TechnoLawyer: Entertainment/Hobbies/Recreation

This week's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire will cover three new iPod accessories for you to consider when holiday shopping. Why iPod? We think it will once again reign supreme as the leading technology gift this year. Below I've placed a pick of my own.

FM transmitters enable you to play your iPod through an unused FM radio frequency. However, in large cities, finding an unused frequency may prove difficult so what you need is a transmitter with the power to jam a weak radio station.

I can't say that my Kensington Digital FM Transmitter/Auto Charger is the best one out there, but I can give you a real-life field test in a tough environment — Manhattan. Set to 88.1 FM, my iPod's signal comes through loud and clear with no static (except when I'm near the Empire State Building for some reason). You can store three frequencies, but I've needed just this one.

I also like the connection through the iPod's dock connector, which provides better quality sound than the headphone port, and enables me to control the volume with my car stereo. As an added bonus, the charger eliminates concerns about battery drain. The Kensington Digital FM Transmitter/Auto Charger costs about $80 and comes in white or black. Take a look at some photos.

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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers the new version of an integrated evidence management solution, an e-mail newsletter for digital photography newbies and enthusiasts, and a pair of software utilities for capturing streaming audio and video and converting it into virtually any format. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Your Litigation Command Center
By Dennis Kennedy
With all the focus on electronic discovery technology these days, it's important not to lose sight of the next step — preparing your cases for trial.

CaseLogistix's new version 5 of its evidence management software aims to provide you with a litigation command center thanks to its unique approach of combining electronic discovery with litigation management. And let's not forget ease of use — the company famously claims that CaseLogistix is so simple to use lawyers actually use it.

The company claims that CaseLogistix 5 enables you and your team to more efficiently handle any amount of digital evidence — from a dog bite case with a single police report to a securities case with hundreds of thousands of documents. You can search, organize, and annotate documents, and customize virtual libraries of documents using the "IntelliFolder" feature to simplify your work.

CaseLogistix worked closely with law firms and lawyers in producing this new version, which offers a re-engineered approach to handling native file formats, including PST files, and tools for annotating and redacting native files. You can extract metadata from native files and export it into CaseLogistix fields for processing and management. The new version also has enhanced tools for splitting, combining, and reordering PDF files. The Bates Analyzer analyzes specific groups of documents and generates a report showing missing numbers, duplicate numbers, and invalid ranges of numbers.

A number of other additions and enhancements exist, including improved Unicode compliance for international users that enables lawyers to view, index, and search documents in Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, and other languages and customize the program for local languages.

Also included is the ability to work offline and then synchronize your work when online again. You can also convert TIFF images to text on the fly with a right mouse click thanks to the built-in OCR technology.

CaseLogistix now handles deposition transcripts as well. You can import transcripts in TRN, PTF, PDF, TIFF, and ASCII formats, and then annotate, redact, and excerpt as needed and of course print reports.

Litigation, of course, usually requires a team. To this end, CaseLogistix now makes it easy for you and your colleagues to access multiple libraries with a single login.

Version 5 also emphasizes speed. Look for better performance in Citrix or other shared environments even when working with very large IntelliFolders, and streaming PDF technology to accelerate downloads.

CaseLogistix 5 is available in desktop, Web, or hosted versions. The desktop version uses an Outlook-based interface so popular among lawyers. Users of the Web version will benefit from a completely rewritten and improved interface as well. Learn more about CaseLogistix.

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.

Leap Legal, an Australian software company that sells LEAP (an integrated accounting and case management suite), recently released a video on YouTube about a lawyer who cannot find a file while an client impatiently waits on hold. The video is well acted — the guy playing the lawyer truly looks frazzled. Strangely, however, the video does not mention the product at all. Take a look (click here if you don't see the video below).

Perhaps the company felt that not mentioning the product would enhance the video's chances of becoming viral. But what good would that do? In my experience, mentioning a product has nothing to do with an online video's popularity. What does matter is creativity and talent. Advertising can entertain and sell at the same time. Case in point — Smirnoff's "Tea Partay" video, which despite mentioning the product several times during the video has nonetheless garnered more than 1.7 million views. Check it out (click here if you don't see the video below).

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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an online store for legal-oriented prints, a Windows XP utility for managing open windows, and a space- and place-shifting device for recording FM and online radio programs. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Dress Your Office for Success
By Dennis Kennedy
For many lawyers, the "art" on the office walls consists of their framed law school degrees and state licenses. Most art galleries do not have a legal section. What if you could choose from a great selection of legal art prints to give your office a look both appropriate and unique?

LawGallery is an online store that focuses exclusively on legal prints for the legal profession. In the store, you'll find a large selection of prints depicting the practice of law. Many feature historical elements, including famous trials, lawyers, or courthouses. Less serious lawyers will find a variety of humorous prints.

Most prints date from the 1800s and early 1900s and will give your office a decidedly British feel. Examples of prints include drawings of the Royal Courts of Justice and Westminster Hall. You will also find prints of American cases like the "Trial of Guiteau for the Murder of President Garfield." LawGallery provides historical research and other information about each print and its subject matter.

LawGallery has made some of these reproductions itself and licensed others. The company uses "museum-grade" inks with a fade-free life span of 25-100 years depending upon their exposure to light. The company also employs archival processes when mounting and framing its prints. You can choose from many styles of mats and frames. LawGallery's own professional curator can even help you choose the most appropriate frame for a particular print and its location.

Prices vary depending on the print and framing option you choose. Most prices seem to fall between $200 to $600. LawGallery unconditionally guarantees each sale; you can return a print for a full refund. Learn more about LawGallery.

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 November 10, 2006 to Fat Friday:  John Starkweather explains how he has embraced branding and technology at his small firm, James Zuffoletto discusses the "unhappy lawyer" phenomenon, Diane Hopkins shares a real-life client story involving Tabs3 that teaches an important technology lesson, Arshia Javaherian reviews Sonnet's PodFreq FM Transmitter for the iPod, and Aaron Morris discusses his unique multiple monitor setup. 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 October 20, 2006 to Fat Friday: Mark Lieb discusses how a firm's litigation support department should operate, John Dorst reviews Sonnet's PodFreq FM transmitter for the iPod, Douglas Simpson reviews his experience using Copernic Desktop Search over the past year, Thomas Shigo chimes in on the DIY v. hire a consultant debate, and Jeff Wyatt reviews the Brother HL-5250DN laser printer. 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.

Most lawyers wouldn't admit getting fired to their friends much less blog about it, but that's exactly what Denise Howell (former IP Memes contributor) did last week after being fired from Reed Smith. Her Post in her Bag & Baggage blog has sparked a flurry of supportive Posts from fellow bloggers. Notwithstanding this publicity, the facts remain a mystery — and may never see the light of day. Will this event become a turning point in the way law firms handle sensitive personnel issues? Only time will tell.

Read Denise Howell's Post, Have Aeron, Will Travel. Read what other bloggers have had to say.

And speaking of large firm antics, two weeks ago we reviewed Billable Hours, an amusing spoof about partners in large law firms. About 1,000 of you got to see the film before it was yanked from YouTube for reasons we don't know. Fortunately, we found another copy of the film. Watch it while you still can.

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.

David Cardon, a lawyer at Cardon & Goodman in Hampton Roads, Virginia, has produced and released a short 4.5 minute film entitled Billable Hours. A spoof reminiscent of the cult classic Office Space, Cardon's film depicts large law firm lawyers as boorish middle-aged men more interested in gossiping about attractive coworkers and plotting free lunches than their work. The highlight of the film consists of a summer associate interview in which two partners ask a series of psychological questions approved by the hiring committee. Some people will find Billable Hours offensive. Locker room humor abounds — don't show it to your kids and don't play it at work. A more experienced filmmaker might have provided a moral compass by making the partners even more cartoonish and preposterous. However, to his credit, Cardon does provide one grounded character — the law student — onto whom we can project our own sensibilities. As someone who conducted countless law student interviews during my tenure at a large law firm, I found Billable Hours amusing. I applaud Cardon for taking a chance (comedy is not easy), and hope his film inspires other lawyers to create their own films about law practice.

Update: If the above link no longer works, you can watch the video on Cardon's MySpace page.

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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an easy-to-use Bates stamping utility, a search engine that digs through user forums and message boards, and a nifty pair of wireless iPod headphones. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

The "Easy Button" for Bates Stamping
By Dennis Kennedy
The original Bates stamper was patented back in the 1890s. Since then, Bates stamping has served as the primary method of sequentially marking and numbering documents or images as exhibits in discovery or trials. You might be surprised to learn that this long-lived technique has become a leading tool for law firms transitioning from paper discovery to electronic discovery.

For the many litigators searching for the electronic version of a Bates stamping machine or labels, Easy Bates by Rennie Glen Software provides a simple and flexible software tool for Bates stamping today's digital evidence.

Easy Bates focuses exclusively on Bates stamping. It stamps Bates numbers onto PDF and TIFF documents. It also can print labels for paper documents. Easy Bates gives you seven choices of fonts. You can use both letters and numbers, and even create multi-line stamps.

You simply drag and drop your document files into the Easy Bates document list and they get electronically stamped.

Easy Bates sells for $199 with significant volume discounts. An unrestricted ten-day free trial is available. Adobe Acrobat is not required. The company has a history of providing free upgrades, and intends to continue this practice as long as possible.

What's keeping you from moving into electronic discovery? If it's the lack of an easy-to-use bates stamping tool, you may no longer have an excuse.

Learn more about Easy Bates.

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 June 23, 2006 to Fat Friday: Hanneke Smulders discusses desktop search tools and potential security concerns (plus we found an incredible comparative review of all the major desktop search tools), Richard Schafer reviews a password management utility, and Sean Tierney reviews his iPod must-haves for business and pleasure. 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.