Archive for the ‘law office’Category

Litigation Software to the Rescue!

43% of litigators who participated in a recent ABA survey say that they use litigation support software. As for the 57% of you wondering what exactly litigation software is, this is your lucky day. The term litigation support software refers to an entire subgenre of database software for storing, searching, and reviewing discovery and evidentiary material. Way better than manually going through a physical file, that’s for sure! Here’s a helpful chart produced by the ABA of the different litigation software out there. For more information on the respective companies and how their software can facilitate your your litigation practice, take a look at the websites below and decide for yourself (this applies to both the 43% of you already familiar with the systems as well as the 57% of you who may be interested in making the switch):

1. Anacomp CaseLogistix
2. Lexis Nexis Concordance
3. ILS Edge
4. iCONECT
5. ImageDepot
6. IPRO eReview
7. Lexbe
8. MasterFile
9. Nextpoint
10. CT Summation iBlaze

24

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in ABA, LPM Section, Lexis-Nexis, archiving, conduct, cool stuff, e-discovery, knowledge management, law, law office, legal research, lists, litigation, media, practice management, review, search, software, storage, technology, tools, website, websites, work
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Top Ten iPhone Apps for Busy Lawyers

From Reid Trautz, Attorney and friend to Practicehackers everywhere, comes this handy article, which begins:

Here is the short-version of what Reid is talking about:

AppBoxPro.  Multi-function apps for iPhone including currency converter, date calculator, translator, etc. $0.99

Bento. Simple, powerful database.  Looks like iTunes and is designed to be easy to use.  Syncs to desktop.   Templates for common tasks included as well. $4.99

Bump. Open the app on iPhone, select how much to share, gently bump with another iPhone, and viola – the information has been shared. $free

Documents to Go (Premium Ed.) Create, edit, and view Word, Excel and PowerPoint’s, plus view PDF’s and other formats.  Essential for most every lawyer.

Dragon Dictation. Free, easy-to-use, and accurate voice-recognition on your iPhone.  Quick alternative to typing e-mails, texts, tweets, or FB updates.

DropBox. File sharing service providing online storage and access from multiple devices. Get up to 2 gigs of storage for free and 50 gigs for just $10 per month

Google Mobile. Google’s mobile app does much more then find stuff, but the voice search feature is extra cool and easier than typing.

People.  Free “White Pages” database and reverse phone # directory.

ScanR Business Center. (See also DocScanner and JotNot) Similar apps may cost less but ScanR is worth the price. Create PDFs using your iPhone camera or a picture.

Skype. You already know what this does. It works great on the  iPhone as well as the Mac.

Things. Task management app for iPhone and Mac.  Syncs and keeps you up to date.

Posted via email from practice (redux)

18

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in Apple, Blogging, apps, collaborative tools, community, current-events, disruptive technology, free, iPhone, iPhone Apps, knowledge management, law office, legal marketplace, lists, litigation, media, moblogging
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Opinion: Zelotes v. Rousseau (Total Attorneys Case)

At issue in this case was whether Chicago-based lead-generation service Total Attorneys was violating ethical rules by doing business Lawyers in the State of Connecticut. The answer apparently was no. At least, not based on the complaint brought by this Attorney-Plaintiff. The opinion is seen as a victory for free enterprise as opposed to the grip of local bar associations, which routinely monopolize Attorney-Referral Services, which are a source of profit.

I’m not saying the decision actually is a victory for anyone (other than Total Attorneys) but even the most cynical observer will admit that the idea of preventing lawyers from saving money and reaching prospective clients so that bar associations could maintain their monopoly … I mean, ensure the clients’ best interests – was heavy handed and backward-looking.

Prove me wrong. I dare you.

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09

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in Marketing, business, courts and, current-events, law, law office, legal marketplace, legal research, practice, practice management, referrals
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Network Part 2: Not Going to Take It Anymore

In Part 1 of this series I discussed the current legal research market (lame) and how Wexis was without challengers until a little company called Google smacked them upside the head last year. But the question remains: what are you going to do about it?

Change.  At Last?

Even if Google Scholar does begin the long climb into the consciousness of lawyers, goes the thinking, Wexis could certainly deal with a direct attack as it dealt with Loislaw and Fastcase before. After all the real power of the network is that it resists by tightening its grip and digging in its heels until removing it would kill the host. But direct action is not Google’s style. On the contrary, Google is king of feature creep. It excels at constant development of bells and whistles joined to a simple, irresistible feature like … search. So it’s a good bet that Google Scholar will not directly threaten Westlaw or Lexis any more than Adwords threatened Findlaw or Lawyers.com. Of course Google has relentlessly siphoned off legal marketing dollars from Wexis for the past decade regardless of its indirect approach. And like Adwords, Google Scholar is part of an even bigger network than either Westlaw or Lexis. So maybe change is possible.

At the end of the day, I believe that Google Scholar will do for legal research what Avvo did for lawyer selection: bring transparency where there was none before. If that happens then consumers of legal information including lawyers, scholars, students, and lay people, will be able to bypass the thicket of jargon and questionable practices that kept them in thrall to Wexis for a century. The result would be a body of legal research enhanced by user input (think Wikipedia) instead of a narrowly controlled, opaque system like the ones that lawyers use now. Change, at last.
Running Scared

This month the ABA Journal features a comprehensive look at the new crop of threats facing Westlaw and Lexis, including Google Scholar and Bloomberg Law. According to the article Westlaw intends to roll out it’s next-gen research platform, WestlawNext, in time for the ABA Technology Show in March; while LexisNexis will announce the new Lexis, dubbed creatively ‘New Lexis,’ later this year. But while the article makes it sound as if both companies are about to make a real technological leap, I’d advise you not to hold your breath. Westlaw and Lexis have never responded to threats with anything but cosmetic changes, falling back instead on enticement or intimidation to keep users loyal. And it has always worked, so why fix what ain’t broken? Besides, how likely is it that after generations of taking their market for granted either company will invest the time, money, or business discipline needed to break with the past? Then again, if Wexis loses its iron grip on legal the spigot of legal information then it is nothing but a search engine, and not a good one at that. Reason enough to be afraid.

I’m Mad As Hell And Not
Going to Take It Anymore
So are Westlaw and Lexis simply keeping up appearances as they did when the Internet threatened their proprietary networks in the 90’s? Or do they really think they can change everything from their business model to their corporate culture to cope with the likes of Google and Bloomberg? My guess is that, as usual, Westlaw and Lexis will talk a good game but continue to rely on contracts and intimidation over innovation. Hey, it worked for AIG, GM, and Lehman Brothers, right? And look where they are today.

Posted via email from practice (redux)

07

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in FastCase, Google, Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw, disruptive technology, knowledge management, law, law office, legal research, media, new media, old media, realtime, search, semantic search, software, web 2.0
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list.it – easy notes anywhere

I’m a real fan of apps, applets, add-ons, and other bite-sized web-enabled tools that make life easier. List.it is a perfect example. It’s super-simple and enables you to do one thing easily: take notes in any browser, organize them fast, take them anywhere via mobile device, or just check them out on any computer. Notes are securely stored remotely, and accessible through any browser. Sure, there are already a lot of free bookmarking services, note-taking services, and list services such as

But list.it goes the extra mile to be simpler, easier to use, and a cinch to manage. So what’s not to like?

Posted via email from practice (redux)

04

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in 37 Signals, GTD, Video, apps, collaborative tools, cool stuff, current-events, disruptive technology, free, iPhone Apps, knowledge management, law, law office, legal research, lists, manager, practice, practice management, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, web 2.0, websites, widget, youtube
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Ahh … that New Lexis Smell


Today LexisNexis unveiled a partnership with Microsoft at LegalTech NY – the result is meant to foreshadow the complete revamp of the Lexis research system due out later this year, and dubbed New Lexis. In short, the company’s answer to WestlawNext, which was unveiled at LT NY yesterday. As a result of the partnership, a LexisNexis tab can now be integrated into the ribbon that Microsoft began using in Office 2007 and continues to use in Office 2010 beta as a substitute for the profusion of button bars in Office 2003. Users can conduct legal research, Internet searches on Bing and Google, even Sheppardize, all from within their Word, Outlook, or SharePoint document.

According to Clemens Ceipek, vice president of New Lexis, our customers spend their time … in e-mails or in Word creating or reviewing documents. That is exactly what we are doing. As a lawyer you no longer need to go to a separate, dedicated site to get the information.” Ideally this means that a user reviewing a brief in Word can click on the Shepard’s tab and confirm the status of all cases in the document at once. If the user wants to read the cases, clicking on another tab splits the screen and pulls up the cases. This same integration of information could extend to items within a firm’s own network or document management system in addition to items from Lexis databases or the Internet.

via abajournal.com

Posted via email from practice (redux)

02

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in ABA, ABA Jounral, Article, Lexis-Nexis, Microsoft, Microsoft Outlook, Office, Quick Review, Westlaw, Word, apps, competition, current-events, disruptive technology, document automation, document exchange, enterprise, knowledge management, law office, legal research, media, new media, news, old media, practice, practice management, review, software, technology, the business of law, tips, tools
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Turns Out Talking is a Great Way to Communicate

The ABA recently posted an article in its Law Practice Management (LPM) section with the following title – and I kid you not – “How ‘Pointless Interaction’ Helped Law Firm Communication .” Naturally, I was intrigued. I expected a study of some sort or statistics at least… but instead I got this:

Surveys of young lawyers’ attitudes show [that] they report feeling “isolated, overspecialized and dehumanized… So any initiative that treats them like individuals and communicates with them like humans will enhance morale and improve retention.

But what I really loved was this little nugget:

As the lawyers got to know each other, they warmed to each other, floated ideas and formed collaborative alliances.

Wow, what an enlightened concept! Talking to your employees leads to productive collaboration. I’ll be the first to admit that technology has greatly facilitated our job as attorneys – it is after all a reason why PracticeHacker even exists – but have we seriously gotten to the point where gadgets have replace actual human interaction?

Hmmm, well, I’ll think about that.  After I respond to the text message I just received.

28

01 2010


by practicehacker
posted in ABA, ABA Jounral, LPM Section, careers, collaborative tools, community, disruptive technology, employment, law office, media, practice management, the business of law, tips
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