TechnoLawyer: Document Management

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a document management system (see article below), a digital pen that records what you write, and an application hosting service. Don't miss the next issue.

No More Document Management Excuses
By Peter R. Olson

Although every law firm needs a document management system, not every law firm has one — or at least a real one (files and folders don't suffice the minute you add a second person to the mix). But don't blame law firms. Many document management systems require a significant start up investment and learning curve. No wonder so many law firms have opted out even though they end up hurting themselves the most.

FileHold'08 ... in One Sentence
FileHold Systems' FileHold'08 is a document management software system that uses Microsoft technologies designed to reduce its cost and simplify its implementation.

The Killer Feature
FileHold makes your firm's documents available from any computer with access to the Internet, and keeps track of each version automatically thanks to "Smart Check Out/In."

For example, when you open a document and make changes, FileHold will prompt you to check out the document. When you close the document, FileHold will prompt you to check it back in, thus providing a version history and preventing lost documents and changes.

"Thanks to Smart Check Out/In, FileHold becomes the single version of the truth in a law firm," said Larry Oliver, President of FileHold Systems, when we asked him about this feature.

Other Notable Features
FileHold stores email and other electronic documents directly from your desktop. It also integrates with scanners and multifunction machines to convert paper files into organized, searchable electronic documents. Thanks to integrated OCR, you can search all scanned documents including full text and metadata (e.g., the matter) using the Google-like search bar.

FileHold files and tags (e.g., client, matter, document type, issues, etc.) documents using an automated process called "Auto Tagging" or via drop down menus.

You can view more than 150 different document formats, including WordPerfect and CAD. With one click, you can convert these documents and save them in PDF format. FileHold can apply Bates numbers to document pages, making it useful for discovery.

FileHold's workflow tools facilitate document review and approval within your firm and with clients as well via the Web. This workflow technology works hand in hand with FileHold's security features, which enable you to restrict user access to files which may contain sensitive documents.

What Else Should You Know?
FileHold comes in two versions — FileHold Express for offices with up to 10 users, and FileHold Enterprise for larger offices. FileHold Express starts at $3,795 for five users.  To help law firms contain costs, this fee includes the software,  remote installation, and two "train the trainer" training sessions. That's all most firms typically need, but you can purchase additional training if necessary. Learn more about FileHold'08.

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 8, 2008 to Fat Friday: D. Paul Dalton discusses the unique file naming convention of Canon's ScanFront 220P, Robert Broussard reviews the BlackBerry Curve 8310 versus the Treo 650 and 750, Ronald Cappuccio reviews PHONEslips, John Courtade recommends another good read about the life of an associate, and Harold Burstyn explains why our cool desk roundup doesn't suit his needs. 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 August 7, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Ginger Rendon discusses the top ten differences between ProLaw to PracticeMaster, HR Kloppenburg explains how to name files to ensure a successful paperless office, Corey Rich reviews Mozilla Thunderbird, William Carter explains how to use Microsoft Word's Reveal Formatting feature, and Joshua Stein reviews Nuance's PaperPort. 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 document management application that doesn't require a database (see article below), a business intelligence program that analyzes your firm's financial data, and litigation support software that handles discovery documents and deposition transcripts as well as trial presentations. Don't miss the next issue.

A Place For Your Stuff
By Peter R. Olson

The late comedian George Carlin had a famous routine called "A Place For Your Stuff" in which he made many keen observations about our propensity to collect "stuff." Law firms, of course, are notorious for all the "stuff" they collect. These days, much of it is electronic, but many lawyers still can't find anything. As it turns out, we don't only need a place for our stuff. We also need a better way to manage it.

Novabrain Business Explorer 4.0 ... in One Sentence
Novabrain Technologies' Novabrain Business Explorer 4.0 enables you to better organize, find, and share structured and unstructured data such as contacts, events, email, documents, and more on your own computer and across your firm.

The Killer Feature
Unlike most document management systems, Novabrain Business Explorer does not use a database to store your data. Instead, it uses XML files either on your local hard drive or a file server. As a result, you don't need a technician to get up and running.

Also, you need not upload email and documents nor must you check them out. Instead, you store everything where you normally store it, the difference being that Novabrain Business Explorer keeps track it. Think of it like iTunes for your email and documents.

Other Notable Features
Novabrain Business Explorer integrates with Microsoft Office, bringing with it a true client/matter classification system as opposed to the nested folders in Windows that many law firms use. Thus, you can save email and documents into Novabrain's index automatically by client and matter so that you can easily search for and find them later. Novabrain Business Explorer also provides version tracking so that you can access all prior versions of a document.

Novabrain Business Explorer's search goes beyond the many free desktop search tools that exist thanks to its context search capabilities. For example, instead of simply searching for a keyword, you can search for attributes such as matter and date range to improve relevancy.

What Else Should You Know?
Novabrain comes in three versions — Free, Pro, and Enterprise. The Free version is for single users. The Pro and Enterprise editions include collaboration features and the ability to search across your firm. The Enterprise edition also includes document numbering, Microsoft SharePoint integration, and centralized administration and customization. The Pro version costs $199. The price of the Enterprise version depends on various factors. Learn more about Novabrain Business Explorer 4.0.

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 July 31, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Neil Packard shares tips for Bates stamping documents and explains which format generally works best for discovery documents, Francis Jackson compares Amicus Attorney to Prevail for practice management, Simon Berglund discusses the difference between MP3 and Digital Speech Standard (DSS) devices and how to choose between them, Kerry Hubick reviews Copernic Desktop Search, and Michael Markovitz reviews PaperPort, including how he uses it with his 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 July 10, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Bob Moss reviews Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Professional and how it compares to the other versions available, Todd Taylor explains how to create a free document management system with Windows Explorer, Kerry Carroll discusses the pdfDocs Desktop suite as an alternative to Nuance's PaperPort, PDF Converter, and OmniPage, Ralph Oser points to a timely article about pasting unformatted text in Word and Outlook, and Sandy Bautch reviews QuickFile4Outlook — Lawyers Edition. 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 June 26, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Michael Schley reviews ISYS:desktop 8 compares it to free desktop search programs, Douglas Folk explains why you may not want to switch to Mac and he reviews Trend Micro OfficeScan, Wayne Grant reviews Topdeq's GO-2 desk, Phyllis Dubrow reviews PureText, and Harold Lloyd reviews Nuance products PaperPort, OmniPage, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking. 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 June 6, 2008 to Fat Friday: D. Paul Dalton reviews Logitech's MX-610 mouse and how he uses both the right- and left-hand models, Luis Perez lays down eight tips for choosing a document management system, William Kelly compares the Palm Treo 650 to the BlackBerry 8700, Steven Schwaber reviews his recent experience trying to order a Windows XP desktop from Dell (plus we suggest another option), and Stephen Hayes reviews Word 2007 from a WordPerfect user's perspective. 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 27, 2008 to TechnoFeature: The Killer Legal App can place all your documents at your fingertips and at the fingertips of your colleagues. And not just word processing documents, but all documents, including email, faxes, scanned records, etc. And it can also boost the fees you collect. Of course, no such app exists. Or does it? In this provocative TechnoFeature article, Ross Kodner wonders whether the killer legal app already exists and has existed for more than 20 years. Can you spot the elephant in the server room?

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 new Web-based time and billing application (see article below), a suite of server-based PDF applications, and a hosted wiki service for collaboration and document management. Don't miss the next issue.

Pay Me More
By Neil J. Squillante

If a typical software application has 100 features, but most people use only 10 of the features, should the software company jettison the 90 features that only a minority of people use? Yes, according to the growing number of software companies creating lightweight, Web-based applications.

One such company, Logic Design, recently launched PayMo, a Web-based billing application for lawyers and others who need to track their time. PayMo doesn't do as much as its more mature competitors — by choice. Instead, the company focuses on a few core features and a lickable interface that looks like something from Apple.

To get started, you set up clients and projects (matters), and then simply track the time spent on tasks within those projects. PayMo has two types of users — managers (such as managing partners and office managers) who can see everything, and individual users who can see only their own time entries.

PayMo can track the time you spend on a task with a stopwatch and then create a time entry. You can edit time entries anytime before submitting them. The stopwatch shows you how much time you've billed for the entire day and week, not just the task at hand. If you don't like the idea of tracking your time in a browser, you can install a lightweight desktop application for Mac or Windows with much the same functionality.

Managers have access to many more functions. From a single dashboard, you can access and review everyone's time-sheets. Thanks to an array of charts, at a glance you can gauge overall performance and spot slackers. You can view time by client, employee, and project, and you can drill down further for more details. At any point, you can generate bills and send them to clients via email. You can also save bills and reports in PDF format.

PayMo is free for up to three users. Otherwise, it costs $3.99/user/month. If you have 30 or more users, you can choose to pay a flat fee of $150/month. Learn more about PayMo.

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.