TechnoLawyer

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers the new version of a popular transcript management program, a time tracking solution with four versions, and an online service for tracking your favorite blogs. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Search, Annotate, Summarize, and Print Your Transcripts
By Dennis Kennedy
When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras, right? This aphorism derives from Occam's Razor — the simplest solution is usually the correct solution. So then why do lawyers often tackle specific tasks with ill-suited tools?

LexisNexis CaseSoft's new TextMap 3 aims to bring the discipline of Occam's Razor to deposition and trial transcripts. Recognizing that most litigators perform just a few tasks with transcripts — search, annotate, summarize, and print — LexisNexis CaseSoft designed TextMap 3 to do exactly that.

Unlike previous versions of TextMap, the new version exists as a free-standing tool, not part of CaseMap. That said, you can still use TextMap with CaseMap. In fact, LexisNexis CaseSoft has improved TextMap's integration with CaseMap, including the popular "Send to CaseMap" functionality.

TextMap 3 has a new Microsoft Outlook-based user interface that most lawyers should find familiar. It also sports enhanced annotation and reporting features. For example, you can annotate (select for display in a report) non-contiguous portions of a transcript and add notes to your annotations.

When you generate a report, you can print it or save it as a PDF file. In addition to the new annotations report, you can also generate a report that shows a search term in surrounding context. And as always, you can also generate a "condensed" report with 4 transcript pages on each page.

TextMap 3 doesn't only integrate with CaseMap, it also integrates with third party products such as LiveNote and Concordance with full import/export capabilities for transcripts and your annotations.

TextMap 3 sells for less than $150 per year for a three-year subscription that includes all support and upgrades, including major ones like TextMap 4 and TextMap 5. You can try it for free for 30 days. TextMap 2 users can upgrade for free. Learn more about TextMap 3.

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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.

You have the comfy chair with lumbar support, the state-of-the-art coffee machine, and the fancy full spectrum lamp for natural lighting. You're ready to work. Or are you? In this article, attorney, legal technology expert, and former journalist Jeffrey Lisson discusses ten tech-related must-haves for solos and small firms based on his experiences at his current small firm and previously as a solo practitioner. Jeffrey explores virus protection, case management, digital dictation, and much more. How does your firm measure up?

Daniel A. Mengeling, Tip: Using Bar Codes with Your Trial Presentations

TechnoLawyer member Marc B. Hankin asks:
"I saw a trial lawyer flipping through pages in a 3 ring binder to find a document he wanted.  When he found the document image, he swiped the light pen over a bar code next to the image, and the related Acrobat file went up on a screen.   Does anyone know where I could find a program that does that?"

The type of bar code you are talking about is placed on documents by trial presentation software. The bar code is an electronic annotation, a unique number in bar code format, that can be placed on the document on the computer screen and can be printed out on the document when the document is printed. I believe all the trial presentation software permits the printing and calling up of documents by bar code. I have worked with and I am most familar with Visionary because it is free and seems to have the same features as TrialDirector and Sanction II, its competitors.

In Visionary, and I assume also in Trial Director and Sanction II, the attorney can also call up and control audio and audio/visual presentations by bar code such as sound recordings and video depositions.

I believe the only advantage to using a bar code and bar code reader rather than just a keyboard entry of a document # or exhibit # into a computer (alternative methods to call up documents in trial presentation software) is to allow an attorney who is not at counsel table or at his computer to call up a document on the fly when he is at the podium etc.  It is a method of remote control.

Pencil bar code readers, such as the Baracoda pencil is a wireless blue tooth device which allows the user to be over 30 feet from the computer.  If you have an assistant at counsel table I can see no advantage for the assistant to call up documents by bar code that would justify the additional expense of the bar code reader.

(Calling up documents by bar code does have the advantage of preventing a mistake under pressure since the bar code is either read or not. The wrong document cannot be called up by a keyboard entry error.)

Scripted presentations with PowerPoint, used most often in direct examination or in opening or closing arguments, do not require the ability to call up a document on the fly or from a remote location.  In addition, if remote operation is necessary, the projectors come with remote controls to start, advance and/or stop the presentation.

Computers are now being sold with remote controls, I think primarily or only with Windows Media Center operating systems, but I have no knowledge if these devices come with software that can be used or adapted to send a document number to the computer keyboard.

Daniel A. Mengeling
Woodstock, IL

[Publisher's Note: In his article Do's and Don'ts of High-Tech Trial Presentations courtesy of Law.com, Andy Seldon specifically recommends "If your case is very document intensive, a bar code system established by [a] consultant will help you to control the presentation with very little effort."

Learn more about Visionary, TrialDirector, Sanction, and the Baracoda pencil. — 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.

Coming November 10, 2006 to Fat Friday:  John Starkweather explains how he has embraced branding and technology at his small firm, James Zuffoletto discusses the "unhappy lawyer" phenomenon, Diane Hopkins shares a real-life client story involving Tabs3 that teaches an important technology lesson, Arshia Javaherian reviews Sonnet's PodFreq FM Transmitter for the iPod, and Aaron Morris discusses his unique multiple monitor setup. 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 2, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Christel Burris discusses how she resolved her own Word v. WordPerfect debate and has since helped 200 others see the light, William Walker offers up solutions for sticky printer rollers, Janice Wood reviews the Fujitsu ScanSnap S500, and Carol Bratt reviews DataPrompter, a document assembly add-on for Word. 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 October 31, 2006 to TechnoFeature: Does walking into your law firm feel like walking into a time warp? If your office looks more like 1950 than 2006, perhaps some design, structural, and, most importantly, technological adjustments are in order. In this article, architect and office planner Richey Madison shares the story of a recent project — renovating the largest law firm in St. Louis. Whether your law office just needs a few minor updates or a complete makeover, Richey's detailed account will at least give you a few good ideas on how to move from the dark ages to the 21st century!

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 October 30, 2006 to IP Memes: Steve, Doug, and Matt cover the following memes: Intellectual Property for kiddies, the YouTube domain name mixup, how patent fees could serve anti-patent objectives, and the latest patent application to spawn Apple rumors.

How to Receive this Newsletter
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.

Is your local courthouse dark and depressing? In this video, Steven Holl of Steven Holl Architects walks you through his design for the 335,000 square foot Denver Justice Center Courthouse, a $99 million project that will also include a post office, detention center, and jail. I especially like all the natural light, which most courtrooms lack in my experience. Take a look (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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an online form creation tool, an online event planner, and a new approach to collaborating on Word files. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Your Online Law Form
By Dennis Kennedy
Law offices run on forms. Nothing makes law firms run smoother than good form. Unfortunately, creating forms is never easy enough and often falls to the bottom of the priority list.

Infinity Box's Wufoo is an online application for helping you design and build Web and intranet forms of all kinds. Wufoo also does the heavy lifting for you. It builds the database and scripts you need to create useful forms. As a hosted application, all you need is your browser and a little imagination.

Wufoo's Web site lists a huge number of forms you can create — contacts, mailing lists, surveys, job applications, event calendars, registration forms, and even tests and quizzes. The Web site offers a large gallery of useful sample forms to get you started and inspire you.

You start with the form manager tool for publishing, analyzing, and editing forms. You create forms with a drag-and-drop form builder tool. Wufoo also offers e-mail integration and a theme builder to customize the look of your forms. Advanced users can tweak their forms using CSS and XHTML.

Once you collect data, Wufoo offers a variety of output options, including CSV and Excel. You can also generate reports and graphs, and make your form data public or private. You can have Wufoo host your forms or integrate them on your own site and intranet.

Wufoo offers a number of plans, including a free version. Monthly plans range from $9 to $199/month, based on the number of forms you use, the number of entries, storage space needed, and other factors. Learn more about Wufoo.

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.

We've been remiss in discussing the Net Neutrality issue here in TechnoLawyer. Better late than never. Simply put, cable and telephone companies would like to charge search engines, publishers, and other online information providers different rates for different types of online data (e.g., video, voice, etc.) and different levels of service (what network engineers refer to as "QoS"). Those who oppose this development liken it to a tax or toll and have coined the clever phrase "net neutrality" to emphasize their argument that all data online merits equal treatment.

While I support net neutrality, I would also like to see our access speeds move beyond the stone ages. A T-1 line just doesn't seem all that fast anymore nor does a 6Mbps cable connection (not that it ever attains 6Mbps anyway). I don't have any suggestions, not being an expert in this area. So let me turn the podium over to those who have spent more time researching this subject. Where do you stand?

Bill Moyers & Scott Fogdall, Against An Imperial Internet

Senator Brownback on Net Neutrality

A Guide to Net Neutrality for Google Users

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.