TechnoLawyer: TL NewsWire

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a new accounting program (see article below), a new digital dictation recorder, a new multifunction inkjet printer, an ipad app for your reception desk, and a patent-specific practice management system. Don't miss the next issue.

There's an Accounting Program in My CRM Software

Law firms may have originally purchased PCs because of the word processor, but accounting software eventually became just as much of a killer app. In fact, it's somewhat shocking that law schools don't require students to take a financial accounting class. Fortunately, accounting software has become a lot easier to use over the years. One of the easiest will ship its latest version in two weeks.

QuickBooks 2012 … in One Sentence
Announced yesterday, Intuit's QuickBooks 2012 is an accounting program that comes in two core versions — Pro (Mac and Windows) and Premiere (Windows only).

The Killer Feature
What happens when you come to the end of the software road? You can stop and call it a day (e.g., Google Desktop). You can tear it up and try to build a better road (e.g., Mac OS Lion). Or you can pave another section. Intuit has taken the latter approach with QuickBooks 2012.

Since QuickBooks already stores contact information, Intuit has added customer relationship management tools. The Lead Center enables you to track prospective clients and create reminders to follow up. The Document Center stores proposals, engagement letters, and other client intake materials. If you need most robust CRM tools, QuickBooks 2012 now integrates with Salesforce, eliminating duplicate entry of contacts and other information.

Other Notable Features
The new version of QuickBooks has embraced the concept of crowdsourcing for reports. In addition to the reports QuickBooks includes, you can import more than 1,000 reports created (and rated) by the QuickBooks user community. You can also more easily customize and format reports as well as export the data to Excel without losing the formatting of your Excel documents.

Other new features include batch invoicing for time and expenses, one-click transactions, and a calendar with tasks. The Mac version is optimized for Lion.

What Else Should You Know?
QuickBooks 2012 will become available on September 26, 2011. Pricing starts at $229.95 for Pro and $399.95 for Premiere. Learn more about QuickBooks 2012.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a new desktop USB scanner (see article below), unique stands for the iPad and laptops respectively, an iPad flowchart creation app, and a private group messaging app. Don't miss the next issue.

Desktop Scanning Goes Vertical

Lawyers on the bleeding edge of technology admonish newbies to buy a scanner and go paperless. Ironic or just realistic? The latter it would seem. The need for a scanner in every law firm underscores the enduring role paper continues to play in law practice. Even if your firm manages to never print another document ever again, you can't control the outside world. Which means you'll continue to receive paper. Hence, the need for a scanner. That said, just because you need a scanner doesn't mean it should dominate valuable desktop space.

imageFORMULA DR-C125 … in One Sentence
Released two weeks ago, Canon's imageFORMULA DR-C125 is a USB desktop document scanner.

The Killer Feature
Making products smaller isn't merely a matter of shrinking components, but also industrial design. The DR-C125 uses a top-loading vertical design to minimize its footprint.

Weighing just 5.7 pounds, it consumes a little less space than a sheet of letter size paper — even when it's scanning your documents. That's because it not only has a vertical feeder but a vertical output tray as well. Canon refers to this unique design as a "U-turn paper path."

For non-standard items such as fragile documents or plastic ID cards, the DR-C125 also features a more traditional straight paper path.

Other Notable Features
The DR-C125 works with both Macs and Windows PCs. It scans duplex at speeds up to 25 pages (50 images) per minute. It can detect double feeds, and handles documents up to 118 inches long with it's Folio Scanning mode. The feeder holds 30 sheets of paper. Resolution settings range from 150 to 600 dpi.

Auto Resolution and Page Size Detection technologies enable you to scan multiple document types and sizes simultaneously. Shadow Cropping, Deskew, and other technologies improve image quality.

Canon's CaptureOnTouch software enables you to create Scan-to-Job buttons, including the ability to scan to Evernote (included) and Microsoft SharePoint. Windows users also receive Nuance's eCopy PDF ProOffice, PaperPort, and OmniPage as well as Presto BizCard. Mac users will find PageManager and BizCard. The DR-C125 supports both the ISIS and TWAIN scanning standards for integrating with legal-specific and other software.

What Else Should You Know?
The DR-C125 is rated at 1,500 scans per day. It has an MSRP of $495, but you can find it for less, including in Canon's online store. Learn more about the imageFORMULA DR-C125.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers document comparison and collaboration software (see article below), a new Web site for staying on top of SEC EDGAR filings, a SharePoint-based document management system for law firms, a time-tracking iPad app, and a free online service for managing BlackBerry smartphones. Don't miss the next issue.

Take Microsoft Office to New Heights

I recently joked to a friend that banks have to send you a letter if they change a comma in their terms of service, but social networks can launch a new feature that compromises your privacy without so much as a peep. All kidding aside, even lowly commas are important in complex legal documents. Accordingly, practicing law without document comparison and control software is risky business. Even before Microsoft shut down its legal sales division a few weeks ago, it never took the legal industry all that seriously. Perhaps Microsoft Word isn't the ideal legal solution for document comparison and control.

Workshare Professional 7 … in One Sentence
Workshare Professional integrates with Microsoft Office, enabling you to compare, share and review documents.

The Killer Feature
I know a brilliant young corporate lawyer who negotiates complex international deals at one of the most prestigious law firms in the world. Recently, she wanted to play a CD that someone gave her so she bought a CD player even though she owns an iPod. Why? Because she doesn't know how to get a CD onto an iPod.

Just because you can entrust the lawyers in your firm with multibillion dollar deals doesn't mean you can trust them with their PCs. The new version of Workshare Professional features a redesigned Configuration Manager that gives your IT department more control over rollouts and upgrades. You can likewise ensure that every installation adheres to your firm's policies for document comparison and security.

"IT managers will find that the latest release of Workshare Professional 7 allows them to deploy and support the application easily," Workshare CEO Scott Smull told us. "It also provides users with new capabilities for efficient and effective document collaboration."

Other Notable Features
When you're burning the midnight oil, you need to focus on the big picture. Workshare Professional's new Category View enables you to review specific types of changes. For example, you can focus on substantive changes and ignore formatting and spelling changes until you're ready to finalize a document.

Another timesaver alerts you within Outlook if an attached document contains changes (you can launch a comparison without leaving Outlook). And yet another enables you to combine Microsoft Office documents into a single PDF file.

Other new features include a new interface that matches Windows 7 and Office 2010, faster access to your favorite functions on the home ribbon, PDF metadata cleaning, the ability to search original, modified, and redlined documents, and more customizable metadata removal settings.

What Else Should You Know?
Pricing starts at $175 with volume discounts available. Learn more about Workshare Professional 7.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a client portal you can add to your Web site (see article below), a new BlackBerry smartphone, a line of iPad and MacBook sleeves with handles, an online application for managing discovery in federal cases, and a service that can speed up your law firm's Web site. Don't miss the next issue.

Make Working With Your Firm More Convenient for Clients

We've covered many Web-based applications in this newsletter, but what about your firm's Web site? Is it still just a glorified brochure, or have you "appified" it to better serve your clients? Not too long ago, adding client collaboration tools to your Web site would have cost tens of thousands of dollars or more, which explains why most law firms — especially small law firms — don't offer "client portals." But the competitive advantage a client portal provides is undeniable. Look no further than your online bank account. Plenty of inexpensive online collaboration services exist, but they don't reside on your site, and are typically operated by companies without an appreciation for the attorney-client privilege.

LexisNexis Client Center … in One Sentence
LexisNexis Client Center is a hosted portal that you can add to your existing Web site through which you can securely collaborate with your clients.

The Killer Feature
Most lawyers share documents and information with their clients via email. Although a growing number of email applications offer threaded messaging, this technology is no match for the many messages with different subjects that accrue over the lifetime of a matter. If your clients don't diligently file every email message and attachment, they will become frustrated when they cannot find a message or document quickly or at all.

LexisNexis Client Center enables you to provide your clients with a single Web page on which they can access all their matters, including the documents you share with them. In addition to providing your clients with a convenient location for their case file, it also reinforces your brand and relationship every time they visit.

Other Notable Features
LexisNexis Client Center goes beyond records management. It also features collaboration tools. For example, you can assign tasks to your clients such as reviewing a brief or contract. Your client can download a document, mark it up, and upload a new version. Thanks to an integrated calendar, you can also assign tasks with dates (e.g., Show up for your deposition).

With LexisNexis Client Center, you can more securely communicate with clients, including sending your bills. If you send an errant message, you can retract it. Clients can receive an email alert when you send them a document, message, task, etc. to let them know they should login. LexisNexis Client Center provides an audit trail, enabling you to track everything you share.

What Else Should You Know?
LexisNexis Client Center is included free of charge with a LexisNexis-created site for your firm, including the Site Essentials, Site Edge, and Site Exclusives packages. You also receive a free subscription for Firm Manager, LexisNexis' online practice management system. Learn more about LexisNexis Client Center.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a cloud-based legal project management application (see article below), an online service for Twitter direct messages, an iPhone GPS navigation app, an online store for volume iPad and iPhone app purchases, and a free social media strategy planning tool. Don't miss the next issue.

Legal Project Management Meets the Spreadsheet

Lawyers are world class crunchers. Litigators crunch facts and legal issues. Transactional lawyers crunch clauses. And all lawyers crunch dates, time, and lots of other data. So why do lawyers always wax poetic about word processors but not spreadsheets? After all, the latter excel (pun intended) at data crunching. The answer may lie in math — that is, the average lawyer's aversion to it. Because finance types were the first to adopt them, spreadsheets still have a reputation as tools for number crunching, not the type of data crunching — a.k.a project management — lawyers perform. One company hopes to change the way lawyers think about spreadsheets.

Smartsheet … in One Sentence
Smartsheet is an online project management system.

The Killer Feature
Smartsheet uses a spreadsheet metaphor for project management and other forms of data management. You essentially work in tables that look like spreadsheets. For example, with one click you can add a column specifically designed to contain dates. You can then sort your sheet chronologically. Smartsheet can display your data in a variety of formats, including calendars and Gantt charts. You can also generate reports.

Other Notable Features
Once you create a new sheet, you can share it with colleagues and clients — and also assign tasks and attach relevant documents. The Change History screen provides an audit trail of all work performed on a shared sheet. Smartsheet also features tools for email alerts and discussions. You can organize your sheets using client/matter folders.

Smartsheet essentially provides you with a blank slate, which gives you the flexibility to create exactly what you need. But why reinvent the wheel if it already exists? Smartsheet offers a number of templates for specialized project management tasks such as event planning, issue tracking, new hires, task lists, and more — including legal-specific templates.

To further lighten your load, Smartsheet offers what it calls Smartsourcing — integration with Amazon's Mechanical Turk. You can use this feature to outsource menial work such as data collection.

What Else Should You Know?
Smartsheet integrates with Google Docs and can import Excel spreadsheets. An iPad app is in the works. Pricing ranges from $15.95 to $149 per month depending on the number of sheet creators and sheets you need. All plans provide unlimited sheet users. Learn more about Smartsheet.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a legal billing and trust accounting system (see article below), a new lightweight laptop, a case and stand for iPad 2. Don't miss the next issue.

Manage Your Practice, Not Your Billing Software

For most of computer history, horizontal integration ruled the roost. IT consultants and managers preached purchasing best-of-breed products and then integrating them. However, in recent years lawyers began experiencing the benefits of vertical integration — two or more software products made by the same company working seamlessly together. Time has essentially turned the tables as software companies that lacked the resources to focus on more than one core function in their early days eventually developed the ability to expand into other areas. And nowhere do lawyers appreciate this integration more than in the two components that serve as the foundation of their law firms — billing and trust accounting on the one hand, and practice management on the other.

Amicus Premium Billing 2011 … in One Sentence
Gavel & Gown Software's new Amicus Premium Billing 2011 adds billing, collections, and trust accounting to Amicus Attorney Premium Edition 2011 practice management software.

The Killer Feature
Integration has three faces. As noted above, you can try to integrate products made by different companies. Alternatively, you can integrate products made by the same company. Amicus Premium Billing takes a third approach — it uses the same database as Amicus Attorney Premium Edition. Essentially, you simply turn it on via a license and it appears.

A single database eliminates the need to sync, and prevents problems such as duplicate entries. It's also more efficient. You never have to decide where you would prefer to enter data or enter data twice. Perhaps most importantly, a single database also means a single user interface. For any client and matter, you can toggle back and forth between the billing data and practice management data with one click.

"We are excited to offer lawyers a billing program designed for lawyers and not just bookkeepers," Gavel & Gown Software's President and Founder Ron Collins told us. "Amicus Attorney has always helped legal professionals capture more billable time. Now, with Amicus Premium Billing, we not only make it easy to catch that time, we make it easy to bill for it too in keeping with the Amicus way."

Other Notable Features
Amicus Premium Billing enables you to create bills that include both fees (contingency, fixed, hourly, etc.) and expenses. You can create bills from anywhere such as a client file or contact card. It also features trust accounting to ensure compliance with ethical rules when handling retainer fees, including interest tracking and warnings when disbursements exceed the available balance. Productivity reports help you evaluate your lawyers and other timekeepers. The Dailies dashboard enables you to quickly review the financial health of your law firm.

Billing is just half the game, review and collections comprise the other half. Billing Reminders, which you can set to display whenever you open Amicus Premium Billing, identifies various issues such as delinquent and unsent bills, and matters with too much work in progress. You can specify the thresholds for the various billing alerts (e.g., review bills within 10 days, send dunning notices 10 days past due, etc.). You can customize the look of your bills and subsequent notices using templates, and batch send both.

What Else Should You Know?
Like all of Gavel & Gown's software products, Amicus Premium Billing runs on Windows. It requires Amicus Attorney Premium Edition, and at your option integrates with QuickBooks for general ledger accounting. You can purchase an Amicus Premium Billing license alone or in conjunction with an annual maintenance or technical support plan. Learn more about Amicus Premium Billing 2011.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a new accounting and billing system (see article below), a document and records management system, a litigation project management application, a secure email message service, and a Windows troubleshooting utility. Don't miss the next issue.

Keep Your Cash Flow Positive and Your Clients Happy

Predicting the weather? Difficult. Predicting the level of interest in this article? Easy. From the associate just starting their career to the managing partner running the firm, every lawyer has a deep interest in billing. You see, lawyers spend so much time working that billing often gets short shrift. But if you don't bill your time, why work so hard? Hence, the deep interest in billing — specifically in finding software that makes it as easy as possible to record your billable time, identify missing time, and get paid on time. If you work at a midsize or large firm, this quest becomes an order of magnitude more challenging because of the increased complexity of a larger group of timekeepers.

Juris v2.5 … in One Sentence
LexisNexis' Juris v2.5 is an accounting and billing system for law firms with new technologies designed to shorten the time it takes to get paid and keep your cash flow in positive territory.

The Killer Feature

Looking at your law firm's income statement can make you feel like a million bucks. But then when you look at your balance sheet and see how much of your assets consist of receivables versus cash and short-term investments, you suddenly don't feel so wealthy. As any accountant will tell you, cash isn't king. Cash flow is.

The new Juris Suite Collections available in v2.5 focuses on improving your cash flow through automation and business intelligence. For example, the Centralized Account History enables you to locate all the salient details concerning a delinquent account, including whether anyone has bothered to contact that client.

Even better, the Communications Templates enable you to send a client-specific dunning letter with one click — including via email. You can customize the templates if you wish.

Juris Suite Collections also features customizable alerts and reports. The latter enable you to drill down as deeply into the underlying data as you want. You can have reports sent to you automatically, and also have alerts sent to whomever you designate (e.g., have your comptroller call the client if no payment is received after two dunning notices).

"In many law firms, information on who has done what to obtain payment from a client resides with multiple individuals, LexisNexis Vice President Jonah Paransky told us. "As a result, firms may duplicate their efforts, leading to a poor client experience. By enabling firms to document collection activities in a central location, the new Juris Suite Collections fosters internal collaboration and provides a better client experience, even in difficult situations."

Other Notable Features
You've heard of "the cloud" no doubt. The most secure type of cloud is your own at your firm. Thanks to Juris' support for Microsoft Windows Terminal Server, you need not install Juris on each desktop or laptop, reducing the support burden on your IT department. Juris also integrates with Microsoft Outlook 2010, enabling your users to share financial reports.

Other features include customizable dashboards that enable you to quickly assess your firm's financial health, support for LEDES and electronic billing, client-specific rules-based billing to prevent disputes and misunderstandings, and the ability to provide your lawyers with a real-time view of their billed hours versus their billable goals.

What Else Should You Know?
Juris features a built-in WebEx Web conferencing link for technical support so the technician can actually "see" the problem you're experiencing. Juris v2.5 is free for customers with an active Juris or Juris Suite subscription or current Software Maintenance and Technical Support Agreement. The new Juris Suite Collections module is included in Juris Premium subscriptions. Learn more about Juris v2.5.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a new sheetfed scanner (see article below), a mobile app management system, a legal research service, a tablet computer, and a contact management and marketing application. Don't miss the next issue.

A Scanner for Automation and Legal Software Fans

How can you tell a TechnoLawyer NewsWire subscriber from a normal person? The former gets worked up about scanners, whereas the latter gets worked up about the latest plot twist on Jersey Shore. Accordingly, since you gotta know your customer, I confess to knowing nothing about The Situation and Snooki, but I know about every new scanner that surfaces. So last Friday when you were toasting Thomas Jefferson with your first Independence Day weekend beer (brewed in America I hope), I was reading a press release about and poring through the specifications of the latest scanner for the small business market. I hope you appreciate my dedication.

Kodak SCANMATE i920 … in One Sentence
The Kodak SCANMATE i920 is a sheetfed USB duplex document scanner.

The Killer Feature
The legal world is split into two camps on many fronts. Small versus large firms. Litigators versus transactional lawyers. Word versus WordPerfect fans. And in the world of scanning, those who need TWAIN and ISIS support and those who don't.

The SCANMATE i920 supports TWAIN and ISIS (WIA too), enabling you to go beyond the bundled programs and scan directly into many document management, legal, OCR, and other specialized applications.

Other Notable Features
The SCANMATE i920 has a small footprint (3.1 inches high and 4.2 inches deep), and weighs 2.7 pounds. At 200 dpi, it scans duplex at 15 pages per minutes for color and 20 for black and white. You can scan at resolutions up to 600 dpi. The automatic document feeder holds up to 20 sheets of paper of varying sizes.

The scanner automatically rotates, straightens, crops, brightens, and skips blank pages. You can output scans in PDF, TIFF, JPEG, RTF, and BMP formats. The bundled OCR software can create searchable RTF and PDF files.

The SCANMATE i920's Smart Touch button enables you to automatically route scanned documents. You can configure up to nine functions such as email, print, file, etc. Smart Touch integrates with any application such as Microsoft SharePoint. It can also automatically name your scanned documents.

What Else Should You Know?
The SCANMATE i920 works with Windows PCs. Kodak's MSRP is $395 though a quick search shows it selling as of today for as little as $310 from reputable retailers. Learn more about the Kodak SCANMATE i920 Scanner.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers software for processing electronic documents and creating load files (see article below), two online document storage and sharing services (one no frills and simple, the other with lots of features), an iPad app for trial presentations, and an IPad app for document review. Don't miss the next issue.

Process and Cull Scanned and Electronic Documents Faster

Listen up because you're about to learn everything you need to know about electronic discovery in a few hundred words. Step one involves collecting the discoverable data from the cast of characters (custodians/witnesses) who work for your client. This task is best handled by an expert who will create two forensically-sound copies of the data (think CSI except for data — the pros know how to prevent spoliation). One copy goes into a safe. The other copy gets sent to your law firm. Now that you've got all this raw data, how do you process it so that you can find all the privileged and relevant documents?

LAW PreDiscovery … in One Sentence
LexisNexis' latest release of LAW PreDiscovery enables you to process email and other electronic data collected for discovery faster, and convert it into a load file for Concordance and other litigation review platforms.

The Killer Feature
Processing data is like manufacturing. You start with raw ingredients and end up with a finished product. Accordingly, technology can have a dramatic impact.

LAW PreDiscovery's new Distributed ED Loader automates the creation of load files. It automatically detects the LAW PreDiscovery licenses on your network, and sends them data to process. You no longer have to manually assign jobs. Using the Management Console, you can monitor the various jobs. If a queue develops, you can assign priorities or purchase more licenses to speed up the processing.

Other Notable Features
LAW PreDiscovery removes duplicates, extracts metadata, uncompresses ZIP files, preserves email threads and attachments, and converts native files to TIFF format. You can take advantage of LAW PreDiscovery's search and OCR capabilities to cull obviously irrelevant material before creating a load file.

The new release of LAW PreDiscovery also features language identification. Thus, you can quickly see all the languages used in the data you've collected so that you can start recruiting the appropriate contract lawyers or translators for the document review phase that follows the processing phase.

You know about metadata, but what about hidden text? You're more likely to find a smoking gun in the latter. LAW PreDiscovery's new Hidden Text Detection technology identifies this material in Microsoft Office documents — for example, text inside shape controls as well as hidden paragraphs, spreadsheets, columns, cells, slides, etc. Documents with hidden text that appear in search results will contain a tag at the top alerting your document reviewers.

What Else Should You Know?
LAW PreDiscovery's revamped interface seeks to minimize the amount of training needed. As you would expect, LAW PreDiscovery works seamlessly with Concordance, but because it employs the EDRM standard, it creates XML load files for many competitive review products as well. Learn more about LAW PreDiscovery.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a new network scanner (see article below), an app that transforms your iPad into a second monitor, an app that transforms your iPhone into a dictation microphone, an Outlook add-on, and an online service for saving 30% on restaurant meals. Don't miss the next issue.

Your Paperless Law Office Awaits You

The network printer revolutionized law practice starting about 20 years ago. They were expensive but much less expensive than buying a personal printer for everyone in the firm. With most law firms now pursuing a paperless office strategy at least on some level, the network scanner is poised to have just as much of an impact this decade as the network printer had in the 1990s. Actually, network scanners will have even more of an impact because they cost far less (especially when adjusted for inflation), and take up very little space thanks to their dedicated function and the ever-shrinking size of electronic components.

imageFORMULA ScanFront 300P Network Scanner … in One Sentence
Canon's ScanFront 300P is a secure network scanner for capturing, converting, and sharing documents.

The Killer Feature
The enduring Greek myth of poor Sisyphus (the guy who had to repeatedly roll a rock up a hill for eternity) continues to resonate because it describes one of the most frustrating human experiences — needless repetition.

Let's say you want to scan a document and save a PDF version for yourself, email the scan to your client, fax it to a colleague at his weekend house, and also print a copy. With most scanners, you must either scan the document multiple times or perform each of these tasks individually after scanning the document once. Either way, it's downright Sisyphean and wastes your time.

The ScanFront 300P enables you to scan a document and simultaneously save it to a network folder, up to four USB drives, and FTP server, and also send it via email and fax to anyone. To further automate the process, the ScanFront 300P can store a firm-wide address book (including LDAP) as well as private address books for each user. The scan-to-email function works with Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, and SMTP.

Other Notable Features
You control the ScanFront 300P via an 8.4 inch touchscreen interface. Programable Scan-to-Job buttons enable you to adapt the scanner to your firm's workflow.

The ScanFront 300P's footprint is slightly larger than a sheet of letter-sized paper. It weighs 7.9 pounds. It scans color, grayscale, and black and white at resolutions up to 600 dpi. At 300 dpi, it scans 60 images per minute (30 pages). In other words, duplex scanning won't slow you down.

It also has a number of technologies designed to eliminate the need to re-scan. For example, it automatically detects color and page size, removes bleed-through, deskews crooked feeds, re-orients upside-down feeds, detects double feeds, and has a long document mode.

What Else Should You Know?
You can centrally administer the ScanFront 300Ps on your network. Users can login by entering a user name or password or via the fingerprint reader. The ScanFront 300P has an MSRP of $2,295. Learn more about the imageFORMULA ScanFront 300P Network Scanner.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.