TechnoLawyer: Backup/Media/Storage

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Roger Mullins reviews his firm's experience using Nuance's Dictaphone system and provides a few tips for those looking into digital dictation, Kevin Giberson reviews the BlackBerry Storm from a Treo user's perspective, Theodore Stein discusses why reformatting a hard drive won't protect you, David Caracappa reviews the ScrapBook Firefox extension, and Jon Manchester shares his thoughts on Reveal Codes and deleting text in Word and WordPerfect. Don't miss this issue.

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Published on 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.

Earlier this year we bought four 1 TB Seagate Barracuda hard drives for our new server for $211 each — a great price at the time.

How did we get this price? We bought OEM drives.

When companies like Dell buy hard drives, they buy them by the thousands. The drives don't come individually packaged as they do at your local superstore (just imagine the outcry from environmental activists if they did). Instead, they come in volume packaging.

Nowadays, anyone can buy OEM drives from online retailers. But few of us can buy enough of them to receive the original crate from the factory as Dell does. Instead, retailers uncrate these hard drives and resell them individually using their own packaging. The risk of physical damage significantly increases as a result.

We lucked out earlier this year. All the drives worked so this issue didn't even cross my mind.

When I recently bought a new home computer, I ordered three more of these OEM drives. The price had dropped to just $133 each.

This time I was not so lucky. None of the drives worked. One had obvious physical damage.

Instead of rolling the dice again, I visited J&R Computer World (a local electronics superstore). There, I bought three Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Black internal hard drives.

Unlike OEM drives, these drives were each boxed in protective retail packaging. At $190 each, they cost considerably more than the OEM version. But I considered the premium for the packaging an insurance policy. Sure enough, all three drives worked well.

If you need an internal hard drive, buy the retail version versus the OEM version unless you have more time than money. Incidentally, you can buy the retail version online — from companies that operate brick and mortar stores — such as Best Buy and J&R Computer World.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. Please subscribe now.

Coming October 16, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Gray Strickland provides a comprehensive guide to digital dictation, David Crump reviews Loislaw for legal research, John Heckman discusses three considerations when choosing between Time Matters and PCLaw plus shares his thoughts on the CIC Consultants Forum, Morris Tabush reviews IBackup and MozyPro, and Rob Howard reviews Amicus Attorney 2008 and its integration with WordPerfect and Windows XP. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on 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 today to Answers to Questions: Corey Rich reviews the Firefox extension ScrapBook for capturing and saving Web pages, Jeff Schlueter discusses file format and device options for spoken audio as well as some thoughts on audio discovery, and Julian Garcia explains why you should avoid long file names. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on 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 Septeber 30, 2008 to TechnoFeature: Technology certainly trends towards light and portable these days. But you need more than just a pretty face. You need functionality. In this article, attorney Lee Rosen explains how to lighten your load without sacrificing productivity by conducting a six step technology audit.

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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 real estate automation software (see article below), an application for local and remote backups, and a Web clipping service with an optional iPhone counterpart. Don't miss the next issue.

Automate Your Real Estate Closings
By Neil J. Squillante

In today's real estate market, buyers and sellers want their lawyers to work more efficiently to reduce costs. That means you can either wring your hands and reminisce about the good old days or you can streamline your closings so that you can undercut the competition without reducing your profitability. If you choose the latter strategy, you'll need some help from your trusty PC.

Easy HUD ... in One Sentence
Easy Soft's Easy HUD real estate closing software automates the entire real estate closing process, enabling you to enter information once and create all the statements needed for a transaction, including HUD-1 and HUD-1A.

The Killer Feature
For real estate lawyers, the job doesn't end when the parties sign the closing documents. Other responsibilities include disbursement of and accounting for client trust monies and reporting sales proceeds to the Internal Revenue Service on form 1099-S.

With Easy HUD, you can electronically file 1099-S forms, and also print copies for the seller. This automation reduces the risk of error while also eliminating the time required to re-enter closing data.

Other Notable Features
Easy HUD doesn't only fill in forms for you, but performs calculations as well for more than 40 jurisdictions (if your state is not included, Easy Soft will add it for you). Easy HUD can handle just about any situation, including transactions with two loans, and up to 8 buyers and 8 sellers.

If you handle many similar transactions, you can create templates for HUD-1 and HUD-1A and share them throughout your firm. You can output completed forms in PDF or Word format. A case log lists all transactions and their status.

An integrated ledger can automatically adjust for pre-disbursements, earned deposits, and mortgage yield spread premiums. You can combine or split checks, print checks, and print an itemized ledger for each real estate closing.

Easy HUD integrates with two other offerings from Easy Soft — Easy Trust for managing client trust accounts, and 1099-S electronic filing service.

What Else Should You Know?
According to Easy Soft, Easy HUD's automation can reduce the time required for preparing closing documents by 70%. Easy HUD runs on Windows and costs $149.50 for a one year license with tech support and upgrades. Additional annual licenses cost $49.50 each. Learn more about Easy HUD.

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 new format for video depositions (see article below), a telephone system for small and midsize firms, and a network appliance for archiving email. Don't miss the next issue.

Depositions Hit the Big Screen
By Peter R. Olson

Video has revolutionized depositions. Remember those depositions of Bill Gates with a scowl on his face, speaking in a monotone? Powerful stuff — assuming you can see it that is. Until now deposition videos have primarily existed in MPEG-1 format. Translation — grainy quality not exactly up to Hollywood standards. Time to shake things up.

DepoView DVD ... in One Sentence
inData Corporation's DepoView DVD enables you to use a DVD player to view your deposition video and the accompanying transcript at very high quality (MPEG-2) on a television or a computer monitor.

The Killer Feature
Using your DVD player's remote control, you can switch among three modes — watching the video only, reading the transcript only, or a combination in which the transcript appears below the video as subtitles. You can jump to any page as well. The high-quality video enables you (and eventually the judge and jury) to see every nuance as the deponent answers questions — from facial expressions to body language.

Other Notable Features
A DepoView DVD provides you with everything you need — the ability to view depositions on any television as noted above plus the ability to work with the transcript and video on your computer.

For example, each DepoView DVD also includes nonproprietary formats such as ASCII as well as proprietary load files for popular litigation software such as inData TrialDirector, CT Summation, LiveNote, Sanction, etc. The MPEG-2/DVD codec on the DepoView DVD disc guarantees accurate playback of video.

In addition, DepoView DVD includes a complimentary copy of DepoView software for your Windows PC. DepoView, which we covered in the November 14, 2007 issue of this newsletter, enables you to clip and export video clips to PowerPoint and other presentation applications, search for keywords, print condensed transcripts, take snapshots of any frame, view exhibits, and more.

What Else Should You Know?
Every court reporter should be able to provide your transcript in DepoView DVD format. They can obtain the necessary software from inData. The cost to order a video deposition in DepoView DVD format starts at $5 per deposition, plus any related syncing costs. While the DepoView application requires a Windows PC, DepoView DVD works in any DVD player whether attached to a television or in your computer. Learn more about DepoView DVD.

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 assembly software with built-in knowledge management (see article below), a document archiving system, and a practice management and electronic billing system for corporate legal departments. Don't miss the next issue.

Shift Your Document Drafting Into Overdrive
By Peter R. Olson

Lawyers will never admit it even behind closed doors, but the profession's dirty little secret is that much of time billed during document drafting involves non-legal work like chasing down templates and formatting documents. Eliminating these inefficiencies can boost revenue in the case of law firms (charge the same for less work) and reduce costs in the case of corporate legal departments. But how?

Ixio Legal QShift Version 2.0 ... in One Sentence
Ixio Legal QShift 2.0 is a clause-based document assembly system that automates document drafting by enabling everyone in your office to use your best templates along with alternative clauses and instructions on how and when to use them.

The Killer Feature
Ixio Legal QShift captures the knowledge associated with each document. It keeps track of who drafted it and when, the best practice template used as the source and where it's stored, and most importantly why the clauses in the document were selected.

By capturing the author's thought processes while drafting the document, Ixio Legal QShift creates a contemporaneous log of the author's expressed intention — helpful if questions, problems, or disputes later arise.

Other Notable Features
When creating templates, you can elect to make clauses optional or required. In alternative clause situations, you can designate one as the default, and also create rules such as "choose at least one," "choose only one," etc. To further help those using the templates, you can annotate templates and clauses.

Ixio Legal QShift enables you to create a consistent look to documents, eliminating the need for your colleagues to waste time formatting. The template-based system also makes it easy to update templates firm-wide since you need only make the changes in one place. There's no need to worry about several different versions floating around the office.

If drafters have a question, they can email the author from within Ixio Legal QShift. These dialogues are saved along with the annotations for the benefit of others. Similarly, you can use this email capture technology with opposing counsel to save time when renewing a contract or negotiating multiple contracts for similar deals with the same parties.

What Else Should You Know?
Ixio Legal QShift requires Windows 2000 or XP. Ixio licenses the software on a subscription basis and also offers template creation and training services. An Author License (create and use templates) sells for $99 per user per month, whereas a Drafter License (use templates) sells for $59 per user per month. The licenses include upgrades and technical support. Learn more about Ixio Legal QShift 2.0.

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 August 28, 2008 to Answers to Questions: David Hudgens explains why you should consider a larger second monitor or LCD TV instead of a third monitor, Fredric Gruder reviews Mozy for online backup, and Sandy Hagman shares more Paste Special tips for Word 2003 and Office 2007. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on 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 culling solution for electronic discovery documents (see article below), a network-ready multifunction inkjet printer, and an online service in which your clients can store their estate planning documents and you can earn referral revenue. Don't miss the next issue.

Make a Mountain Into a Molehill
By Peter R. Olson

Your latest case involves 200GB of data. Piece of cake, right? After all, it can all fit on a cheap $80 hard drive. Guess again. That could easily mean 15 million pages and hundreds of thousands of dollars in processing costs. Now, how exactly can you and your team get through that amount of data on deadline while justifying the costs?

Discovery360 DataMapper ... in One Sentence
InterLegis' Discovery360 DataMapper module enables you to cull irrelevant and duplicate documents prior to full processing, thus saving time and money.

The Killer Feature
Used by both corporate counsel and their outside counsel, Discovery360 DataMapper saves money by eliminating irrelevant documents before you spend time actively reviewing documents. By creating a smaller collection of documents to review, it also reduces the risk of inadvertently producing privileged information.

Discovery360 DataMapper can reduce irrelevant documents in your dataset by 20-80% prior to processing. The extent of the reduction depends on the nature of your document collection.

Other Notable Features
Traditional culling processes typically involve manual labor and don't afford much flexibility. Discovery360 DataMapper takes a new approach by enabling you to run as many "what if" scenarios as you want before you commit to a particular set of documents to process. You can even generate reports to further explore the various options.

To help you with this task, Discovery360 DataMapper employs InterLegis' visual analytics tools. For example, you can extract and index metadata and text from native files (discovery documents in their original formats), and visually group them by concept as well as search them. Discovery360 DataMapper also features on-the-fly de-duplication technology so that you can eliminate duplicate documents.

Once you've settled on your final dataset, you can "seamlessly" load the selected files into your preferred review environment, including of course Discovery360 Reviewer.

What Else Should You Know?
Discovery360 users can use Discovery360 DataMapper at no additional charge. Learn more about Discovery360 DataMapper.

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.