TechnoLawyer: TechnoFeature

Coming today to TechnoFeature: So you're starting your own law firm. Among the lengthy list of items on your task list — launch a web site. If you're not a web designer (likely since law schools don't teach graphic design or programming), you're going to need help. You can spend big bucks on a web designer or little bucks on a turnkey solution. In this issue of TechnoFeature, West Michigan family and general practice lawyer Pete Armstrong reviews Impirus Legal Websites, a service that enables you to build and host a web site, including a client portal, for $49 per month. Is Impirus worth the price tag? See for yourself as Pete walks you through the features and then lets you compare his old site to his new Impirus site.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. As a result, TechnoFeature offers some of the most profound thoughts on law practice, and helpful advice about legal-specific products. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: They say that lawyers are not visual people. Hogwash. We're all visual. No one's brain, legal or otherwise, works only in the linear, verbal realm. Thus, it's likely you could benefit from mindmapping (aka brainstorming) software. And who better to write a buyer's guide for you than lawyer and document assembly expert Seth Rowland who reviewed allCLEAR and MindManager respectively in two issues of this newsletter back in 2007. In today's TechnoFeature article, Seth moves beyond the product review to deliver for you at no charge a full-blown buyer's guide. Seth discusses nine features to consider when shopping. As a bonus, the appendix to this article lists 14 desktop software and six cloud (Web) products. Did Seth use mindmapping software to create this comprehensive buyer's guide. Need you ask?

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. As a result, TechnoFeature offers some of the most profound thoughts on law practice, and helpful advice about legal-specific products. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: Adobe Acrobat Pro is one of the biggest fish in the legal technology pond at least here in our neck of the woods with a whopping 72% adoption among TechnoLawyer members. In this issue of TechnoFeature, intellectual property lawyers Al Harrison and Randy Claridge review Adobe Acrobat X Pro with a particular focus on its new features, including encryption, forms creation, Guided Actions and the Action Wizard, optical character recognition (OCR), user interface changes, and much more. After reading this review, you'll know whether or not to upgrade, and if so whether to upgrade everyone or just a select few.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: Has it become more challenging for your law firm to recover costs? Have these costs shrunk in recent years because your workflow has changed? Has your firm just thrown in the towel because your cost recovery system costs more to maintain than the costs you recover? If you answer "Yes" to any of these questions, before you sigh and settle on a Toyota rather than a Lexus, read this TechnoFeature article by cost recovery expert Rob Mattern. The bad news is that cost recovery as you knew it is indeed dying. The good news is that Rob has developed a clever new way to recover costs that will increase your firm's revenue. Even better, your clients won't complain (even when they see you drive into their parking lot).

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: With all the focus on ediscovery, many legal vendors seem to have forgotten that there's more to litigation than document review. But not Thomson Reuters. The company's Westlaw Litigator suite of products focuses on ediscovery as well as all the other aspects of litigation. In this TechnoFeature article, independent ediscovery consultant Brett Burney reviews West Case Notebook, one of the products in this suite. West Case Notebook enables you to organize the key facts and issues in your cases — characters, legal research, transcripts, exhibits, etc. — to help you develop insights and prepare for depositions, settlement conferences, and even a trial if necessary. As always, Brett has written a comprehensive review that will help you make a decision.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: Technologically, you can sum up this century with one word — mobile. While you can't quite carry a copy machine in your pocket, thanks to Canon you can carry one in your laptop case. We reported on the imageFORMULA P-150 "Scan-tini" portable scanner when Canon first released it. Today, lawyer, paperless law office guru, and law practice advisor Jared Correia reports on how well this tiny USB scanner works. Jared tested just about every feature of the P-150 (he even weighed it to verify Canon's specifications). If you need a portable scanner, you need to read Jared's comprehensive review.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: Usually, lawyers lag technology, but the reverse is true in litigation today. Electronic discovery software costs too much for cases that involve just a few thousand documents and email messages. And yet courts are sanctioning litigators left and right for electronic discovery faux pas despite their clients' limited budgets. In this issue of TechnoFeature, eDiscovery consultant and computer forensics expert Bruce Olson reviews Digital WarRoom Pro. Released earlier this year, Digital WarRoom Pro aims to make the three essential components of eDiscovery — processing, reviewing, and producing email and other electronic documents — affordable. Does Digital WarRoom Pro deliver on its promise? Read Bruce's review to find out.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: It's time. And it's about time. Your law firm has decided to purchase a practice management system (aka case management system). Now that you've taken the first step, prepare for a long and winding journey — at least if you're smart. If you fail to conduct due diligence you increase the likelihood of a failed rollout of the wrong product. Fortunately for you, lawyer and legal technology and legal writing consultant Josh Auriemma can lead you to the right practice management system for your firm. That's because Josh just successfully completed this journey at his seven-lawyer firm. In this TechnoFeature article, Josh discusses the questions you must ask yourself and the sales representatives with whom you meet, and how to spot hidden costs and red flags such as mobile access. As they say nowadays, follow Josh. He knows the way.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: Oakland trial lawyer Jeffrey Allen of Graves & Allen took a leap of faith. Along with more than 20 million others, he bought an iPad. But unlike virtually all of those people, he wanted to see if he could use an iPad in every aspect of a trial — selecting jurors, giving opening and closing arguments, presenting evidence, impeaching witnesses with deposition testimony, etc. Did he succeed? Find out in this TechnoFeature article in which Jeffrey takes you on a whirlwind courtroom adventure involving more than 20 iPad apps. Not surprisingly, his journey starts in a conference room at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: Search Google for "Change or Die" and you'll find a photo of Alan Deutschman signing copies of his book of that name at Borders, the bookstore chain that didn't change and died. In this TechnoFeature article, law firm management and technology consultant Katrina Curfiss Jasaitis discusses the "LegalZoom problem" — the commoditization of and pricing pressure on legal services — and then explains how large and small law firms can adapt to the new normal. In all, you'll find five steps that will get your law firm on the right track. Even if you don't think you're currently on the wrong track, read Katrina's advice to make sure the light at the end of the tunnel is not attached to a large, well-financed company with you in its sights.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.