TechnoLawyer: Post

Regarding our ongoing discussion in Answers to Questions about accounting software that integrates with case management software, TechnoLawyer member Dana Yaffee writes: "I bought PC Law to go with Amicus Attorney and think it is more sophisticated than what is necessary for a solo practitioner. I have been looking for something less complex and the consensus from colleagues is that Quickbooks integrates pretty well with most of the case management software programs. Many bookkeepers are familiar with Quickbooks and Timeslips, if you are planning to farm out your billing activities." If you use Amicus Attorney, listen up — Gavel & Gown recently pre-announced Amicus Accounting, which it plans to release in 2006. Amicus Accounting will feature accounting as well as time-billing components. You heard it here first.

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

In Fat Friday, we recently published in-depth reviews of the Sirius and XM satellite radio services (very popular among lawyers). TechnoLawyer member Charles Beans responds as follows: "I am an XM person. However, Sirius seems to have better hardware selection. Also, they have the SEC instead of the ACC, which is far superior IMO. I can't say that much about Sirius music content. I know on XM, some channels are more hifi than others. For instance, the Cinematix channel is lofi. However, I suffer on." Charles may "suffer" even more now that Sirius has announced a quasi-portable model. Then again, this new model has already taken a tongue-lashing on the Internet.

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Regarding the recent word processor debate in Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer member Stephen Seldin writes: "WordPerfect does not use meta code, which means that I do not have to worry about scrubbing hidden prior drafts and comments from a document before sending it to the other side. WordPerfect includes a redline utility, which means that I do not have to buy an expensive redline program to compare drafts."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

With all the scuttlebutt about document comparison software in recent editions of Fat Friday, TechnoLawyer member Jon Calhoun sent us an oft-forgotten reminder: "I've used WordPerfect's built-in compare feature for years and have been quite satisfied. Of course, that means working in WordPerfect instead of Word, but that's a plus in my book. WordPerfect does a fine job of converting Word documents, which you would have to do before using the redline feature."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Recently in Answers to Questions, Jason Havens discussed his move from PCLaw to AbacusLaw. In his Post, Jason mentioned AbacusLaw's HotDocs integration. TechnoLawyer member Michael Wasserman responds as follows: "I too am a long time Abacus user in a two-lawyer general practice. A big fan. Sadly, the HotDocs connection works only with HotDocs 5.0 (and, possibly, earlier). It does not work with HotDocs 6.0 or 2005."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Continuing with our series of reports on courts that ban cell phones, TechnoLawyer member Darren Cantor writes: "Colorado courts, so far, have not banned smartphones in any manner. However, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado presently has a policy prohibiting any camera phone (nearly impossible to get one without these days, isn't it?) from entry. You must check your phone in with the U.S. Marshals upon entry. Our plan is to go to the Chief Judge, to talk about changing this policy, but no action yet."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

With the release of DeltaView PE for solo practitioners and small firms, the document comparison (redlining) wars have heated up quite a bit. TechnoLawyer member Patti Russell writes in with a brief review of Litera's Change-Pro: "We just purchased three copies of Litera's Change-Pro for our document comparison needs for both Word and WordPerfect. It also has a metadata removal feature. So far, we love it. It's very user friendly and you can buy individual licenses." You can find many reviews of redlining and other legal software in the TechnoLawyer Archive.

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

In Answers to Questions, we recently reviewed several tools capable of being used to create an online legal treatise. TechnoLawyer member Alex Petrovic writes in with another possible option: "You could take a look at dtSearch Web. It is not too expensive either. Good luck."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Answers to Questions recently featured lots of reviews of Windows Explorer alternatives. TechnoLawyer member Godfrey Leighton writes in with yet another one: "Try File Ant." A man of few words (unlike most legal professionals), but we thank him for the link!

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

A recent thread in Fat Friday explored the benefits of having an MBA as a lawyer. TechnoLawyer member Donald Parkyn writes in to suggest an equally useful advanced degree that requires less time to obtain — a Certificate in Forensic Economics. Donald points to a program offered by the University of Missouri "designed to give persons with masters degrees or higher degrees special training in the requirements for preparing economic reports for selected areas of litigation." Learn more.

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.