TechnoLawyer: Automation/Document Assembly/Macros

Coming June 20, 2008 to Fat Friday: Charles Stokes explains why his law firm remains a Dell customer, Tom Trottier reviews the Treo 680 and lists his favorite Treo apps, Kerry Hubick shares a tip about about line numbering in Microsoft Word, Thomas RuBane reviews Apple's Spaces (and we debate the use of virtual desktops versus multiple monitors), and Mark Adams reviews pdfDocs Desktop, including concrete examples of how it can solve ten common problems. Don't miss this issue.

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Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers legal forms that come bundled with automation software (see article below), contact and project management software for Mac users, and a Web application for managing your eDiscovery workflow, including legal holds. Don't miss the next issue.

Smart Legal Forms
By Peter R. Olson

Law students daydream about writing perfect legal documents. But real lawyers don't have time to daydream, and their clients don't want them to reinvent the wheel. Thus, while a law student may fret over some inconsequential detail, lawyers just want to know — Who's got the best legal form?

Masterform offers customizable legal forms for lawyers that come embedded in a document automation program that looks like a word processor. The automation features help you transform Masterform's document into your client's document. Plus, you need to make your changes only once and the form does the rest.

Masterform's documents provide standard word processing tools, but the automation tools make the documents much more flexible. For example, the forms contain blue hypertext links in nearly every paragraph. When you click, a pop-up window appears from which you can select options such as paragraph numbering or a particular clause. Click on green hypertext links for pop-up "information windows" with hints and legal references.

Masterform legal forms also save you time by automatically renumbering paragraphs, changing clause references throughout the form, inserting data such as your client's name, and matching all gender-specific words. When you're done modifying your legal form, a single click removes the embedded hyperlinks to save or print a clean, professional-looking document. You can save it in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF format, or leave it in Masterform.

Masterform currently offers the following forms: Distribution Agreement, Consulting or Services Agreements, Employee Non-Disclosure and Non-Compete, Employment Agreement, Equipment Purchase Agreement, Non-Disclosure Agreements, Web Site Development Agreement, and Work Order Agreement.

Masterform's legal forms are free for three months. After this free trial period ends, you can purchase a registration key for unlimited use for $95 per form. Learn more about Masterform.

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.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers an appliance and accompanying software for finding evidence on backup tapes during discovery or for compliance purposes (see article below), a practice management suite with a document assembly engine for law firms in high-volume practice areas (e.g., personal injury, real estate, etc.), and deposition and trial presentation software that runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Don't miss the next issue.

Nixon's Not the Only One With Secrets on Tape
By Peter Olson

Remember backup tapes? Thank goodness hard drives have largely replaced them. Or so you thought. Lots of backup tapes still exist, many created with backup software that no longer exists. If you haven't yet received backup tapes from your clients during discovery, give it time. It's bound to happen sooner or later.

Index Engines' Tape Engine 2.5 aims to take the time and hassle out of retrieving backed-up data by searching offline tape data locked in unsupported, old back-up formats. Tape Engine unlocks the data contained on backup tapes, making individual files and email easily accessible, whether for discovery purposes or regulatory compliance.

A hardware appliance with proprietary software, Tape Engine indexes tapes and makes the data immediately searchable. Importantly, you need not restore the backup tape using the original backup software. In other words, no need to hunt for old software (and a computer to run it) on eBay.

The scanning operation begins when a backup tape is mounted into a tape drive connected to Tape Engine. Tape Engine also works with virtual tape libraries. The indexing software reads through the contents of the tape, and creates full content and metadata indexes for files, email, and other electronic documents.

Tape Engine supports many backup formats, including CA ArcServe, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager, Symantec NetBackup and Backup Exec, and EMC NetWorker. Indexing occurs at tape speed (there's no getting around the laws of physics), but the footprint of the index is just 5-8% of the size of the original data, which translates into speedy searches.

Each Tape Engine can scale to 200 million files or email messages with clustered configurations available for larger environments. It supports common unstructured file types such as documents, spreadsheets, text, HTML, and PDF files, as well as Microsoft Exchange and other email systems.

Tape Engine uses a Google-like search interface that returns queries in one second or less. Dynamic de-duplication means that every file listed is unique. You can search specific parameters such as name, date, email address, etc. Once you find what you need, you can extract only those files. Learn more about Tape Engine.

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 May 13, 2008 to TechnoFeature: Have you searched for years for the right document assembly software? Attorney Daniel Fennick has. He has tried several programs, never finding the perfect solution. In this article, Daniel reviews the latest version of Pathagoras. He discusses the various features, how he evaluated it in his law practice, tech support, and even some suggestions for improvement. Overall, is Pathagoras 2008 worth your time and money? Read Daniel's review to find out.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Tuesdays, TechnoFeature is a weekly newsletter that contains in-depth articles written by leading legal technology and practice management experts. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a private label online store law firms can add to their Web site (see article below), a network appliance for handling discovery requests and legal holds, and customer relationship management software for law firms that integrates with Microsoft Outlook. Don't miss the next issue.

Open Your Own Online Legal Services Store
By Neil J. Squillante

Over the years, state bars have tried to protect lawyers by lobbying for and enforcing legislation concerning the unauthorized practice of law. By and large, these efforts have failed, especially regarding online legal forms — much to the consternation of solos and small law firms.

With Epoq's new DirectLaw, a private label Web-enabled document automation service, you can fight back the old-fashioned way — by beating the competition at their own game. DirectLaw provides your firm with a complete turnkey solution that creates a secure Web space for your clients. It integrates seamlessly with your existing Web site.

Within DirectLaw, your clients can assemble and purchase legal documents and forms, and also purchase legal advice when necessary. In other words, you can earn fees by simply reviewing common legal documents, and also provide personalized legal services for more complex needs, which the online forms providers cannot match.

Clients can select from hundreds of templates for common legal documents, including wills, powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney, marital separation agreements, divorce pleadings, and a complete collection of state-specific business documents such as corporation and LLC formation.

Once clients select a document, they complete a questionnaire in which they enter their personal information and instantly create a document ready for your review. Upon reviewing the documents, you may find other areas in which you can provide assistance. Even if the client just wants a simple form, at least it's you earning money and not some site run by non-lawyers.

Epoq provides you with a basic library of more than 200 state-specific interactive templates so that you can get up and running quickly. Epoq's Rapidocs Solo, an authoring application that comes bundled with DirectLaw, enables you to create your own templates as well.

Epoq offers DirectLaw on a subscription basis for one year or longer. As a DirectLaw subscriber, you receive access to your own secure administrative dashboard from which you can manage the client relationship, including retrieving client-created documents, uploading finished documents, and communication with clients.

In addition to Rapidocs Solo, DirectLaw also includes credit card processing of both legal documents sold through your site as well as your legal services in general. There is no set-up fee. Rates start at $495 per month for a solo practitioner. The fee increases based on the size of the firm. Epoq also provides Rapidocs Solo training for an additional fee. Learn more about DirectLaw.

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.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers document automation software that doesn't require programming skills (see article below), software designed for David Allen's Getting Things Done system, and a portable digital stereo recorder. Don't miss the next issue.

A Shorter Path to Document Automation
By Neil J. Squillante

Law firms face a conundrum when it comes to document automation technology. The people best suited to create an expert system for your law firm are the lawyers, but many lawyers don't know how to program and don't have the time to develop such skills.

Lawyer and Pathagoras founder Roy Lasris took note of this situation several years ago and developed Pathagoras, a document assembly program that doesn't require any programming. The latest version — Pathagoras 2008 — continues to build on this guiding principle.

With Pathagoras, you start by transforming existing documents and forms (your own or from any source) into templates. By simply selecting words, you can create "clauses" that you store in a "glossary" for use when drafting documents. You can also create "variables" — matter-specific information such as a client's name — just as easily.

In Pathagoras 2008, variables can contain anything you want — an address, date, name, etc. like before, but also entire documents such as terms and conditions, warranties, etc.

Along the same lines, you can assign up to ten commonly-used folders to Pathagoras' DropDown Lists. This way with one click you can quickly insert any file (photo, PDF, Word or WordPerfect, text, etc.) into a document. You don't even need to create a variable.

This focus on timesavers permeates the new version. For example, the new interface enables you to more readily access a greater number of clauses, files, images, and templates than ever before. Also, a number of helpful utilities make it easier to manage your forms library and associated resources.

Other features include PathSmart and SaveSmart for quickly accessing and saving files in designated locations, Name and Subject Editor for displaying and renaming files and folders in a spreadsheet-like table, calendar and calculator tools that can autofill dates and numbers respectively based on triggers in a document, Spell Out for spelling out numbers you enter, and much more.

Pathagoras 2008 runs on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. You can try it for free for 90 days and take advantage of free video tutorials. Prices start at $379 for a single-user license. A network version for three users sells for $799. Many other configurations exist. Existing customers qualify for reduced upgrade prices. Learn more about Pathagoras 2008.

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.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers document automation software for estate planning and other lawyers (see article below), software that enables you to send slide shows via email, and an online research service for European Union case law. Don't miss the next issue.

Stiffs and Gifts on Steroids
By Neil J. Squillante

"Computer, please draft a trust for Mr. Jones." "Hey computer, I said please draft a trust for Mr. Jones." "I'm talking to you!" "Hello, anyone home?" "Is this thing on?"

Too bad computers are still in their infancy. Although you can't give them complex tasks to do that require thinking, you can have them handle repetitive tasks. The latest entrant in the document automation space is Fore! Trust Software, which recently shipped Trusts & Wills. As its name suggests, Trusts & Wills aims to help estate planning lawyers crank out said documents for their clients.

Covering the District of Columbia and every state except Louisiana, Trusts & Wills features HotDocs-based templates that walk you through a series of questions. The company emphatically states that these templates are much more advanced than "canned forms." The company also claims that any lawyer can use them — even those without much estate planning experience. HotDocs is hidden from view so you also don't need any document assembly experience. You do need a pulse though.

Trusts & Wills includes templates for joint trusts, reciprocal trusts, A/B trusts, QTIPs, probate avoidance trusts, QDOT, gifts, debt forgiveness, special needs trusts, pet trusts, charitable foundations, family pots, per stripes, unequal distributions, delay trusts, generation-skipping trusts, pour-over wills, power-of-attorney, marital property agreement, living wills, codicils, amendments, model letters (including CYA letters for funding and holding original documents), revocation of trust, appointment of co-trustee, transfer documents, and much more.

Trusts & Wills requires Windows. In the preferences, you can elect which terms to use (e.g., settlor or trustor), whether to use familiar or traditional language, and whether to use unitrust or net income. Unlike most software, licensing is relatively simple — you can choose between a single-user version priced at $995 or a multiple user version priced at $1,990 that everyone in your office can use. Learn more about Trusts & Wills.

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 January 22, 2008 to TechnoFeature: Today's software programs have lots of bells and whistles. But sometimes these features detract from what you actually want to get done, thus increasing the learning curve. In this article, attorney Timothy Donovan reviews EasyDocs w/PDF+ (EasyDocs), a document automation program that focuses on a few core tasks. Tim discusses what he likes, what he doesn't like, and where EasyDocs fits into the average law practice. As an added bonus, Easy Soft accepted our invitation to respond to Tim's observations.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Tuesdays, TechnoFeature is a weekly newsletter that contains in-depth articles written by leading legal technology and practice management experts. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a suite of PDF tools for law firms (see article below), a gadget that enables you to securely use the Internet on any computer, and eDiscovery software designed to expedite the document review process. Don't miss the next issue.

PDF: The Next Generation
By Taeho Lim

When law firms first discovered the PDF format years ago, they quickly embraced it thanks to its ability to preserve any document regardless of its native format. However, the PDF-related needs of law firms have grown. The ability to create PDF files is now just the baseline.

To meet these needs, DocsCorp has released pdfDocs Desktop 2.1. This new version of its popular PDF software contains a number of legal-specific features. In addition, pdfDocs Desktop 2.1 features improved integration with popular document management systems not to mention DocsCorp's own products.

The centerpiece of the new version is the Binder feature, which enables you to automatically "bind" together a collection of documents into one file, and create a table of contents, bookmarks, links, etc. with just a few clicks. You can keep the documents in a Binder in their native format or convert them into PDF format.

Perfect for closing books, deal books, eBriefs, etc., you can apply page numbering, time/date stamps, and information from your document management system. Using the new Numbering Sets feature, you can set up and automatically apply this information to any Binder. You can establish Numbering Sets across your firm.

Also on the automation front, pdfDocs Desktop 2.1 has a Bates stamp feature for discovery and other documents that require tracking. You can apply prefixes and suffixes, and you can use Bates stamps with the Numbering Sets feature described above.

Among the other notable features, you can automatically convert email attachments into PDF format to safeguard documents, redact, watermark, annotate, and repaginate PDF files, and create secure PDF files.

In terms of integration, pdfDocs Desktop 2.1 integrates with Hummingbird DM, Interwoven WorkSite, Open Text, TRIM Context, and Worldox out of the box. You can right-click on a document within your document management system to create a PDF version of that file. In other words, no need to check it out and check it in again. Your document management system will still provide an audit trail showing the PDF creation. You can also add documents directly to a Binder in this fashion.

pdfDocs Desktop 2.1 also integrates with DocsCorp's other products, including pdfDocs OCR Server (converts imaged text into editable and searchable text), pdfDocs formFiller (a soup-to-nuts PDF forms solution), and pdfDocs compareDocs (document comparison for any file type). Learn more about pdfDocs Desktop 2.1.

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.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a deposition transcript and video management program (see below), automated document scanning software, and an Outlook add-on for sending email newsletters and email greeting cards. Don't miss the next issue.

The Next Best Thing to Live Testimony
By Taeho Lim

A long time ago, filmmaker George Lucas wrote the following in his screenplay for a movie called "Star Wars": "Luke pushes off and they swing across the treacherous abyss to the corresponding hatchway on the opposite side." As thrilling as it reads, it doesn't compare to the actual visual of Luke and Princess Leia's famous jump in the finished film.

Litigators understand the impact of visuals as well as any Hollywood filmmaker. As a result, video depositions have exploded in popularity. But there's a downside to video — the myriad of of providers, camera types, codecs, encoding formats, etc. Fortunately, inData Corporation's new DepoView 5.1 addresses this issue by providing a standardized, easy-to-use format. Just ask your court reporter or videographer to deliver your next video deposition in DepoView format, along with the synchronized video.

So what exactly does DepoView do? The primary screen displays the video on the right side and corresponding portion of the synchronized transcript on the left side. A Search box enables you to find keywords and watch that portion of the testimony. You can also use the hyperlinked index to jump to a relevant portion of the transcript.

When you find a section you'd like to "clip," simply select the testimony and click the "Make Clip" button. You can then export these clips and use them in inData's TrialDirector trial presentation software as well as in other programs such as LiveNote, PowerPoint, CT Summation, etc. You can also display your clips in full screen mode using DepoView itself.

DepoView also enables you to work with the transcript text and and view accompanying exhibits. You can print full or condensed transcripts and exhibits.

The new version of DepoView 5.1 features an updated interface and enhanced compatibility with popular litigation support tools such as the ability to export true Summation .sbf files. DepoView users also now have the option to send transcript text with or without video when creating a new PowerPoint presentation. Rendering of condensed transcript printing has also been improved in the latest version.

DepoView is usually offered at little or no charge from your local videographer or court reporter, as part of their video syncing services. Learn more about DepoView 5.1.

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.