TechnoLawyer: Legal Research

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 August 2, 2007 to Answers to Questions: Richard Schmitt reviews two search tools — Examine32 and exalead, Norman Van Treeck provides step by step instructions for setting up dual monitors, Richard Schafer reviews Roboform, John Harding discusses Amicus Attorney 7's integration capabilities, and Charles T. Lester Jr. reviews lexisONE as a free legal research alternative. Don't miss this issue.

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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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an online legal research citation tool designed to save time, an online case management and time-billing application, and a new laser printer tailor-made for law firms. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Better, Faster, Smarter Citations
By Dennis Kennedy

Lawyers have used "hyperlinks" before hyperlinks even existed. In our vernacular, we called them citations. When we found a good case, we would then review the citations to that case, often finding even better cases and sometimes finding reversals, statutory supersession, etc. Nowadays, of course, online research services provide real hyperlinks to related cases. But even so, the number of citations listed can be overwhelming to review.

Wolters Kluwer's Loislaw, a leading provider of online legal research, has updated its GlobalCite feature to address this and other issues based on feedback from its customers. The result is a more powerful citation research tool designed to help lawyers find relevant cases, statutes, and secondary sources more efficiently than ever before. Specifically, Loislaw has added two major features to GlobalCite, each of which saves time and takes advantage of modern Web technologies.

First, GlobalCite now offers a pop-up box within the document you are viewing that summarizes the GlobalCite results and provides links to the types of sources that you want to explore further. The pop-up box arranges the results by category. For example, you can view all sources, cases only, statutes only, treatises only, or other documents only. GlobalCite also displays the number of links within each category. You can click directly in the pop-up box to move to exactly the set of results you want, saving an extra step or two and valuable time. If no citations exist, you'll also know that at a glance without having to click further.

Second, GlobalCite enables you to search directly within your set of citations. With this feature, you can narrow your search quickly, thus eliminating the all-too-common problem of "noise" or "clutter" of unrelated documents. You can conduct full Boolean searches within this pool of citations. For example, you might search for a statutory section, case name, "reversed" or other terms, or keywords. Lawyers have become comfortable with this search within a search paradigm thanks to Web search engines.

As an added benefit, subscribers get the full text of every document they find via GlobalCite at no additional charge no matter what their subscription level. GlobalCite works across Loislaw's entire collection. GlobalCite is included with the purchase of any Loislaw package that includes primary law. Learn more about GlobalCite.

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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.

Coming May 1, 2007 to TechnoFeature: You have a lot of research to do — and little time. What you need is an effective and efficient way to sift through material to determine what you need and what you don't. In this article, paralegal Kim Plonsky reviews a new suite of products by Cirilab that aims to do just that. Kim discusses how the products work, how well they work, and what needs improvement. Has Cirilab created the Microsoft Office of legal research? Read Kim's review to find out.

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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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an online service for staying on top of court filings involving your clients, a free tool for clipping anything on any Web page, and timeline creation software for Mac users. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Your Link to Electronic Litigation
By Dennis Kennedy

We have moved past the days of sending associates down to the court house to check the latest pleadings. Electronic filing and access to court records over the Internet have changed the way we access and manage court records. Access to court dockets is only step one. We can now do much more than ever before with court information, moving from access to action.

LexisNexis' CourtLink service takes us further down the road of electronic litigation. It starts with access to court dockets, but adds a set of powerful tools to improve support functions and provide information to lawyers, litigation support personnel, clients, and other members of today's expanding litigation team. You can quickly retrieve the dockets and documents you need, but that's just the starting point.

CourtLink gives you a broad range of information tools. It enables you to stay up-to-date with your cases, access the court docket, and receive alerts about events in your cases. You can also monitor courts with other actions involving your clients. For example, you can learn about a new suit as soon as it's filed.

Using CourtLink's Strategic Profiles, you can obtain insight into trends, patterns, tactics, risks, and new opportunities. You can also review litigation history to learn about a judge's experience in a certain type of case and history of applicable decisions, the experience, success rate, strategies, and resolution history of opposing counsel, and much more.  In short, CourtLink doubles as a strategic litigation tool as well as business development tool.

CourtLink enables you to search by parties, types of cases, key words, docket numbers, patent numbers, and much more. You can search many courts in a single search. You can also set alerts to let you know about developments that interest you. Once you identify suits that interest you, you can use the tracking service to send you regularly-scheduled updates by email.

CourtLink enables you to see information visually using graphics and charts. In fact, because much of the information in CourtLink is timeline-oriented, you can import CourtLink data into LexisNexis' TimeMap 4.1 so that you can better visualize trends and create demonstrative evidence for settlement meetings and other purposes. CourtLink also seamlessly links to CaseMap to help you to build a successful case strategy.

LexisNexis offers CourtLink on a subscription or transactional basis. You choose the options you want to use. Contact LexisNexis for details on options and pricing. Learn more about CourtLink.

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 March 9, 2007 to Fat Friday: Wells Anderson reviews Time Matters as a lawyer's hub, Christel Burris shares her experience dealing with Dell, Suzanne Turner reviews Deskloops, Mazyar Hedayat discusses Acrobat 8 and legal software upgrades in general, and Shaunna Mireau discusses online legal research and its impact on law firm libraries. 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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an online file sharing and backup service, a new cost recovery tool for legal research, and an online task manager. Don't miss the next issue.

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

No Problem, It's On My Other Drive
By Dennis Kennedy
The world has moved from file-storing to file-sharing. Even novice computer users have files on several computers, hard drives, USB drives, and, increasingly, online storage sites. Accessing, moving, and managing all of our files can become quite a chore. Plus we often want to send files too large for email inboxes. And let's not forget the importance of backing up all our files. What's a busy lawyer to do?

MyOtherDrive.com offers a suite of online file storage and sharing tools. It's a online storage site with a familiar Explorer-style interface, and a set of useful tools. If you have access to the Internet, you will have access to your files. Best of all, especially for lawyers, you can control who accesses your files — from the public to specific individuals.

MyOtherDrive.com began as a photo-sharing site, and offers a full set of photo-sharing tools. However, it handles all types of files — documents, PDFs, audio, and video. Simply join the service and upload your files. The site's viewers also let you preview files without downloading them.

MyOtherDrive.com sets itself apart from similar services in the ways you specify who can access your files. You can make files fully public or accessible only by you for backup purposes. You can share with specific individuals or groups, such as family, friends, colleagues, or clients. As you invite people to access your files, MyOtherDrive.com helps you build a "social network" with other members of MyOtherDrive.com. You can email hyperlinks to non-members so they can access your files.

The free version gives you 5GB of storage and 10GB/month of bandwidth. The "Pro" versions offer unlimited bandwidth and from 25GB to 200GB of storage at annual costs ranging from $19.99 to $99.99. Learn more about MyOtherDrive.

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 April 14, 2006 to Fat Friday: Mark Lieb reviews a handy password recovery program for use in e-discovery, Grady Thrasher discusses a workaround for integrating DeltaView PE with Worldox, David Hudgens reviews his experience with PCLaw, Michael Bates reviews the Web hosting and design company he used to build his firm's Web site, and Corey Rich discusses the convenience and cost of online public records. In addition, this issue features links to 10 additional Posts in the TechnoLawyer Archive. 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 March 24, 2006 to Fat Friday: Kevin Thompson reviews his new Acer Travelmate C200 Tablet PC, Kevin Grierson adds his two cents to the attorney-client e-mail debate, Larry Kasoff shares his five favorite Web sites, Meg Spencer Dixon writes in with an important correction regarding Neil's review of the Tanita BC533 scale, and Edward Brooks tests our publishing limits — see what he dared us to post. 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 March 9, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Arthur Smith reviews his use of PaperPort in a large firm, Douglas Folk reviews a helpful tool for corporate and statistical research, Kurt Schoettler discusses instant messaging in the office, Philip Franckel reviews Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred, and Edward Walters chimes in on the "stealing" wifi debate. In addition, this issue features links to 14 additional Posts in the TechnoLawyer Archive. 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.