TechnoLawyer: TL NewsWire

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers software that helps litigation boutiques and practice groups organize all case-related documents (see article below), note-taking software from Microsoft for the Mac, transcript management software, and trial management software. Don't miss the next issue.

THE PAPERLESS LITIGATION PRACTICE BECOMES A REALITY

For decades, litigators and their teams have organized case-related documents in specialized binder systems from the likes of Bindertek and Redweld. While excellent in their heyday, these paper-based organizational systems have serious drawbacks today. If opposing counsel has gone paperless and you haven't, it's like trying to win a race against a 2014 Ferrari California with a 1966 Ferrari California.

Primafact … in One Sentence

Sandcat Software's Primafact is litigation-specific paperless office software designed to give you immediate access to case documents.

The Killer Feature

Litigation always consists of a mix of your work product, evidence, legal research, and records such as court orders and correspondence. While the amount of paper has diminished, it hasn't disappeared.

Primafact integrates with software such as Outlook and connects to scanners so that you can keep all litigation documents in the software for immediate, portable access.

Primafact's workflows aim to address the two chief problems that prevent law firms from going paperless — unreliable document input and poor interface design.

Primafact works as fast as your scanner to address the first hurdle. Thanks to direct routing, your staff can name, tag, and file scanned and imported documents into the appropriate matter. This ensures that Primafact contains all case-related documents.

A binder-style interface makes the software seem familiar to those still using the paper-based systems noted above. Primafact also features Google-style searching for those more comfortable with searching rather than browsing. You can take a case file from Primafact with you on a laptop and use it offline in settings such as airplanes and courtrooms. You can synchronize any changes when you return to your office network.

Other Notable Features

To facilitate full-text searching, Primafact has built-in OCR technology for your scans. The ability to add non-destructive annotations to documents in Primafact further enhances the search functionality.

Within a matter, you can create special-purpose binders such as for a brief, deposition, settlement meeting, trial, etc. that contain only the pertinent documents. The "Publish" feature enables you to share one or more documents, including special-purpose binders, with third parties.

"Going paperless is a fundamental shift for a document-heavy litigation practice," Sandcat Software CEO Karim Jinnah told us. "Primafact's comprehensive approach ensures that staff can easily capture and organize documents. The big payback is instant access to your case documents."

What Else Should You Know?

Primafact runs on Windows. Companion apps for the iPad and for Windows 8 tablets are in beta testing. Learn more about Primafact.

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 billing and practice management system with a search engine (see article below), a service that enhances the security of Dropbox and other popular cloud storage services, a cloud application for scheduling depositions, and an Android dictation app. Don't miss the next issue.

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE THAT HAS YOUR BACK

Practice management software has evolved over the years to encompass more and more of your law firm's key functions — billing, calendars, contacts, documents, intake, tasks, trust accounts, etc. Aspirational 20 years ago, the label "practice management" has become a reality. This wealth of data has resulted in two problems — learning how your practice management software works, and quickly finding the information you need.

LexisNexis Firm Manager … in One Sentence

Launched last month, LexisNexis Firm Manager is a cloud practice management application with a global search engine, and built with input from solo and small-firm attorneys.

The Killer Feature

When lawyer and LexisNexis Firm Manager product manager Christopher T. Anderson and his team set out to rebuild the product from the ground up about a year ago, they understood the importance of finding information quickly.

As a result, LexisNexis Firm Manager features Global Search, which searches everything as its name suggests — even within documents. According to Christopher, this "makes finding literally anything within the program fast and simple." Like popular search engines, it begins searching as you type, narrowing the results by relevancy. For added convenience, Global Search works contextually. For example, when in the Matters tab, Global Search lists Matters first since that's what you likely want.

Firm Manager uses this same search technology for finding conflicts of interest. You can send the results of a conflict search to a colleague for their input. When you or a colleague clears a prospective client, LexisNexis Firm Manager saves and time stamps your search and the results. This gives you a defensible record if needed.

Other Notable Features

In addition to managing contacts, calendars, and matters, LexisNexis Firm Manager also handles billing, trust accounting, documents, and tasks.

Regarding billing, a contemporaneous timer records time in any increment on any device from which you access LexisNexis Firm Manager. Additionally, you can create a time entry from within a matter or the Time & Expenses tab. LexisNexis Firm Manager also provides expense tracking. To help your firm bills clients as quickly as possible, you can choose from professionally-designed templates your invoices.

Trust accounting enables you to accept retainers while abiding by ethics rules. For example, it prevents co-mingling of funds. LexisNexis Firm Manager even alerts you if you take an action that may violate a rule. You can view balances and generate statements for clients.

Document management works via drag and drop. You can move multiple documents into a matter simultaneously. The application will automatically scan documents for malware and clean them if necessary (useful for documents received from clients and others outside your firm).

"LexisNexis Firm Manager has all the functionality a law firm needs but it's also easy to use," Christopher told us. This intuitiveness is the result of input from hundreds of independent attorneys who ensured that it works the way they work — without forcing them to adapt."

What Else Should You Know?

As a cloud application, LexisNexis Firm Manager works in all modern web browsers, including on tablets and smartphones. It costs $44.99 per month for the first user and $29.99 per month for each additional user. Learn more about LexisNexis Firm Manager.

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 billing and practice management system with a new document management component (see article below), an iPhone contacts automation app, backup software for popular cloud storage services, and speech recognition software. Don't miss the next issue.

MANAGING YOUR PRACTICE INCLUDES MANAGING YOUR DOCUMENTS

It may seem to you like your law firm is organized until you take a step back to realize it's an illusion. This is especially true of so-called document management systems, most of which rely on a combination of Windows Explorer and rules for how to name documents and where to store them that everyone in your firm follows — except when they don't.

Tabs3 and PracticeMaster Version 17 … in One Sentence

Launched last month, Tabs3 and PracticeMaster Version 17 is integrated practice management and billing software with a new document management component.

The Killer Feature

A slew of products claim to have document management but really don't. Classic document management software eliminates human error and saves time through automation.

For example, every document stored in PracticeMaster has a corresponding Document Management Record containing the client, matter, document type, and other fields of your choosing. These profiles enable you to find every brief, contract, deposition, etc. associated with a specific matter. PracticeMaster also provides full-text searching.

You can automatically save documents from Microsoft Office (including email and their attachments). PracticeMaster automatically names and saves these documents using the policies you specify during setup. You can also bulk import documents during the setup process. The Verify Documents utility identifies documents that have moved or been renamed, possibly incorrectly.

When someone edits a document, you can require them to check it out, which prevents others from editing it. You can also have the software nudge people to check in a document after a specified period of time. Upon check in, PracticeMaster can create a new version. Document comparison technology enables you to generate a redline. Every document has a "History" so that you can see who accessed it and when.

Because PracticeMaster's document management system resides in the same software as the Tabs3 billing system, you can create a time entry from a Document Management Record.

"Law firms that use version 17 of Tabs3 and PracticeMaster will appreciate how easily they can organize their documents and other information, bill for their work, and present it in a manner their clients can understand," Software Technology President Dan Berlin told us.

Other Notable Features

Continuing with the theme of automation, PracticeMaster's new QuickViews enable you to more easily find information in all areas of the software by creating filters. For example, when viewing contacts, calendar events, documents, etc. a QuickView might list only those items associated with a specific practice area. At the bottom of every list of records you'll find Smart Tabs for filtering your list even further. You can save QuickViews and Smart Tabs, customize their colors, and share them with others in your firm.

Long known for handling virtually any billing scenario, Tabs3 has enhanced its Split Billing for situations in which two or more clients pay for a matter. Now you can split hours and have the amounts calculated based on predefined rates, use percentages with up to four decimal places to round fees with more precision, display either the pre-split or post-split value on statements along with a summary of what was split, and much more.

What Else Should You Know?

Notwithstanding its new document management functionality, PracticeMaster also features tight integration with Worldox GX3. In all, PracticeMaster and Tabs3 contains more than 100 new features and improvements to existing features. Learn more about Tabs3 Software Version 17.

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 new public records research service that includes material from social media and integrates with Google Maps (see article below), a metadata removal utility, an Android app for working with Microsoft Office and PDF documents, and an on-demand narration service for creating audio recordings of your client memos and other articles. Don't miss the next issue.

MAKE YOUR NEXT PUBLIC RECORDS SEARCH THE ONLY ONE YOU NEED

Public records research has long posed a challenge for lawyers because information exists in a wide variety of sources, some more trustworthy than others. While online public records research can save you from physical travel, locating someone can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. Additionally, researching public records often occurs within a larger legal research workflow. A new service enables you to perform all your research in one place.

PeopleMap on WestlawNext … in One Sentence

Launched this month, Thomson Reuters' PeopleMap on WestlawNext (PeopleMap) is a public records research tool that enables you to quickly locate relevant information about people and their connections to assets, entities, and other people.

The Killer Feature

PeopleMap enables you to search public records as part of a global search on WestlawNext, which means you'll find relevant public records results along with case law, statutes, and other primary research. This integration eliminates the need to go elsewhere for your legal research.

Other Notable Features

PeopleMap has many new features for finding and analyzing public records. For example, it now integrates with Google Maps. You can use Street View to see what a property of interest looks like. You'll also find information from the web related to the person you're researching, including material from blogs, chat rooms, and social networks, as well as photos and business data. As always, you'll find all names associated with a person (AKAs) and entities (DBAs), current and previous addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, assets, and much more.

The new Advanced Search template enables you to search by name, social security number, telephone number, business information, and/or location. You'll find 25 other search templates in addition to this one. You can save the search templates you use most frequently to your Favorites for fast access.

PeopleMap leverages WestlawNext's relevancy ranking technology, which lists the most pertinent results to the top of your search result list. Filtering tools enable you to further focus on the information you seek. The Update feature provides real-time information on an individual such as their most current telephone number and street address.

An enhanced graphical view displays non-obvious connections that you may not know about. This is the feature behind PeopleMap's name. One click toggles between the two different views. From either view, you can explore entities connected to the person you're researching, and from there documents and other data connected to these entities.

What Else Should You Know?

When you complete your research, you can generate a report with the relevant information. You can choose from one of two report templates or create and save your own template. You can save reports with a time stamp so that you can see what has changed when you update the report in the future. Learn more about PeopleMap on WestlawNext.

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.

Originally published in our free TL NewsWire newsletter. Instead of reading TL NewsWire here, sign up now to receive future issues via email.

SHARING IS THE POINT OF DOCUMENT AND PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

Traditional practice management systems limit access to those who work at your law firm. This results in using email to send documents to clients and others. Email suffers from several problems such as the risk of misaddressing your message, the inability to track receipt and activity by recipients, and limits on attachment size. Instead of using email or implementing a separate solution such as SharePoint, practice management systems should have built-in collaboration tools.

Legal Hub by PBworks … in One Sentence

PBworks' Legal Hub is a document and practice management system and client portal for managing matters and documents, and securely collaborating with clients, co-counsel, and others.

The Killer Feature

Legal Hub has catered to large law firms for years. The new version released this month caters to solos and small law firms as well. Some solos and small law firms may find that they never need to pay for LegalHub. That's because it's free for up to 15 internal users, up to five external users, up to five clients and matters, and up to 50 MB of storage. This free plan also includes email technical support. You need not provide a credit card to get started.

"For years, leading law firms from the AmLaw 100 to solo practitioners have used Legal Hub to manage key client relationships and matters," PBworks CEO Jim Groff told us. "Now any law firm can sign up and try it for free."

Other Notable Features

Legal Hub describes itself as a SharePoint alternative built specifically for law firms. Because Legal Hub is a cloud application, law firms need not contend with SharePoint's complexity and hardware requirements.

You begin by setting up your clients and their respective matters, and then granting access rights to the matters you create. Each Matter has a summary page listing the Matter Number, status, the internal team, key external contacts, etc. From this page, you can drill down to access related documents, email, meetings, notes, and tasks. Legal Hub features a system-wide Google-style search so that you quickly find anything across all clients and matters.

You add documents and email messages to a matter using drag and drop. One-click sharing enables you to give clients and others access to select documents such as a draft agreement, pleadings, discovery documents, etc. You can see when someone accesses what you share and receive a notification via email (you can receive notifications for virtually any activity in Legal Hub).

Within each matter, you can focus on specific projects such as an upcoming closing or deposition. Each matter "workspace" contains relevant documents and email as well as tasks and deadlines. You can assign tasks to others and track their progress using a variety of reports.

Given the sensitivity of client-related information, Legal Hub uses enterprise-level encryption and security. Access rights extend all the way down to specific documents. Audit tracking logs all activity with date and time stamps.

What Else Should You Know?

If your firm exceeds the limits of the free version of Legal Hub, you can upgrade to unlimited clients and matters, as well as 100 GB of storage, for $40 per user per month. PBworks offers volume discounts beginning as 20 users. Learn more about Legal Hub.

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.

Originally published in our free TL NewsWire newsletter. Instead of reading TL NewsWire here, sign up now to receive future issues via email.

AUTOMATION MEETS PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

Many law firms have more than enough work but not enough profits to show for it. Two solutions exist. You could raise rates and receive push back from clients. Alternatively, you can use technology to improve automation, enabling your firm to handle more work without raising rates (not to mention headcount).

Synergy Matters … in One Sentence

Launched this week, Legal Matters Software's Synergy Matters is a practice management system with an emphasis on automation thanks to tools for time capture, cost recovery, document management, and faxing.

The Killer Feature

Synergy Matters contains a number of technologies to prevent lost billable time. For example, it automatically tracks the time you spend on a matter (e.g., drafting documents, writing email messages, etc.). This eliminates the need to use timers and other manual time-tracking methods. A review window lists all your captured time by matter with a corresponding description. After editing (if required), you can post these time entries to any accounting system.

Similarly, Synergy Matters, automatically tracks your scans, faxes, and prints. If you charge for costs, Synergy Matters can automatically post these to your accounting system. If you don't, you can use this data to adjust your rates to make sure your disbursements don't eat into your profits.

"Synergy Matters is the result of eight years working with law firms and refining our software to produce the easiest-to-use tool to enhance productivity in a law firm environment", Vice President of Sales John Ryan told us.

Other Notable Features

When you create a new document or email message from within a matter, Synergy Matter automatically saves it there. Thanks to an integration with Outlook, you can save incoming email to a matter with one click.

Synergy Matters works with a number of scanners, enabling you to scan directly to a matter in PDF format. Built-in OCR software makes all scanned PDF documents searchable. You'll also find tools for converting Word documents into PDF format, combining multiple documents into a single PDF document, and Bates stamping PDF documents.

The document management system features collaborative tools and preservation of revisions. You can share a document with anyone by clicking the "For Review" button, which creates a link to the original document. Synergy matters automatically saves changes others make as a new version of the document, thus preserving all previous versions.

What Else Should You Know?

Synergy Matters offers fax server functionality when connected to the optional Synergy Fax Appliance. This enables everyone to send faxes from their PC. Synergy Matters automatically saves a copy of each fax with proof of delivery in the corresponding matter. You can route incoming faxes to individuals, groups, your records department, etc. Synergy Matters can automatically bill for all incoming and outgoing faxes. Learn more about Synergy Matters.

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 document assembly software with new organizational tools (see article below), an Outlook add-on for sending secure email messages and attachments, automated time-tracking software, and a new mind-mapping app. Don't miss the next issue.

ALL YOUR DOCUMENT TEMPLATES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

Document automation is like electricity. Once you try it, you perceive it as a necessity. There's no going back. And like electricity, you keep finding more and more uses for it. At some point, you realize that you use document assembly software to create virtually every document, which means you need a superior organizational system for the components of these documents.

Pathagoras 2014 … in One Sentence

Launched this week, Pathagoras 2014 is document automation software that works within Microsoft Word.

The Killer Feature

Pathagoras has always provided organizational tools for fast access to source documents and other text. For example, Libraries contain document templates, clauses, and other building blocks. DropDown Lists enable you to insert frequently-used text snippets into documents, ranging from signature blocks to multi-page contracts.

The new version of Pathagoras has two new organizational features — Collections and Environments.

Collections adds to the functionality of DropDown Lists. You can now create four sets of DropDown Lists, each set displaying the content of up to 10 folders of source text. This makes document creation more manageable. For example, you might organize your Collection by practice area, type of document, user, etc. You can switch from one Collection to another while working on the same document.

With Environments, you can connect Libraries and Collections. Thus, if you switch from your Estate Planning Library to your Litigation Library, your corresponding Litigation Collection will become active and visible for faster access.

"Never before has a document automation program offered such immediate and elegant access to text," Pathagoras President and Developer Roy Lasris told us. "Our new Collections and Document Assembly Environments tools will put every document, every clause, and every form over an extremely broad range of disciplines within two clicks of the operator's mouse. We're proud to offer these new features."

Other Notable Features

With Pathagoras, you can create the building blocks for your future documents by "disassembling" a finished document. This is what you place into a Library. Pathagoras offers a variety of disassembly tools.

The new version continues its tradition of not requiring knowledge of a programming language. Instead, you use a plain text syntax within a Microsoft Word document. For example, brackets within a document template indicate variable information (e.g., [Client Name]) as well as optional clauses.

Pathagoras creates its interviews and data collection forms on-the-fly from the on-screen text. It stores collected data in Pathagoras' Instant Database, enabling you to reuse it in future documents. If Pathagoras discovers a new variable in a document, it automatically and instantly adds it to the client's record.

What Else Should You Know?

Pathagoras 2014 costs $379 for first license and then $250 for each additional license (volume discounts exist). Alternatively, you can pay a $25 per month subscription fee (discounts for longer term commitments exist). Either way, Pathagoras includes email and telephone support, on-demand instructional videos, and a user guide both on the web and in PDF format. Learn more about Pathagoras 2014.

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 processing, searching, reviewing, and producing ediscovery that costs less than $100 (see article below), a minimalist iPhone calendar app that uses a large typeface, a service for converting documents (both file formats and OCR) and securely sending them, and an iOS weather app with immediate and long-range forecasts. Don't miss the next issue.

EDISCOVERY BREAKS THE $100 BARRIER

Litigators know that most documents of interest exist in electronic format nowadays. But they still shy away from requesting email and other such materials because of cost concerns. The cost of using ediscovery software often exceeds the budget for small matters such as business disputes involving relatively small sums, divorce asset division, internal investigations, etc. As a result, many of these matters end in an unsatisfactory manner or never get resolved at all.

Digital WarRoom Express … in One Sentence

Launched this week, Digital WarRoom Express (DWR Express) is an ediscovery application for small cases.

The Killer Feature

DWR Express costs $99 per year. You can use it on up to 50 GB of data across all your cases (each case can contain up to 100,000 documents).

Just as importantly, you need not spend a dime on other software as DWR Express has tools for processing, searching, reviewing, and producing electronically stored information (ESI). The application features workflow wizards to move you through each step.

DWR Express handles 500 document formats, including email, Microsoft Office documents, images, audio, and video. It uses the same processing engine as Digital WarRoom WorkGroup, the company's software for large cases.

"The Digital WarRoom platform has a proven track record in complex litigation involving large amounts of ESI," Digital WarRoom COO Barry O'Melia told us. "At $99 for a full year of use, DWR Express brings this technology to small cases, eliminating 'giga-budget' concerns about whether to pursue a case or request certain documents. Thanks to its wizard-driven design and intuitive suite of tools, lawyers and paralegals can start using it immediately."

Other Notable Features

DWR Express runs on Windows PCs. It has an Outlook-like interface with cases and folders on the left and the various workspaces (such as search results, the document viewer, and annotation tools) on the right.

You can import data from any source via drag and drop. DWR Express includes "De-NIST" technology, which removes applications and other irrelevant files, leaving only the documents you want to search. When you find relevant or privileged documents, you can apply one or more tags. A number of reports help track your progress, troubleshoot odd exceptions, and more.

Portable Binders enable you to create folders of a group of documents such as for a deposition that you can share via email or move to your laptop. A Binder contains document content, key metadata fields, slip sheets, and a hyperlinked index for quick access to every document.

When you complete your review, the Document Production Wizard walks you through the production of responsive documents in native, PDF, TIFF, or load file formats, including the fields requested by opposing counsel. It can also apply Bates stamps.

DWR Express' Defensibility Log automatically keeps details of every processing batch, search, and tag decision made during review as well as other key activities in the event a dispute arises.

What Else Should You Know?

If a case outgrows the limits of DWR Express, you can archive and move it to DWR Pro or DWR WorkGroup depending on your needs. These products have the same menus and features, eliminating the learning curve. Learn more about Digital WarRoom Express.

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 practice management system with new document management capabilities such as Dropbox integration (see article below), a virtual number pad that works on the iPhone, an iPad app for annotating PDF documents, and a production document scanner. Don't miss the next issue.

TAKE YOUR DOCUMENTS WITH YOU — WITHOUT THEM LEAVING YOUR FIRM

Permanence exists even in our rapidly changing world. For example, lawyers still create a lot of documents. Not surprisingly, document management has persisted as the most popular topic among TechnoLawyer members for more than a decade. The same is likely true of all lawyers. Which means you'll find this new product of interest.

Amicus Attorney Premium Edition 2014 … in One Sentence

Launched last week, Gavel & Gown's Amicus Attorney Premium Edition 2014 (Amicus Premium 2014) is an integrated practice management and billing system with new document management capabilities.

The Killer Feature

While the interest in document management remains as intense as ever, the way lawyers interact with documents has changed dramatically thanks to devices such as the iPad and storage services such as Dropbox.

Amicus Premium 2014 supports both the iPad and Dropbox. If you choose to store your documents in Amicus Premium 2014, they remain secure at your firm yet you can access them from your iPad. You can work on documents, create new documents, email documents, etc. As always, Amicus Premium 2014 organizes your documents by client and matter.

As an alternative or adjunct to this secure document management system, you can connect Amicus Premium 2014 to your Dropbox account. Amicus Premium 2014 automatically creates folders in Dropbox for all your client files, which ensures correct organization of the documents you place into these folders. Thanks to Dropbox's ubiquity, this integration enables you to access documents of your choosing on virtually any device.

Other Notable Features

When you launch Amicus Premium 2014, you'll find a new interactive dashboard that provides fast access to your agenda, reminders, phone messages, tasks and deadlines, un-posted time entries, and more. Long known for its slick user interface, Amicus Premium 2014 kicks it up a few notches with higher resolution fonts and redesigned dialog boxes.

Amicus Premium 2014 offers realtime syncing with Microsoft Exchange and Google Apps. If you use Outlook for example, any changes you make there automatically appear in Amicus Premium 2014 and vice versa. The same goes for your contacts, calendar, and tasks on your iPad and smartphone.

Other new features include the ability to make contacts inactive yet still have them appear in conflicts searches, support for graphics such as your logo in your email signature that works in both Amicus Premium 2014 and Outlook, Graphical Time Sheets that provide a visual snapshot of your billable time statistics, Time Entry Summary for finding potentially billable activities associated with a matter, and Add To File for associating any appointments, contacts, telephone calls, and tasks to one or more matters with a single click.

What Else Should You Know?

Amicus Premium 2014 contains within it Amicus Premium Billing 2014, which you can activate with a license. The new version of this legal billing system contains many new features, including batch sending bills via Outlook so to your clients it seems like you personally emailed them. Learn more about Amicus Attorney Premium Edition 2014.

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.

In 2013, we reported on nearly 200 new products and services of interest to lawyers and law office administrators in TL NewsWire. But only 25 of these products can win our TL NewsWire Top 10 Products or TL NewsWire Top 25 Products awards. Below I'll reveal the winners for 2013.

But first let me explain how we — actually you — determine the winners. Every news report about a new product in TL NewsWire contains a trackable link to that product's home page. Simply put, the 25 products with the most clicks win. A click is like a vote because it means you want to learn more about the product and perhaps buy it. Thus, we consider it more meaningful than if we were to subjectively choose winners. (We can easily identify click fraud. Thankfully, none occurred this year.)

WINNERS OF THE TL NEWSWIRE TOP 10 PRODUCTS OF 2013 AWARD

Congratulations to the 10 hottest products of 2013 ranked in order by most clicks!

1. Transporter

Given the popularity of Dropbox, Transporter's first place finish is not surprising. It combines the ease of use of Dropbox with the security of a file server because it resides in your home or office. If you set up two Transporters in different locations, you can use it for offsite backups.

2. TIMBS for iPhone

Clearly, lawyers remain interested in a better mousetrap for tracking billable time. TIMBS prompts you to record a time entry on your iPhone after finishing a potential billable activity such as a telephone call or email message involving a client. It's smart enough not to bug you when your kid calls from college to ask for money (though perhaps it should).

3. Penultimate 4.1

The iPad has become a polarizing device among lawyers. One camp think it's a toy while the other camp uses it for serious work such as taking notes. But both camps care about security. Unlike most iPad note-taking apps, Penultimate 4.1 enables you to create multiple accounts for your notes and password protect them.

4. FileCenter Professional 8

Those who work in law offices feel like Lucille Ball on the factory line — except with too many documents to organize rather than chocolates. This explains why so many of you found FileCenter Professional 8 intriguing. The new version features scanning automation technologies.

5. ScanSnap SV600

Certainly the most unique scanner we covered this year, the ScanSnap SV600 enables you to scan three-dimensional objects such as books. Fujitsu claims that the overhead scanning unit enables you to scan books faster than with a traditional flatbed scanner.

6. Livescribe 3 Smartpen

The first Livescribe pens digitized onto your PC the notes you took on the company's special paper. This new model performs the same trick except with your iPad. The accompanying app makes your notes searchable as well. Thousands of lawyers may chuck their iPad stylus into the garbage if the Livescribe 3 Smartpen lives up to its promise.

7. ScanSnap iX500

Fujitsu replaced the popular ScanSnap S1500 with the ScanSnap iX500, adding mobile smarts in the process. You can scan to your iPhone for example. It earned a TechnoScore of A- in our SmallLaw newsletter.

8. Pertino

An increasing number of cloud services have their sights set on serving businesses, especially those like law firms with security concerns. Pertino provides a cloud-based virtual private network (VPN). This enables you and your colleagues to securely access your firm's documents from anywhere without the complexity of a hardware-based VPN.

9. Parallels Access

A remote desktop app for controlling your Mac or PC from an iPad, Parallels Access broke new ground with its touch controls. This earned it a TechnoScore of A in our SmallLaw review.

10. Minute7

Minute7 placed in the top 10 because it essentially serves as a bridge. It's a cloud application for billable time entries that connects to the Windows version of QuickBooks. It earned a TechnoScore of A+ in our SmallLaw review.

WINNERS OF THE TL NEWSWIRE TOP 25 PRODUCTS OF 2013 AWARD

Congratulations to the next 15 hottest products of 2013 ranked in order by most clicks!

11. Pathagoras 2013.1

The new version of this document assembly add-on for Microsoft Word creates an Instant Database of variables, which makes it faster to create documents for the same client in the future and easier to create new document templates.

12. NoteSuite 2.0

Perhaps the most ambitious note-taking iPad app of the year, NoteSuite offers handwritten and typed notes, PDF annotations, and a task manager. Recognizing that people increasingly have an iPad in the office and another one at home, NoteSuite syncs through iCloud.

13. Worldox GX3 Cloud

Document management giant World Software began offering a hosted version of its Worldox GX3 software this year, making it accessible to small law firms that don't want to manage their own servers. It earned a TechnoScore of A- in SmallLaw.

14. NeatConnect

Sporting a clever design that eliminates the need to constantly adjust paper size guides, the NeatConnect document scanner connected with TL NewsWire subscribers.

15. Attorney Timekeeper

Contemporaneous time capture prevents loss of billable time, but it's drudgery. Attorney Timekeeper offers a number of technologies that aim to make it less onerous and even fun.

16. ActionStep U.S. Litigation Pack

Not every law firm can afford a consultant to customize their practice management system. ActionStep U.S. Litigation Pack consists of preconfigured apps that add customizable workflows to ActionStep for six litigation practice areas. You can buy the apps a la carte.

17. Remarks

Zoom boxes seem like an interim technology in iPad note-taking apps. It's unnatural not to write where your writing appears. Remarks enables you to zoom in and out where your writing appears and also provides extra fine virtual pen tips so that your notes don't look like you used finger paint. There's also an optional zoom box.

18. Cubby

Dropbox creates a special folder of its own that you can access from multiple devices. By contrast, Cubby enables you to transform any existing folder on your computer or even a file server into a cloud folder that you and others can access from multiple devices.

19. Foxit PhantomPDF Business 6

What began as a free PDF viewer has since blossomed into an Adobe Acrobat alternative for creating PDF documents and much more. Foxit PhantomPDF Business' award proves that the popularity of PDF software among legal professionals endures.

20. LexisNexis Time Matters 13

It's a simple fact of law firm life that clients want access to their documents — now! The new version of Time Matters provides a secure client portal powered by WatchDox. As an added bonus, providing a self-service client portal should dramatically reduce email and telephone calls from clients.

21. Calls Accountant

We publishers serve our audience, not ourselves. Most TechnoLawyer members use Windows, iPad, and iPhone, and all of them use the web. So we primarily cover products on these four platforms in TL NewsWire. But Android is in fifth place, which explains why we covered this Android automatic billing app and why it won our award.

22. Clio for iPhone

Law firms started running their practices in the cloud in 2008 thanks to the launch of Clio that year. This year saw the launch of an equally important product — Clio for iPhone. Thanks to this iPhone app, you can now carry your practice in your pocket.

23. DocMoto 3

Some people think email is a problem. We think it's the best technology ever invented. It's actually both. The new version of DocMoto, a document management system, enables you manage email along with all of your firm's other documents. Once you get a handle on your email, you'll fall in love all over again.

24. LexisNexis TextMap App for iPad

We introduced litigators to Windows transcript software TextMap when it launched so it was only fitting that we introduced litigators to the iPad app this year. The desktop and iPad versions get along swimmingly according to LexisNexis, enabling you to begin reviewing a transcript in one and finish in the other.

25. NetDocuments Professional Plus Edition 13.2

Cloud document management pioneer NetDocuments beefed up its email management and search tools in this release. It also announced integration with Clio. Thanks to modern programming languages, it's easier than ever to create so-called APIs that facilitate such integrations.

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