Law Office Technology

Bar Briefs - October 19, 2009

Tech Tip - Word 2007: 2 Views that make all the difference

Word 2007, while a vast improvement over other versions, still can be difficult without the proper training to create and edit documents.  When creating documents in Word, most users keep the print layout view on the entire time.  The print layout view is great for showing what your final document will look like on paper, but not the best view for actually drafting documents. Outline View: Lets say you are creating a document that has a lot of number sections, paragraph headers and bullets.  For some reason Word is skipping between paragraph #6 and paragraph #7.  If you switch to the Outline View, it is usually very easy to spot your problem. Draft View: Documents in Word that are fifty pages or longer can be a real pain to edit.  The longer the document, the more memory and processor your computer will use to display it.  If you change the view to Draft, Word no longer displays headers, footers, and other features.  This means that computer needs a lot less memory to run the program and will speed it up. This tip is courtesy of Craig Bayer, Law Office Technology http://www.lawot.com/

Mardi Gras caused me to Flash my Phone again

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=428261

I am now running Windows Mobile 6.5 on AT&T Tilt using the PDACornerUltimate Rom.  I am also using SPB Mobile Shell Again.  I am having no problems except some GPS issues.  Airtime works great and the battery life seems to be much improved.  I might need to change the radio as I have had a couple of dropped calls.  Hopefully I can stay with this version for awhile. 

 

A Review of Legal Tech

I was at LegalTech this Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and have several observations: 

• E-Discovery is in trouble.  Most legal shows that I got to, 60-75% of the vendors are E-Discovery firm.  This did some to be the case this year.   I get the sense that a lot of these E-Discovery firms are either going under or getting acquired by larger firms. 
• Mobile if a hot topic.  I worked the Amicus Booth while I was out the show and most people who came up were interested in Amicus Mobile which runs on Blackberry and Windows Mobile.
• Attendance was down around 15% which probably good with this economy.  In my take besides Corporate Law,  most other types of practices are doing well.  Most of the attorneys I met were with firms 50 or less.
• Kobe can shoot.  I got to watch him score 61 points at Madison Square Guardian which is the most points a single player has scored there.
• Twitter is becoming more popular.  I heard a lot of people talking about twitter.  I think that I am going to have to start using twitter more.
• Amicus Accounting has come a long way.  I have not had much experience with the product.  Frankly Law Office Technology has been so busy that we have not had a lot of time to learn new products.  I got to see Amicus Accounting manager George Alves demo the product and I definaltely will start making a more considered effort to become an expert at the product.
• Timeslips does not have a booth at LegalTech.  That is pretty telling to me.  Dump TimeSlips and use PCLaw or Amicus Accounting. 
• Everyone loved my tablet.  Why is there no booth with Tablet PCs.  Tom O’Conner and I were talking about how it is very interesting on that Tablet’s have never taking off in the legal industry.  I will be speaking at the LSBA Solo and Small Firm Conference with James the Tablet Attorney.  Maybe he can shed some light on the subject.
• JetBlue is the best airlines ever.  They arrived a half hour going and coming, have a great selection of snacks, and I got to watch DirectTV.  However I am ticked off that they do not have ABC on DirectTV.  I was planning on watching Lost on my way home.