TechnoLawyer

CaseSoft CEO Greg Krehel often jokes about his company's quest for world domination. That lofty goal just took another step forward with the recruiting of Nancy Smith as Marketing Programs Manager.  In this newly created position, Nancy will oversee all of CaseSoft's marketing efforts. Continued growth necessitated the new position, allowing for more attention to product development.

According to Greg, "Nancy is a good fit for the CaseSoft philosophy of excellence in customer relations." Her background includes over 15 years as a non-profit executive working with individual and corporate donors in the field of higher education. If you ask Nancy the most important aspect of a strong marketing program, she doesn't hesitate to tell you — "developing relationships."

CaseSoft has long pursued the "Purple Cow" strategy of building its marketing into its products. Therefore, it's not surprising that the company views its new Marketing Programs Manager as a way to better serve its customers. As a result, expect Nancy to not just market CaseSoft's products, but also help design them.

Say hello to Nancy at the next trade show you attend.

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TechnoLawyer members are among the most gifted and prominent in the legal profession. In the Member News section of TechnoLawyer Blog, we report on their latest accomplishments and success stories — everything from court victories to articles and books to new partner announcements — and much more. If you're a newsmaker, but not yet a member, join TechnoLawyer now, and then contact our newsdesk.

Thanks to CBA PracticeLink Editor Mark Kuiack and his colleagues at the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), all 35,000 CBA members are now entitled to a free one year TechnoLawyer Archive subscription.

The TechnoLawyer Archive is a searchable Web-based repository of all TechnoLawyer content since September 1999. Unlike our popular newsletters, the TechnoLawyer Archive is not free. We charge $65 for a one year subscription.

When I set out to work with bar associations a few months ago, I have to admit that I was thinking solely about US bar associations (I'll have some announcements in that regard next week). Fortunately, longtime TechnoLawyer and CBA members Dan Pinnington and Christopher Pike introduced me to Mark and the rest is history — and historic!

Mark guided our proposal through approvals at the CBA's national office and we soon found ourselves signing the agreement and exchanging high-fives. (Okay, no high-fives since I signed it in New York and he signed it in Ottawa, but we exchanged exuberant email messages.)

I would like thank Mark for getting the ball rolling! He and the CBA truly are models for all bar associations seeking to procure benefits for their members.

Are You a Member of the CBA?

If you're a current CBA member, just visit the CBA PracticeLink Web site to redeem your free one year TechnoLawyer Archive subscription.

Not a Member of the CBA?

The TechnoLawyer Archive is a terrific resource that has received rave reviews from Law Office Computing and others. We'd like every lawyer in North America to have free access.

Do you belong to a bar association? Would you like this benefit? If so, I need your help.

Please contact the executive at your bar association in charge of member benefits, tell him/her about our offer (perhaps point to this blog post), and ask him/her to contact me (the bottom of every page on our site has a contact link).

Just so you know, all we're asking in return from bar associations is a plan to inform their members about the benefit. There's no point in providing a free subscription if no one knows it exists.

PS: Don't worry paralegals! We plan to work with your associations too. One step at a time.

Below you'll find one of the five articles from today's edition of TechnoLawyer NewsWire:

Three Phones in One
By Jill Bauerle
Ever wish your cell phone acted more like your land line or vice versa? Uniden's flip-style 5.8 Ghz ELBT595 cordless phone system merges the functionality of an office phone with the capability of a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone. While the ELBT595 doesn't snap photos, it's expandable to as many as ten handsets and displays your phone book on a full-color LCD screen. Don't want to waste the long distance minutes on your cell phone but want clear voice quality? The ELBT595's "CellLink" feature enables you to make calls through  your cell phone carrier (provided your cell phone is also Bluetooth-enabled) with the press of a button. The ELBT595 also gives you the option of going hands-free with a Bluetooth-enabled headset (Uniden claims you can wander up to 150 feet from the base). Also included is "DirectLink" — Nextel-like walkie-talkie functionality among handsets. Other functions include the ability to sync up to 100 address entries from your PC using Outlook, picture displays, caller ID, downloadable ringtones, a calendar and alarm, 5-way conference calls, and even a baby monitor. The ELBT595 comes with a Microsoft Windows software package for configuring the phone and runs on a lithium-ion battery. The ELBT595 lists for $229. Learn more about the Uniden ELBT595.

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 October 24, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Susan Borgos offers an alternative to the "nuclear option" for weeding out spyware, William Hodes discusses the cost and security of using a static IP address for remote access, Gil Marquez points to some helpful antispyware resources available online, Jonathan Warshay reviews a free utility that cleans out old, unnecessary files from your computer, and Michael Raskin explains how to easily print out a list of e-mails in Outlook. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a thrice 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 21, 2005 to Fat Friday: Dean Kirby discusses his impression of CaseSoft's DepPrep, Faith Drewry offers her take on the CSS in RSS issue, Kikis Talarides reviews Time Matters (and pleads for a Greek version), Peter Pike chastises the Delaware government, and Brad Jensen takes another look at 9/11 from a technology perspective. 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.

Most television journalists know their limitations and their audience so they tend to conduct five minute interviews. Only a select few such as Charlie Rose have both the talent and audience to pull off longer format interviews. (It's no surprise that Charlie Rose has a law degree — lawyers receive much better interview training than journalists.)

Lawyers who create podcasts should also heed their limitations and their audience, but in my experience, most don't.

Definition time — a podcast is an audio or video program delivered over the Internet to which you can "subscribe" using an RSS feed. Podcasts have existed since the dawn of the Internet. The new twist is the ability to receive them automatically and download them to your iPod or similar device.

When various legal bloggers began offering podcasts (lawcasts?), I was genuinely excited by the possibilities. My excitement didn't last long, and I have pretty much stopped listening.

The podcasts I sampled — mostly interviews — droned on and on for 30 minutes or longer. The lawyers producing these podcasts just don't have the material or experience to pull off a 30 minute or longer show.

Hence, my unsolicited advice — less is more, especially on the Internet. I suggest limiting each segment of a legal podcast to 5 minutes or less, and limiting each show to 15 minutes or less. Trust me — a remarkable 5-15 minute show will attract a larger audience than a mediocre 30-60 minute show. (Also, invest in a decent microphone and don't allow interviewees to use cell phones or IM clients.)

My advice comes from personal experience. Before we launched TechnoLawyer 2.0 in 2002, you had only two choices — subscribe to all of our newsletters or none. Nowadays, you can customize your subscriptions. Many of you subscribe to just one newsletter.

My advice also comes from observation. For example, the online entertainment company JibJab produces hilarious videos, none of which ever exceed five minutes in length. An even better example — John Chambers' One Minute Tip podcasts.

Some lawyers may argue that the complex material they cover demands a longer format. I don't buy it. Just as you can break up complex concepts in a brief with headings and subheadings, so too could you serialize a podcast that explores complex legal topics. As all litigators know, people digest information better in small, discrete chunks.

I could write more, but this Post is beginning to make me look like a hypocrite. Enough said.

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.

For years, many in legal profession have urged law firms to move beyond the billable hour and instead charge by the project or task. Despite the fact that ad agencies, investment banks, and management consulting firms routinely earn more per hour than law firms using this business model, I doubt lawyers will give up the billable hour anytime soon.

However, I do believe that the billable hour model will soon undergo its biggest transformation ever thanks to "mobile billing automation" (MBA). Quite simply, MBA refers to using technology to automatically track "mobile time" — the time you spend working on your Blackberrys, Treos, and other such devices.

Two competing companies that offer MBA solutions recently launched advertising campaigns in TechnoLawyer — Airtime Management and Element55. On Airtime Management's Web site, you'll find a clever demo of its MBA solution, and on Element55's Web site you'll find a brief white paper entitled Zero Click Time Capture. Also, those of you with TechnoLawyer Archive subscriptions can read each company's TechnoReleases.

If mobile billing automation becomes as big as I think it will, remember you heard it here first.

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 October 20, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Andrew Willinger reviews the cost and security of Windows XP Remote Desktop, Jennifer Little explains how to use Stamps.com on multiple computers, Eric Lay reviews Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (still in beta), Chris Sanne discusses an easier spyware solution than the dreaded Windows reinstall (known in TechnoLawyer as the "nuclear option"), and Thomas Daly suggests a way to use Windows Remote Desktop more securely. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a thrice 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 19, 2005 to Answers to Questions: David Moon compares the cost and features of Ricoh versus Canon digital copiers, John Pollock discusses his secret weapon for spyware-free Web browsing, William Stewart reviews an arsenal of utilities to combat CoolWebSearch and its ilk, Samuel Matunog reviews Amicus Attorney and his experience syncing it with his Palm, and Susan Borgos chimes in with a great tip for those with older versions of Windows looking to access a remote PC. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a thrice 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 18, 2005 to TechnoFeature: 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? Read the article 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.