TechnoLawyer: CLE/News/References

Coming October 26, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Cynthia Shippam reviews Inteum, an intellectual property licensing management program, Paul Lepine provides two killer Outlook printing tips, Mike Burke reviews a listserver and time-billing solution for Mac-using lawyers, Manuel Quilichini provides scanning tips for those concerned about file size and quality, and William Brown suggests a more thorough way to combat spyware. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a thrice 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.

Thanks to CBA PracticeLink Editor Mark Kuiack and his colleagues at the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), all 35,000 CBA members are now entitled to a free one year TechnoLawyer Archive subscription.

The TechnoLawyer Archive is a searchable Web-based repository of all TechnoLawyer content since September 1999. Unlike our popular newsletters, the TechnoLawyer Archive is not free. We charge $65 for a one year subscription.

When I set out to work with bar associations a few months ago, I have to admit that I was thinking solely about US bar associations (I'll have some announcements in that regard next week). Fortunately, longtime TechnoLawyer and CBA members Dan Pinnington and Christopher Pike introduced me to Mark and the rest is history — and historic!

Mark guided our proposal through approvals at the CBA's national office and we soon found ourselves signing the agreement and exchanging high-fives. (Okay, no high-fives since I signed it in New York and he signed it in Ottawa, but we exchanged exuberant email messages.)

I would like thank Mark for getting the ball rolling! He and the CBA truly are models for all bar associations seeking to procure benefits for their members.

Are You a Member of the CBA?

If you're a current CBA member, just visit the CBA PracticeLink Web site to redeem your free one year TechnoLawyer Archive subscription.

Not a Member of the CBA?

The TechnoLawyer Archive is a terrific resource that has received rave reviews from Law Office Computing and others. We'd like every lawyer in North America to have free access.

Do you belong to a bar association? Would you like this benefit? If so, I need your help.

Please contact the executive at your bar association in charge of member benefits, tell him/her about our offer (perhaps point to this blog post), and ask him/her to contact me (the bottom of every page on our site has a contact link).

Just so you know, all we're asking in return from bar associations is a plan to inform their members about the benefit. There's no point in providing a free subscription if no one knows it exists.

PS: Don't worry paralegals! We plan to work with your associations too. One step at a time.

Coming October 24, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Susan Borgos offers an alternative to the "nuclear option" for weeding out spyware, William Hodes discusses the cost and security of using a static IP address for remote access, Gil Marquez points to some helpful antispyware resources available online, Jonathan Warshay reviews a free utility that cleans out old, unnecessary files from your computer, and Michael Raskin explains how to easily print out a list of e-mails in Outlook. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a thrice 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.

Forty years ago, President Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act, which abolished discriminatory barriers designed to limit minority participation in elections.

TechnoLawyer member and voting rights lawyer Edward Still served as a source for and was quoted in a recent article in the Tuscaloosa News commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

In particular, the article states: "Voting rights attorney Ed Still of Birmingham called the 1965 law that outlawed poll taxes and voting tests the first generation of laws needed to break the white hold on voter registration in Alabama and the South, where blacks often made up 25 percent of the population. 'The second generation of issues came in the early 1970s and those were over trying to dismantle at-large [election] districts,' Still said last week." Read the entire article (free registration required).

You can learn more about Ed Still and his practice (he also handles employment and civil rights matters) on his site Votelaw.com.

About Member News
TechnoLawyer members are among the most gifted and prominent in the legal profession. In the Member News section of TechnoLawyer Blog, we report on their latest accomplishments and success stories — everything from court victories to articles and books to new partner announcements — and much more. If you're a newsmaker, but not yet a member, join TechnoLawyer now, and then contact our newsdesk.

Coming October 12, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Dianna Reynolds explains how to use Amicus Attorney to track real estate deals, Jerry Sullenberger points to a resource with legal salary information, Monica D`Amore and Cathy Prichard review PracticeMaster for sharing calendars and contacts, and Jon Manchester reviews his Fellowes paper shredder. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a thrice 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.

Longtime TechnoLawyer member Ellen Freedman presides over Freedman Consulting, a legal technology consulting firm that primarily serves the Delaware and Lehigh Valley. On her site you'll find dozens of practice management articles she has penned for the Pennsylvania Bar Association where she serves as Law Practice Management Coordinator.

As if that weren't enough to keep her busy, Ellen recently launched Law Practice Management, a blog designed to "assist your firm in managing the business side of your practice." What makes Ellen's blog noteworthy is that she draws her material not from fellow bloggers, but from the lawyers she helps both at her consultancy and at the Pennsylvania Bar Association. You won't find much navel-gazing here, but rather genuinely helpful information.

Recent posts have discussed rainmaking, VoIP, cell phone viruses, and law firm Web sites.

Welcome to the blawgosphere, Ellen!

About Member News
TechnoLawyer members are among the most gifted and prominent in the legal profession. In the Member News section of TechnoLawyer Blog, we report on their latest accomplishments and success stories — everything from court victories to articles and books to new partner announcements — and much more. If you're a newsmaker, but not yet a member, join TechnoLawyer now, and then contact our newsdesk.

You don't have time to track 100 business and technology magazines and blogs. We do. Below you'll find five excellent articles we've recently come across plus a link to a site for law firms displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Why Not Guarantee Professional Services?

Exponential Growth in Legal Outsourcing: The Numbers Tell the Story

Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting 2006

Tax Breaks for Angels

Stevie's Little Wonder

Help Katrina Lawyers

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. You can subscribe here.

TechnoLawyer member Diana Brodman Summers was earning a good living as a database administrator, but yearned for a career change so she used her retirement savings to invest in herself and pursue a law degree at night. A few days before the bar exam, her employer downsized her out of her job.

Fortunately, Diana still managed to pass the bar exam despite this bad news. Unfortunately, she could not find a job as a lawyer. "Out of 685 resumes I got three interviews, two of whom told me to my face I was too old [at 40] to be an associate."

Instead, she started contracting herself out to law firms on a per case or per month basis. Eventually, she earned enough money and developed enough of a reputation to open her own solo practice in Lisle, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. Diana primarily represents employees in employment discrimination matters, and also serves as an arbitrator for Cook County and DuPage County's Mandatory Arbitration Program.

Diana is also a best-selling author. Her current book How to Buy Your First Home has become the top-seller in its category. She recently spoke about the book on her local ABC TV station. Her other books include Illinois Landlord's Legal Guide, How to Write an Illinois Will, and How to File for Divorce in Illinois. Her next book, How to Start a Home Based Business will hit bookshelves in a few months.

As for her favorite technology tools, Diana lists Word and WordPerfect, Adobe Acrobat, Netscape, and especially Stamps.com. "It enables me to print postage whenever I want, and it keeps a records of when I printed the postage and a file of names and addresses."

You can contact Diana at (630) 955-3735.

About Member News
TechnoLawyer members are among the most gifted and prominent in the legal profession. In the Member News section of TechnoLawyer Blog, we report on their latest accomplishments and success stories — everything from court victories to articles and books to new partner announcements — and much more. If you're a newsmaker, but not yet a member, join TechnoLawyer now, and then contact our newsdesk.

Brian Livingston of Windows Secrets fame has written an excellent quartet of articles about new legislation in Michigan and Utah that amounts to a tax on legitimate commercial e-mail. According to Livingston, these laws will have no impact on spam, but they will benefit their sponsors — "contractors seeking profits and state departments seeking more revenue." In his last article, Livingston reports that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) plans to pursue litigation to have these laws stricken. The EFF is currently searching for qualified plaintiffs in Michigan and Utah on whose behalf it can file a lawsuit.

Michigan, Utah Impose Dreaded E-Mail Tax

State E-Mail Taxes Begin to Bite

How Utah, Michigan Legislators Got Fooled

EFF To Challenge E-Mail Tax Laws

How To: Chill Speech and Association While Endangering Children

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. You can subscribe here.

Coming October 3, 2005 to Answers to Questions: Ann Routos reviews HotDocs in a large firm setting, Barron Henley offers help for those experiencing problems integrating Amicus Attorney and HotDocs, Duane Murphy suggests a better way to store critical e-mail, Jeffrey Franklin suggests solutions for those having problems with Outlook and Windows XP SP2, and Sally Mendoza recommends a useful resource for researching the salaries of legal administrators. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a thrice 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