TechnoLawyer: Computer Accessories

Coming May 29, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Wendy Parker reviews ExpressScribe and ExpressDictate from NCH, Michael Campbell reviews LexisNexis and Westlaw (and shares an insider's tip regarding Lexis' adhesion contract), Kurt Schoettler explains how to copy and paste from Word to WordPerfect without any formatting, Lawrence King reviews Ergotron's dual monitor stands, and Morris Tabush explains how to set up a wireless scanner. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a 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 May 30, 2008 to Fat Friday: Harry Steinmetz responds to the continuing biglaw associate salary thread, John Pierce reviews eGroupware as an open source alternative for shared calendars, contacts, and more, Tom Rowe defends his position on legal cross-selling and upselling, Mary Brooksby reviews using Bluetooth headsets and Amicus Attorney with her Palm Treo 680, and Peter Pike suggests another rule for modern day email etiquette. 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 May 22, 2008 to Answers to Questions: John Starkweather reviews MasterFile litigation support software, Miriam Jacobson explains how she set up her scanner on a wireless network, Kendra Kleber shares the details of her office furniture setup and why it works for her, Douglas Folk provides a simple solution to keep power fluctuations from affecting legal software (and damaging hardware), and Andrew Willinger reviews Yahoo Calendar for law firms. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a 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 May 1, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Tim Hughes reviews Westlaw and LexisNexis for legal research plus adds his two cents on adhesion contracts, Thomas Collon reviews Google calendar and Mozilla Thunderbird for shared calendars, John Kaurloto explains how to use subforms to automatically link to documents in Microsoft Access, Ryan Opria reviews IOGEAR's USB 2.0 External Video Card for using multiple monitors with a laptop, and Steven Schwaber responds to a previous Post that criticized WordPerfect. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a 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.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a new business productivity suite with legal-specific features (see article below), a plug-in for Gmail and Google Apps email, and the world's most advanced keyboard. Don't miss the next issue.

Fabled Word Processor Meets PDF, Falls in Love
By Neil J. Squillante

Traditionally, the software industry presented law firms with a dilemma — single-task best-of-breed programs or easier to manage but lower quality all-in-one programs. And then came the suite, which offers best-in-class programs designed to work together.

Corel's new suite, Corel WordPerfect Office X4, seeks to take the suite where it has never ventured before with new features and programs that eliminate the need to purchase standalone programs from other companies.

At the heart of the new suite lies WordPerfect X4, which features a robust set of PDF tools. You can create, import, edit, and archive PDF files (including PDF/A). WordPerfect integrates with most scanners and now has its own OCR engine so you can convert scanned PDFs into editable text to save as WordPerfect, PDF, or Microsoft Word formats.

WordPerfect can handle just about any document format, including Microsoft Word 2007. You can also convert between formats. If you have become accustomed to Microsoft Office, you can make all of WordPerfect's keystrokes and menus mirror those of Word.

WordPerfect X4 also eliminates the need for tools for redaction, metadata, and legal utilities as it includes these functions. You can redact documents in any supported format, including Microsoft Word and PDF. You can save documents without any metadata. The Legal Toolbar enables you to create tables of authorities and tables of contents, and the Pleading Filler creates pleadings that will satisfy any court. Corporate lawyers will find redlining tools as well as the ability to publish to EDGAR.

This being a suite, Corel also includes a number of other programs, including some that are new. For example, WordPerfect Lightning is a "Web-connected digital notebook" in which you can capture your ideas and other information (text and images) as well as quickly view files in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, or PDF format. It also includes Snapshot Tool for taking screenshots, The Navigator for organizing and sharing the information you collect, and The Connector for online contact management and calendaring.

If these and Corel's other new additions to the suite aren't enough, WordPerfect Office X4 also provides many customization options. For example, you can use PerfectScript or Microsoft Visual Basic to create macros and run scripts. In addition, Corel can work with your firm to customize WordPerfect X4 and the other components of the suite for your specific needs.

Corel WordPerfect Office X4 sells for $299. Users of previous versions can upgrade for $159. Learn more about Corel WordPerfect Office X4.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that briefly discusses and provides links to three hot new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. You can subscribe here.

Coming April 18, 2008 to Fat Friday: Barron Henley clarifies some misconceptions about lawyers and word processors, Kerry Hubick reviews Laplink's PCmover for migrating files from an old computer to a new one, James Atkins shares how he improved his remote access speeds when working at home, Roger Jones discusses the many benefits of left-hand mousing, and David Estes reviews the Treo 700p. 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.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers an online application for managing your firm's relationships with car services, technology that enables your firm to pursue new business and lateral hires even when ethical conflicts arise (see article below), and a new wireless keyboard and mouse. Don't miss the next issue.

Good Walls Make Happy Clients
By Neil J. Squillante

Raise your hand if this scenario occurs at your firm. A large public company wants to hire your firm. To ensure that no conflicts exist, everyone at the firm has to fill out a questionnaire about that company — stock holdings, previous employment, etc. If a conflict arises, you have to figure out a way to reassure the company that you can still handle the matter and safeguard confidential work product from the tainted few.

The problem is that every employee can access your document management system, including contract lawyers. You don't have real safeguards, just an ad hoc honor system. Sorry, but that won't cut it nowadays in these highly regulated times. Sarbanes-Oxley anyone?

Enter IntApp's Wall Builder 3.2, a Web-based application that enables you create ethical walls to isolate certain people from certain information, enabling your firm to take on new cases and even pursue lateral hires.

Wall Builder's wizard-driven interface enables you to construct and configure these walls. It also creates an audit trail so that you can prove (if necessary) that so and so never had access to such and such.

Wall Builder integrates with Interwoven and Open Text/Hummingbird so that you can restrict access to documents. It similarly integrates with other applications with sensitive data such as accounting, billing, CRM, records, search, portals, etc.

Wall Builder doesn't just do what you tell it to do. It also "learns" in a manner of speaking. For example, if you handle matters for two adverse clients and you work on a document for one of these clients, Wall Builder will prevent you from accessing the other client's files.

As you might imagine, Wall Builder has layers of security, enabling your firm to delegate wall creation to certain members of your staff with oversight by more senior management. Wall Builder can scale to accommodate up to 150,000 client records and 700,000 matter records. If you need more coverage than that, God bless you. Learn more about Wall Builder 3.2.

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.

Coming April 4, 2008 to Fat Friday: Jim Calloway takes Publisher Neil Squillante to task for his recent essay Why Email Kicks More Butt Than Ever (and Neil responds), Brent Blanchard reviews Palm Treo 680, Carol Bratt corrects a few misconceptions about Microsoft Office 2007 and reviews this new version, David Sergi explains why his law firm still advertises in the Yellow Pages, and Harold Burstyn responds to a Post about ambidextrous mousing and shares what works for him. 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 February 14, 2008 to Answers to Questions: John Pierce explains how to add a third monitor to an existing dual monitor setup, D. Paul Dalton discusses the inherent differences between Word and WordPerfect and his firm's experience switching to Word, Darren Cantor reviews Time Matters for case management, David Stratton reviews Microsoft OneNote 2007 for managing trial notebooks, and Damien Riehl provides links to several switches for sharing one monitor with two computers. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a 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 February 7, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Nathaniel Barber shares several tips for customizing the Microsoft Word toolbar and buttons, Will Batchler reviews QuickFile4Outlook - Lawyers Edition, John Tousley reviews his Matrox DualHeadToGo accessory for multiple monitors, Katrina Curfiss reviews PracticeMaster for small to large case loads, and Gerard Stubbert provides clear-cut file naming tips for the paperless law office. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a 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.