TechnoLawyer: Online/Cloud

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.

Maurice Turner, Review: GotToMyPC v. Windows Remote Desktop

TechnoLawyer member Edward F. Harney, Jr. asks:
"I am somewhat baffled at why folks would want to use GoToMyPC.com, especially in a small firm setting. We used PCAnywhere for years but switched to the Remote Desktop Connection application that comes free with Windows XP. It is incredibly quick and can be used on any machine that has XP. You just type in your static IP address and it is like you are sitting at your desk almost. Graphics take a bit of time to transmit but everything else is virtually seamless. With respect to GoToMyPC.com, is there something I am missing here? Is there a reason to use GoToMyPC.com instead of RDP with XP?"

The short answer: simplicity. Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) built into Windows XP requires a static IP address. If you are at all concerned about security or you work in an environment with more than one computer a static IP address exposed to the Internet is rare and considered a major security risk. Firewalls and routers need to be configured so that ports are unblocked and are allowed to forward requests and transmissions in order for RDP to function properly. Clients for other platforms, such as PocketPC and Mac OS X, are also available for free.

The GoToMyPC.com service acts as an intermediary by keeping track of the dynamic IP address of the computer that you are trying to connect to so that you don't have to. To do this it does require that you install the small GoToMyPC.com application on each computer that intends to remotely access.

Maurice Turner

About Answers to Questions
Posts like the one above appear exclusively in Answers to Questions, 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. You can subscribe here.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, tech expert Jill Bauerle covers a legal accounting/billing program with powerful compensation allocation technology, an e-mail marketing tool that integrates with Outlook, and a financial news and mortgage supersite. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Kiss Your Compensation Spreadsheets Goodbye
By Jill Bauerle
Given lawyers' reputation for hating math, why do so many firms devise complex compensation formulas? Maybe lawyers actually like numbers. Whatever the case, the folks at Software Technology have addressed a long unmet need with Tabs3 Version 14, the latest version of its popular accounting/time-billing software. Specifically, Software Technology redesigned its Receipt Allocation technology, which now features powerful Compensation Rules. While these Compensation Rules enable you to allocate fees among lawyers using simple percentages, you can also use complex formulas that include multiple timekeepers, date ranges, and amount limits. And apportioned billable hours. If you can think it, Tabs3 can handle it. Once you set up your compensation rules, you can generate a Fee Compensation Rules report by client or timekeeper. And with the new Payment Allocation feature, you can review automated payments and make manual payments. Also new is improved handling of duplicate statement numbers as well as the ability to credit multiple accounts with a single journal entry (e.g., fee income, costs advanced, reimbursable expenses, etc.). Naturally, you can restrict access rights to these and other sensitive areas of the software. Tabs3 also features a number of redesigned and new reports, including Cash Receipts, Client Analysis, Receipt Allocation, Timekeeper Analysis, Timekeeper Realization, and Unallocated Payments. Apart from these new features, Tabs3 retains everything that has made it so popular — accounts payable, billing, general ledger, trust accounting, and integration with PracticeMaster (a free copy of which comes bundled with Tabs3), Palm devices, and more. Tabs3 is designed for solo to mid-sized firms. Solo pricing starts at $295. Learn more about Tabs3 Version 14.

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 May 30, 2006 to TechnoFeature: First came the e-mail revolution, and then the information-sharing phenomenon known as the World Wide Web. Soon your teenagers found new ways to gab about their latest crush with instant messaging and chat rooms. Now, lawyers and their clients increasingly use such tools for telephone calls and videoconferences on the cheap. In this article, legal technology consultant Adriana Linares and attorney Ernie Svenson discuss the latest communications services, all of which fall within the quirky and goofy sounding acronym: VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Find out if one of these services will work for you.

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.

Coming June 2, 2006 to Fat Friday: Gerald McNally shares some tips for a semi-paperless office, Kurt Walberg discusses the technology tools he uses in his solo practice, Caldwell Hancock reviews his new 21" Gateway monitors while Thorne D. Harris III reviews the Samsung SyncMaster 244T monitor, and Brent Blanchard reviews the Time Matters AIC Listserver. 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, tech expert Jill Bauerle covers a hot new bates stamping technology, a Web-based time-tracking application, and a virtual mall for malware-free software. Don't miss the next issue.

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

A Bates Stamper on Steroids
By Jill Bauerle
Once upon a time, lawyers manually affixed bates stamps to documents. Thanks to xerography, copy machines eventually replaced the hand stamps of old. Last week, LexisNexis CaseSoft announced the latest in bates stamping technology — CaseMap Bates Stamper. This nifty utility plugs into Acrobat Standard or Professional 6 or 7, and enables you to apply bates stamps to one or more PDF files. A wizard walks you through the bates stamping process, providing options along the way. You can use any combination of letters and numbers for the bates stamp (prefix plus number — up to 34 characters total), and then store that particular format for future use. You can use any font, position the bates stamp anywhere in the document, and even add a white background to ensure that the bates number will be visible. When batch processing, you can have the CaseMap Bates Stamper ignore documents that you've already stamped. This way, you won't have to select only the new files, which kind of defeats the purpose of batch processing. When you finish applying bates stamps, you can use the Send PDFs to CaseMap wizard to incorporate the documents into CaseMap. A new addition to this wizard enables you to list the documents in CaseMap by bates number. Once in CaseMap, you can create facts and issues from the documents along with the corresponding bates numbers and hyperlinks. As with all LexisNexis CaseSoft products, the CaseMap Bates Stamper comes with one year of free support. CaseMap Bates Stamper sells for $149, but the company is offering it for $99 until May 31, 2006. Learn more about CaseMap Bates Stamper.

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 May 26, 2006 to Fat Friday: Dean Kirby discusses monitor height and reviews his Princeton monitor, Seth Silapasvang compares AbacusLaw to Time Matters, Harold Goldner reviews the Time Matters AIC listserver, Steve Wing compares PCLaw to QuickBooks, and Samuel Matunog explains when you need a consultant and when you don't. In addition, this issue features links to 8 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.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, tech expert Jill Bauerle covers a remote access program that can connect to any computer regardless of operating system, a Web-based contact and calendar manager for the whole firm, and a place to find instructional audio and video downloads for however, whenever, and wherever you want to listen. Don't miss the next issue.

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

A Backstage Pass to Your Network
By Jill Bauerle
Accessing your firm's network remotely need not seem like mission impossible thanks to the new version of pcAnywhere from Symantec. Version 12 can connect to just about any PC — even if it's behind a firewall. The new version enables you to connect to computers running Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows from any PC or Pocket PC device. Other new features include a gateway for remote users to connect to the hosts they need, a session manager that places all sessions into a tabbed window, several encryption options, "bandwidth auto-detect" for optimizing sessions based on the user's connection speed, and a "help wizard" that can guide the least savvy of lawyers through a session. pcAnywhere costs $199.99. Learn more about pcAnywhere.

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 May 12, 2006 to Fat Friday: David Munn reflects on this year's LegalTech New York, Carroll Straus reviews Voo2do for task management, Douglas Folk discusses Tumi's laptop cases, Georgina Macdonald reviews her Belkin and Altec Lansing iPod accessories, and Gregory Miller dissects Ross Kodner's recent musings on legal blogs. 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, tech expert Jill Bauerle covers a security utility that will nuke files for good, a discrete wireless Bluetooth headset, and a free tool for storing and sharing your bookmarks, Web clippings, and other information. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Hasta La Vista, You've Been Erased
By Jill Bauerle
Gone but not forgotten, remnants of old files can remain on your hard drive long after you've moved them to the recycle bin. The next time you have confidential documents to delete, try Eraser 5.8 from Heidi Computers. An advanced security utility, Eraser "shreds" magnetic remnants embedded in your hard drive by overwriting it numerous times in different patterns using Peter Gutmann's method. Without such a tool, deleted files sit on your hard drive until written over. Even then, forensic experts can reconstruct them, making you and your confidential files vulnerable. Eraser not only scrubs existing or "deleted" files and folders individually, it erases entire hard drives using the software's "Boot and Nuke" feature, and prevents file recovery applications from functioning. Eraser can also eradicate indexed, encrypted and compressed files, caches, cookies, Norton Unerase files, and more. If you're in a hurry, you can instead erase the first and last 2KB of a file, rendering it unusable. Once you download the freeware, Eraser's simple interface enables you to pick and choose your action on the spot or set up a schedule. Eraser is free and supports Windows 95 and higher as well as DOS. Learn more about Eraser.

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.