TechnoLawyer: TL NewsWire

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers new e-discovery review tool, an online backup service, and a free blog hosting service. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

E-Discovery Goes Native
By Dennis Kennedy

The new electronic discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures sounded the alarm for many lawyers. Among other things, the new rules place a strong emphasis on review of files in their native formats. In other words, Word documents should be reviewable as .doc files, not scanned and produced as .pdf or .tiff images. Native file format is uncharted territory for many litigators.

ACCESS Litigation Support Services' NatiVIEW Analytics 2.0 seeks to provide you with a toolbox for handling native file review. In doing so, it addresses the criticism about native file review not being practical. Indeed, ACCESS claims that NatiVIEW Analytics 2.0 costs less than traditional image-scanning in cases of all sizes, including those involving a massive number of documents.

NatiVIEW Analytics 2.0 grew out of ACCESS's experience handling hundreds of millions of pages of data in large litigation matters. Built on .NET and SQL and housed in a data facility with multiple redundancies and virtually unlimited bandwidth, NatiVIEW Analytics 2.0 is a secure, Web-based tool with review, search, annotation, and categorization tools designed for the average lawyer, not just power users. At its heart lies a native file review platform for large collections of documents.

Features include a centrally-managed rules-based workflow system with complete control over access rights, "smart auto-tagging" that groups related documents, customizable workspaces that enable you to view everything you need for a given task, the ability to search specific metadata fields, one-click translators for more than fifty languages, and the ability to append comments to documents in a thread-like manner and receive alerts when someone else adds to the thread.

NatiVIEW Analytics 2.0 works like an electronic container for your documents and corresponding metadata. You can even customize a view to display a document with the relevant metadata, tags, and comments, or search specific metadata fields. Language translations are stored as comments that you can easily compare to the original text.

Administrative features enable you to set up roles and permissions to control a user's rights to work with documents, monitor workflow, and provide a secure way for multiple parties to review the data collection. Reporting and audit tools facilitate project management and tracking.

For more information about pricing, including data hosting options, contact ACCESS Litigation Support Services. Learn more about NatiView Analytics 2.0.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers a utility for managing, merging, and synchronizing multiple calendars, a business productivity suite, and a backup utility with versioning and open database capabilities. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Your Nine Lives Each Deserve Their Own Calendar
By Dennis Kennedy
It's hard enough to keep up your calendar and contact list at work, but we all live double, triple, or even quadruple lives, each with its own calendars and contacts. For example, most lawyers do not place doctor's appointments, soccer games, and other family events on their work calendars. Yet synchronizing these other calendars can be a major chore.

Tanner Research's ClearSync gives you a way to manage calendars and contacts for all of your lives — "groups" to use the company's vernacular. Using ClearSync, you can set up multiple calendars and contact lists, and share, protect, and synchronize them as you need.

ClearSync works with PCs and Palm devices, including Palm OS wireless devices like Treos. Using a browser, Macintosh and Linux users can also view calendars and contacts.

The result: Wherever you are — work, home, school, sporting events — you can access contact information, dates, and times for everything going on in your life, thus reducing your chances of missing school plays and birthday parties, or finding, to your surprise, that your kids don't have school on the day of an important work meeting.

ClearSync supports bi-directional synchronization so you can enter or make changes to contacts or appointments on your PC or your Palm device. You can also synchronize your Outlook contacts and calendar.

On both your PC and your Palm device, you can keep multiple calendars, color-code them, and display them one at a time, side-by-side, or as merged calendars. If you use the merged view to show your full agenda, ClearSync maintains the separate underlying calendars, and lets you share each of them — or not — in accordance with the rules you establish.

ClearSync comes in three versions — ClearSync Free, ClearSync Silver, and, ClearSync Gold versions. ClearSync Free enables you to view shared calendars in your browser.

With ClearSync Silver ($19.95 plus $9.95 for each subsequent user), you get the more functional desktop application as well as the ability to create your own calendars, view them side by side or merged, synchronize them with your Palm  and over the Internet, and share them with others.

ClearSync Gold ($59.95 plus $29.95 for each subsequent user) provides wireless synchronization, encrypted online synchronization, and telephone support.  Learn more about ClearSync.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an online repository with Google-like search speed, PDF creation software for thrifty law firms, and a plug-and-play Microsoft Exchange appliance that promises 99.99% uptime for your firm's e-mail. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Finding Needles in E-Discovery Haystacks Very Quickly
By Dennis Kennedy
As electronic discovery becomes a fixture in complex litigation, both law firms and clients seek better ways to handle large volumes of documents. Increasingly, they seem to choose online repositories. Security, features, and other factors play important roles in the selection process. However, speed may be the biggest consideration. Do you really want to enter a complex search through millions of documents and wait minutes rather than milliseconds for your results?

Catalyst Secure's Catalyst CR 6.0 (Grid Edition) attacks the issue of speed directly. The first grid-based document review and litigation support platform, CR 6.0 delivers sub-second response times for complex searches. In audited benchmark testing, CR brought back search results in less than a second in the vast majority of queries even for queries with 750 search terms and 15 million documents.

CR 6.0 uses an innovative grid-based computing system that efficiently uses a large number of servers to generate fast results. The grid runs the well-known FAST search engine, optimized for the types of searches used in electronic discovery.

You can locate the documents you want swiftly using keyword, full-text, date-range, proximity, concept and even bates-number searches. CR 6.0 supports native review of Office documents, e-mail, and hundreds of other file formats, and has been optimized for PDF files. CR 6.0 uses a simple interface for searching designed to give you both flexibility and power. You can save searches, tag results, and manage workflow.

Once you locate documents, you and your team can review, redact, and prepare them for production, especially under tight deadlines. Every party in a case can securely use the CR 6.0 repository.

CR 6.0 provides a secure platform that can scale as your repository grows, but the speed will likely impress you and your team the most.

Contact Catalyst Secure for information about pricing, which depends on the size of the repository.  Learn more about Catalyst CR 6.0.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers a suite of security utilities for your laptop, an online personal finance tool that taps into Metcalfe's Law, and a network appliance that enables everyone at your law firm to securely send and receive large attachments. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Transfer Large Files Securely Without Attachment Limits
By Dennis Kennedy
In the old days, sending a large document meant using a FedEx Pak instead of a FedEx Envelope. Nowadays, sending large electronic files poses more of a challenge than simply choosing the next size up in packaging. Notwithstanding multi-gigabyte mailboxes, many e-mail servers (including Gmail) impose limits on the size of file attachments. Plus, e-mail servers are notoriously lacking in security (by design actually). Free file transfer sites can handle large files, but also lack sufficient security. So what's a law firm to do? Dust off its FedEx number and send CDs and DVDs?

No way! Accellion's Courier Secure File Transfer Appliance (SFTA) Version 5.0 provides law firms with a secure option for sending and receiving large files both internally and externally. Accellion has a history of providing secure file transfer solutions on a global basis to enterprises of all sizes. As a dedicated appliance for business file transfers, SFTA requires minimal IT administration and support.

When you use SFTA to send files to third parties, they receive a secure download link. To send or receive a file, all you need is a Web browser. Your firm can set up accounts for its employees and clients in minutes. Accellion claims that some firms may witness an 80% reduction in e-mail load.

New in version 5 is the ability to send and receive entire folders, thus preserving a directory structure (especially useful for your client's discovery documents). Version 5 can handle files and folders up to 10GB in size.

New administrative tools enable you to control usage throughout your firm. Like previous versions, SFTA simply plugs into your network and starts working. SFTA uses the SSL standard, and generates an audit trail. Much easier to use than even FTP and SFTP, which require software on both ends, SFTA works with your existing network and software. Optional plug-ins exist for integration with Outlook and Lotus Notes, which enable you to use your e-mail program instead of a browser.

SFTA comes in a wide array of configurations, starting at $3,500. You can start small and add capabilities as needed.  Learn more about Accellion Courier Secure File Transfer Appliance (SFTA) Version 5.0.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's special holiday edition of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers three new iPod accessories — the first ever in-ear wireless earphones, a Star Trek-like iPod video viewing system, and an iPod battery pack that will take you across the pond and back even if you watch videos the whole time. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Unchain Your Head and iPod
By Dennis Kennedy

Serious audiophiles and frequent fliers always rave about in-ear earphones. They like the combination of high fidelity sound and external noise reduction. If the powers that be could only figure out a way to eliminate those darn wires.

Etymotic Research, which developed one of the first in-ear systems, has introduced the wireless Ety 8 — the first and only wireless (Bluetooth) in-ear earphone system. The company claims that Ety 8 sounds just as good as its wired models. Ety 8 uses a new folding technology to reduce the size of the antenna. As with all earphones of this type, the earpieces fit snugly in your ear canal — no external support is needed. A perfect fit is critical so Etymotic provides you with a choice of 3-flange, 2-flange, and foam ear tips.

The technical specs on Ety 8 are comparable to the rest of Etymotic's products. Each earpiece weighs only ounce. One earpiece houses the battery and the other houses the antenna as well as iPod controls (play, previous/next, and volume). Expect a 10 hour battery life, with an automatic shut-off after 5 minutes if no audio is playing.

The iPod version comes with its own adapter and works with fifth generation iPods and first and second generation Nanos. Ety 8 is compatible with devices supporting Bluetooth specification 1.1 and higher and supports A2DP and AVRCP profiles for stereo listening. It comes with a USB power port for charging and a leather case.

Ety 8 with the iPod adapter costs $299. If you use a Bluetooth device other than an iPod, the earphones cost $199. Learn more about Ety 8.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers the new version of an integrated evidence management solution, an e-mail newsletter for digital photography newbies and enthusiasts, and a pair of software utilities for capturing streaming audio and video and converting it into virtually any format. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Your Litigation Command Center
By Dennis Kennedy
With all the focus on electronic discovery technology these days, it's important not to lose sight of the next step — preparing your cases for trial.

CaseLogistix's new version 5 of its evidence management software aims to provide you with a litigation command center thanks to its unique approach of combining electronic discovery with litigation management. And let's not forget ease of use — the company famously claims that CaseLogistix is so simple to use lawyers actually use it.

The company claims that CaseLogistix 5 enables you and your team to more efficiently handle any amount of digital evidence — from a dog bite case with a single police report to a securities case with hundreds of thousands of documents. You can search, organize, and annotate documents, and customize virtual libraries of documents using the "IntelliFolder" feature to simplify your work.

CaseLogistix worked closely with law firms and lawyers in producing this new version, which offers a re-engineered approach to handling native file formats, including PST files, and tools for annotating and redacting native files. You can extract metadata from native files and export it into CaseLogistix fields for processing and management. The new version also has enhanced tools for splitting, combining, and reordering PDF files. The Bates Analyzer analyzes specific groups of documents and generates a report showing missing numbers, duplicate numbers, and invalid ranges of numbers.

A number of other additions and enhancements exist, including improved Unicode compliance for international users that enables lawyers to view, index, and search documents in Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, and other languages and customize the program for local languages.

Also included is the ability to work offline and then synchronize your work when online again. You can also convert TIFF images to text on the fly with a right mouse click thanks to the built-in OCR technology.

CaseLogistix now handles deposition transcripts as well. You can import transcripts in TRN, PTF, PDF, TIFF, and ASCII formats, and then annotate, redact, and excerpt as needed and of course print reports.

Litigation, of course, usually requires a team. To this end, CaseLogistix now makes it easy for you and your colleagues to access multiple libraries with a single login.

Version 5 also emphasizes speed. Look for better performance in Citrix or other shared environments even when working with very large IntelliFolders, and streaming PDF technology to accelerate downloads.

CaseLogistix 5 is available in desktop, Web, or hosted versions. The desktop version uses an Outlook-based interface so popular among lawyers. Users of the Web version will benefit from a completely rewritten and improved interface as well. Learn more about CaseLogistix.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers the new version of a popular integrated digital dictation and transcription system, an online time tracking utility, and an Outlook add-on to help you better manage and organize your calendar, email, and tasks. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Stop Typing, Start Dictating
By Dennis Kennedy
Drafting documents from scratch is difficult work. Typing may not be the most efficient approach. For generating a good first draft, many lawyers rely on dictation and transcription.

HTH Engineering has more than ten years of experience providing turn-key solutions for the digital dictation needs of law offices. The latest version of its popular Start-Stop Universal Transcription System offers an integrated solution for transcription designed specifically for the needs of law firms.

Start-Stop Universal Transcription System combines software with hardware to turn your firm's PCs into a state-of-the-art transcription system. The software integrates with digital voice recorders (including those by Olympus, Phillips, and Sony), and foot pedals with 2 or 3 pedals. HTH Engineering doesn't just sell the software, but also a wide variety of compatible recorders, foot pedals, and more.

You use Start-Stop with a handheld digital recorder or other digital recording device. Placing the recorder into its cradle or using the "End of Letter" button instantly sends your dictation file to a transcriptionist. Start-Stop's "Job Manager" keeps track of waiting and finished files. The "Folder Mole Auto-Notifier" automatically sends notifications to your transcriptionist whenever you add a dictation file to a shared folder. As a result, your transcriptionists will not overlook dictation files and can easily assign and prioritize files.

New in version 9.7 is the "Network Support Feature," which enables multiple transcriptionists to work on the same file simultaneously — great for urgent jobs. Also new is the "Smart Word Line Counter," which provides you with a word and line count after transcription.

Start-Stop has a wealth of other nifty features, including a built-in FTP client for uploading files remotely, automatic backup of completed files, configurable hot keys, variable speed playback, and a sleek new interface designed with the help of professional transcriptionists.

Perhaps most importantly, Start-Stop can now handle just about any audio file format, including WAV, MP3, WMA, and dozens of popular proprietary formats such as Olympus DSS, Philips DSS, Sanyo Digital Recorder, VOX, TrueSpeech, Dictaphone Walkabout, and many more. It even works with audio CDs.

If you already have a voice recorder and foot pedal, HTH Engineering sells its Start-Stop software by itself for $99. If you also need accompanying hardware — digital voice recorders, headsets, foot pedals, telephone recorders, etc. — the company sells a number of bundles for the legal profession. Learn more about Start-Stop Universal Transcription System.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an online store for legal-oriented prints, a Windows XP utility for managing open windows, and a space- and place-shifting device for recording FM and online radio programs. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Dress Your Office for Success
By Dennis Kennedy
For many lawyers, the "art" on the office walls consists of their framed law school degrees and state licenses. Most art galleries do not have a legal section. What if you could choose from a great selection of legal art prints to give your office a look both appropriate and unique?

LawGallery is an online store that focuses exclusively on legal prints for the legal profession. In the store, you'll find a large selection of prints depicting the practice of law. Many feature historical elements, including famous trials, lawyers, or courthouses. Less serious lawyers will find a variety of humorous prints.

Most prints date from the 1800s and early 1900s and will give your office a decidedly British feel. Examples of prints include drawings of the Royal Courts of Justice and Westminster Hall. You will also find prints of American cases like the "Trial of Guiteau for the Murder of President Garfield." LawGallery provides historical research and other information about each print and its subject matter.

LawGallery has made some of these reproductions itself and licensed others. The company uses "museum-grade" inks with a fade-free life span of 25-100 years depending upon their exposure to light. The company also employs archival processes when mounting and framing its prints. You can choose from many styles of mats and frames. LawGallery's own professional curator can even help you choose the most appropriate frame for a particular print and its location.

Prices vary depending on the print and framing option you choose. Most prices seem to fall between $200 to $600. LawGallery unconditionally guarantees each sale; you can return a print for a full refund. Learn more about LawGallery.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers the new version of a popular transcript management program, a time tracking solution with four versions, and an online service for tracking your favorite blogs. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Search, Annotate, Summarize, and Print Your Transcripts
By Dennis Kennedy
When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras, right? This aphorism derives from Occam's Razor — the simplest solution is usually the correct solution. So then why do lawyers often tackle specific tasks with ill-suited tools?

LexisNexis CaseSoft's new TextMap 3 aims to bring the discipline of Occam's Razor to deposition and trial transcripts. Recognizing that most litigators perform just a few tasks with transcripts — search, annotate, summarize, and print — LexisNexis CaseSoft designed TextMap 3 to do exactly that.

Unlike previous versions of TextMap, the new version exists as a free-standing tool, not part of CaseMap. That said, you can still use TextMap with CaseMap. In fact, LexisNexis CaseSoft has improved TextMap's integration with CaseMap, including the popular "Send to CaseMap" functionality.

TextMap 3 has a new Microsoft Outlook-based user interface that most lawyers should find familiar. It also sports enhanced annotation and reporting features. For example, you can annotate (select for display in a report) non-contiguous portions of a transcript and add notes to your annotations.

When you generate a report, you can print it or save it as a PDF file. In addition to the new annotations report, you can also generate a report that shows a search term in surrounding context. And as always, you can also generate a "condensed" report with 4 transcript pages on each page.

TextMap 3 doesn't only integrate with CaseMap, it also integrates with third party products such as LiveNote and Concordance with full import/export capabilities for transcripts and your annotations.

TextMap 3 sells for less than $150 per year for a three-year subscription that includes all support and upgrades, including major ones like TextMap 4 and TextMap 5. You can try it for free for 30 days. TextMap 2 users can upgrade for free. Learn more about TextMap 3.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers an online form creation tool, an online event planner, and a new approach to collaborating on Word files. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Your Online Law Form
By Dennis Kennedy
Law offices run on forms. Nothing makes law firms run smoother than good form. Unfortunately, creating forms is never easy enough and often falls to the bottom of the priority list.

Infinity Box's Wufoo is an online application for helping you design and build Web and intranet forms of all kinds. Wufoo also does the heavy lifting for you. It builds the database and scripts you need to create useful forms. As a hosted application, all you need is your browser and a little imagination.

Wufoo's Web site lists a huge number of forms you can create — contacts, mailing lists, surveys, job applications, event calendars, registration forms, and even tests and quizzes. The Web site offers a large gallery of useful sample forms to get you started and inspire you.

You start with the form manager tool for publishing, analyzing, and editing forms. You create forms with a drag-and-drop form builder tool. Wufoo also offers e-mail integration and a theme builder to customize the look of your forms. Advanced users can tweak their forms using CSS and XHTML.

Once you collect data, Wufoo offers a variety of output options, including CSV and Excel. You can also generate reports and graphs, and make your form data public or private. You can have Wufoo host your forms or integrate them on your own site and intranet.

Wufoo offers a number of plans, including a free version. Monthly plans range from $9 to $199/month, based on the number of forms you use, the number of entries, storage space needed, and other factors. Learn more about Wufoo.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.