Keep in mind that instead of expensive per-seat licensing, Abbyy provides concurrent user licensing. It also offers a license manager for more efficient management of all licenses on the network.
FineReader has the ability to convert PDF files to editable text. The OCR result can then be saved in PDF or any supported output format, expanding the user's ability to convert and reuse information. This is a low-cost alternative for converting paper to PDF.
FineReader offers the option of treating bar codes as images (default) or recognizing the bar code and displaying its value. You can also change settings and have bar codes automatically analyzed and recognized, when use the for trial presentations and litigation support documentation.
FineReader has made a believer out of me! I was on the fence as to the OCR programs in our market, but this one has changed my mind and given me the confidence to use scanning and OCR without spending an inordinate amount of time with paper handling.
Abbyy FineReader 7.0 Corporate Edition is made by Abbyy USA Software House. You can find information at www.abbyy usa.com or by calling (510) 226-6717.
The cost of the Professional Edition is $149 from an upgrade of any OCR software product, or $299 for a non-upgrade version. The Corporate Edition is $499, or $399 with a competitive upgrade, per concurrent license.
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Northbrook attorney Alan Pearlman serves on the ISBA Assembly and Family Law Section Council, and is a member of the editorial board of the ABA General Practice Technology and Practice Guide. He is co-author of "The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Microsoft Word for Windows '95," published by West Group. Contact Pearlman at www.TheElectronicLawyer.com or (847) 205-4383.
For more information about current trends, ISBA members may subscribe to the newsletter published by the Committee on Legal Technology. It is available online as well as in printed form. Call (800) 252-8908 to become a subscriber.
Professor gets Fulbright in Lithuania
Prof. William A. Schroeder of the Southern Illinois University School of Law has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar to teach in Lithuania during the fall semester.
An SIU law faculty member since 1984, Schroeder teaches criminal law and procedure and is compiling a courtroom handbook on Illinois evidence. He will participate in the Fulbright Eurofaculty Program at the University of Vilnius and the Law University of Lithuania.
Schroeder expects to help students and faculty think about elements of the U.S. legal system, and how they might be integrated into the Lithuanian system. He will return to SIU for the spring semester and write about ideas that he believes could enhance legal procedures in this country.
"I've always thought there are a lot of ways we could tinker with our system and make it better," he said. "I'm open to how they do things (in Lithuania). It's different, but I suspect they have some ideas that might be worth considering over here."
Fulbrights are available
Illinois lawyers are eligible to apply for research and lecturing awards during the 2005-06 academic year through the Fulbright Scholar Program for Faculty and Professionals.
Grants available in Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltics and Eurasia offer opportunities in several fields of law to assist in development of academic programs and preparation of professional lawyers and public officials in the post-communist era.
Areas of concentration include international law (private, public and business), comparative, constitutional, business, environmental, human rights, civil, criminal and European Union.
Examples of the opportunities available are teaching employment law in Bulgaria, European Union law in Poland, corporate law in Latvia and international law in Uzbekistan.
While some awards specify projects and institutions, several are open, all-discipline awards that allow candidates to propose their own projects and determine host affiliations.
For general information about application requirements and staff contacts, visit www.cies.org. Application materials can be downloaded or requested via e-mail to apprequest@cies.iie.org.
For other information, call program associate Jenai Green of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars at (202) 686-6231.
Lawyers who admired the displays of original art at the Chicago firm of Altheimer & Gray before it dissolved may be able to see three of the pieces as members or guests at the Union League Club.
The club's art committee recommended purchasing "Flatscape #13" by Harold Gregor, "Le Combat IV" by Leon Golub, and "New York, 1945" by Aaron Siskind. The ULC board approved making the acquisitions in April.
The Union League Club also has extended until Sept. 30, 2005, the "Seven Lively Arts" exhibition in the fourth floor Rendevous room.
The seven large panels, which had hung in Riccardo's Restaurant for many years, were acquired by Chicago attorney Seymour Persky and loaned to the club for conservation and display for an indefinite time period.
John H. Dickason, ISBA executive director from 1970 to 1985, celebrated a trio of 50-year anniversaries during the past year with his wife, Bobbie.
One was his reunion at Dartmouth College, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1953 and an M.B.A. in 1954, and another was for her reunion at Skidmore. The third was their golden wedding celebration.
Dickason became vice president of finance and administration for the $240 million Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust after he left the ISBA. It grew to more than $510 million before he completed its disbursements in 1997.
Now a resident of Coral Gables, Fla., Dickason is a lay eucharistic minister and board member of an Episcopal-based private school. He chairs the social outreach committee of his church and is treasurer of its separate foundation.
The Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation will hold its third annual benefit Golf Fore Justice outing Thursday, June 24, at White Pines Golf Course in Bensenville.
Scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start, the two-person scramble event includes an early box lunch and a buffet luncheon afterward. Reservations are $125 per person. Call CVLS staff attorney Phil Mohr at (312) 332-3528.
Other law-related summertime golf outings have been scheduled on the following dates.
JUNE 18 (Friday) BENSENVILLE - Nordic Law Club 4th annual Lutefisk Open golf outing at White Pines Golf Course, with 11 a.m. shotgun start. Call Patricia Oakley, (708) 923-6760.
JUNE 21 (Monday) LEMONT - Youth Outreach Services golf outing at Ruffled Feathers Golf Club, with 6:30 a.m. breakfast, 7:30 a.m. shotgun start. Call Barbara Schwarz, (773) 777-7112, ext. 281.
JUNE 23 (Wednesday) DIXON - Lee/ Ogle County Bar Association golf outing at Lost Nation Golf Club, with tee times from 12 noon to 2 p.m., followed by steak or chicken dinner. Call Robert Thompson, (815) 284-7705.
JUNE 28 (Monday) MIDLOTHIAN - South Suburban Bar Association golf outing, limited to 24 golfers, at Midlothian Country Club. Call Ed Burt, (708) 687-5200.
JULY 14 (Wednesday) HOFFMAN ESTATES - Northwest Suburban Bar Association golf outing at Poplar Creek Country Club, with 12:30 p.m. shotgun start and 6 p.m. dinner. Call (847) 259-7908.
JULY 16 (Friday) ST. CHARLES - DuPage County Bar Association golf outing at Pheasant Run Resort, with 1 p.m. shotgun start. Call (630) 653-7779.
JULY 19 (Monday) ST. CHARLES - Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association golf outing at St. Charles Country Club, with 11:30 a.m. lunch, 1 p.m. shotgun start and 6:30 p.m. dinner. Call (847) 593-5750.
JULY 19 (Monday) - Kane County Bar Assn. golf outing. Call (630) 762-1915.
JULY 19 (Monday) CHICAGO - John Marshall Law School Alumni Association golf outing at Ridge Country Club. Call (312) 987-1420.
JULY 30 (Friday) SPRINGFIELD - Sangamon County Bar Assn. annual Play Day golf outing and tennis tournament.
AUGUST 6 (Friday) CHICAGO - Workers' Compensation Lawyers Association golf outing at Highland Park Country Club. Call Karen Talty, (312) 645-0606.
AUGUST 9 (Monday) EDWARDSVILLE - Illinois Trial Lawyers Assn. Southern Illinois golf outing at Sunset Hills Country Club. Call (800) 252-8501.
AUGUST 16 (Monday) PEORIA - Peoria County Bar Association golf outing at Mt. Hawley Country Club, with 12 noon shotgun start, 5 p.m. reception and dinner (Aug. 23 rain date). Call (309) 674-6049.
SEPTEMBER 13 (Monday) WOOD DALE - Women's Bar Association 9th annual "No Threat, No Sweat" golf outing at Maple Meadows Gold Club, with 11:30 a.m. shotgun start, reception and dinner. Call (312) 341-8530.
SEPTEMBER 17 (Friday) OLYMPIA FIELDS - South Suburban Bar Association golf outing, limited to 40 golfers, at Olympia Fields Club, with tee times from 9 a.m., 5:30 p.m. reception and barbecue dinner. Call Ed Burt, (708) 687-5200.
ABA commission seeks input on judicial code revisions
Preliminary drafts of revised Canons 1 and 2, incorporating the first three existing canons of the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct, have been released for comment by the joint commission that is evaluating the code.
The proposals include provisions on retaining the appearance of impropriety as an enforceable standard, and providing judicial immunity from civil suits for action taken in response to misconduct by judges or lawyers.
Other provisions cover judicial disclosure and disqualification, debriefing jurors after trials, seeking expert opinions outside the presence of lawyers and litigants, and unique ethical issues of judges being involved in problem-solving courts.
Also under consideration is whether a judge should report another judge or lawyer to an assistance program when there is reason to believe he or she is impaired by the use of drugs, alcohol or a mental illness such as depression.
The preliminary drafts are not formal recommendations for changes in ABA policy, but are steps in the development of recommendations. The code has not been completely reviewed since 1990.
The last in a series of public hearings on code revisions will be conducted Friday, Aug. 6, during the ABA annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. The commission hopes to present proposals in time for the 2005 midyear meeting of the ABA House of Delegates.
Proposals for Canons 1 and 2 may be accessed at www.abanet.org/judicial ethics/ drafts.html. Written comments should be submitted by Thursday, July 15, to Eileen Gallagher at gallaghe@staff. abanet.org or the ABA Justice Center, 321 N. Clark St., Chicago 60610.
Law Bulletin will celebrate 150th in fall
Law Bulletin Publishing Co. will celebrate its 150th anniversary later this year by publishing a commemorative issue of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
The company traces its history to Oct. 27, 1854, when Edwin Bean published the inaugural, single-sheet issue of the Daily Report of Suits, Judgments, Chattel Mortgages, etc. It was the first daily legal newspaper in the United States. At that time, there were fewer than 200 lawyers in Chicago, but a variety of courts with overloaded dockets.
Bean was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1861. A year later, he formed the firm of Helm, Clark & Bean and sold the Daily Report to Robert R. Stevens. In October 1867, its name was changed to Chicago Daily Law Record. On Oct. 4, 1868, Myra Colby Bradwell began publishing a competitive publication, the Chicago Legal News.
The Great Chicago Fire of Oct. 8, 1871, destroyed the courthouse and all of its records, and the Daily Law Record suspended publication until Oct. 23. Stevens struggled for two years to keep his newspaper viable, but a widespread financial crisis led to his selling it to the Bulletin Printing Co.
The first issue of the newly named Chicago Daily Law Bulletin was published Oct. 27, 1873, five months after the incorporation of the Chicago Bar Association. The Illinois State Bar Association was founded Jan. 4, 1877, and the American Bar Association on Aug. 21, 1878, in New York.
Bulletin Printing Co. was sold in late 1879 to Henry Janes Macfarland, and a 1905 merger resulted in formation of the Law Bulletin Publishing Co. A son, Henry J. Macfarland Jr., joined the company in 1916 and served as its president from 1934 to 1951. Another son, Lanning (known as "Packey"), was a banker who served on the Law Bulletin board.
Lanning Macfarland Jr., the current board chair, joined the company on March 12, 1953, as vice president and general manager. Two of his sons, Brewster Macfarland and Lanning "Sandy" Macfarland III, came on board in the early 1980s and are now company officials.
Contents of the commemorative publication will include newsworthy events that have made headlines during the past one and a half centuries, attorneys and judges whose achievements were in the news, and legal institutions and organizations that have made impacts on the profession.