TechnoLawyer: Gadgets/Shredders/Office Gear

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.

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Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a business class color inkjet printer, an email marketing service (see article below), and a biometric accessory for entering passwords on your computer. Don't miss the next issue.

Gift Wrap Every Email You Send
By Peter R. Olson

Lawyers often overlook an important marketing tool — the email signature. In well-managed firms, everyone uses the same signature, perhaps linking to recent articles and news on the firm's blog or Web site. However, the larger your firm, the more difficult it becomes to keep signatures up to date. And even if you can do that, email signatures are easily overlooked by recipients.

WrapMail ... in One Sentence
WrapMail enables your firm to literally wrap every outbound email message with an interactive letterhead that you can use to point recipients to pages on your Web site.

The Killer Feature
Unlike an email signature, which resides locally in an email client, WrapMail is Web-based so there's nothing to install and no training required for your staff. Instead, they just send out the same old email as always. But when these messages leave your firm, WrapMail places your firm's custom wrap around them, transforming everyone in your firm into a marketer.

Other Notable Features
Wraps consist of graphics and text. You can color the background as well. Most importantly, you can embed links and track the number of clicks using WrapMail's control panel. If you don't have access to a Web designer, WrapMail can design your wraps for you for $250 each.

You can create as many wraps as you want and assign them to specific people in your firm. For example, if you accept online payments, create a wrap for your office manager that links to your online billing page. If your partners publish articles, create wraps for each of them with their photo and links that point to their respective articles. Your marketing department can keep all your wraps updated using a Web browser.

What Else Should You Know?
Wrapmail offers a free Personal edition plus both Small Business and Enterprise editions. The Personal version works only with a wrapmail.com email address.

With the Small Business edition, your email from your existing address gets wrapped by WrapMail's server en route to the recipient. WrapMail does not store the content of your email messages, only the date, sender, and recipient for reporting purposes. WrapMail charges $40 to set up your account, and then $5 per user per month.

Larger firms or firms concerned about security can opt for the Enterprise edition, which entitles you to your own on-site WrapServer. You also received extended customer support and reporting. This edition sells for $2,500.

Learn more about Wrapmail.

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Coming April 8, 2008 to TechnoFeature: Apple's iPod has infiltrated so many aspects of our lives (music, videos, movies, television), so it comes as no surprise that it has recently crept into litigation practices nationwide. In this article, litigation consultant David Mykel walks you through the various ways in which you can turn an iPod into an effective ally in your litigation practice. He'll teach you how you can view exhibits, watch video deposition testimony, record voice notes, and even transfer files. If you've always wondered how you could write off an iPod as a business expense, this TechnoFeature article has the answer.

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Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers an email archiving and disaster recovery solution (see article below), a turnkey hardware/software paperless office system that works with any scanner or MFP, and a new 46 inch plasma TV for movie buffs and gamers alike. Don't miss the next issue.

Hold Everything
By Neil J. Squillante

Have you ever rummaged through a shoe box of old photos trying to decide which ones to have scanned and which ones to discard only to realize making case by case decisions is incredibly slow and inefficient? Chance are you'll just send the entire shoe box off for scanning.

Email archiving is similar. While most email archiving solutions encourage you to develop policies as to what to keep and what to discard, Forensic and Compliance System takes a different approach with its Cryoserver email archiving appliance — keep everything.

As a result, the company claims that Cryoserver is the only solution that has a complete record of all your email and attachments, including metadata. And because Cryoserver consists of a software-hardware combination, the company further claims that your data is collected in a forensically-sound and tamper-proof manner. The need for a litigation hold doesn't exist in a Cryoserver world because you're always holding everything.

When you first install Cryoserver, it can transparently offload email from Microsoft Exchange servers. Because of the volume of data Cryoserver stores, it provides robust tools for finding what you need in seconds for eDiscovery purposes or simply because you mistakenly deleted a message. You can access Cryoserver through your email program or a Web browser, both of which offer a familiar interface to reduce the learning curve.

Cryoserver offers protection against disasters through it's replication technology, which requires one or more Cryoserver appliances in other locations. Also, Cryoserver can scale from just a handful of email accounts at a small firm to more than one hundred thousand accounts at large corporations. Learn more about Cryoserver.

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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.

BlawgWorld enables you to explore and discover legal blogs (blawgs) without spinning your wheels. It features the best essays of the year from 77 of the most influential blawgs.

TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide uses a question/answer format to help you find solutions to problems commonly encountered by law firms. It contains 185 solutions organized into 58 topics.

Thanks to the eBook's inspired design, you're never more than three clicks away from what you want to read. BlawgWorld 2007-08 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide has received glowing reviews from many publications. For example, LLRX writes:

"The substance of both books is exceptional, while the eBook format is innovative and inviting.... [The eBook] was designed to open in just about any PDF viewer and it worked very well in my various tests.... The best part of the entire eBook is that it is free."

Download Your Free Copy Now
BlawgWorld 2007-08 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide is truly free — no registration hassles.

So please download your copy now (PDF file).

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BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide is a free eBook. Actually, it's two eBooks in one PDF file.

BlawgWorld 2007 is the best way to explore and discover legal blogs (blawgs). It features 77 remarkable essays from 77 of the most influential blawgs. Each blogger handpicked their best essay of the year for inclusion in the eBook.

The 2007 TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide is a revolutionary new way to find Solutions to Problems your law firm is experiencing. Specifically, it contains 185 Problems and corresponding Solutions.

Each Problem is written in the form of a question from the point of view of a law firm and organized by topic. Topics include case management, depositions, discovery, document management, legal research, time-billing, and many more — 58 topics in all.

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Coming July 27, 2007 to Fat Friday: Edward Poll discusses the dangers involved with trust accounting and how to avoid them, David Herdman shares his thoughts on technology standards legislation as well as why backwards compatible software doesn't make sense, Beverly Katz explain how she handled age discrimination regarding in-house counsel jobs, Matt Baker adds an overlooked point to a recent TechnoFeature article about HDTV, and Steve Loewy comments on Dennis Kennedy's annual technology predictions. 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.

Inevitably, every pop culture phenomenon gets a rap parody. The latest such parody skewer's Apple's "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC." ads.

Of course, leave it to David Pogue to go retro and use the standard pop tune "My Way" to cover the iPhone frenzy.

Finally, I presume you're aware of the film Michael Clayton starring George Clooney as a corporate lawyer. Like most large firm lawyers, he ends up in the inevitable car chase with bullets whizzing past him. Why do they never tell you about that aspect of the job in law school? 

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.

Dubbed the "Jesus Phone," Apple's iPhone has technology pundits squaring off — fans who predict iPod-like success and haters who predict a flop. But everyone agrees that the iPhone is the biggest technology product launch ever in terms of media coverage. Therefore, I thought I'd take you on a tour of some of the more interesting coverage.

(Disclaimer — I'm an unabashed fan of Apple because of the company's obsession with simplicity and usability. We try to do the same here at TechnoLawyer — e.g., you can contribute a post by just replying to any of our newsletters.)

On our first stop, Wayne Smallsman of Blah Blah Technology in his article Apple iPhone: DOA? explains why he won't buy an iPhone:

• Not waterproof to depths of 1,000 meters.
• No multi-lingual translation of voice calls.
• Built-in camera cannot scan retina.
• No EMP shield for use during a nuclear attack.

And many more sound and logical reasons.

Next, on a more serious note, Daniel Eran of RoughlyDrafted has penned an insightful analysis entitled Secret iPhone Details Lost in a Sea of Hype and Hate. In this article, he discusses the motivations behind some of the iPhone critics, none of whom have used an iPhone yet.

Over the weekend, USA Today published Top Secret Tests, an article about 200 AT&T technicians who have secretly tested the iPhone throughout the country over the past few months. Their conclusion — it's ready. This article exemplifies Apple's flawless public relations campaign to date, which has pretty much steamrolled all the critics.

For example, Apple responded to criticism of the scratch-prone plastic screen with a surprise announcement that the iPhone would have a glass screen. Apple also made a surprise announcement about battery life (8 hours of talk time). In this USA Today article, Apple addresses voice quality and bandwidth.

Incidentally, I hope it doesn't come as a shock to you that virtually every business article you read in a newspaper is placed there by a public relations firm.

Given Apple's success at steering public opinion, the iPhone will undoubtedly end up in the hands of many senior partners. InfoWorld has two takes on the issue of supporting these users within an organization.

In iPhone: The Device IT Managers Will Love to Hate, Matt Hamblen quotes a number of analysts who predict a nightmare scenario for IT departments.

But in Seth Weintraub's opinion piece in the same publication, Analysts Miss the Point on the iPhone, he makes the case for the iPhone in the enterprise. Among his arguments, the iPhone's support for open standards like POP and IMAP email, and Apple's ability to build superior user interfaces that boost productivity.

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.