TechnoLawyer: Automation/Document Assembly/Macros

Originally published in the September 28, 2012 issue of SmallLaw: If teenagers across the country can efficiently churn out Big Macs that taste identical, certainly you can more efficiently churn out error-free legal documents. In this issue of SmallLaw, law firm technology consultant Ben Schorr explains how to use AutoCorrect and AutoText Quick Parts to build documents that contain specific words, phrases, paragraphs, and even pages. Because they're features of Microsoft Word you need not buy anything. You just need to learn how to use them by following Ben's instructions. Also, don't miss the SmallLaw Pick of the Week for a review of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 Premium.

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Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers document assembly software that is itself automated (see article below), an iPhone app that can trigger actions in other apps with one tap, a mobile scanner that weighs less than a pound, a cloud application for culling, reviewing, and producing discovery documents, and a free marketing service for lawyers. Don't miss the next issue.

THE AUTOMATION OF DOCUMENT AUTOMATION SOFTWARE

Document assembly software enables you to create legal documents faster and without embarrassing errors that can occur when recycling previous documents. Let's call this Document Assembly 1.0, which has existed for about 20 years (maybe longer). In version 2.0, your document assembly software itself needs to become more automated so that you can create new templates just as quickly as you can create documents from those templates.

Pathagoras 2013.1 … in One Sentence

Launched this week, Pathagoras 2013.1 is a document assembly add-on for Microsoft Word.

The Killer Feature

Pathagoras has two claims to fame — the ability to create document templates using simple plain text variables such as "[Client Name]" and "[Client Address]" rather than a scripting language, and the ability to work within the familiar environment of Microsoft Word.

The new version adds a third crowd pleaser — Instant Database. As you complete templates, Pathagoras automatically stores all your variables and related information in its own database. This makes it faster to create new templates and also to enter and reuse case-related information. The company has also improved its Create Variables and Create Options wizards to further expedite the creation of new templates.

The company claims that these new features significantly shorten the time needed to create templates (e.g., a motion and an accompanying affidavit). You simply use the plain text variables from other documents to create the new templates, and reuse the stored client data to fill in the variables.

"While we continue to add more useful features and significantly more value to the product, we have remained true to our plain text underpinnings," President and Chief Programmer of Pathagoras Roy Lasris told us. "Our latest version is easier to set up and use than ever before.

Other Notable Features

Continuing with its focus on speed, the new Quick Picks feature enables you to create a custom menu containing up to 12 of your most frequently-used Pathagoras functions.

Similarly, new tools facilitate the creation of MultiChoice Lists for your documents. For example, you can quickly create a MultiChoice List of all 50 states, counties in which you practice, names of judges, etc. for rapid entry into any document.

Your clients can lend a helping hand with document creation. From Pathagoras you can send them an email message with a fill-in-the-blanks form. After they complete and return it, you automatically import the information into Pathagoras' Instant Database, which makes this data available for use in documents created for their matters.

Other features include improved connectivity with Excel spreadsheets (including for mail merges), tools for optional and conditional clauses, calendar and math variables, a text expander for entering boilerplate text with just a few keystrokes, new search and replace tools that work with variables and across multiple documents, and a new tool that can identify inconsistent variables among your templates.

What Else Should You Know?

Pathagoras 2013.1 works with Microsoft Word 2003 and later versions. Pricing starts at $379 for the first license. Additional licenses cost $250. Volume discounts exist starting at $799 for three licenses. Learn more about Pathagoras 2013.1.

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So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published in the September 18, 2012 issue of SmallLaw: There's nothing unethical about charging flat fees for legal documents, and keeping your prices intact even if you reduce the amount of time you spend per document. So how can you crank our documents faster? Typing lessons? Nope. Document assembly software (some call it document automation). In this issue of SmallLaw, New Jersey lawyer Ed Zohn reviews Pathagoras 2013, which works inside Microsoft Word. Ed explains how Pathagoras works (and how well it works), how much time it takes to learn, what types of legal documents it best suits, and whether it's worth your time and money. Also, don't miss the SmallLaw Pick of the Week for a business plan that will doom a new solo practice.

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Small firm, big dreams. Written by practicing lawyers who manage successful small firms and legal technology and practice management experts who have achieved rock star status, SmallLaw provides practical advice on management, marketing, and technology issues in small law firms, as well as comprehensive legal product reviews with accompanying TechnoScore ratings. SmallLaw also links to helpful articles in other publications about solo practices and small law firms. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published in the December 14, 2012 issue of TL NewsWire. Instead of reading TL NewsWire here, sign up now to receive future issues via email.

In 2012, we reported on 205 new products in TL NewsWire. In what has become an annual tradition, today in this year's last issue of TL NewsWire we present to you the TL NewsWire Top 25 Products of 2012. You'll find commentary on the Top 10 products, a list of the next 15 products, and links for all 25 products.

How do we determine the winners? We don't. You do. Each TL NewsWire article about a new product contains a link to that product's web page. We anonymously track everyone's clicks on these links to help us figure out which types of products most interest TL NewsWire subscribers, and also to create the annual TL NewsWire Top 25 Products.

THE 10 HOTTEST TL NEWSWIRE PRODUCTS OF 2012

Congratulations to the 10 hottest products in the TL NewsWire Top 25!

1. Total Attorneys App Store

After raising a significant round of capital, Total Attorneys came out swinging this year with two cleverly framed blockbuster announcements.

Several companies announced "application programming interfaces" or APIs this year, which enable other products to more easily integrate with theirs. To its credit, Total Attorneys chose not to use this term given that most lawyers are not programmers and therefore don't know what it means.

Instead, Total Attorneys announced an app store. Thanks to Apple, everyone knows what that means! Using this colloquial term vaulted Total Attorneys App Store to the top of the TL NewsWire Top 25. So congratulations to Total Attorneys not only for the add-ons it announced, but also for how the company framed this announcement.

2. Total Attorneys

Before launching its app store, Total Attorneys relaunched its cloud practice management system. This alone would have likely earned it a spot on the TL NewsWire Top 25. But Total Attorneys also announced an incredibly low price of just $1 per user per month, which explains its second place ranking.

Total Attorneys isn't crazy. Instead, like Amazon's strategy of selling its Kindle tablets at or below cost and later earning a profit on ebooks and other content, Total Attorneys essentially gives away its practice management system with the hope that you'll purchase apps such as credit card processing.

3. CitePin

When we reported on CitePin, we called it the "Evernote of the Legal Industry" as it's a cloud application designed to keep track of legal information such as legal research in a freeform manner but with legal-specific features.

CitePin clearly excited many of you. Just one caveat. This company reminds me of the Pink Floyd song, Is There Anybody Out There? We could not find an email address. We filled out the contact form requesting a screenshot to no avail (our thanks to LawSites for letting us use one of its screenshots).

4. TheFormTool PRO

According to the CEO of TheFormTool, the TechnoLawyer Network, including TL NewsWire, enabled the company to grow much faster than it originally anticipated.

TheFormTool PRO adds document assembly functionality to Microsoft Word without the need for programming skills. Because of the intense interest in TheFormTool PRO, we reviewed it twice from two perspectives in our BigLaw and SmallLaw newsletters.

5. MobileScan Pro 100

It would shock me if a scanner didn't make the TL NewsWire Top 25. In many law firms, scanners have become as essential a peripheral as printers. In fact, many law firms find that they need several types of scanners — high-volume, network, desktop, and mobile.

Ambir's new scanner garnered so much attention from TL NewsWire subscribers because it's the Batman of scanners — highly mobile with a dual personality. It functions as both a sheet-fed scanner and as a wand scanner. Also, it can scan without any cables to a Micro USB card.

6. Workshare PDF Professional Plus 2.0

Workshare PDF Professional 1.0 ranked second in last year's TL NewsWire Top 20. And here is version 2.0 ranked sixth in this year's TL NewsWire Top 25. Acrobat XI Pro also made the list this year but it's further down. That's because while PDF software is a hot topic, PDF software designed specifically for lawyers is an even hotter topic.

You probably found Workshare PDF Professional's support for PDF/A and its file size shrinking technology of interest given that many courts require this format and have file size limits. Version 2.0 also offers integrations with Autonomy Worksite and Microsoft SharePoint, two popular document management systems used by midsize and large law firms.

7. eBillity

eBillity has interesting origins. One of its co-founders used to work at Bill4Time, a cloud legal billing software pioneer. As a result, the two products share a number of features, chief among them an iPhone app as well as desktop widgets for Mac and Windows. Also, the pricing for Bill4Time and eBillity is identical.

Perhaps because of its late entry into the marketplace, eBillity has teamed up with larger companies. For example, it powers Thomson Reuters' new Time and Billing product. And when Intuit abandoned its cloud billing product, it recommended that its customers switch to eBillity.

8. Harvest

Harvest serves the billing needs of several industries, including legal. It offers both iPhone and Android apps, thus covering the majority of TechnoLawyer members (49% use an iPhone; 28% use an Android smartphone). For law firms with three or more timekeepers, Harvest costs less than rival products.

9. CaseFox

Clearly, TL NewsWire subscribers like cloud billing software as CaseFox also falls into this category. We cited CaseFox's ability to accommodate temporary contract lawyers as its Killer Feature. CaseFox also falls on the less expensive end of the pricing spectrum.

10. PDF Converter 8

We covered three new Nuance products this year. Not surprisingly, its PDF software received the most attention.

PDF Converter 8 is practically a word processor given its editing capabilities. That's why you'll find some of Nuance's Dragon speech recognition technology built into the software. Like Workshare PDF Professional, PDF Converter 8 integrates with a number of products popular among lawyers, including CaseMap and Worldox.

THE NEXT 15 HOTTEST TL NEWSWIRE PRODUCTS OF 2012

Congratulations to the 15 remaining products in the TL NewsWire Top 25 Products of 2012!

11. OmniOutliner for iPad

12. Leap

13. Amicus Attorney Premium Edition 2012

14. Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

15. HoverBar

16. Acrobat XI Pro

17. Apollo

18. Standzfree

19. TranscriptPad

20. Disconnect

21. DocMoto

22. Amicus Cloud

23. Samsung ML-2165W Mono Laser Printer

24. iPad 3

25. SwingHolder

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published in the July 31, 2012 issue of SmallLaw: In TL NewsWire in January 2012, we were the first to report on a new document assembly add-on for Microsoft Word called TheFormTool PRO. Since then, the company has shipped a new version. In this issue of SmallLaw, Microsoft Office expert Jeanette Otis, who works for a Bloomington, Illinois personal injury lawyer, reviews TheFormTool PRO. Jeannette used it for several months on real documents to find out if it's a worthwhile investment for a small law practice. In her review, Jeannette walks you through the installation, basic features, and advanced features — and also bestows a TechnoScore. Also, don't miss the SmallLaw Pick of the Week for good advice about how to escape a trap in which many managing partners find themselves.

How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Written by practicing lawyers who manage successful small firms and legal technology and practice management experts who have achieved rock star status, SmallLaw provides practical advice on management, marketing, and technology issues in small law firms, as well as comprehensive legal product reviews with accompanying TechnoScore ratings. SmallLaw also links to helpful articles in other publications about solo practices and small law firms. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published in the May 29, 2012 issue of SmallLaw: Given the prevalence of PDF forms, it's a shame that so many lawyers still print them out whether for the signature or even the entire form. After all, you're not always in your office. And if it's your client who needs to fill out the form, you don't want them sitting in front of your computer. But it would be cool to hand your client an iPad. In this issue of SmallLaw, legal technology consultant and iPad expert Brett Burney evaluates three iPad apps for filling in PDF forms and chooses a winner. He also explains how to create your own PDF forms so that you can make even greater use of these apps. Also, don't miss the SmallLaw Pick of the Week for a comparative review of four iPad styli.

How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Written by practicing lawyers who manage successful small firms and legal technology and practice management experts who have achieved rock star status, SmallLaw provides practical advice on management, marketing, and technology issues in small law firms, as well as comprehensive legal product reviews with accompanying TechnoScore ratings. SmallLaw also links to helpful articles in other publications about solo practices and small law firms. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published in the May 25, 2012 issue of SmallLaw: Maybe it's still spring where you work, but Gadsden, Alabama lawyer Clark Stewart already feels the summer heat so he has decamped to his lake house with his family for some fishing and 7 and 7s. Unfortunately, emergencies are inevitable for criminal defense lawyers like Clark. Instead of using his Windows laptop to handle the paperwork that arises, Clark would prefer to use his iPad. So we sent him the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and Clark download the new CloudOn app, which provides iPad users with Microsoft Office. Can this combination replace your Windows laptop? Read Clark's review in this issue of SmallLaw to find out. Also, don't miss the SmallLaw Pick of the Week for an overview of Microsoft's Office 365 by SmallLaw columnist Ben Schorr.

How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Written by practicing lawyers who manage successful small firms and legal technology and practice management experts who have achieved rock star status, SmallLaw provides practical advice on management, marketing, and technology issues in small law firms, as well as comprehensive legal product reviews with accompanying TechnoScore ratings. SmallLaw also links to helpful articles in other publications about solo practices and small law firms. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published in the April 3, 2012 issue of SmallLaw: Size matters. But less and less each year thanks to the cloud. Until recently, only large law firms could afford to create a client-facing document assembly system for both client development and work product purposes. Released earlier this year, HotDocs Document Services gives this powerful capability to small law firms. But how well does it work? In this issue of SmallLaw, legal document assembly expert Marc Lauritsen puts HotDocs Document Services through a series of tests and renders a verdict — and TechnoScore. Also, don't miss the SmallLaw Pick of the Week for a summary of the 11 six-minute presentations given last week at LexThink (which you can easily read in six minutes, thus saving yourself an hour).

How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Written by practicing lawyers who manage successful small firms and legal technology and practice management experts who have achieved rock star status, SmallLaw provides practical advice on management, marketing, and technology issues in small law firms, as well as comprehensive legal product reviews with accompanying TechnoScore ratings. SmallLaw also links to helpful articles in other publications about solo practices and small law firms. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL Answers contains these articles:

Edward Zohn, Tips for Buying a Scanner for Suited for Your Workflow

Arash Homampour, A Less Cluttered Alternative to Dual Monitors

Steve Buchwalter, Review: TheFormTool PRO

W.J. Beattie, What Is TWAIN and Why Should I Care?

Don't miss this issue — or any future issues.

How to Receive TL Answers
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In TL Answers, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The TL Answers newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL Answers contains these articles:

Andrew Almond, Review: Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5

Jonathan Politi, Various Solutions for Attaching Two Monitors to a Laptop; Review of Air Display for iPad

Edward Zohn, Review: SugarSync (Why I Switched From Jungle Disk)

Terence Geoghegan, Tip: Using ActiveWords for Email Signatures With Disclaimers

Don't miss this issue — or any future issues.

How to Receive TL Answers
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In TL Answers, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The TL Answers newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.