Category Archives: Mobile Computing

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Google Docs v Office Live Workspace

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If you have questions about the differences between Google Docs and Office Live Workspace check out this Google Docs Logopost from Inter-Alia, which compares the two. It looks like there are some significant differences between the two. For example,

First, unlike Google Docs, you aren’t actually working on documents inside the browser — you are using the Microsoft Office products installed on your computer. So when you log into your workspace and click New Word Document, MS Word opens up a new document. When you save it, the document is automatically deposited on your workspace online. Because you aren’t working on documents online, that means you can’t work on a document at the same time as others with whom you are sharing it — for them, the document will appear as “checked out.”

I have not played around with Office Live Workspace at all and I have played around with Google Docs only a little bit. However, I can say that I was up and running with Google Docs in about 30 seconds. Plus, Google Docs, just like everything else that Google makes, worked simply and without any problems. I can’t remember the last time anyone said that about any Microsoft Product.

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Another Great Way to Use Adobe Acrobat

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AdobeI believe that Adobe Acrobat is one of the most under used programs that attorneys have. Many, if not most, attorneys have a copy of it on their computer. Yet, almost all of them use it for only two purposes: creating a PDF and reading a PDF that someone else sent them. Acrobat is much more powerful than that, however. I have written before about some of my favorite Acrobat tools.  You can also find several other posts relating to Acrobat by clicking the Acrobat category in the sidebar.

Today I want to point you toward a post from Ernie the Attorney on his PDF for Lawyers Blog. In the post, Ernie explains that he does not use paper in his depositions and that, instead, he refers to his electronic copies of the documents. He explains:

I have my deposition notes set up in an outline on my computer.  When I get to a place that calls for me to talk about a certain document I inform my opposing counsel what the document bates-number is, and ask him to show it to the witness.  I have all the documents bookmarked in Acrobat.  It takes me about 3 seconds to get to the document, and I make good use of the time it takes my opponent to pull the document and show it to the witness.  I have notes superimposed on the PDF and I examine those and get ready to frame my questions.  At the end of the deposition I don’t offer any documents as exhibits.  If opposing counsel asks me why I’m not doing that I tell him that the bates-numbers (which I announced on the record before starting my questions about each document) constitute sufficient reference.

If I’m attending a deposition it’s even easier.  When a document is offered I ask what the bates-number is and I just pull it up, much more quickly than if I were to wait for it to be handed over.  Plus I have my PDF notes superimposed on my copy which helps me quickly figure out the relevance of the document to my theory of the case.   And of course I can add more notes on the fly if I want to.  I also bookmark the document and indent it under a main bookmark labelled for the deposition in question.  So when the deposition is over I have a listing of all the documents that were referenced in that meeting.

I think that this is a great way to use Acrobat. Not only does it allow you to access your documents easily and quickly. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, it also keeps all of your notes with respect to a particular document in one location. As an added benefit, all of those notes are fully searchable.

Although I have not entirely abandoned paper at my depositions, I do use Acrobat to keep notes on my documents and to organize them. I have found that the PDF Package available in Acrobat 8 is a great way to package all of my deposition exhibits together in a single location.

If you are are using Acrobat only to read or create PDFs, I urge you to start exploring the other options that are available to you.

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Kickin’ it in Tennessee

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Kickback KottageI agree with the Greatest American Lawyer about the Power of a Good Vacation. Taking GAL’s words to heart, the family and I are spending the week in Tennessee at the Kickback Kottage. The cabin is very nice and has several amenities, including a hot tub and, most importantly, high speed internet access. The high speed access means that I can spend 30 minutes or so in the morning while the others are rising or in the evening after they go to bed to check my email.

Being able to check my email as I go along means that I can assign tasks to my assistant to handle while I am gone, or create a task list for items to deal with when I return. One of the hallmarks of leveraging technology is being able to work where ever I am. This does not mean that I want to work all of the time. Instead, it means that I want to be able to leave the office and do so without worrying that things are falling apart.

This is just another example of how technology can free you from the office and still allow you to effectively practice law.

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Being Productive Despite the Kids

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One of the things that leveraging technology to practice law allows you to do is to practice law anywhere. Sometimes, this means that you are practicing law at home, with the kids around. If you have ever tried this before, you know how difficult this can be. Web Worker Daily has a post on how to work productively with kids at home. The list seems aimed at those who work at home a lot. However many of the tips work just as well for those who are working at home with the kids on a irregular basis.

Some of the best advice is for you to get up early or stay up later than the kids to get some work done. If you are a morning person, you can probably get some work done before the kids get up. Alternatively, if you are a night person, you can use the time after they have gone to bed to get some work done.

Another great tip is:

2. Team up with your spouse. It really helps to have a great, supportive spouse. My wife is a teacher, so she needs to do work herself, so we take turns working at the computer while the other keeps the kids at bay. Take the kids outside, or take them to a park, or read to them, while your spouse does some work. Then switch.

If you have a spouse that can help you with this, it is a great technique. It allows you to both get some work done and keeps the kids occupied.

Check out the entire post for the rest of the tips.

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Benefits of PACER

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Bonnie Scucha points us toward an article from the federal courts describing the effects of PACER. PACER is the electronic access system that allows users to access and retrieve electronic copies of court files. The article reports that:

Hundreds of millions of pages of court documents retrieved online each year by customers who numbers are approaching 750,000. Less attention, however, has focused on PACER’s impact on court staffs.

“It’s definitely changed the way our office does business, and I think it’s been a change for the better,” said Monica Menier, clerk of the bankruptcy court in the Middle District of Louisiana.

“Back in the paper world, we constantly had law firm runners who came to the clerk’s office to make copies of case files. They’d have to drive to the courthouse, find a parking place, feed the meter, and pay 50 cents per copy. Helping them consumed a lot of staff time,” she said. “Those days are gone.”

David Weaver, clerk of court and court administrator in the Eastern District of Michigan, offers a similar assessment. “We once had 12 case-searching terminals in a public area of our office, but eight of those terminals are gone. Very little walk-up business remains. We don’t have file clerks anymore.”

I just wish that our courts in Illinois would realize the benefits of allowing us to have remote electronic access to court files. I consider it a terrible shame that it is much easier for me to retrieve a document from a federal court file in Seattle, Texas, or New Jersey, than it is for me to retrieve a document from DuPage County, where I practice regularly.

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Synching Your Google Calendar

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Affinity Law Office Technology Blog reveals that Google has released an update allowing you to sync your Google Calendar with Microsoft Outlook. You can enable full bidirectional sync between both calendars or you can sync only from either Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook.

If you have been looking for a solution to share your Microsoft Outlook Calendar without using Exchange Server, this may be the solution for you. Simply enable bidirectional sync with a Google Calendar and give your assistant access to the Google Calendar.

To get started with setting up your calendar sync, start here.

Don’t forget, you can also access and add to your Google Calendar from your mobile phone. Go here, to find out more information about that.

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Practicing Law Efficiently Means Using the Right Tools

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I was in court today and I witnessed another attorney call his office to speak to his assistant. He instructed his assistant to contact another attorney in the office who had authored an initial draft of a brief. The assistant was to get two things from the other attorney that were referenced in the draft: (1) a portion of a transcript, and (2) a document.

What I found amusing was that in the amount of time that the attorney spent on the telephone telling his assistant what he wanted, I could have probably found the sameCaseMap information in one of my files. This is because I keep all of my files paperless and I use the CaseMap suite of programs to manage my documents, facts, and transcripts.

Finding information in a transcript is as easy as looking for the relevant words. Similarly, finding a document is as easy as searching for any number of fields including the author, recipient, date, or relevant information.

I am not saying that you have to use the same programs that I use. There are a variety of programs available to help you manage your documents, transcripts, and other case information. The programs include programs such as Lexis-Nexis Front Office, Summation, Concordance, iConect, JFS Litigator’s Notebook, and LiveNote.

The important point is that you should be using some program to keep your information organized and available to you at a moment’s notice.

Not only with this make you more efficient, it also means that you won’t be using time of your assistant and other attorneys to track down information.

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Could Someone Please Tell the Daley Center that it is the 21st Century?

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Daley CenterYesterday I had a court appearance at the Daley Center at 9:30 and then a noon meeting in the Loop. A perfect chance for me to go to court and then run upstairs to the law library on the 29th Floor of the Daley Center.

I love going up there. The views are absolutely wonderful. There are windows galore and, because of the number of windows, the library is well lit. Also there are lots of chairs and tables to work at.  It is a great place to work, as long as you are stuck with the 19th Century concept of researching only by books and taking notes only by hand.

The law library is missing two things that every library should have. First, it has no wi fi access. Peter Olson asked this same question almost two years ago. I agree with him that it makes no sense that the law library has no wi fi access.

Second, and this may even be worse, it has no electrical outlets. Thus, even if I were content to do all of my research via books (which the library has lots of), I am limited to taking notes on a legal pad, or on my computer only until the battery runs out. Is it too difficult to wire a few tables with electricity so people can practice law efficiently? Is this just too much to ask for from Cook County?

Instead of doing research in a comfortable setting with a beautiful view, I ended up in a Starbucks looking at the street. It certainly was not the best view. However, it did have wi fi and an electrical outlet.

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Balancing Your Connectivity When on Vacation

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Here is a nice post from Reid Trautz on creating a communication policy while on vacation.Treo 700p Reid offers some great advice about how to stay connected to the office, while making sure not to cut into family and vacation time.

His policy on checking voicemails is one that I typically follow when on vacation:

As the sun rose on the third day of my vacation, I realized I finally had to make some decisions. The easiest decision was to rely on the out-of-office greeting on my phone, and not try to deal with voice mail messages in any way, shape, or form. However, I decided to keep my cell phone powered on and with me in case there was a business emergency. People who need to reach me can reach me through my office even if they don’t have my cell number. This gave me peace of mind without my having to check my phone messages daily.

I know that in the event of an emergency or something that needs my immediate attention, my office can get in touch with me. Everything else can wait until I get back in the office.

I also liked Reid’s idea of allocating only 60 minutes a day to checking email, as well as the fact that he tried to do this in the morning while everyone else was still sleeping.

If you are considering taking a vacation soon, this is a post you want to check out.

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Wireless Network Security

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PC World has a nice article on security on wireless networks. The articles address both how to secure your own wireless network as well as how to ensure that your communications are protected when you are using a public hotspot.

In the article, the author talks about something that usually gets very little attention: the use of VPNs at public hotspots. With respect to VPNs, the article states:

The best way to protect a public wireless link is by using a virtual private network, or VPN. VPNs keep your communications safe by creating secure “tunnels” through which your encrypted data travels. Many companies provide VPN service to their mobile and offsite workers, so check with your IT department for connection instructions.

You can also use a paid service such as Boingo’s Personal VPN (free trial with Boingo subscription, $30 to keep), JiWire Hotspot Helper (10-day free trial, $25 per year) or Witopia personalVPN ($40 per year). All three of the services are simple to install and use.

You have one more security option: If you don’t mind connecting through your home or office PC, you can log in to a public hotspot securely by using such remote-access programs as LogMeIn or GoToMyPC.

If you have questions about wireless security, this is a good article to check out.