TechnoLawyer: Online/Cloud

Coming April 17, 2008 to Answers to Questions: David Hudgens explains how to use dual monitors with a laptop and discusses whether a bigger monitor trumps dual monitors, Leslie Shear discusses fax-to-email security, Francis Jackson shares his thoughts on de-duplication technology (or the lack thereof) and a promising vendor entering this arena, Aaron Craft reviews Amicus Attorney Small Firm Edition, Amicus Accounting, and QuickBooks, and W. David Case reviews AirSet for online calendaring. 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 an online application for managing your firm's relationships with car services, technology that enables your firm to pursue new business and lateral hires even when ethical conflicts arise (see article below), and a new wireless keyboard and mouse. Don't miss the next issue.

Good Walls Make Happy Clients
By Neil J. Squillante

Raise your hand if this scenario occurs at your firm. A large public company wants to hire your firm. To ensure that no conflicts exist, everyone at the firm has to fill out a questionnaire about that company — stock holdings, previous employment, etc. If a conflict arises, you have to figure out a way to reassure the company that you can still handle the matter and safeguard confidential work product from the tainted few.

The problem is that every employee can access your document management system, including contract lawyers. You don't have real safeguards, just an ad hoc honor system. Sorry, but that won't cut it nowadays in these highly regulated times. Sarbanes-Oxley anyone?

Enter IntApp's Wall Builder 3.2, a Web-based application that enables you create ethical walls to isolate certain people from certain information, enabling your firm to take on new cases and even pursue lateral hires.

Wall Builder's wizard-driven interface enables you to construct and configure these walls. It also creates an audit trail so that you can prove (if necessary) that so and so never had access to such and such.

Wall Builder integrates with Interwoven and Open Text/Hummingbird so that you can restrict access to documents. It similarly integrates with other applications with sensitive data such as accounting, billing, CRM, records, search, portals, etc.

Wall Builder doesn't just do what you tell it to do. It also "learns" in a manner of speaking. For example, if you handle matters for two adverse clients and you work on a document for one of these clients, Wall Builder will prevent you from accessing the other client's files.

As you might imagine, Wall Builder has layers of security, enabling your firm to delegate wall creation to certain members of your staff with oversight by more senior management. Wall Builder can scale to accommodate up to 150,000 client records and 700,000 matter records. If you need more coverage than that, God bless you. Learn more about Wall Builder 3.2.

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 7, 2008 to Answers to Questions: John Starkweather reviews several online calendaring and project management solutions, James Keuning reviews RoboForm and suggests a clever (and free) way to create strong passwords, Bruce Brightwell explains why lawyers shouldn't worry about legal research service adhesion contracts, David Herdman discusses the benefits of learning both Word and WordPerfect, and Harry Dreier shares his LexisNexis search results for "out of title" cases. 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 new 24 inch widescreen LCD monitor with a built-in Webcam, software that enables you to create virtual desktops, and an online multilevel marketing service that promises to drive desirable traffic to your blawg (see article below). Don't miss the next issue.

Boost Your Blog
By Neil J. Squillante

Congratulations! You launched your blog. Now, please fork over $50,000 to a public relations firm to get it from 0 to 50,000 readers in one month. What's that? You didn't realize marketing was the biggest expense? Well, if you don't want to pay, you'll have to build your audience slowly.

Then again, you could try BlogRush, a new service that promises to "drive a flood of targeted readers to your blog." You simply add a bit of code to your blog template, which places a widget to your blog.

The widget lists five blog posts from other blogs that publish material similar to yours. When a reader clicks on a link that blog opens in a new browser window. For each page view on your blog, your blog will show up that many times in a BlogRush widget on other related blogs in the BlogRush network.

At the bottom of your widget lies a small BlogRush logo. Those who click the logo and sign up for BlogRush become your referrals. You then begin receiving credit for their page views as well. For example, if your blog has 100 pages views and your referral blogs 1,000 page views, BlogRush will list your posts in BlogRush widgets 1,100 times that day. It's like that old Faberge Organics TV commercial ("And I told two friends ...").

This referral system works for 10 generations, which means you'll receive exposure credits for page views on blogs that don't even know you exist. The BlogRush dashboard shows you exactly how much exposure you're receiving.

If you have multiple blogs, you can add them to one account and set up rules for the distribution of your exposure credits. If you're concerned about posts by competitors showing up in your widget, you can try to block them by prohibiting certain keywords that you designate. BlogRush is free. Learn more about BlogRush.

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 3, 2008 to Answers to Questions: James Sayre discusses various ways to save Web pages for future use (plus a tip of our own), Christel Burris reviews GFI Faxmaker for Exchange, Terry Mazura provides helpful advice for those who want to use two computers with one monitor (and one keyboard, one mouse, etc.), Steven Brower shares his thoughts on adhesion contracts, and law student Barbara Durkin reviews Payne Consulting's books Word 2003 for Law Firms and Excel for Law Firms. 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 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.

Presenters: Tom Mighell & Friends
Saturday, March 15 at 11:00 am

In addition to being a perennial favorite among both attendees and speakers, this TechShow staple is a great opportunity for the crowd to let its collective hair down and enjoy an often irreverent, free-form look at the Internet for lawyers.

This year was no exception as TechShow chairman Tom Mighell and colleagues took to the dais and led us all a journey of self-discovery and good fun. Of course your humble reporter was bushed by then so I just sat back and enjoyed the show.

Of the 60 sites, below you'll find my favorite 8 in no particular order plus 2 that I would have included:

1. More Partner Income

This site is largely acknowledged to be where the rubber meets the road in terms of law as a business and business as a way of life.

2. Yahoo! Mobile WiFi

Find WiFi hotspots nearby. If like me you want to be connected constantly, keep this site on your radar.

3. Acrobat for Legal Professionals

Rick Borstein's blog about all things Acrobat for the law office is a must-read.

4. Planet PDF

When just one know-it-all site isn't enough, turn to this bulletin board forum where you might find for instance that you're not the only one who thought the "tab" button on your keyboard would order you a soda ... or who had a particular PDF question. Same difference.

5. TechnoLawyer

I think it's a great resource. No bias here. Plus they get some incredible writers to contribute ...

6. Dodgeball

Dodgeball was among the poster-children of the early Web 2.0 movement. The speakers agreed this site is great for reaching people with text messages when they get near a given location.

7. Lifehacker

This site is just what you would guess: a remedy for what ails you. It also represents the pinnacle of "giving it away" when it comes to really useful information. Try to find something software-related that it doesn't address.

8. Google (including Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gmail, Goog411, etc., etc., etc.)

There is absolutely nothing I can add here that hasn't been written to death ... except maybe this:

• Nearly every aspect of the Google Office Suite is in the throes of being upgraded and improved on a constant basis.

• When I remember how Google Docs drew "oohs" and "aahs" at last year's TechShow it blows my mind to hear it tossed out in such a matter of fact manner as a viable office suite. What's the world coming to?

Not mentioned but worthy of a bookmark:

9. Skype

Need to make a call where there isn't any phone service? Skype plus your wireless modem is the answer. Case closed.

10. Twitter

Twitter asks that you answer the question "What are you doing?" Respond in 140 characters or less and you're twittering. Join thousands around the world doing the same or keep the conversation private. It's a combination SMS system, social network, and cultural phenomenon.

Update: ABA has published the official version of 2008's 60 Sites in 60 Minutes.

Read more firsthand reports from ABA TechShow 2008.

About TechnoLawyer Trade Show Reports
Even in today's wired world, trade shows continue to play an important role. But not everyone can attend trade shows. Hence, our trade show reports, which bring trade shows to you. You can find our trade show reports here in TechnoLawyer Blog, and also in TechnoGuide, a free newsletter that also contains exclusive content. Learn more about TechnoGuide.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a private label online store law firms can add to their Web site (see article below), a network appliance for handling discovery requests and legal holds, and customer relationship management software for law firms that integrates with Microsoft Outlook. Don't miss the next issue.

Open Your Own Online Legal Services Store
By Neil J. Squillante

Over the years, state bars have tried to protect lawyers by lobbying for and enforcing legislation concerning the unauthorized practice of law. By and large, these efforts have failed, especially regarding online legal forms — much to the consternation of solos and small law firms.

With Epoq's new DirectLaw, a private label Web-enabled document automation service, you can fight back the old-fashioned way — by beating the competition at their own game. DirectLaw provides your firm with a complete turnkey solution that creates a secure Web space for your clients. It integrates seamlessly with your existing Web site.

Within DirectLaw, your clients can assemble and purchase legal documents and forms, and also purchase legal advice when necessary. In other words, you can earn fees by simply reviewing common legal documents, and also provide personalized legal services for more complex needs, which the online forms providers cannot match.

Clients can select from hundreds of templates for common legal documents, including wills, powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney, marital separation agreements, divorce pleadings, and a complete collection of state-specific business documents such as corporation and LLC formation.

Once clients select a document, they complete a questionnaire in which they enter their personal information and instantly create a document ready for your review. Upon reviewing the documents, you may find other areas in which you can provide assistance. Even if the client just wants a simple form, at least it's you earning money and not some site run by non-lawyers.

Epoq provides you with a basic library of more than 200 state-specific interactive templates so that you can get up and running quickly. Epoq's Rapidocs Solo, an authoring application that comes bundled with DirectLaw, enables you to create your own templates as well.

Epoq offers DirectLaw on a subscription basis for one year or longer. As a DirectLaw subscriber, you receive access to your own secure administrative dashboard from which you can manage the client relationship, including retrieving client-created documents, uploading finished documents, and communication with clients.

In addition to Rapidocs Solo, DirectLaw also includes credit card processing of both legal documents sold through your site as well as your legal services in general. There is no set-up fee. Rates start at $495 per month for a solo practitioner. The fee increases based on the size of the firm. Epoq also provides Rapidocs Solo training for an additional fee. Learn more about DirectLaw.

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.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers software that manages medical records and calculates damages, email archiving technology with eDiscovery capabilities (see article below), and an online resource for lawyers, paralegals, and others who handle the compliance work of corporations. Don't miss the next issue.

The Ultimate Email Cocktail
By Neil J. Squillante

You and your colleagues receive thousands of email messages every day, many of them confidential and potentially important in a future lawsuit. An email exchange to schedule a luncheon may seem innocuous except the date of the luncheon might help impeach a witness. And all those lengthy do-not-compete agreements with multiple comments speak for themselves — especially in front of a jury. Do you have a handle on all this email?

Mimosa Systems' Mimosa NearPoint for Microsoft Exchange offers an email archiving system that combines immediate message archiving, eDiscovery, disaster recovery, and storage management in a single software package.

Using NearPoint's capture method, "Continuous Application Shadowing," you can continuously store Exchange data, including email, folders, calendars and contacts, and backup to a NearPoint archive. Once captured, NearPoint's search functions allow for easy retrieval through keyword and time period searches.

NearPoint captures email through transaction logs. As a result, it does not interfere with or slow down your Exchange server. NearPoint is also scalable. It can archive thousands of mailboxes.

NearPoint expands its usefulness through five optional add-ons: NearPoint eDiscovery, NearPoint Custodian Collector, NearPoint Disaster Recovery, NearPoint PST Archiving, and NearPoint Content Monitoring.

The eDiscovery option provides an application for yourself and workgroups to use to search and produce email from the NearPoint archive. Email discovery that in the past took you days or weeks to compile takes mere minutes by leveraging NearPoint. As an adjunct, the Custodian Collector enables you to zero in on the documents of the key players in a dispute and preserve them in a forensically sound manner. You can search and retrieve files from laptops, desktops, file servers, etc.

The Disaster Recovery option enables you to restore Exchange data to a standby Exchange Server, including the restarting of Exchange services and the remapping of mailboxes in an Active Directory Server. One click is all it takes to initiate a complete Exchange recovery. The NearPoint PST Archiving option centrally manages all PST data in an email archive.

NearPoint runs on Windows Server 2003 or later and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP3 or later. You'll also need three to five times your total Exchange storage. Learn more about Mimosa NearPoint for Microsoft Exchange.

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 6, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Tim Hughes reviews QuickFile4Outlook - Lawyer's Edition, Lisa Cadungug shares her experience with both Word and WordPerfect in a law office setting (plus we unearth an interesting snippet on this endless debate from a 1997 TechnoLawyer message), Forum Administrator Tom Rowe clarifies some issues regarding the online CIC Solutions Forum for LexisNexis Practice Management products (and we extend a welcome to Questions that don't fit there), David Herdman offers a simple solution for using two computers with one monitor, and Diane Hopkins reviews her new iMac after switching from a Windows PC. 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.