TechnoLawyer

Coming June 24, 2005 to Fat Friday: Gil Marquez reviews the Kyocera 7135 (warning: this Post includes a graphic account of a cell phone dropped into a toilet bowl), Jason Havens explains how to add voice functionality to your Treo 650, Sam Craig discusses how his firm organizes its documents, William Pray provides an indispensable document management tip, and Grace Lidia Suarez urges lawyers to not use a Treo 650. 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 June 27, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Ruth Vadi discusses her personal journey from IT professional to lawyer, Jimmy Brown discusses problems with printer paper trays when using WordPerfect, Kevin Grierson issues a spyware warning to fellow parents, Brad Jensen discusses online paralegal training, and Brian Garves explains how he made an end run around spyware. 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 June 23, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Cynthia Zook provides a comprehensive set of tips for common problems with WordPerfect and HP LaserJet printers, Paul Lepine reviews two free remote control solutions, Martin Dean explains why he's wary of using VNC for remote control of his PC, Ross Kodner reviews GoToMyPC and another Citrix service, and Danny Wash provides a real-life story involving GoToMyPC. 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 June 22, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Robert Jay Dinerstein, Alan Garber, and Edward Cox respectively review GoToMyPC, My WebEx PC, and Log Me In, three competing remote access (remote control) services. Also in this issue, Craig Bayer reviews Microsoft Windows Antispyware Beta, and Mike Gelhausen explains what to do when spyware has literally rendered your PC unusable. 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 June 21, 2005 to TechnoFeature: Legal blogs have become the latest rage, but are they worth all the time and effort? In this article, Joe Hartley explores the role of blogs in a law firm's business plan — especially as compared to a traditional Web site. The results of his investigation, which entailed reviewing dozens of blogs and interviewing several legal bloggers, may surprise you.

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 June 20, 2005 to IP Memes: You'll learn about the proposed changes in the patent reform bill recently presented to Congress, a bench-clearing trademark fight involving Major League Baseball, how you can work for Microsoft as a copyright snitch, and why Apple may have a beef with the Wall Street Journal for trade secret infringement.

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.

Regarding a recent issue of Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer member Martin Pagel has a quick tip for Outlook 2003 users: "Outlook 2003 has a single dialog for reminders and you can even use context menus (through right clicking) to flag items as complete."

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.

Regarding the recent debate in Fat Friday about why courts ban cell phones, TechnoLawyer member Kevin Grierson weighs in with his take: "As a former litigator, the answer to why cell phones are not allowed in courtrooms is quite plain: judges don't like to be interrupted. The courts in which I practiced had originally allowed pagers (before cell phones were common) provided that the pager was set to vibrate only. Unfortunately, there was always some knucklehead who forgot, and the thing would ring right in the middle of a hearing (of course). The judges grew tired of admonishing (or even fining) attorneys and other courtroom attendees for violating the rules, and finally simply banned both pagers and cell phones for everyone but police officers and deputies. Crazy as it sounds, there are even courts down here where you can't bring a PDA or computer into the courthouse unless you have special permission from the judge."

TechnoLawyer member Steven Schwaber practices in a friendlier court system, writing: "How about this, then: In the Central District of California cell phones are welcome and indeed, in a sense encouraged, to facilitate communication with clients, etc. But only if the phone does not have a camera built into it. Any other feature, fine, but they will confiscate any camera with any kind of built-in imaging until you leave the building. No reason is given for this. If security is the issue, then God help us one and all, since all they do is ask me if the phone has a camera and they take my response at face value (as if a terrorist would level with them). Go figure."

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:

Do-It-Yourself Legal Graphics and Trial Exhibits
By Brett Burney

Juries and even clients have difficulty understanding legal jargon, and often find verbal testimony boring. To more effectively communicate legal concepts, you could hire an artist to create snazzy, professional graphics and demonstrative evidence. Or you could save a lot of money by using SmartDraw Legal Solution instead.

If you can "drag-n-drop" with a mouse, you can use SmartDraw Legal to create accident diagrams, calendars, crimes scenes, evidence charts, family trees, floor plans, flowcharts, forensic diagrams, Gantt charts, maps, medical diagrams, organizational charts, patent diagrams and illustrations, storyboards, and the always-popular timelines. Simply select the shapes you need and drop them where they belong. You can add text into a variety of shapes that will automatically expand as you type.

SmartDraw Legal Solution bundles thousands of ready-to-use symbols, templates, shapes, lines, and arrow styles. Additionally, it integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Office and other applications. For example, you can convert images (such as photos) from other programs into a SmartDraw graphic, and you can copy and paste completed SmartDraw graphics into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and even Visio. SmartDraw also works with leading litigation support software, such as Sanction, Summation, and TrialDirector

If you lack artistic talent, SmartDraw Legal Solution will take you by the hand with step-by-step tutorials, tips, and wizards. If that's not enough, SmartDraw offers 100% free live technical support. When you perfect your masterpiece, SmartDraw Legal Solution gives you the option of printing it in poster size for mounting on foam board. If you don't have a large-format printer handy, SmartDraw has partnerships with AlphaGraphics and Sir Speedy — you can send your job to your local branch directly from SmartDraw Legal Solution's print dialog box.

SmartDraw Legal Solution works with Windows 98 and later. A single license sells for $449, but has an introductory price of $297 with volume discounts available. You can also download a free 30-day trial version. Learn more about SmartDraw Legal Solution.

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.

You don't have time to track 100 business and technology magazines and blogs. We do. Below you'll find five excellent articles we've recently come across.

17 Deadly Small Business Mistakes

Addicted to E-Mail? You're Not Alone.

What Would Vader Do?

The Unexpected Effects of Apple's Intel Move: Linux Is Likely the Big Loser

New FTC Regulation on Document Destruction Impacts Law Firms

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.