TechnoLawyer: TechnoLawyer

No company can succeed without early adopters. In our case, we lucked out in that we had contributors and readers from day one, and clients as soon as we started selling marketing opportunities.

One of our earliest clients was CaseSoft, now LexisNexis CaseMap. At the end of the year, Greg Krehel, CaseSoft's co-founder, will retire.

(Unfortunately, because so many companies use words like "retire" as euphemisms after layoffs, reorgs, mergers, and so forth, people always wonder. However, in this context, its true meaning applies. Greg really is retiring. The decision was his. He just announced it recently.)

Greg Krehel along with his partner Bob Wiss shook up the legal industry by creating new categories of litigation software, raising the bar for customer service at a time when many software companies had begun cutting back, and using new marketing techniques, including the Internet, to reach lawyers. I'm proud to have played a small role in this inspirational American success story.

I spent the summer of 1998 developing TechnoLawyer's first service — an email advertising vehicle called TechnoRelease Tuesday (now just TechnoRelease) and an accompanying methodology for using it called Serial Storytelling. In August, I released our first media kit and legal vendors immediately started buying TechnoReleases. But I could not persuade anyone to try Serial Storytelling.

That same year I saw an article about CaseMap 2.0 in Internet Weekly magazine. Impressed, I wanted to meet the person who convinced an Internet magazine to publish an article about legal software. Soon enough I met Greg Krehel. Actually, he sought me out.

TechnoLawyer had no office space at the time so he met me outside my apartment building and we walked to a Starbucks. To this day, I don't know why I didn't just meet him at Starbucks to better disguise the fact that I had no office. Nonetheless, he still ordered a year's worth of TechnoReleases. It was our biggest sale ever at that point in time. And it was CaseSoft's first of nine consecutive one year campaigns in TechnoLawyer (including 2007, its first year as LexisNexis CaseMap).

Greg proceeded to roll out several campaigns using my Serial Storytelling methodology. I don't think I ever told him it was just a theory of mine that no one had ever put into practice, but fortunately it worked — in large part because Greg is not just a talented entrepreneur, but also one heckuva copywriter.

One particularly memorable campaign was a series of tips on creating case chronologies that Greg wrote over the course of seven TechnoReleases. He later used these tips as the basis for a popular white paper entitled Chronology Best Practices still available to this day.

My favorite campaign of Greg's was the very successful launch of TimeMap in 2000. You can get a clear sense of the story he told just by reading some of the TechnoRelease titles (note how he alternated between offers and tips, advertising and content):

Countdown to TimeMap: T Minus 1 and Counting

Two More Demonstrative Evidence Ideas

TimeMap Done; Download Final; 7 Days Till Special Price Kaput

Why Thinking Backwards is Forward Thinking

If TimeMap Doesn't Live Up to Our Claims, Get it for Free

Using Chronology Graphs in Briefs

Designing Effective Visuals: Choosing Fonts and Colors

Greg often credits TechnoLawyer with CaseSoft's early success, but I think the converse is the truer statement. Though small, CaseSoft was the larger company by far. Greg's validation of TechnoReleases as a cost-effective marketing vehicle helped pave the way for our success. At the time, Google had not yet sold a single advertisement. Advertising on the Internet and especially in email newsletters was perceived as risky or at least untested, especially in the conservative legal industry. Many people have forgotten those days. Not me.

By my count, Greg wrote 230 TechnoReleases from 1999-2006. I enjoyed reading and publishing each and every one of them. I doubt anyone else will ever write that many. Even more impressive is the fact that Greg's TechnoReleases represent just one facet of the terrific job he did as CEO of CaseSoft.

The legal industry won't be the same without Greg, but it will continue to benefit from his vision and the products he created. On behalf of everyone at TechnoLawyer and our many subscribers who enjoyed reading his TechnoReleases, we wish Greg much happiness and thank him for all the great memories and for his help and friendship.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Coming November 16, 2007 to Fat Friday: Paul Easton reviews his Treo 680 and how it compares to BlackBerry and iPhone, Stephen Seldin discusses what he deems the fundamental problem with software, Paul Stanley reviews Password Keeper for BlackBerry Curve, Barry Weintraub has a tip for inexpensively automating estate planning documents, and George Wisely has a bone to pick with a recent TechnoRelease that contained a job opportunity for a lawyer to help build online applications for consumers seeking inexpensive legal services. 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.

Just 8 days remain to enter TechnoLawyer Linkathon, our sweepstakes with a top prize of $500. Simply link to us using a URL that we provide, and then email us your entry.

Although I can't make any promises about your odds when the sweepstakes ends, your odds of winning today are an incredible 12%. By contrast, your odds of winning a typical lottery are about .0000007%.

I don't have any statistics, but I suspect winning this $500 might be easier than shooting fish in a barrel.

That's because very few legal professionals have Web sites — or at least Web sites on which they can get permission to add a link. If you're lucky enough to have such access, learn how to enter TechnoLawyer Linkathon now.

Update: TechnoLawyer Linkathon has ended. Read about the wnners.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Please Note: TechnoLawyer Linkathon has ended. Read about the winners.

We recently published a free eBook — BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide. It continues to garner favorable reviews, most recently from LLRX. If you don't yet have a copy, please download it now (PDF file).

Today we're launching TechnoLawyer Linkathon — a sweepstakes in which you could win a first prize of $500 or a second prize of $200! The beauty of cold hard cash is spending it however you see fit. Buy the latest must-have gadget or 150 ice cream cones. Indulge yourself!

How to Enter Technolawyer Linkathon ...

Anyone with a blog or Web site that caters to the legal community can participate. TechnoLawyer membership is not required so please tell your friends.

If your blog or site qualifies, just do the following:

1. Link to Our eBook
Simply use this URL to send people to our site where they can download a copy of our eBook (no registration required): http://www.toplaw.news/r.asp?L12085&M1

You can link to us in one of two ways:

• Place an image of the eBook that we provide along the side of your home page and simply link the image.

• Write about the eBook in a blog post or in an article on or accessible from your home page. Your post/article should contain the eBook's title and the link plus whatever else you want to say (review, description, etc.). Or you can simply use a blurb that we provide.The title of the eBook is: BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide. You can download some blurbs about the eBook as well as some graphics here (.zip file).

Here again is the URL to use in your link: http://www.toplaw.news/r.asp?L12085&M1

2. Enter the Drawing
Once you have linked to us as outlined above, please email the corresponding Web address of that page on your blog or site along with your contact information (including city and state) to us at: linkathon1007@peerviews.com

After you enter, you'll receive a confirmation message. If you don't, please contact our customer service department (use the email address listed on the bottom of this page).

We will hold a drawing on November 21, 2007. There will be two prizes. The first prize winner will receive $500, and the second prize winner will receive $200.

Just one entry per blog or Web site. United States residents and blogs/sites only. You must send us your entry by October 31, 2007.

3. The Fine Print
There's no step 3! But we do have official rules. Please review them below. Good luck!

TECHNOLAWYER LINKATHON OFFICIAL RULES

1. ELIGIBILITY: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. TechnoLawyer Linkathon is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia who have reached the age of majority in their state of residence as of the date of entry and who operate a blog or Internet Web site that caters to the U.S. legal community. Employees and directors of PeerViews Inc., as well as immediate family members (spouses, children, parents, siblings) and those living in the same household as employees and directors, are not eligible to participate. Eligibility will be determined in the sole discretion of Sponsor. By entering, you agree to these Official Rules and to all decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding. Linkathon is sponsored by PeerViews Inc., 825 Third Avenue, Second Floor, New York, NY 10022 ("Sponsor").

2. TO ENTER: To enter, add the link provided below to your Web site or blog post to send people to our site where they can download our eBook "BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide." The link must be added to your Web site or blog between October 1, 2007 and October 31, 2007. Links added before or after those dates are not eligible for the drawing. Link to our site in one of two ways: (1) place an image of the eBook that we provide along the side of your home page and link the image; or (2) write about the eBook in a blog post or in an article on or accessible from your home page that includes the title of the eBook, the link to it, and whatever else you want to say (review, description, etc.) or use a blurb that we provide on our Web site. The link to our Web site that you must use is: http://www.toplaw.news/r.asp?L12085&M1. No other link will be eligible even if it goes to the same Web page. Download information, blurbs, graphics and more related to the eBook. Once you have linked to us as described above, send an email message to linkathon1007@peerviews.com with the Web address of your blog or Web site containing the link to the eBook, along with your full name, city, state, and email address. Email entries must be received by Sponsor's server no later than 11:59:59 p.m. ET on October 31, 2007. Limit of one (1) entry per Web site or blog. Incomplete or garbled entries and entries with nonfunctioning links will be disqualified. Entries generated by a script, macro or other automated means are not eligible.

3. DRAWING and PRIZES: One (1) First Prize winner and one (1) Second Prize winner will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible entries held on or about November 21, 2007. First Prize winner will receive $500. Second Prize winner will receive $200. Odds of winning a prize depend on the number of eligible entries received. Potential winners will be notified by email within five (5) business days after the drawing and must claim the prize by signing and returning a declaration of eligibility and liability/publicity release within five (5) business days of notification. If a potential winner cannot be reached within five (5) business days after the first attempt to contact such potential winner, or if potential winner does not timely return the signed claim forms, that potential winner will be disqualified and an alternate entrant will be selected in at random from among all remaining eligible entries. Any applicable taxes or fees on prizes are the sole responsibility of winners. Limit one prize per person. Prizes will be mailed in the form of a check to each winner within four to six weeks after the drawing date. No substitution of prize. Prizes are non-transferable prior to award. Sponsor is not responsible for actions after delivery.

4. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:  By accepting a prize, winners agree that the Sponsor, and those acting under its authority, may use winners' names, cities, likenesses, and Web site or blog titles for advertising and promotional purposes in any media without limitation or obligation, and without further consideration, unless prohibited by law. By entering, you agree that the Sponsor, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and all of their respective officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents, will have no liability whatsoever for, and will be held harmless by you for any liability for any injury, loss or damages of any kind to persons, including death, and property, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from participation in the Linkathon, downloading any materials, or from the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize or prize-related activity. Void where prohibited.

5. MISCELLANEOUS: All entries become the sole property of the Sponsor. In the event of a dispute, entries will be deemed made by the authorized account holder of the email address used to submit the entry. The "authorized account holder" is deemed as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, service provider or other online organization that is responsible for assigning e- mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. A potential winner may be requested to provide Sponsor with proof that the potential winner is the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the winning entry. If for any reason the Linkathon is not capable of running as planned, including due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, human error or any other causes beyond the control of the Sponsor that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the promotion, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the promotion and to select winners from among the email entries received prior to such failure. The Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, illegible, incomplete, stolen or misdirected mail or email. Sponsor is not responsible for any computer, telephone, satellite, cable, network, electronic or Internet hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections, or availability, or garbled, corrupt or jumbled transmissions, traffic congestion, or any technical error, or for injury or damage to participants' or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from downloading the eBook, links or otherwise participating in the Linkathon or using the TechnoLawyer/PeerViews Web site.

6. WINNERS' LIST: For a list of the prize winners, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to TechnoLawyer Linkathon Winners, PeerViews Inc., 825 Third Avenue, Second Floor, New York, NY 10022, between October 31 and November 30, 2007. Requests received outside this period will not be processed. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery of Winners' List.

BlawgWorld enables you to explore and discover legal blogs (blawgs) without spinning your wheels. It features the best essays of the year from 77 of the most influential blawgs.

TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide uses a question/answer format to help you find solutions to problems commonly encountered by law firms. It contains 185 solutions organized into 58 topics.

Thanks to the eBook's inspired design, you're never more than three clicks away from what you want to read. BlawgWorld 2007-08 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide has received glowing reviews from many publications. For example, LLRX writes:

"The substance of both books is exceptional, while the eBook format is innovative and inviting.... [The eBook] was designed to open in just about any PDF viewer and it worked very well in my various tests.... The best part of the entire eBook is that it is free."

Download Your Free Copy Now
BlawgWorld 2007-08 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide is truly free — no registration hassles.

So please download your copy now (PDF file).

And then enter our sweepstakes.

REFLECTIONS ON MY TECHNOLAWYER NEWSWIRE TENURE
By Dennis Kennedy

Neil and I had a long conversation at ABA TECHSHOW 2006. At one point, I mentioned that I liked the TechnoLawyer Newswire newsletter because it alerted me to new products. I also mentioned that I was feeling out of touch on new products and releases in legal technology. It seemed too difficult to keep up with all of the developments.

Neil floated a trial balloon about me writing TechnoLawyer NewsWire. It intrigued me, both as a way to learn about new legal tech products and as a way to develop the discipline to write pieces that were roughly 300 words in length. At the time, I often got jabs about my rather lengthy blog posts.

Neil got back to me and we worked out the details. My main demand was that Neil come up with the titles for the pieces, which he did a great job with, although occasionally I'd suggest a title that made it through the editing process. For more than a year, I wrote the TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter, getting introduced to many new products and the people behind a good number of them. It was a pleasure to work with Sara Skiff and Neil on this.

By my count, the result was more than 150 descriptive essays about a wide variety of technology products and services that could be useful to lawyers. These are not reviews, even though some people mistakenly think of them in those terms. They are descriptions of the products and services, with an eye for how they might benefit lawyers and my perspective on what features are important, distinctive, or just plain attractive.

Because of other commitments and my decision to take over the technology column for the ABA Journal starting later this year, I've decided to step away from writing TechnoLawyer Newswire, with mixed emotions. It was great fun, I learned a lot about cool products and services, and I believe that some of you will have noticed that my blog posts have become more concise.

I've been pleased with the response from readers and, especially, from the companies about whose products I wrote. It's nice to have someone say that I captured the essence of their offering or described the features and benefits as they always wished they could have. It's also great to have people tell me that a product I wrote about filled long-standing needs they had in their practices.

MY TOP TEN HOT PRODUCTS AND FAVORITE ARTICLE

Neil invited me to write a farewell article, waiving the 300-word guideline, as he knew he must. He also suggested that I highlight my favorites of the products I wrote about in TechnoLawyer NewsWire. It was tough to pare down the list, but here are ten of my favorites:

1. Drobo

Drobo is a "storage robot" that simplifies backup and expands your storage capacity. Although I haven't bought one yet, it's on my "to be purchased" list.

2. ClearSync SE

Writing TechnoLawyer NewsWire really did get me interested in storage and backup options, especially the online storage tools. ClearSync SE is an inexpensive backup tool that also made it onto my personal purchase list. Other products/services in this category included Backup4All, Mozy, MyOtherDrive, and several others. As a recent electrical outage again reminded me, backup, online storage, and disaster recovery should be front-and-center for every lawyer.

3. Web 2.0 Services

I like this category of services and we covered plenty of them in TechnoLawyer NewsWire. Web 2.0 refers to online "applets" that work in ways that turn the Internet into an interactive applications platform, not just a set of traditional Web pages. ClipMarks, LibraryThing, Google Analytics, scanR, and iPolipo were good examples of this category.

4. New Versions Of Great Legal Programs

I liked writing about the new features in some of my favorite legal programs, like CaseMap, TimeMap, CaseLogistix, and Workshare.

5. Small Paradigm Changers

I love small products and services that can have a huge impact, if properly understood and deployed. Looking over the list, I see a lot of these. AIRTIME Manager, FreshBooks, and RealDealDocs are a few examples.

6. Appliances

Technology in a box. Keep it simple. Examples include the Teneros Continuity Appliance, Cricket Box, and the Inboxer Anti-Risk Appliance.

7. Back Office Tools and Utilities

I wrote about a good number of tools that would make sense in medium to large law offices to handle infrastructure issues, such as Up.time, Symantec Enterprise Vault, Spiceworks IT Desktop, UltraVNC, and Whitehill BPI for Legal.

8. Electronic Discovery and Litigation Tools

Lawyers are working very hard to postpone the day of reckoning on electronic discovery, but the bell will toll soon. We covered a good number of EDD tools, but I was especially impressed with what my friend John Tredennick is doing with Catalyst CR 6.0.

9. MyVu

Neil and Sara occasionally put hardware items on the list. My favorite of these was MyVu, the glasses with built-in virtual monitors so you can listen to and view videos from your video iPod. I haven't tried them, but I suspect they give us a glimpse into the post-Bluetooth earpiece future.

10. PDF Tools

If you watch the TV show "Monk," you'll know that it's all but impossible to have a list with nine items. You need ten for completeness. The only time I complained a bit to Neil was when he gave me several products in the same category for an issue. There's a limit to how creative I can be. I mean, I really like online time and billing services, but there aren't a lot of different ways to describe them. Over the course of writing TechnoLawyer NewsWire, at least seven products had "PDF" in their titles, and at least as many more either created PDFs or had some features that managed PDFs. It was hard to come up with fresh things to say, but PDFs are essential for lawyers and, if you don't use Adobe Acrobat, you need to be aware that there are tons of excellent, inexpensive alternatives.

Bonus: My Favorite Article

Not much of a contest here. I really liked the lawyer's quick guide to Microsoft Office 2007 I wrote in January. It was fun to write, summarized the main features of Office 2007, and gave a realistic framework for lawyers moving to Office 2007.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

It has been fun, as always, to be associated with TechnoLawyer. I thank Neil and Sara and everyone who has read TechnoLawyer NewsWire, especially those who gave me their feedback. It's a useful service for anyone who wants to keep up with developments in legal technology products and services and I know that I'll remain an avid reader. My best wishes to all.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: THE BEAT GOES ON

I would like to thank Dennis for his excellent stewardship of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, and wish him continued success at the ABA Journal. This summer, TechnoLawyer NewsWire celebrated its seventh birthday in its current form. Over this span, it has had five bylines, including Dennis.

Next Wednesday, the beat goes on with a new byline, and shortly thereafter some significant changes to further improve our reporting of hot new products and services of interest to legal professionals like you. Please don't miss a word, especially since every word is free.  You can subscribe here. — Neil J. Squillante

Welcome to our press kit for BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide. We've designed this press kit for two audiences — bar associations, bloggers, publishers, and others who would like to distribute a copy of this eBook via their blog, listserver, newsletter, Web site, etc., and lawyers, law librarians, paralegals, and other law firm personnel who would like to place a copy of the eBook on their law firm's intranet.

How to Distribute the eBook
1. Online Publishing: Feel free to copy either of the download links below (depending on which cover you prefer), and make it available anywhere online. You can also email these links to friends. Even better, contact us so that we can give you your own unique trackable download link. This way, you can track the number of downloads. Everyone loves statistics after all. Also, feel free to use any of the graphics available below in conjunction with your distribution of the eBook. There is no charge for this service.

2. Law Firm Intranets: If your intranet consists of private Web pages, please contact us for a trackable download link so that you can evaluate its popularity. If you would prefer not to use a trackable link or if your "intranet" consists of a file server, that's fine. In that case, please send us the name of your firm and the number of lawyers and staff so that we have an idea of how many people might access the eBook. Either way, there is no charge.

Though free and freely distributed, the eBook does not reside in the public domain. Therefore, you may only distribute the eBook as outlined above. The download links we provide directly download the eBook. No registration hassles. Plus we take care of all the bandwidth.

Please contact Sara Skiff at or at (646) 530-8500 x102. When you contact Sara, please tell her which cover you prefer—Grid or Overlap (see below).

Watch Our Press Conference Video
As you've probably noticed, at the top of the press kit you'll find a video of our July 25, 2007 press conference, which runs for 17 minutes. It consists of three parts: (1) a behind the scenes look at what makes this eBook noteworthy, (2) a guided tour of the eBook and its features, and (3) a Q&A session with those who attended the press conference.

Download The eBook
Below you'll find two download links for the eBook — one for the version with the Grid cover, and one for the version with the Overlap cover. Other than the different covers, they are identical. Click a cover to download that version. If you would like to distribute the eBook, we've also provided the corresponding URLs below in a format easy to copy and paste.

The Grid cover displays screenshots of many of the blawgs featured in BlawgWorld 2007 in an orderly grid.
Grid URL: http://www.toplaw.news/r.asp?L11594&M1

The Overlap cover displays screenshots of many of the blawgs featured in BlawgWorld 2007 in an overlapping manner.
Overlap URL: http://www.toplaw.news/r.asp?L11595&M1

TechnoLawyer eBook Press Release
July 30, 2007: TechnoLawyer eBook Makes Legal Publishing History with Smart Navigation System and Online Distribution Via Seventy-Eight Legal Blogs

August 1, 2007: TechnoLawyer eBook Downloaded 5,000 Times in First 36 Hours of Release

TechnoLawyer eBook Logo
Please click the logo to download it in EPS, PSD, and TIF formats.

TechnoLawyer eBook Photos
Below you'll find three photos from the TechnoLawyer eBook Pre/Launch Party at PS 450 in New York City. Click a photo to download a high resolution copy.

Editor Sara Skiff and Publisher Neil J. Squillante pose with the cover of the eBook.

Fourteen of the 77 bloggers featured in BlawgWorld 2007 pose for a group photo.

Bloggers Adriana Linares and Allison C. Shields debate which eBook cover they prefer while publisher Neil J. Squillante listens to their feedback.

Graphics For Distributors: Grid Cover
Below you'll find thumbnails of three graphics for the Grid cover — Tilt, Flat, and Book — each of which comes in two versions. Tilt and Flat are designed to sit above a blog post like the video at the top of this press kit. Book is designed for inline use in a blog post or newsletter, and also for use along the side of any Web site. For your convenience, we've provided each graphic at several sizes ready to go. We've also included the original Photoshop files if you need a different size. Click any thumbnail to download the entire set.

Graphics For Distributors: Overlap Cover
Below you'll find thumbnails of three graphics for the Overlap cover — Tilt, Flat, and Book — each of which comes in two versions. Tilt and Flat are designed to sit above a blog post like the video at the top of this press kit. Book is designed for inline use in a blog post or newsletter, and also for use along the side of any Web site. For your convenience, we've provided each graphic at several sizes ready to go. We've also included the original Photoshop files if you need a different size. Click any thumbnail to download the entire set

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.

Download Our eBook Now
Our eBook is truly free. You click the link and it downloads. No registration hassles.

Download your copy of the eBook now.

And then watch our press conference.

As you may know, those who contribute to TechnoLawyer receive ViewPoints — our currency. Each ViewPoint is worth 2 cents. ViewPoints never expire.

You can currently use ViewPoints to purchase a TechnoLawyer Archive subscription. Soon, you'll be able to use them to purchase TechnoLawyer Classifieds.

Below you will find a list of the top 10 TechnoLawyer Tycoons — the 10 active members who currently have the most ViewPoints. While not exactly a Gates-like fortune, these sums are very impressive nonetheless.

230,975 ($4,619.50): Seth Rowland

129,225 ($2,584.50): Ed Poll

101,650 ($2,033): Tim Piganelli

86,660 ($1,733.20): John Heckman

82,475 ($1,649.50): Wells Anderson

75,500 ($1,510): Jeffrey Allen

75,450 ($1,509): Patricia Nemish

74,760 ($1,495.20): Ross Kodner

53,375 ($1,067.50): David Moon

53,200 ($1,064): Bruce Olson

In all, 31 TechnoLawyer members have 10,000 or more ViewPoints — most of them TechnoFeature authors. However, expect this number to increase. Why? Because we will soon begin awarding more ViewPoints for Posts that appear in our Answers to Questions and Fat Friday newsletters. A lot more — up to 20,000 per Post ($400).

Thank you to all our contributors! Please keep it coming!

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Publishing seems so glamorous ... to non-publishers. As many lawyers turned bloggers have learned, publishing is a grind in which you're only as good as your last article. While blogging software has dramatically reduced the amount of grunt work, it hasn't eliminated it completely. Therefore, I present to you my top five unglamorous legal blogging tips:

1. Write your posts in an HTML or text editor, not in your Web browser. Most of us post to our blogs using a Web browser. But browsers don't enable you to save your work with a quick Control-S, which means most bloggers don't save their work frequently. If you accidentally close your browser window, poof — all gone.

Instead, use an HTML or text editor to create a template for your blog posts. Write your posts there and use your browser only for posting. As an added bonus, you'll automatically have a backup of every post on your hard drive.

2. Consider using recurring features. Or as I call them — the difference between amateur and professional publishing. Recurring features provide personality and structure to your blog, and make it more likely you'll connect with people and build an audience. Give each feature a clever name and provide an explanatory blurb in the footer beneath each post (another good reason to use templates).

TechnoLawyer is, of course, a perfect example — we publish 6 different newsletters, and in our blog we have recurring features such as Ad Watch, Coming Attractions, TechnoEditorials, etc.

Over at the Databazaar Blog, which we ghost-write, we have Printer News, PrinTips, Review Roundup, DoubleSided, etc.

Obviously, you'll want to retain the ability to post outside of this structure. I refer to such posts as "freeform."

3. Grammar and spelling do matter! While you may want to use a casual tone in your blog, that doesn't mean you should ignore grammar and spelling (another good reason to use an HTML or text editor). In fact, consider having someone at your firm serve as your editor and/or proofreader. This person can check your posts not only for technical errors, but for more serious problems as well. Thanks to blog search engines like Technorati, it can be difficult to retract a post once published.

4. If your titles need to cover a lot of ground, help them out by using a subheading. Search engines pay most attention to titles so limit them to the essential keywords. If you need to convey anything else, do so in a subheading. You can also use a subheading to repeat very important keywords. We use this technique in every post on Databazaar Blog. For example, a recent post used the following title and subheading.

Title:
Matthias Wandel Wanted a Dot Matrix Printer So He Built One MacGyver-Style

Subheading:
DoubleSided: A Classic From the 1980s: One-Pin Homemade Dot Matrix Printer

5. Design your blog to accommodate photos and videos. Anytime someone in your firm has a public speaking gig, try to photograph or videotape it so you can post it to your blog. YouTube videos have a width of 425 pixels so give your blog a width of at least 500 pixels just to be safe. This width will also enable you to display photos at a size that won't require squinting.

Happy blogging ... and sorry to be such a bore.

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A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.