TechnoLawyer: TL NewsWire

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers an ediscovery processing service that may set new speed records (see article below), a cloud practice management system that integrates with Outlook, a secure file sharing service that organizes documents by people, and a secure group messaging service. Don't miss the next issue.

EDISCOVERY PROCESSING THAT SCALES WITH YOUR NEEDS

When some of you of a certain age started working as a young litigator, "processing" involved nothing more than having boxes of dusty documents copied. You would then review the copies. Processing electronically stored information (ESI) is much more complex not only because of the many document formats and garbage files but also the sheer volume. In short, you need both quality and speed.

Lexbe Native Processing+ (TIFF) … in One Sentence

Launching today, Lexbe Native Processing+ (TIFF) eliminates duplicates and other irrelevant documents from ESI, and converts the remaining documents into a TIFF-based load file.

The Killer Feature

According to Lexbe, its new service is among the fastest. How fast? The company reported in a white paper that the new service processed the famous 53 GB Enron data set into TIFF images in 5.3 hours. In one day, Lexbe Native Processing+ can handle more than 240 GB of ESI or about 23 million pages.

Lexbe's fast processing enables you to start your document reviews sooner, and meet tight discovery deadlines even as the volume of ESI continues to grow. Because your clients' ESI spends less time being processed, Lexbe Native Processing+ also costs less than the going rate for processing.

Other Notable Features

Lexbe Native Processing+ (TIFF) achieves its speed advantage thanks to proprietary processing software that works across multiple servers. Lexbe can provision as many servers as your job needs depending on its size and your deadline.

By contrast, law firms and legal departments that use desktop processing software internally can't add more PCs easily. You need a data center, and specialty software for this kind of scale. Processing also requires trained personnel to apply various filters such as de-duplication. Even the largest law firms usually have a relatively small team of litigation project managers and technicians.

As a result, a 200 GB job at a law firm or legal department could take weeks or more using 100% of available resources. Lexbe could finish this job in just days.

Lexbe transmits and stores the ESI you provide using 256-bit encryption. The company's data centers reside in the United States, and meet all the latest security standards such as SSAE 16 and ISAE 3042. Additionally, Lexbe has achieved ISO 27001 certification and validation as a Level 1 Service Provider under the PCI Data Security Standard.

What Else Should You Know?

You can use the TIFF-based load file created by Lexbe Native Processing+ in any discovery review software, including Lexbe's eponymous cloud application. Learn more about Lexbe Native Processing+ (TIFF).

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a popular document management system that now supports Macs via a new application (see article below), an online court rules service that integrates with Outlook, speech recognition software that works within web applications, and a sleep-tracking gadget that works with your iPhone. Don't miss the next issue.

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT FOR MAC FANS

It once took a lot of fortitude to use the Mac in a law firm because virtually all legal software ran on Windows. Initially, this meant that Mac users had to use remote control software to run Windows applications. Later, Mac users could run a virtualized version of Windows. Next, Mac users could access some software using their web browser. Nowadays, actual Mac applications exist.

Worldox for Mac Version 1.15 … in One Sentence

Launched this week, World Software's Worldox for Mac Version 1.15 is a client for accessing the popular document management system Worldox GX3.

The Killer Feature

Worldox for Mac gives Mac users in your law firm access to the core features of Worldox GX3 or Worldox GX3 Cloud. The former runs on a Windows server in your firm. The latter is hosted by World Software, eliminating the need for your own server.

Most notably, Worldox for Mac integrates with Apple Mail and Microsoft Outlook, the most popular Mac email programs. This integration enables you to store email messages and attachments within Worldox GX3 organized by client/matter and whatever other metadata you apply. Also, you can initiate an email message from within Worldox for Mac to send someone a document and instantly store your message within Worldox GX3.

"The new version of Worldox for Mac is a huge breakthrough since it brings the core features of our award-winning document management system to Mac users," World Software Corporation president Ray Zwiefelhofer told us. "Our initial inspiration was the remarkable popularity of the Worldox iPad app released in 2012 and more recently the universal iOS app that brought Worldox to the iPhone. We realized our customers needed support for the Mac too."

Other Notable Features

As alluded to above, when you save email or documents to Worldox GX3 using Worldox for Mac, you create a profile — the essence of a true document management system.

Accordingly, you can search for documents using metadata from these profiles such as author, client, matter, document type, date range, and more. You can also navigate through Worldox GX3's folder system if you know where a document resides. Worldox for Mac also supports full-text searching. To verify that you have found the right document or if you just need a bit of information, you can quickly preview a document rather than open it.

Worldox for Mac supports Check-Out to prevent changes to a document while you work on it, and Check-In to ensure the creation of a new version when you finish. Additionally, you can use Check-Out to create a personal version of a document without preventing others from accessing or changing it.

Favorite Files displays a list of recently-access documents. Other features in Worldox for Mac include copying and moving documents, the ability to revert to a previous version of a document, and Send To integration shortcuts for sending copies of documents outside of Worldox such as Dropbox, USB drives, printers, etc.

What Else Should You Know?

You can also access Worldox GX3 and Worldox GX3 Cloud using the Windows client, the iOS app, and/or Worldox Web Mobile (a module that facilitate access from a web browser). Learn more about Worldox for Mac.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a cloud accounting, billing, and practice management application with a new technology for the fast pace and unpredictable nature of law firm work (see article below), a website that creates a printer version of web articles, a cloud application to ensure consistent use of your firm's templates, and an application that mirrors your iOS device onto your computer or Android device. Don't miss the next issue.

LEGAL PRACTICE MANAGEMENT THAT REFLECTS LAW FIRM REALITY

Lawyers have an unpredictable job. For example, clients — some of them from the distant past — will contact you out of the blue with questions. This makes it challenging to enter time and other information into the structured fields of practice management systems. You just don't have the time in the heat of the moment so instead you use a scrap of paper that you inevitably forget about or lose. A new technology promises to break this vicious cycle.

Actionstep 14.7 … in One Sentence

Launched today, Actionstep 14.7 is a cloud accounting, billing, and practice management application that automates tasks via workflows.

The Killer Feature

Like other practice management applications, Actionstep stores structured data. This is a necessity so that for example an email address resides in a designated place and acts the way it should when clicked.

However, the new version of Actionstep has a "Scratch Pad" for quickly entering unstructured information when you're in a rush. Later when your day calms down, you can convert these notes into structured data such as calendar events, contacts, tasks, time entries, etc.

Actionstep can remind you to revisit your notes so that you don't fall behind. Each user's Scratch Pad is private, enabling you to brain dump without worrying about anyone else reading your unpolished notes.

The company spent a lot of time testing Scratch Pad with volunteer lawyers to optimize the user experience. "Scratch Pad is a great example of how we are shaping the software to match the way lawyers instinctively think and work," Actionstep CEO Ted Jordan told us.

Other Notable Features

Also new, the Activity Log provides a Facebook-style news feed of what you and your colleagues have done recently — new matters, updates on existing matters, task assignments, etc.

The Activity Log complements Actionstep's signature Workflows technology, which guides users through each step of complex yet routine tasks such as client intake, court-specific litigation deadlines, checklists for specific types of documents, etc. Workflows essentially tell everyone "what's next" (and who should handle it) while the Activity Log tells everyone "what happened" (including new steps added to Workflows). Together, these two technologies aim to provide quality control throughout your firm.

A step in a Workflow may involve creating a document. Thanks to Actionstep's built-in document assembly engine and integration with Microsoft Office, you can store Word templates within Actionstep, fill in merge fields with data from a client's record, and store the final document in a specific matter. The document assembly technology also enables you to create web templates for clients to fill out, and send personalized bulk email messages such as for billing. Actionstep integrates with HotDocs for more advanced document assembly.

Other features include Outlook and Gmail plugins for saving email and attachments within a matter, and general ledger and trust accounting so that you need not pay for a separate accounting solution or deal with integration and duplicate data hassles.

What Else Should You Know?

Actionstep costs $60 per user per month. It works in all desktop and mobile web browsers. You can try it for free. The company offers a growing library of preconfigured and customizable Workflows in its online store such as its popular U.S. Litigation Pack. Learn more about Actionstep 14.7.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers an app for managing and listening to podcasts on the iPhone with playback technologies that shorten their duration (see article below), an iPhone app for contemporaneous time-tracking, an iPhone app for analyzing your website, and an Android, iOS, and Windows Phone app for referencing information published by Microsoft about its products. Don't miss the next issue.

LISTEN FASTER WITHOUT MISSING ANYTHING

Here you are now in the 20th year of the post-Cobain era. Do you really want to hear Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for the thousandth time? Or a radio advertisement for a lawyer? Leave your overplayed playlists and radio stations behind for podcasts, which are free, contain few to no advertisements, and include both big media programming such as Bloomberg Law as well as notable indie phenoms such as Legal Talk Network. All you need is a podcast app.

Overcast … in One Sentence

Launched this week, Overcast is an iPhone app for finding, subscribing to, managing, and listening to podcasts.

The Killer Feature

Many podcast apps exist (including one by Apple called Podcasts), all of which enable you to play episodes at a faster speed to save time. This seems like a good idea, but in practice probably only works well for John Moschitta.

Taking a different approach, Overcast features a technology called Smart Speed, which eliminates silent gaps in podcasts. Also, you can ratchet up the speed in very small increments such as 1.1x to prevent podcasts from sounding like, well, John Moschitta. Overcast tracks and displays the time you save versus listening in realtime.

Other Notable Features

Overcast has a built-in podcasts directory that should eventually mirror iTunes given its high profile creator Marco Arment of Tumblr, Instapaper, and Accidental Tech Podcast fame. The app also provides editorial picks in various categories to help get you started. If you can't find a podcast, you can manually enter its RSS feed. Overcast can also import podcasts from other apps.

Once you subscribe to a podcast, you can choose how many unplayed episodes to keep, whether to receive notifications of new episodes, and whether to use Smart Speed (see above) and/or Voice Boost. The latter equalizes volume across podcasts.

The playback screen has play, skip back, and skip forward buttons (you can adjust the time interval for each in the app's system-wide settings), and also provides access to show notes with a swipe gesture on the podcast's cover art.

Overcast enables you to create customized playlists to organize the podcasts to which you subscribe. Various settings exist such as whether to play newest to oldest or vice versa.

What Else Should You Know?

Overcast offers a sync service that will become more useful when the iPad version ships. The app doesn't support video podcasts. Overcast is free but the marquee features such as Smart Speed, Voice Boost and the ability to download episodes using cellular data sell as a $4.99 in-app purchase bundle. Learn more about Overcast.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a small but powerful scanner with free software worth as much as the scanner (see article below), a database for iPad and iPhone (and Mac) that syncs among your devices, a new version of the cloud DVR for popular WiFi security cameras, and a service for saving and organizing your web bookmarks. Don't miss the next issue.

UNATTENDED SCANNING ARRIVES

Once a luxury, scanners have become required equipment in law firms of all sizes. Now that reliable scanning exists, the next frontier lies in so-called "unattended scanning." Simply put, this means virtually no human interaction required other than inserting the paper. A new scanner aims to provide this experience.

imageFORMULA DR-M160II … in One Sentence

Launched last month, Canon's imageFORMULA DR-M160II (DR-M160II) is a USB desktop-sized scanner with production-class specifications.

The Killer Feature

Canon offers a free upgrade to Kofax VRS Elite when you purchase the DR-M160II. Typically costing more than $1,000, this Windows software plays a key role in unattended scanning by automating tasks that scanner operators typically perform. The result is higher quality scans as well as more accurate optical character recognition (OCR) if you need to edit or search what you scan.

For example, Kofax VRS Elite cleans up hard to scan documents such as blueprints and wrinkled paper, removes hole punches and blank pages, automatically orients documents, normalizes the background of colored documents or replaces the background with the color white, intelligently crops and straightens documents, and alerts you about hardware problems such as parts that need replacement.

Just as importantly, Kofax VRS Elite performs all these tasks without slowing down the DR-M160II, which scans at up to 60 pages per minute (120 images per minute in duplex). Kofax VRS Elite can also store profiles for specific scan jobs so that you need only configure the settings once.

Other Notable Features

Measuring 9.09 x 11.02 x 9.76 inches and weighing 7.2 pounds, the DR-M160II scans at up to 600 dpi. Its automatic document feeder holds up to 60 pages that can differ in size. The scanner handles 7 to 68 pound paper with a width of 2 to 8.5 inches and a length of 2.1 to 14 inches. You can scan up to 7,000 pages per day. New roller technology minimizes jams better than older technologies — another example of Canon's goal of unattended scanning.

The DR-M160II scans into any ISIS- or TWAIN-compatible Windows application and into any TWAIN-compatible Mac applications thanks to included drivers.

The other bundled software for Windows consists of Canon CaptureOnTouch, CapturePerfect, and Nuance eCopyPDF Pro Office. Mac users receive Canon CaptureOnTouch. Both Windows and Mac users can perform OCR as they scan documents, eliminating the need to perform this task in a separate step.

What Else Should You Know?

The DR-M160II connects to your computer via USB. The MSRP is $1,195. Learn more about imageFORMULA DR-M160II.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a content management system for law firms that integrates with other marketing applications (see article below), a cloud storage service with virtually no limits, an iPad app for filling out and signing PDF forms, and a free secure document sharing service. Don't miss the next issue.

CONTENT-DRIVEN REFERRAL MARKETING

Referral marketing remains king for law firms, but a new twist exists that you need to know about. Savvy law firms now publish articles online for their clients (some call these articles "blogs" or "posts" but there's no need for these new age words). Thanks to email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other such tools, clients share these articles with others. This sharing acts like a referral. This new twist on referral marketing requires a content management system (CMS).

Legal Publish … in One Sentence
Launched last week, Legal Publish is a cloud CMS specifically for law firms.

The Killer Feature

Without knowing any programming, you can create a responsive website with Legal Publish that will automatically adjust for all screen sizes from desktop to tablet to smartphone. Legal Publish includes pre-built content types such as lawyer bios and practice areas. You can extend your website anytime by adding elements such as blogs, landing pages with forms, etc.

As its name suggests, Legal Publish features a suite of publishing tools that the company claims offers more power than WordPress and its ilk. You can grant various levels of publishing rights to lawyers and others at your firm, view an audit trail for all published articles, and keep all versions of an article so that you can revert back to a prior version.

The articles you publish have integrated social sharing tools to make it easy for clients to refer others to what you publish. Readers can also print articles in PDF format, facilitating email and offline sharing. Legal Publish contains tools for search engine optimization such as the ability to cross link key words back to earlier articles.

Other Notable Features

Legal Publish integrates with a number of marketing tools for centralization purposes. Examples include Google Analytics for measuring the performance of your website, and Constant Contact and MailChimp for email newsletters.

Given Legal Publish's goal, it contains a Proposal Generator so that you can quickly send a proposal to prospects that contact you. Legal Publish can add these proposals to your customer relationship management (CRM) application if you use one for tracking purposes.

What Else Should You Know?

Legal Publish offers value-added services. For example, the company provides translation services if you need to publish articles in multiple languages. Learn more about Legal Publish.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers new litigation software for processing electronically stored information (see article below), free local search marketing tools, an email app for iPhone, and a remote desktop app for Android, iPad, and iPhone. Don't miss the next issue.

Ediscovery Processing for the Speed Obsessed

Discovery is the most expensive component of litigation. And ediscovery is the most expensive component of discovery. Therefore, saving time during ediscovery can significantly reduce costs for your clients. This explains why ediscovery processing software exists with which relatively inexpensive litigation support staff or paralegals remove duplicates, group near duplicates, make scanned document searchable, etc. (culling) to minimize the number of documents that more expensive lawyers must review. The faster and more efficient your processing software, the more time and money you save clients on the portion of ediscovery they're least likely to appreciate.

LAW PreDiscovery 6.6 … in One Sentence

Launched recently, LexisNexis' LAW PreDiscovery 6.6 is ediscovery processing software.

The Killer Feature

After removing duplicates and making all the remaining documents you've collected searchable, you generate a so-called "load file." As its name suggests, a load file enables you to import all the documents that made the cut into an ediscovery review application so that lawyers can take a look at them. LAW PreDiscovery can create a load file not only for sibling product Concordance, but also for all the major products. Most of these products use a proprietary load file format.

Previously, if you needed to regenerate a load file or output to a different load file format, you would have to start from scratch at a speed of about 80,000 documents per hour. Think re-rendering a movie after making an edit. By contrast, the new version of LAW PreDiscovery can regenerate a load file in any supported format instantaneously.

Other Notable Features

LexisNexis has also sped up the process of making native documents in PDF or TIFF format searchable — a process known as optical character recognition or OCR. You encounter such documents when importing ediscovery. Previously, you had to designate each such document as an image before LAW PreDiscovery could perform OCR. In the new version, LAW PreDiscovery recognizes image files automatically, eliminating this step.

Some load files contain images and corresponding converted text, eliminating the need for OCR — assuming you can make use of the text. The new version of LAW PreDiscovery can associate images in a load file with its corresponding text. You can also use the software's deep set of tools on these load files — near duplicate grouping or email threading, etc.

What Else Should You Know?

Other new features include the ability to filter documents by "duplicate values" (e.g., the name of a custodian) in search results, support for Office 2013 file formats, and integration with Avanstar's Quick View Plus 13. Quick View Plus is native file viewer that can open more than 300 file formats, enabling you to convert batch convert documents into TIFF format for load file creation. LAW PreDiscovery runs on Windows 7 and 8. Learn more about LAW PreDiscovery 6.6.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers software for reviewing and producing scanned and native discovery documents in small to midsize lawsuits (see article below), and three competing cloud practice management applications with new billing features. Don't miss the next issue.

REVIEW PAPER AND ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS IN THE SAME SOFTWARE

Parties and other witnesses create electronic evidence long before litigation. By contrast, these people enter depositions coached and guarded. Clearly, the best evidence often exists in email, social media, etc. yet most litigators ignore this evidence, especially in small cases. Accordingly, a golden age currently exists to create an unfair advantage for your clients provided you have capable and cost-effective document review software.

LexisNexis Concordance Traditional 10.20 … in One Sentence

Launched this week, LexisNexis Concordance Traditional 10.20 (Concordance) is document review software for litigation.

The Killer Feature

Concordance got its start during the era in which paper documents were scanned and then converted into PDF or TIFF format. It still handles paper documents, including the ability to make them searchable via OCR. But Concordance also handles electronic documents, including email.

The new version's Find Attachments feature enables your searches to list both relevant email messages and attachments. You can search attachments separately if you prefer or automatically include attachments in your searches.

Regardless of how you choose to search, you'll find a significant speed boost. Also, you can batch tag email and attachments with one or more issue codes for later retrieval.

Other Notable Features

Concordance has a new Database Creation Wizard to help you get started. You choose from Load File, E-Documents, or Email. After that, the Wizard walks you through the rest of the process. You can use the Wizard as often as necessary to import all the data you've collected from your client or received from opposing counsel.

Concordance imports metadata along with the documents. You can add missing metadata and supplement the metadata. The new Edit Layout feature enables you to customize Concordance to display only the metadata fields you need.

Also new is Persistent Search. As its name implies, you can search for a term that you definitely need such as the name of a witness. The relevant documents persist after which you can search for other terms within your persistent search. You can have Concordance display your persistent search terms in one color and your other search terms in a different color.

Introduced in the previous version, Concordance Native Viewer is the area of the software in which you perform most of your work. You can view, annotate, and tag documents in virtually any format without having to convert them, and then export documents for depositions, productions, etc. in PDF or TIFF format.

LexisNexis has added two new features to Concordance Native Viewer — Sticky Rotate and Sticky Zoom. The former keeps documents rotated in the correct orientation while the latter maintains any zoom settings you apply. You can revert back to the original rotation and zoom anytime.

What Else Should You Know?

Concordance runs on Windows XP, Vista, and 7. LexisNexis sells it on a concurrent license model. This enables you to install it on everyone's computer so that anyone can use it when needed provided the total number of concurrent users remains at or below the license you purchased (you can boost the number of concurrent users if you underestimate your needs). Learn more about LexisNexis Concordance Traditional 10.20.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a document assembly program for storing and using collections of frequently-used phrases (see article below), a Microsoft Word document assembly add-on for creating sets of documents, an iPhone email app with automated actions, and a WiFi electrical outlet for controlling devices with your smartphone. Don't miss the next issue.

TYPE LESS, WRITE MORE

You've got 168 hours per week. You can bill and/or free up more of these hours in several ways, delegation being the most obvious. Hoever, you need to spend some time in front of a computer no matter how much you delegate. Therefore, software can also make you more efficient. In fact, the more you delegate, the more likely you'll use your computer in the exact same way every time — for example sending a draft document to a client. Similarly, those to whom you delegate should deliver work product that looks like you created it.

PhraseExpander Professional 4.0 … in One Sentence

Launched recently, Nagarsoft's PhraseExpander Professional 4.0 (PhraseExpander) is a document assembly program that enables you to enter stored text into any Windows program using shortcuts.

The Killer Feature

Unlike traditional document assembly programs, PhraseExpander requires no programming. Instead, you copy and paste or type your phrases and corresponding mnemonic shortcuts.

As your collection of shortcuts grows, you and your staff will likely forget how to invoke some of them or forget if a specific phrase exists in PhraseExpander.

To address this issue, PhraseExpander's new Quick Find enables you to search for phrases and shortcuts. It displays results as you start typing. You can select the phrase you want to insert as soon as it appears. A keyboard command of your choosing opens Quick Find in any program.

Other Notable Features

PhraseExpander addresses another obvious issue — organization. The new version enables you to organize phrases in multilevel groups. For example, you might create a group for each type of legal document you often create. Another new organizational tool displays phrases that have changed, the phrases you use the most, and duplicate phrases.

Phrases can contain macros such as equations and variables as well as forms if you want more power. For example, you can string together several phrases within a phrase. Similarly, you can create document templates to ensure consistency throughout your firm.

Other features include a spellchecker to prevent errors when creating phrases, a calendar tool for entering dates, and the ability to modify phrases on the fly when you need to make some tweaks.

What Else Should You Know?

You can share phrases and templates with everyone in your firm. Your colleagues can customize PhraseExpander to suit their preferences. Integrations with Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive enable you to both backup and use your collection of phrases on multiple computers. The company provides a free video training course to help you get started. Pricing starts at $149 with volume discounts available. A more limited Standard version starts at $59. Learn more about PhraseExpander Professional 4.0.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers Microsoft's new hybrid laptop/tablet (see article below), a Word add-on that analyzes your documents for grammar and style and makes suggestions, a gadget that converts a traditional desk into a height-adjustable desk, and a Mac note-taking app. Don't miss the next issue.

MORE SURFACE AREA

Not many people realize that Microsoft shipped Windows 1 and 2. Windows 3 achieved success. Microsoft has a long history of hitting a home run on a 0-2 count. Yesterday, Microsoft unveiled its the third attempt at a hybrid laptop/tablet. With iPad growth slowing, Microsoft still has an opportunity to woo lawyers. Let's take a look under the hood to discern Microsoft's strategy.

Surface Pro 3 … in One Sentence

Announced yesterday and shipping on June 20, Surface Pro 3 is an Intel-based laptop and tablet running Windows 8.1.

The Killer Feature

Microsoft has given up on the concept of a consumer tablet for the time being. The company seems focused on business users only. It didn't announce a new Surface running on an ARM chip (the Surface Pro uses Intel chips) nor did it announce a 7- or 8-inch Surface.

In fact, the Surface Pro 3 has a 38% larger screen than its predecessor at 12 inches with a 2160 x 1440 pixels resolution (that's 50% more pixels). It also has a redesigned continuous kickstand — use it at a high angle to create a laptop-like experience or at a low angle to use as a notepad with the accompanying Surface Pen stylus. You can even buy an Ethernet adapter.

Perhaps most telling is the fact that Microsoft still hasn't shipped a touch-optimized version of Office for Windows like it has for the iPad. Surface Pro 3 runs the standard Office 2013.

Other Notable Features

Surface Pro 3 weighs 28.3 ounces, measures 11.5 x 7.93 x 0.3 inches, and has 9 hours of battery life. You can choose from an i3, i5, or i7 processor, 64, 128, 256, or 512 GB of storage, and 4 or 8 GB of memory. Other features include a full-size USB 3.0 port, a Mini DisplayPort, and a microSD card reader.

The optional Surface Pro Type Cover ($129.99) transforms Surface Pro 3 into a keyboard. It comes in five colors.

Also optional is the above-noted Surface Pen ($49.99). Thanks to Bluetooth, clicking the pen opens OneNote for taking handwritten notes. Bluetooth also powers a digital eraser, more than 250 levels of pressure sensitivity, and Palm Block technology.

What Else Should You Know?

Pricing for Surface Pro 3 starts at $799 for the base version with an i3 processor and 64 GB of storage. Pricing tops out at $1,949 for the version with an i7 processor and 512 GB of storage. Learn more about Surface Pro 3.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.