TechnoLawyer

Coming July 20, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Jason Havens offers tips on how to secure your office WiFi network, Gayle O'Connor shares her research on business card etiquette, Robert Browning discusses his firm's decision regarding Health Savings Accounts, David Caracappa tells us how he really feels about Microsoft Word and its integration with Avery mailing labels, and Edward Poll describes his experience with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. 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 July 19, 2005 to TechnoFeature: Using an expert witness in an upcoming case? In this article, veteran trial consultant Timothy Piganelli offers some helpful tips and suggestions for enhancing your expert's testimony and presentation through the use of technology and strategic visual aids. Specifically, Timothy discusses how to work with academic experts, the best way to present the experts report, breaking down complex topics into a simple explanation, and the coordination between the expert, lawyer, and technology manager.

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 July 18, 2005 to IP Memes: You'll learn what the Supreme Court decision in the Grokster case means for P2P technology (and you), about an Internet giant that has picked a fight with typosquatters, how Brazil bullied a US drug manufacturer into lowering prices, and why trademark infringement target Columbia Pictures is laying low.

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.

A recent thread in Fat Friday explored the benefits of having an MBA as a lawyer. TechnoLawyer member Donald Parkyn writes in to suggest an equally useful advanced degree that requires less time to obtain — a Certificate in Forensic Economics. Donald points to a program offered by the University of Missouri "designed to give persons with masters degrees or higher degrees special training in the requirements for preparing economic reports for selected areas of litigation." Learn more.

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

It all started in Fat Friday, and has since become a long running thread there and here — courts that ban cell phones and PDAs. TechnoLawyer member Grace Lidia Suarez writes in with the latest report from the trenches: "I think the real reason is that judges have gotten completely sick and tired of phones going off in the courtroom. No matter what they say (even if they seize the phones) it still happens. And because cameras are strictly verboten, the guards are required to check cell phones to make sure they don't have cameras. BTW, the federal courthouse in San Francisco permits cell phones (but not cameras or cell phone/camera combinations) but the INS (okay, ICE or BICE, or whatever they call themselves this week) prohibits all cell phones AND has no place to hold them (beware!)"

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

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

Powerful PDF Printing
By Jill Bauerle

With lawyer hard drives bursting at the seams with PDF files, printing them one at a time can quickly become tedious. You have better things to do with your time. Luckily, the PDF mavens at Acrobotics have developed PDF-Multi-Print, a utility dedicated to printing PDF files. PDF-Multi-Print prints your PDF files "silently," which means no annoying dialog box. Just one click and you're printing. Even better, just drop your PDF files into a "Hot Folder," and PDF-Multi-Print will print them for you automatically. Now you're down to no clicks! PDF-Multi-Print supports up to 8 hot folders, which means that you can print to as many as 8 different local or network printers. PDF-Multi-Print prints PDF files in alphabetical order or chronologically by the modification date of the file. Alternatively, you can specify the order in which PDF files print with an "custom ordered list." If you already have a bunch of PDF files in a folder, you can print all of them with one click — no need to move them into a Hot Folder. PDF-Multi-Print will ignore any non-PDF files in such a folder. For law firms with programming resources, PDF-Multi-Print features an extensible command line for customizing your workflow. For example, you can customize PDF-Multi-Print so that users can access it from within other programs. PDF-Multi-Print works with Windows 98 and higher, and Adobe Reader 5 and higher or Adobe Acrobat 5 or higher. The single user version sells for $95 with a server version also available. Learn more about PDF-Multi-Print.

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.

Regarding our ongoing discussion in Answers to Questions about Macs in the law office, TechnoLawyer member Gina MacDonald writes: "I use a Mac at the Office, with OS X and Microsoft Office for Mac 2004. All the Office features to date (4-5 months) work flawlessly both originated by me or by others with comments/corrections from me, for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Outlook does not come for the Mac, but Entourage does, which I think is a better program than Outlook. You have a choice of Apple's Safari browser (exclusively for Mac), Firefox or IE, or can use all 3. I love my Mac — I have the 12" G4 PowerBook and recommend it highly. I am still using my IBM ThinkPad because I love my contact management program I have been using for years — Lotus Organizer. Except for that, I would be totally a Mac person." Microsoft ceased development of Internet Explorer for the Mac about two years ago. Therefore, you won't want to use it as your primary browser. Also, Entourage has very good contact management and calendar features — Gina should try those modules so that she can use just one computer.

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Recently, in Answers to Questions, Kirby Knight discussed how his firm uses a Travan tape drive for its backups. TechnoLawyer member Ross Kodner sent us this response: "Regarding the recommendation about using a Travan class backup unit, I would implore you to read the section on it in my CLE materials on data backup on the Practicing Safely page at the Legal Tech CLE section of MicroLaw. DO NOT EVER use a Travan drive for backup purposes. Ever. Never. Really."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

In the last issue of TechnoGuide, I discussed using a legal blog as a search engine optimization tool. That same day, ClickZ published a poignant article about search engine optimization by Mike Grehan entitled "Why You Don't Rank on Search Engines." The article discusses link building, an important component of search engine ranking. In the article, Grehan writes: "Ask yourself, 'Why would anyone want to link to my site?' Be brutal." This question is indeed one that every law firm should ask before it embarks on a blog or an expensive redesign of its Web 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.

Coming July 15, 2005 to Fat Friday: Norman Bowley reviews Copernic Desktop Search, Douglas Thomas discusses his use of PaperPort and his problems organizing outgoing e-mail (along with a suggestion for any entrepreneurs who might be listening), Bernard Mac Arthur reviews a Firefox add-on that enhances tabbed browsing, Fred Kruck reviews Firefox and Thunderbird, and David Caracappa explains why he dumped Firefox in favor of Opera. 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.