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23 January 2009 08:43:09
ABA Site-tation Has Moved! Adjust Your Bookmarks (And Your RSS Feeds)
The LTRC is happy to announce that ABA Site-tation, the blog of the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center, has moved to a new platform and a new address. The blog can now be accessed at:
http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/
RSS subscribers will need to adjust their feed readers to point to the new RSS feed, and as always, ABA Site-tation is also available as a 17 October 2008 08:43:09
Friday PMA Blog Roundup
Practice management advisors (PMAs) and legal technology consultants around the world provide valuable and practical advice on their blogs and web sites every day. Here's a roundup of some particularly interesting posts from the last two weeks: David Bilinsky, the Practice Management Advisor for the Law Society of British Columbia, writes about his continuing experiences in switching from PC to Mac in I'm a Mac - Day 10 on his blog Thoughtful Legal Management. Nerino Petro of the State Bar of Wisconsin points to a helpful listing of 13 Free Backup Tools on his blog Compujurist. On Reid My Blog!, Reid Trautz writes about some new competition for the iPhone: Blackberry Storm to Take on Apple iPhone Jim Calloway of the Oklahoma Bar Association points out the continuing importance of Tech Tips for the Basic Computer User on his blog Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog. Want to stay up to date on what practice management advisors around the web are writing? Add our PMA Pipe to your favorite RSS feed reader. 16 October 2008 12:00:22
Take Your Internet Connection With You (With Mobile Broadband Wireless)
Tired of hunting around coffee shops and hotels for Wi-Fi internet connections? Wish you could connect to the internet while on trains and in automobiles? Now you can take your wireless connections with you with a technology called mobile broadband wireless. Mobile broadband wireless networks, provided by cellphone network companies, have a much larger range than Wi-Fi hotspots, somewhat comparable to the range of cellphones. With mobile broadband wireless technology you no longer have to scramble to find internet ethernet connections and Wi-Fi hotspots or be denied internet access while in moving vehicles. PC Cards/AirCards can be purchased which can allow your laptop to connect to mobile broadband wireless networks in conjunction with data plans purchased from cellphone network providers--some laptops have such cards already built in. Laptops can also access mobile broadband wireless networks using a cellphone as a modem in a process called "tethering." Most modern smartphones are already mobile broadband wireless-enabled and just require the purchase of a data plan for mobile broadband use. For more information, read the LTRC’s article about mobile broadband wireless technology, Mobile Broadband Wireless for Laptops and Smartphones, in the September 2008 issue of the Your ABA newsletter. 13 October 2008 09:39:09
Back to Basics: The Best Keyboards and Mice
Discussions of legal technology tend to revolve around the big ticket items: firm-wide practice management software, elaborate back-end server solutions, e-discovery service providers, and so forth. While these are indeed vital issues for law firms, there are also many basic technology choices that can significantly impact an attorney's productivity and comfort in the workplace. One of the best examples -- and one of the most basic -- is the choice of a mouse and keyboard. Over the past few weeks, productivity blog Lifehacker has asked its readers to list their favorite mice and keyboards. From trackballs to tablets, from old-fashioned mechanical keyboards to sleek low-profile models, Lifehacker's editors culled the replies and assembled reviews of their readers' six favorite keyboards and ten favorite mice. Read about each of the choices here: Mouse: the Best Mouse You've Ever Had (Lifehacker) 01 October 2008 08:55:33
Better Calendaring With Overlay Mode in Microsoft Outlook 2007
In Microsoft Outlook 2007 you can use a new feature called overlay mode to stay on top of appointments and obligations across various calendars, such as your main calendar and any calendars you share with coworkers. With Outlook 2003, users with access to several calendars can only view them one-by-one or side-by-side in order to compare appointments on different calendars. Viewing calendars side-by-side can be somewhat useful for comparing calendars day by day in day view, but what if you want to compare calendars a week at a time or a month at a time? Comparing calendars side-by-side in week or month view can be very difficult as the text on the calendar entries gets cut off due to the size requirements of displaying a whole week or month for each calendar selected. To solve this problem, Outlook 2007 introduces a vast improvement in comparing appointments across various calendars in any view, including week view and month view, with its new overlay mode. With overlay mode you can select various calendars you want to compare at the same time, and rather than being displayed side-by-side, the calendars are overlaid on top of each other. This greatly improves the readability of the appointment information and makes it much easier to compare various calendars. With overlay mode you don’t have to look from calendar to calendar to compare appointments, but rather can see all appointments across all of the selected calendars upon one single calendar grid; each day displays all of the appointments for that day across all of the selected calendars. To use overlay mode, click in the checkboxes for any calendars you want to view in the “My Calendars” section of Outlook 2007.  By default the calendars will initially be displayed in side-by-side mode. On the top left corner of each calendar (other than your main calendar at first) you will see an arrow icon.  Click on the arrow icon for each calendar that you want to view in overlay mode, and now the appointments on all of your selected calendars will be displayed on a single calendar grid for easy and convenient viewing. Click on the arrows again to switch back to side-by-side mode.  To further improve the readability of the text of calendar appointments, you can minimize the Outlook Navigation Pane by clicking on the double arrow on the top right corner of the pane to devote more screen space to the calendar display.  You can also reduce the font size of calendar appointment text by right-clicking on an empty space on the calendar grid and selecting “Other settings.” (Or while in the Calendar view, select View->Current View->Other settings.) Then click on the “Font” button in the “Month” section, and set the font to a smaller size such as 7pt to be able to view more of the appointment text in the calendar display. Other resources:
30 September 2008 13:26:26
Firefox Favorites
The folks at Mozilla have been busy with Firefox updates. The latest version, Firefox 3.0.3 addresses several security issues while improving usability. This is also a good time to consider several Firefox features that can improve your browsing experience. Session Restore - If Firefox closes unexpectedly, you don't have to go search the history to return to your webpages. Upon restart Firefox will ask you if you'd like to restart the previous session. Save and Quit - Have you hesistated to shut down your computer or Firefox session because you had so many great webpages open? Now, when you shut down, Firefox asks you if you'd like to Save and Quit. This gives you the opportunity to automatically return to the last webpage(s) you visited the next time you launch Firefox. Spell Checking - Built into the browser so if you are on the road and replying to your e-mail via the web or submitting a blog post, a red underline will indicate a misspelled word and a right mouse click over that word will list suggested alternatives.
24 September 2008 16:13:51
Webinars for Technology Information
Wondering how a particular technology might fit into your practice? Interested in more information about products, services or companies? Many vendors have provided a comprehensive overview of their products and services in the context of the legal profession through online presentations or webinars. A webinar, sometimes referred to as a webcast, or e-seminar, is an online seminar that may contain video as well as audio content. During a real time presentation you can often submit questions that may be answered by the presenters if time permits during a Q&A session. Others are available for download after they've been recorded. Many are available at no cost but most providers require you to first register with their site. Many webinars are made available through WebEx or On24, providers of online meeting applications, so you may be required to download their application to view the presentation. Other webinars are distributed through Microsoft Windows Media Player, Real Player or QuickTime. Webinars are a great means of maintaining and improving your awareness of legal technology as well as your area of practice. Many presentations can be accessed at your convenience so whether you set aside time before going to the office, after hours or during a midday break, you can easily increase your professional advantage with webinars. Following are several webinar sources to get you started. Examples Adobe hosts OnDemand seminars for the legal profession including Acrobat 8: Top New Legal Features, Government Legal Community: Top New Features for Acrobat 8, Adobe Acrobat Forms for the Legal Community, Acrobat 9: Keep your legal documents secure, and Securing Legal Documents & Information. Legal Technology webinars are available through Anacomp, a business process solutions company. The topics include the Ethical Problems of Working With Electronic Discovery A Checklist On Ediscovery Project Management and the Top Five E-Discovery Roadblocks And How To Overcome Them by Tom O'Connor and Browning Marean. Legal Technology Events & Conferences in FindLaw.com offers free legal webinars. Archived presentations are available for viewing and include How to Keep Clients and Expand the Relationship, Creating PDF Forms for the Legal Community and Total Evidence Management. Registration is required and the presentations can be viewed in Microsoft Windows Media Player or Real Player. Merrill Corporation offers Webinars and white papers on topics affecting attorneys and their teams, both in law firms and corporate legal departments. These Webinars typically run for 60 or 90 minutes around the noon hour (EST). Upcoming topics include Proper Evidence Handling in the Digital Age, Chain of Custody Pitfalls and Total Evidence Management™ Methodologies. These webinars are available at no cost but require registration. Mimosa Systems offers a webinar series hosted by industry experts and dedicated to the subject of email archiving and eDiscovery for Microsoft® Exchange Server. The topics include Reducing Discovery Risk and Cost with a Proactive Archiving Strategy, A Business Case for Email Archiving — Getting Your Project Approved and How “Safe” is Your “Harbor”? Planning for the FRCP Rule 37(e). Registration required. WinScribe Digital Dictation makes a case for Going Beyond Digital Dictation – Legal Implementation Case Studies with moderator Adriana Linares. Choose the stream option to download this WebEx presentation. 24 September 2008 14:12:59
Customize Your Web Search
The web has become an essential tool in most lawyer’s research arsenal, but digging through the vast expanse of the web – which Google recently estimated at more than 1 trillion pages – can be daunting. Most popular search engines have indexes that include tens of billions of pages, making even simple searches seem useless at times due to the low signal-to-noise ratio in the results. One way to minimize your frustration and maximize your results is to create your own search engine. With tools like Google Custom Search and Rollyo, building your own search engine is as easy as picking out the websites you’d like it to search. The custom search engines are ideal for users who have a specific interest area to which they’d like to confine their searches. For example, in October of last year the LTRC built the Legal Technology Web Search tool – a search engine that looks exclusively at legal technology sites. You can try out the search engine on the LTRC home page or you can even add it to your iGoogle page. Ready to learn more about custom search engines? Jim Calloway and Courtney Kennaday address the topic in some detail in their article for the September 2008 GP Solo Technology eReport Newsletter: Build Your Own Search Engine. 23 September 2008 09:04:13
Nevada Attorneys Beware: New Encryption Law
Nevada attorneys may want to look into encryption software, as a Nevada law taking effect October 1st, 2008 requires that all Nevada businesses use encryption when transmitting certain personal information via electronic communications. In the case of this particular statute, "personal information" appears to be limited to social security numbers, driver's license/identification card numbers, and various account information. The full text of the new provision can be found at NRS 597.970. The need for secure electronic transmissions is an issue that goes well beyond the limits of this statute and beyond Nevada. According to the 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report, nearly 80% of attorneys admit to sending confidential information to their clients once or more per week via email. With such a significant amount of confidential data being passed through electronic communications, security should be a concern for all attorneys. Read more: 23 September 2008 08:02:34
Disaster Preparedness: More Than Just Data Backup
Disaster planning has been a popular topic lately, and much attention has been directed at data backup. While data backup is essential in what is now frequently a paperless profession, Laura Calloway of the Alabama State Bar suggests that attorneys should look at the broader picture when developing their preparedness plans. In particular, she recommends taking “a few minutes out of your busy day to look around and determine all of your critical systems, what could possibly make each of them fail, and what you will do about it if one should.” Read the full post at her blog - The Last Word - for a good example of one system in particular you may not have thought to backup. More on disaster preparedness: 22 September 2008 10:08:55
Introducing Subnotebooks: Smaller, Less Expensive Laptop Computers
If you've been looking for a small, lightweight laptop designed for basic tasks like web browsing and document creation that you can easily take with you to work on memos, briefs, motions, correspondence, and research wherever you travel, subnotebook/UMPCs may be worth looking into. Subnotebooks, netbooks, cloudbooks, mini-laptops, mini-notebooks, ultramobile PCs—there are a large number of names for a new crop of smaller-than-usual laptop computers. These subnotebooks are aimed at users desiring a compromise between the small size, light weight, and high portability of smartphones, and the larger screens and keyboards of normal-sized laptops, which afford easier reading, viewing and typing than smartphones. A company named Asus kicked off the recent excitement over subnotebooks in 2007 with its Eee PC line, and since major companies such as Dell, HP, Toshiba, Lenovo, Sony, and Acer have all announced or introduced their own subnotebook models. The research firm IDC has predicted that shipments of subnotebooks may grow to 8 million units worldwide in 2009. With all of this hype, are subnotebooks right for you and your practice? For more information, check out the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center’s article “Subnotebooks/Ultramobile Laptop Computers: Highly Portable and Affordable?,” originally published in the July 2008 ABA Section of Family Law eNewsletter. For other recent LTRC articles, please visit the Articles section of the LTRC website. 22 September 2008 09:21:15
Blurry Text in Office 2007, IE 7, and Vista?
Several users of Office 2007, IE 7, and Vista have complained that text looks blurrier in these programs than in previous versions. There is in fact a difference in the way the text is displayed—these programs by default use a new Microsoft feature called “ClearType,” intended to make text easier on the eyes in certain circumstances but with an unintended “blurry-looking text” side effect for some users. If you find that ClearType causes text to look blurry in these programs, below are instructions on how to use an online program called Microsoft ClearType Tuner, with which you can adjust ClearType display settings more to your liking, as well as instructions on how to turn ClearType off and on. Note that several of the new default fonts included in Vista and Office 2007 products, such as Calibri and Segoe, have apparently been designed to work best with ClearType on, and look worse than other fonts to some users when ClearType is turned off. Thus, if you turn ClearType off, you may also want to change your default fonts to more traditional fonts such as Arial or Times New Roman. However, note that Microsoft states on their website, “We do not recommend that you turn off ClearType fonts,” and points users to the Microsoft ClearType Tuner online program to adjust ClearType settings.
11 September 2008 14:30:36
Minimizing Metadata
Metadata is the information hidden in the background of electronic documents; it includes the name of the author, the date created and last edited, as well as the undo/redo history. Metadata resides in almost every type of electronic document or file created in a law office. Evidence of tracked changes and comments that occur during the review and collaboration process are also potentially damaging. The disclosure of metadata could lead to a breach of confidentiality, not to mention be highly embarrassing. MetadataRisk.org News features a number of high profile examples of metadata mishaps. The American Bar Association and 8 states currently have ethics opinions on how lawyers should deal with metadata but how do you get rid of it? The August 2008 edition of the LTRC Tech Corner in the Section of Family Law’s enewsletter discusses Minimizing Metadata. Scroll to the bottom of the electronic newsletter to review a number of available options and techniques that can reduce your risk of being undermined by metadata. Additional Resources Now You See It, Now You Don't: Removing Hidden Data from Microsoft Office 2007 Documents – ABA Law Practice Magazine, September 2008 09 September 2008 14:42:35
Mastering Online Research
The 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report: Online Research shows 96% of respondents conduct legal research online and 89% of those report using free online resources. The free web has a tremendous amount of information to offer, but lawyers should learn the best, most authoritative resources and learn to verify sources. A recent example comes from United Airlines stock tumble due to a six year old news story that was re-released announcing United's bankruptcy. According to the Chicago Tribune the old article was apparently picked up by Google's indexing bot and then made its way across the Internet. The article itself was not date stamped, but the comments were dated 2002 and the context also made it apparent that the article was old. The lesson here is to not only know your source, but read carefully and with a bit of skepticism. Verify stories from several sources before relying on the information. Take a look at this recent presentation from LTRC at the 2008 Illinois Solo and Small Firm Conference on internet legal research, which highlights techniques, resources and methods for legal and business research, as well as current awareness. 08 September 2008 09:04:32
Hurricane Season Again: Do You Have a Disaster Plan?
In the wake of the severe flooding throughout the Midwest last June, we wrote about how such natural disasters can impact a law firm. Now, as hurricane after hurricane batters the Gulf Coast, it seems worth pointing out again how vital it is for firms to take a proactive approach to disaster preparedness. Having a plan of action in place before disaster strikes may mean the difference between seeing your firm shuttered and being able to continue providing your clients with full, uninterrupted service. Here are some guides and helpful tips on getting your firm ready for the worst:
It Could Happen to You: Disaster Preparedness (ABA Site-tation) 28 August 2008 17:41:40
ABA Member Advantage: New additions
Have you visited the ABA Member Advantage page lately? If not, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Your ABA membership just became even more valuable with these new offerings. 26 August 2008 11:04:36
Heads Up: New E-Mail Scam to Worry About
E-mail scams targeting attorneys are nothing new, but a recent scam described in the ABA Journal today certainly reaches a new level of sophistication. The scam goes something like this: an American attorney with a record of handling international transactions is contacted via e-mail by a faraway potential client who is seeking help collecting a debt from an American business. Almost immediately after the targeted attorney agrees to represent the foreign client, the debtor agrees to pay and sends a very legitimate seeming cashier’s check to the attorney. The attorney deposits the check, waits for the funds to become available, and then wires the funds (minus fees) to the foreign client. As one might expect, that’s when the scam emerges. The check turns out to be an elaborate counterfeit, the American company never existed, and the foreign client vanishes with the money. In the end, the attorney is left owing the bank (or other clients, if the money was deposited into a trust account) a significant sum of money. The best protection against this and similar email scams is extreme caution. Clients should be carefully vetted – especially when they initiate contact by email alone – and all received payments should be given ample time to clear. Simply waiting for the funds to become available may not be enough. Furthermore, attorneys should make an effort to stay informed about new email scams that may be circulating. Bar association publications, legal technology blogs, and even Google alerts can be effective ways of learning about the latest scams before they strike your practice. For more on avoiding these types of scams, check out this article from Laura Calloway and David Bilinsky: How Not to Get Stung by Promises of Easy Offshore Work. 26 August 2008 08:53:55
This Time Last Year on ABA Site-tation
Building a Web Site That Works It’s Just a Phone with Cool Features, Right? Safeguarding Attorney/Client Privilege Electronic Document Redaction and the FTC 25 August 2008 15:26:00
Back-to School Reading List Redux
The Law Practice Management Section of the ABA released several must have titles in 2008. The ABA "Lawyer’s Guide" series introduces the fundamentals in a clear and engaging style. This series focuses on the features most commonly used by legal professionals rather than offering instruction on how to use every last feature. With summer temperatures dropping and Fall fast approaching, we’ve highlighted several titles to kick off your fall reading schedule along with links to the free chapter and table of contents that each offers. The Lawyer's Guide to Concordance – available to pre-order with a 15% discount, reveals how attorneys and staff can make Concordance the most powerful tool in their litigation arsenal. The Table of Contents reveals that the first five chapters of Part I cover the basics of Concordance and Part II shows you in three chapters how to Organize Your Case. Five Appendices cover database management and discuss Concordance 2008. The free “Concordance Basics” chapter gives an overview of the Concordance environment. The Lawyer's Guide to Microsoft Excel 2007 – also available for pre-order with a 15% discount, is written by a practicing lawyer for other practicing lawyers and will help you put it to work in your own practice. The Table of Contents illustrates the Eight Lessons that the author uses to help lawyers more fully utilize Microsoft Excel. In just six pages the first chapter discusses “The Basics” of getting started with Excel. The Lawyer's Guide to Adobe Acrobat, Third Edition is a practical guide to moving from paper-based files to digital records. The Table of Contents provides a great overview of how this edition focuses on the ways lawyers can benefit from using Adobe® Acrobat 8, to create Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Chapter One, “Why PDF?” explains in four pages what this file format offers to attorneys. The 2008 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide is an annual guide written to help solo and small firm lawyers find the best legal technology for their dollar. While leaning heavily toward Dell hardware, it does discuss Apple hardware and software as well as the Ubuntu operating system. The Table of Contents summarizes and details the contents of this guides twenty chapters. Chapter One “Computers and Operating Systems” provides an overview of possible system choices for the law office. Bonus: In an earlier post, we featured The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell. The authors now have a companion blog to the book located at www.lawyersguidetocollaboration.com as well as a Collaboration Tools Wiki. Act quickly to take advantage of FREE GROUND SHIPPING through August 31st on all ABA books and CLE products. See Also 21 August 2008 13:10:09
More on SaaS: Higher Customer Service Expectations?
In our recently published overview of Cloud Computing / Software as a Service (“SaaS”), we discussed several of the factors that distinguish it from traditional software – both good and bad. Some of these factors included cost, accessibility, and security concerns. ZDNet now brings another view of SaaS, courtesy of contributor Archie Black: customer service. Black writes: “In the traditional software sales model, the idea is to impress the customer in the beginning, make the sale and collect the big check… Conversely, SaaS is a recurring revenue model where vendors gain maximum value by retaining customers over the long term… As such, each transaction and interaction with the customer is critical and SaaS providers must work continuously to earn the customer’s business.” While Black’s commentary is directed more at SaaS developers than at SaaS consumers, his listing of customer service “best practices” may be helpful for attorneys evaluating a current or potential SaaS provider. For example, Black advises that a dissatisfied customer “should get a return call from a supervisor and/or executive in 24 hours – preferably less.” That type of customer service expectation, and others mentioned in the article, may be well-suited to a Service Level Agreement between the attorney and the SaaS provider. See also: 21 August 2008 12:25:36
Windows Explorer and Alternative File Managers
Even many long time Windows PC users may not be familiar with the time saving dual pane Windows Explorer view. In Windows XP, when you double click on a folder to open it, or right click a folder and choose the "Open" option, you are presented with a default one pane Windows Explorer folder view. This default one pane view leads to cumbersome file manipulation processes: if you want to find a file and move it to another folder, you often have to click through several subfolders to find the file, then click through several other folders to find a destination folder, perhaps dragging the file to the desktop first or keeping at least two folder windows open at the same time so that you can drag the file from one folder into another. The dual pane Windows Explorer view can save you much time when performing such file and folder organization and manipulation tasks. The left-hand pane of this Windows Explorer view displays all of the folders on your computer in a conveniently collapsible and expandable tree view which allows you to easily access and view all of your folders and subfolders. The right-hand pane of this Windows Explorer view displays the contents of any folder you click on in the left-hand pane. This makes for easy and quick navigation of all of the folders on your computer, and can save you much time in moving and manipulating files compared to using the default one pane view. To get to the dual pane Windows Explorer view, right-click on the green “Start” button in the lower left-hand corner of the Windows screen, right-click on your “My Computer” icon, or right-click on a folder and select the “Explore” option; a keyboard shortcut is to press the “Windows” key and the letter “e” on your keyboard at the same time. Lifehacker.com has a post on alternative file manager programs that offer features and convenience beyond what Windows Explorer offers if you are looking for even more powerful ways to manipulate and organize files on your PC. Other resources: Lifehacker.com: Five Best Alternative File Managers 21 August 2008 10:08:56
Newly Released: Combined Volumes I-VI and Executive Summary of the 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report
The 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report Executive Summary and Combined Volumes I-VI are now available for purchase. The 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report: Executive Summary provides a thorough summary of the findings from all six of the 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report volumes: Baseline and Budgets, Law Office Technology, Litigation and Courtroom Technology, Web and Communication Technology, Online Research, and Mobile Lawyers. Topics range from firm purchasing schedules to the use of case management software to the availability of various courtroom technology tools. The Executive Summary also looks at previous versions of the annual survey to provide straightforward analysis of technology trends within the legal profession. The 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report - Combined Volumes I-VI provides more than 450 pages of detailed statistics and trend analysis on the use of technology within the legal profession summarizing this year's notable results and highlighting changes from previous years. Topics run the gamut from budgets and purchasing habits to the use of Smartphones in the courtroom. This special edition of the Survey Report combines the six volumes in a single document with a combined table of contents and a combined index to navigate the reports with greater ease. Among this year’s findings:
All volumes of the 2008 survey reports are published solely as PDF e-products and are available for immediate download. The 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report is produced by the ABA's Legal Technology Resource Center. The ABA Legal Technology Resource Center has surveyed practicing attorneys about their technology choices for more than a decade, and this annual report is recognized as the source for information regarding the use of technology by attorneys in private practice. For additional information or to order the survey, visit the LTRC Survey Page07 August 2008 10:03:55
Avoiding Rain in "the Cloud": Ensuring Access to Your Online Information
According to the 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report: Web and Communication volume, 14% of solo respondents and 6% of respondents from firms of 2-9 attorneys report that their primary work e-mail account is supplied by a web-based e-mail provider such as Yahoo!, Gmail, or Hotmail. For attorneys who depend upon webmail for their legal practices (with all of the potential problems that may entail), getting locked out of their webmail accounts would constitute a nightmare for themselves and their clients. Social media blogger Chris Brogan brings a tale of his company's president getting locked out of his Gmail account and other Google online applications for what appears to be several hours, for no apparent reason. Any such lapse in webmail account access could be disastrous for a webmail-dependent lawyer. There are a few precautionary steps anyone relying on webmail should take; some of this information is applicable to other types of online web applications. A first precautionary step is to write down and keep a record of important information about your webmail (and other online web application) accounts. For free webmail accounts, important information to record may include the date of account creation, last successful log-in time, and other services used. Webmail providers such as Gmail may require a record of such information in order to restore your access to your webmail account in case you get locked out of your account. This information could be especially useful to try to prove your identity in case you believe someone has hacked into your account and changed your password and security question. For users of paid-webmail important information to keep a record of may include customer id number, invoice number, and any specific customer help contact information which may be available only to paid customers. If you are a paid user you may be provided with more customer help options, including telephone support, which may be worth the expense if such support enables you to regain access to you online data more quickly in the event of some access error. A second step is to back up your webmail accounts. Where access to information is vital, redundancy is often the name of the game to ensure accessibility. See our FYI: E-mail Backup (You've Got Mail! - And Lots Of It) for more information on backing up your webmail accounts. By backing up your webmail accounts, you can have access to messages already received and backed up in the event that you lose access online to your webmail account. Backing up your e-mail accounts is especially important when you consider that some webmail providers may delete your webmail accounts if they have been inactive for a certain period of time. See the Hotmail inactive account deletion disclaimer, for example. A third step is to have redundant webmail accounts via e-mail forwarding. You can set up one or several main webmail accounts. Gmail may work best due to its flexible mail forwarding options. You can then set up your main Gmail account(s) to forward any incoming messages to another webmail account hosted by another provider, such as a Yahoo or Hotmail account. In certain cases, if you lose access to your Gmail account and if the Gmail system as a whole is still functioning, you would still be able to receive and read all of your incoming Gmail messages as they are being forwarded to your Yahoo or Hotmail account. However, such forwarding might not ensure that you would receive all of your new messages if your account has been entirely disabled as in the scenario Chris Brogan relayed. Other considerations: Other tactics for ensuring access to web-based accounts include buying mobile broadband wireless cards/AirCards and accompanying data plans for back-up internet access in case your main internet connection becomes inaccessible for any reason. Such mobile broadband wireless cards can also enable mobile internet access over much wider areas than older Wi-Fi technology. Wi-Fi hotspots allow wireless internet access in a small local area such as a coffee shop or airport seating area, but the signal will quickly go out of range once the user strays out of that small local area. Mobile broadband wireless cards allow continuous wireless internet access over wide areas, including US nationwide coverage--allowing for continuous wireless internet access on train and automobile rides, a feat impossible with Wi-Fi hotspot technology. Another new development will be technology that allows users of Software as a Service online applications (see our FYI: Software as a Service) to have their information backed up on a local computer and to enable them to access their online information and documents via the applications while offline. For example, Google Docs Offline, which uses Google Gears, is designed to allow users to backup their online documents locally and work on them when no internet connection is available. Resources: ChrisBrogan.com ABA LTRC:
Google/Gmail/Google Docs:
Hotmail
PC World: 07 August 2008 08:50:21
Lawyers and Laptops on the Road: Headline Roundup
Laptop computers are increasingly popular amongst attorneys and they’re regularly being used in places other than the office, our 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report found. Respondents reporting that their primary computer is a laptop grew from 29% in 2007 to 35% in 2008, with a corresponding decrease in those primarily using desktop computers. The survey also found that 65% of attorneys are regularly using their laptops at home, 37% in hotels, 18% in airports, and 15% while “in transit.” For all of those attorneys turning to laptops and taking them on the road, here are some headlines – some good, some bad – worth reading:
06 August 2008 14:15:07
Find the Freshest Content with Google
Dennis Kennedy's excellent article in the ABA Journal on becoming a Google Master gives some super tips on searching Google. He also points to LifeHacker's Google School, where they collect Google tips and search tricks. One great tip helps zero in on search results by currency. Users can restrict search results according to when the content was indexed by Google. For instance, searchers can see results from the "past 24 hours", "past week" and so on. There are a couple of ways to generate this search: 1.) Users can go to the advanced search in Google and choose from a dropdown menu. 06 August 2008 13:55:28
Back-To-School Reading List
The American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section recently published Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell's book The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, which is an essential read for any lawyer interested in how collaboration technologies fit seamlessly into a firm’s workflow and help save time. Read the full first chapter and the entire table of contents by scrolling down to the bottom of the web store page. Want more? Read chapter seventeen on Sharepoint at the TechnoLawyer blog. The Lawyer's Guide to Microsoft® Outlook 2007 by technologist Ben M. Schorr, is also published by the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section. Respondents to the 2008 Legal Technology Survey Report: Law Office Technology selected MS Outlook as one of the top products for calendaring, case management, contacts, and email. Are you using this powerful tool effectively in your practice? Check out chapter 11 “Mistakes Lawyers Make with Outlook” and the table of contents by scrolling to the bottom of the page. Keep in mind that the ABA Web store is offering free ground shipping through August 31st on all ABA books and CLE products. Social Networking for Lawyers: The What, Why and How is a new free e-book published by Carolyn Elefant, founder of legal blog MyShingle and one of the pioneers of legal blogging. It is a 30 page introduction and overview of social networking tools for lawyers and offers best practices. Just type in your e-mail address to register to receive this valuable resource. 06 August 2008 09:53:09
Acrobat Typewriter Tool for Filling Forms
Lawyers often receive or download a form that is not "fillable" in its native format. Options for filling out the form include printing it out and filling it in with a typewriter, creating a form with Acrobat or other similiar software, or running it through a program like OmniForm. However, all of these methods take time and if the form in question will be a one-time use there is a shorter, simpler way to fill out the form and send it out - the Acrobat Typewriter Tool. In Acrobat 8.0, under the Tools menu select “Typewriter”. A cursor will appear. Place the cursor wherever you want to insert text and start typing. The default font for the Typewriter tools is Courier, and that cannot be altered in Acrobat 8. However some customization is possible through increase and decrease of font size and line spacing. An enhancement to the Typewriter Tool available in Acrobat 9.0 is the ability to change the font type, color, size, and spacing. Additionally in Acrobat 9 (Standard and Pro) there is no need to continue to select the Typewriter Tool each time the user moves to a new section of the page. Once finished filling out the form simply save it, and email or upload to the intended recipient. For users of Acrobat 8.0 Pro and up another use of the Typewriter Tool is to enable it for those who only have the Acrobat Reader. If creating a fillable form is too time consuming or difficult simply enable the Typewriter Tool by going to Tools - Typewriter - Enable Typewriter Tool for Adobe Reader. Then save the document. When a user with only the Reader opens the document the Reader will prompt the user to use the Typewriter tool to fill out the form. 01 August 2008 10:52:44
Do you ever feel like you’re retyping the same e-mail for the 100th time? You aren’t alone: attorneys often find themselves needing to e-mail the same snippet of information several times per week (or even per day). Perhaps you’re informing a potential client about your fee structures and initial consultation procedures, or maybe you’re just asking a marketer to remove you from their distribution list. Either way, retyping the messages eats time that would be better spent elsewhere. In the past, common solutions to this problem included copying and pasting from a saved text document or creating complicated e-mail templates. For users of the new Microsoft Outlook 2007, however, there’s a better solution: Quick Parts. Outlook 2007’s Quick Parts feature allows you to easily and quickly save snippets of frequently used text directly in Outlook, and then later insert those snippets back into e-mails with just a few mouse clicks. Check out this recent Lifehacker post for detailed instructions (with screen shots) on using Outlook 2007’s Quick Parts feature: Save Time and Typing with Outlook 2007’s Quick Parts. |
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