, however, the video does not mention the product at all. Take a look (click here if you don't see the video below).

Perhaps the company felt that not mentioning the product would enhance the video's chances of becoming viral. But what good would that do? In my experience, mentioning a product has nothing to do with an online video's popularity. What does matter is creativity and talent. Advertising can entertain and sell at the same time. Case in point — Smirnoff's "Tea Partay" video, which despite mentioning the product several times during the video has nonetheless garnered more than 1.7 million views. Check it out (click here if you don'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.

Coming December 1, 2006 to Fat Friday: Ed Detlie reviews Dymo Stamps online postage service, Thomas Daly explains why automating documents doesn't work for his complex practice, Steven Finell discusses the importance of dates in file names (and the best way to display them), Don Winston sings the praises of a recent TechnoFeature about document management software, and David Caracappa reviews CrypInfo for password management on your desktop and handheld device. 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 November 27, 2006 to IP Memes: Steve, Doug, and Matt cover the following memes: MySpace's solution to music copyright infringement, a politician's name-changing fiasco, the leaked details of Google's YouTube acquisition, and why bikers and baseball don't mix — at least when it comes to trademarked names.

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Published on Mondays, IP Memes is a biweekly newsletter that explores emerging technology-related intellectual property issues — or "memes" as we call them. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming November 28, 2006 to TechnoFeature: For many of us, preparing for a trip means buying a new bathing suit, selecting a good book, and stocking up on sunscreen. Unfortunately, preparing for a business trip requires a bit more planning and effort. In this article, legal technology consultants Pat Nemish and John "Tim" Mellitz share their top ten tips for business travel, leading to happier, more productive, and efficient executives in the field. Learn everything from how to pack your socks to where to find Wifi hotspots — and remember to always travel light and pack right!

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.

Given that it's Thanksgiving, I thought I'd create a top ten list of legal technology innovations for which law firms are thankful. I've listed these in no particular order as they're all important. Please let me know if you agree or disagree.

10. Mobile Communication: The ability to communicate via e-mail or telephone from practically anywhere using a relatively small device.

9. Scanners + PDF + Hard Drives: The ability to stop using expensive office space to store paper files. Law firms can now put that space to better use or lease less office space.

8. Online Legal Research: The same as #8 regarding space formerly used for a library.

7. Document Management: The ability to find all the files you now store electronically — not to mention the files that you create on your computer.

6. E-mail: It's probably impossible to practice law nowadays without e-mail. As an aside, kudos to FedEx for reinventing itself. Lesser companies would have shriveled with the loss of so much business to the double whammy of fax and e-mail.

5. Case Management: Your entire practice accessible in one place, including e-mail. Nothing more need be said.

4. Legal Accounting Software: Thanks to retainers, hourly billing, etc., even the smallest law firm has more complex accounting needs than larger businesses in other fields.

3. Live Spell Checking: Remember the days of having to run a spell checker every time you made a change to a document? Yes, it makes me shudder too.

2. Litigation Support Tools: Another bad memory — all the dusty bankers boxes of discovery documents I used to have in my office. For large cases, these boxes took up entire conference rooms — talk about a waste of space! The ability to store all this information electronically, quickly pull and print documents for depositions, etc., and then discard those documents knowing that you can print them again anytime has made life as a young associate so much better! The same goes for transcripts, case analysis outlines, trial presentations, and much more. (Can you tell that I really dislike paper?)

1. VoIP: Probably the most controversial entry on this list, I include it not because it has become widely adopted, but because it should. There's no good reason to pay traditional telephone rates anymore.

What do you think of my list?

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.

We categorize all TechnoLawyer content into 32 "master topics." But which topics are the most popular? Below you will find the top ten topics of interest as chosen by you and the 12,039 other TechnoLawyer subscribers who have taken the TechnoLawyer Survey:

60.7% Document Management
54.2% Case Management/Docketing
53.7% Law Office Management
53.3% Handhelds/Laptops/PDAs
50.2% Legal Research
48.0% Automation/Document Assembly/Macros
47.8% TechnoLawyer
45.0% Litigation Support
44.9% Business Productivity/Word Processing
43.6% Accounting/Time-Billing

What is the least popular topic? Entertainment/Hobbies/Recreation with just a 10% level of interest. Wow, what a serious group!

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 November 21, 2006 to TechnoFeature: Buying a new pair of shoes is fairly simple — you pick out styles you like, try them on, and go with the pair that fits and looks best. But picking out shoes and picking out a document assembly program are two entirely different animals. In this article, technology consultant and HotDocs expert Seth Rowland takes the guesswork out of your search and arms you with all you need to know about the newest edition of LexisNexis' popular document assembly software — HotDocs 2006. Seth gives you the lowdown on the pros and cons as well as his wish list for future editions. Whether you're new to document assembly or an experienced coder, we think you'll find Seth's exhaustive review helpful in your evaluation process.

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 the new version of a popular integrated digital dictation and transcription system, an online time tracking utility, and an Outlook add-on to help you better manage and organize your calendar, email, and tasks. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Stop Typing, Start Dictating
By Dennis Kennedy
Drafting documents from scratch is difficult work. Typing may not be the most efficient approach. For generating a good first draft, many lawyers rely on dictation and transcription.

HTH Engineering has more than ten years of experience providing turn-key solutions for the digital dictation needs of law offices. The latest version of its popular Start-Stop Universal Transcription System offers an integrated solution for transcription designed specifically for the needs of law firms.

Start-Stop Universal Transcription System combines software with hardware to turn your firm's PCs into a state-of-the-art transcription system. The software integrates with digital voice recorders (including those by Olympus, Phillips, and Sony), and foot pedals with 2 or 3 pedals. HTH Engineering doesn't just sell the software, but also a wide variety of compatible recorders, foot pedals, and more.

You use Start-Stop with a handheld digital recorder or other digital recording device. Placing the recorder into its cradle or using the "End of Letter" button instantly sends your dictation file to a transcriptionist. Start-Stop's "Job Manager" keeps track of waiting and finished files. The "Folder Mole Auto-Notifier" automatically sends notifications to your transcriptionist whenever you add a dictation file to a shared folder. As a result, your transcriptionists will not overlook dictation files and can easily assign and prioritize files.

New in version 9.7 is the "Network Support Feature," which enables multiple transcriptionists to work on the same file simultaneously — great for urgent jobs. Also new is the "Smart Word Line Counter," which provides you with a word and line count after transcription.

Start-Stop has a wealth of other nifty features, including a built-in FTP client for uploading files remotely, automatic backup of completed files, configurable hot keys, variable speed playback, and a sleek new interface designed with the help of professional transcriptionists.

Perhaps most importantly, Start-Stop can now handle just about any audio file format, including WAV, MP3, WMA, and dozens of popular proprietary formats such as Olympus DSS, Philips DSS, Sanyo Digital Recorder, VOX, TrueSpeech, Dictaphone Walkabout, and many more. It even works with audio CDs.

If you already have a voice recorder and foot pedal, HTH Engineering sells its Start-Stop software by itself for $99. If you also need accompanying hardware — digital voice recorders, headsets, foot pedals, telephone recorders, etc. — the company sells a number of bundles for the legal profession. Learn more about Start-Stop Universal Transcription System.

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.

David N. Ventker, Review: PCLaw for Small Firm Acounting/Time-Billing

TechnoLawyer member Diane Sherman asks:
"What is the best billing program for a solo practitioner? I am not interested in integrated practice management software.  I just want a billing program that is easy to use and which won't require me to hire costly consultants and spend hours of my otherwise billable consulting with the consultants."

My response is as follows:

I left a larger firm, went solo 4 years ago, and now have a partner and an associate — we have been using PCLaw from the beginning. I have been quite pleased with the integrated time and billing/accounting features of the program, and the technical support has proved to be a pleasant surprise (if you have been reading TechnoLawyer for any length of time, you'll find poor technical support is a major complaint with competing products). Though the developers have added various "practice management" features over time, these are not the strong suit of the program, and we generally ignore them.

The cost of a single license is $250.00, and adding additional licenses if you add paralegals or other lawyers is an additional $250.00 each. The program is very stable, works well on a peer-to-peer network if needed, is fairly easy to understand, and can be customized to suit your needs without much difficulty. When I can't figure out solutions on my own, a call to tech support generally provides the answer.

Hope this helps.

David N. Ventker
Ventker & Warman, PLLC
Norfolk, VA
www.ventkerlaw.com

[Publisher's Note: TechnoLawyer member and PCLaw CIC Matt Stone has written a white paper for LexisNexis entitled Improving Back Office Efficiency with PCLaw Version 8, which you can download from his Web site. — Sara Skiff]

About Answers to Questions
Posts like the one above appear exclusively in Answers to Questions, 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.

Paolo Broggi, Tip: How to Link Amicus Attorney and Your Treo 650

TechnoLawyer member Paul Landsman asks:
"Does anyone have experience with setting up the link that allows Amicus to transfer data to the Treo 650. I had it working perfectly with my old Treo 600.  I can transfer my contacts but not the calendar, event, to-do, etc.  If any one knows the proper settings, I would appreciate the assistance."

The first thing to do is to remove Palm OS from your PC as instructed by the Palm manual and then install the new Palm/Treo desktop. After synching at list once then go to the Team50\Install\PILOT folder and run the PPSetup.exe.

You will be asked to turn off the HOTSYNC manager before getting into the setup selection windows where you can choose which conduits (connections) you want enabled, e.g. Appointments, To Dos and Contacts or any combination of those.

As you finish this installation of the links select to turn on the HOTSYNC manager and now go to HotSync icon next to the clock lower right corner the blue and red arrow (in the system tray), right click on it and select Custom ...

If every thing went well (assuming that you choose all the three conduits) here you will see three new entries starting with Amicus. If you have Amicus V and you don't see the Amicus entries you will need to contact Gavel & Gown tech support to obtain a patch that will add the entries in the registry.

Double click on any of the Amicus Attorney entries to choose how you want Amicus and your Treo to exchange the information. Remember to check the default box so that the changes will apply to every HotSync you do.

Once you start the HotSync the first time with Amicus you will be asked about mapping categories for example Business with Clients, Private with Private and so on.

The first time you sync your Treo with Amicus Attorney will take sometime according to the amount of data you have in the Amicus database. After that it will take only a couple of minutes.

That should do the trick.

If you still have problems contact me directly.

Installation of Palm link on Amicus Attorney 7 is very different.

Paolo Broggi, Information System Engineer
Premier Amicus Attorney Consultant and traininer since 1997
2b1 inc.
San Francisco, CA
www.2b1inc.com

About Answers to Questions
Posts like the one above appear exclusively in Answers to Questions, 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.