TechnoLawyer

Coming October 6, 2006 to Fat Friday: Mark Lieb discusses the increasingly important role that Litigation Support Professionals play in today's law firms and shares some recruiting tips, Cathy Furlani reviews her experience using both PCLaw and QuickBooks (at two different law firms respectively) for legal accounting and time-billing, Mike Hoffer suggests another technique for creating memorable but secure passwords, and Kevin E. Rockitter shares the best piece of career advice he received as a young lawyer (and how it has held up over the past 20 years). Don't miss this issue.

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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 October 5, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Paul Hager offers up some tips for using Timeslips remotely, David Blair discusses his experience as a long-time WordPerfect user forced to use Word, Larry Southerland reviews PaperPort for document management and a database program called Alpha Five, Celine Rivet suggests some printer purchasing tips (and so do we), and Nina Yablok reviews QuickBooks for small law firm accounting and billing. 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 3, 2006 to TechnoFeature: You may have heard the radio ad: A businessman forgets a key file at the office and saves a long trip back to the office (and a lost sale) thanks to this miraculous service called GoToMyPC. However, the GoTo suite of online products and services provide much more than remote file access. In this article, technology consultant Seth Rowland reviews this "secure desktop sharing" technology and then evaluates each of the individual products, focusing specifically on whether and how they fit into the practice of a busy lawyer.

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.

Truth is stranger than fiction thanks to YouTube. In this remarkable video , a criminal defense lawyer shows up to court late looking a little peaked. The judge gives him an earful and and orders him to take a breathalyzer test, which reveals a blood alcohol level of .075.

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.

Every law firm that relies on the Web to attract clients relies on Google and Yahoo. Combined, these two companies account for approximately 75% of all Web searches. Therefore, it's important to stay on top of these two companies and the news they generate.

But how? By reading the hundreds of articles published every day about them? That's what I used to do until I stumbled across the DailySearchCast. Hosted by search engine expert Danny Sullivan and his sidekick du jour, this 20-30 minute daily podcast (well, Monday-Thursday) covers the most notable developments in the search engine industry. Most of the coverage is devoted to Google and Yahoo — as it should be given their collective market share. Check it out.

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.

Last week Adobe announced Acrobat 8. The long-running debate over Standard versus Professional may become moot with this new version as Adobe has placed most of the legal-specific features in the Professional version. A TechnoRelease coming to your inbox this Friday will provide some details on the legal-specific features. In the meantime, we've pulled together some information from around the Web:

New Features for Legal Professionals in Acrobat 8 Professional

Adobe Acrobat Updates Likely to Lure Lawyers

Acrobat 8 New Features: Bates Numbering

My Favorite New Features in Acrobat 8

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 September 28, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Jason Havens discusses using Acrobat for document collaboration and reviews the new WordPerfect Office X3 Suite, Paolo Broggi offers up detailed instructions for syncing your Treo 650 with Amicus Attorney, Daniel Mengeling explains the benefits (or lack thereof) of bar coding documents for trial presentations, Erin Baldwin reviews CaseMap for case-specific document management, and Brooks Miller reviews his experience with Brother laser printers. 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 September 26, 2006 to TechnoFeature: To many firms, a client is a client is a client — they treat each client like royalty and follow the old adage "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." But not all clients equal good business. In this article, legal coach and consultant Edward Poll discusses two instances when turning down a client can prove more beneficial in the long run. Find out how a more discerning eye when accepting work can result in better productivity, profitability, and peace of mind.

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 special edition of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers three unique time-billing solutions that take a new approach to this age old activity. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Track Your Activities and the Time Will Follow
By Dennis Kennedy
Why do so many lawyers still track their time on paper? PensEra set out to answer this question, and found that most time-billing software takes more time to use than a pen and paper. Using a pen and paper is also less distracting.

So did PensEra abandon all hope? Not quite. Instead, the company developed its TimeKM family of products, which include TimeKM Time and TimeKM Mobile. This software resides in just one location — on a server at your firm. Lawyers and their assistants access it via Web services. PensEra claims that TimeKM usually requires less than 15 minutes of training.

TimeKM provides lawyers with a variety of ways to capture time. Each method is designed to integrate into a lawyer's workflow. For example, at the office, after working in a Word file, just drag the file onto the TimeKM Time icon in the Windows Deskband. TimeKM will capture the name and date of the document, and enable you to enter the time spent. The idea is to quickly capture time now (thus creating a placeholder) and worry about the details later. Similarly, when you compose an e-mail message, you can cc TimeKM or forward the message to TimeKM to capture that activity.

TimeKM Mobile, used on your BlackBerry, Good device, or Treo, works similarly. You can use the "jot-it-down" tool for activities that cannot be tracked (such as your time in court) and the "tag-and-send" tool for activities that can be tracked (such as telephone calls). You can even set up reminders with the "Remind Me" feature. Making entries is quick and easy thanks to programmable codes. For example, type "mwc" and "Meeting with Client" appears on your screen.

At the end of the day, week, month, etc., you or your assistant can flesh out these "placeholders" and transform them into full-fledged time entries. You can then send these time entries to your accounting or billing system. Speaking of which, TimeKM integrates with just about any accounting or billing software, including Elite, Juris, QuickBooks, Timeslips, SAP, etc.

Pricing for TimeKM Time starts at $249/user. Pricing for TimeKM Mobile starts at $139/user. PensEra offers volume discounts. Learn more about TimeKM.

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.

Think you know everything about starting a new practice? Notwithstanding your legal talent, you also need business talent — a key ingredient in the launch of a successful law firm. In this article, legal coach and consultant Edward Poll differentiates business from law and explains how to create an environment in which both can thrive. In doing so, Ed lays down ten Do's and Don'ts.